HALLOWEEN
BONUS SCENE
There aren’t that many houses on our street, so we only get
a few trick-or-treaters for Halloween. The youngest and cutest are always first
to arrive, and Estella and I keep taking turns peeking out the windows as we
wait for them.
“Oh no!” she suddenly cries. “I forgot to light the
Jack-O-Lanterns!”
Julian shakes his head and digs into his second bowl of
chili. “Two nutjobs.”
“I heard that,” I tell him, because there’s nothing nuts
about me being dressed up tonight. I’m a witch this year, with the dress and
hat. “Careful, or I’ll turn you into a toad.”
“Shouldn’t you be a crazed chef?”
“Nah, that’s for every other day of the year.” I study him
curiously for a moment. “What did you go as when you were little?”
“A stick-in-the-mud,” he says, ripping at his corn bread.
“Well, that costume must have been easy for you.”
He hides a smirk. “What were you? A princess?”
“Sometimes. Once I was Zorro.”
He grins. “That’s cool. I was all sorts of guys -- Storm
Troopers, every superhero.”
“Favorite superhero?”
“Spidey. For sure. When I was little I used to do the hand
motion to make the web all the time.”
“Let’s see,” I say.
“No way.”
“Come on. Please?”
He rolls his eyes, and zings me with his index and pinkie
finger.
“Our first trick-or-treater’s here!” Estella suddenly
exclaims, rushing back inside. “A little pirate!”
“Wait!” I cry. I go rushing past Julian to get the bowl of
candy to take out to our guest. He’s maybe three years old. Both his parents
are with him.
“What do you say?” his mother coaches.
“Twick-ow-Tweet,” he whispers.
Awww….
“Julian, you can’t just sit there. You have to help us next
time,” I tell him once I’m back in the kitchen.
He studies me for a moment. “You need a wig.”
“And a broom. I had one once but…” The doorbell rings. “Hold
on!”
The kids are so cute. Once they’re gone, I turn and see
Julian lingering behind us in the doorway. “You don’t buy the little candy
bars?”
“No, are you kidding? The big ones rock. They’re like the
super-bonus.”
He smiles. “True. Can I steal a Hershey Almond?”
“Not a Snickers bar?”
“They’re good also. Neither are as good as a Butterfinger,
but...”
The doorbell rings again. “You do this one,” I urge. “Help
Estella.”
“No,” he says.
“Come on.” I hand the bowl to him. “There. No give backs.”
He wheels reluctantly over to the doorway with it.
“So, Marine, how did it go?” I ask once the door closes.
He hands the treat bowl back
to me. “I survived.”
Later, once it’s safe to flip the lights off, Estella and I
both head to the sun room to watch Julian’s movie with him. “What did he get
again?” I ask her.
“Not sure. Some zombie thing.”
I wrinkle my nose. “Oh.” Sounds promising.
I go in kind of cautiously, because I seriously am a wimp
when it comes to scary movies. Julian’s in Dad’s chair, so Estella and I take
opposite ends of the sofa. I’m nearest the door. Which is good in case I need
to make a quick getaway.
“You guys ready?” he asks. He switches from his TV show to the
movie.
“This isn’t so bad, actually,” I comment after awhile.
Because at first it’s normal teenagers who suspect something’s up with the
graveyard. They dare each other to go there.
Of course then the zombies crawl out. To my surprise, the
girl kills the first one.
Of course it’s the boy who gets to hack at them with an axe.
“Don’t see why the girl can’t get something cooler than a
chef’s knife.”
Julian raises an eyebrow at me. “A girl with a chef’s knife
can be pretty dangerous.”
Ha ha. I’ve taken off my witch costume and am kind of
shivering there in my tank top and yoga pants. He takes the blanket off his lap
and tosses it over to me.
A half hour later, all the main couple’s friends have their
brains eaten out, zombie parts are lying everywhere, Estella’s escaped off to
bed, and I’m hiding under the blanket in fear.
Suddenly, the volume is lowered. I peek my head out and
catch Julian watching me intently. “Better?” he asks.
“Yeah, thanks. I…” I look away from him, heat rising to my
cheeks.
“Want me to shut it off?”
“You’d miss the ending.”
“We could say they all lived happily ever after.”
I snort. “Except for the undead. And the dead-dead.”
He smiles and shifts so he’s slightly turned to me. “Yeah,
except for them.”
There, unfortunately, is a massive coffee table between us.
And it’s not just that. Recently, we’ve been avoiding being alone together. But
looking at him like this, I can’t think of why. I just know I wish he was closer
to me. “You can finish it.”
“You’ll hide?”
“No, I’ll watch.” I make a little peephole in the quilt.
Neither one of us seems able to focus on the TV. And neither of us speaks much
when the movie is finally over. I want to go over to him, at least hand him the
blanket or touch his shoulder or something. But I don’t. Instead, I chicken out,
say goodnight and head upstairs. Which is probably for the best. But still,
thoughts of him linger in my mind so much, it’s difficult for me to fall
asleep.
HALLOWEEN
GIVEAWAY
Here just for fun is a special Halloween
giveaway for you: 10 treat bags filled with cool candy, dorky bracelets, a
little wire whisk, the recipe for Cami’s apple crisp (a great autumn treat and
my favorite dessert of all time), and a free Kindle copy of Stir Me Up for you
or a friend. There’s also a Stir Me Up charm bracelet grand prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
