“I’m sorry, but I’m too old for Halloween,” Amy said when her friend brought up the subject.

“Oh”, Agnes said with sadness in her eyes. “Yeah, maybe we’re too old for that.”

“No, wait. I was talking about me.”

“That’s the same, right?” Agnes said with a wry smile. “We’re the same age.”

Amy knew that Halloween was her friend’s favorite day of the year. For Amy, a fifteen years old girl, being obsessed with witches, monsters and horror stories was silly. However, seeing her friend’s happy face when she talked about that, Amy always suppressed her opinions. Amy thought that side of Agnes was cute.

Agnes was a girl with blond and wavy hair. She looked like a princess but always wanted to be the witch when they played as kids. Amy, with her black hair and pale skin, looked way more like a witch. She was also taller than Agnes. And yet, her friend always gave the cutest costumes for her.

They were childhood friends and Amy felt like Agnes never grew up.

But walking around the city asking for candies with other kids while wearing a costume was too much for her. No matter how much she loved Agnes, she wanted some more mature entertainment.

“Ok, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it in a different way,” Amy said. “A grown-up way, for example.”

“Grown up? Like a party, maybe? I remember our class was making a Halloween party this year”

“Yeah, that would be cool. But,” Amy knew how uncomfortable Agnes was on those parties, so she always avoided it. Somehow, she also didn’t want Agnes in that place. “How about a private party? Or a sleepover, maybe. My parents won’t be home on Halloween night and they asked me to give candies to the kids. So, you know, if you don’t mind, maybe, huh…”

Agnes jumped and clapped her hands with a smile.

“We could spend the night watching horror movies, right?!” she said.

“Ah, that’s, huh,” Amy wasn’t good with horror movies, or horror stories in general. Still, the bright smile her friend gave was hard to resist. “That would be nice. Yeah. Horror movies. I don’t mind it at all.”

“That’s great! So I’ll bring the movies. I guess we’ll need food as well, so…”

“Oh, I’ll take care of that, don’t worry. Making food isn’t your best skill, so yeah. Better safe than sorry,” Amy laughed at the grimace Agnes made. “Just make sure to bring some good movies.”

Not too scary, please, Amy though, but didn’t voice it.

Agnes giggled.

“Leave it to me. I’ll make the scariest selection I possibly can!” Agnes said while rubbing her hands. “I won’t let you sleep that night!”

Amy felt a shiver. Yet, the bright smile on Agnes’ face was enough to stop her from complaining. She couldn’t believe she was doing that. Amy suddenly wondered how important her friend was for her and how far she would go to make her smile.

***

When Amy answered the door on Halloween night, there was a cute blonde girl wearing a witch costume waiting on the other side with a smile on her face.

“You’re still wearing a costume, huh?”

“Yeah. I had bought it already and I didn’t want it to go to waste,” Agnes put her finger on her lips. “Is it weird?”

Imagining Agnes happily buying that costume just for that night while planning their Halloween together, Amy felt like her heart was being stabbed. Agnes really loved Halloween night.

Amy had dressed herself to wait for Agnes. Not in a Halloween costume, that would be too much. The purple scrunchie tying her hair was a present from Agnes. So was her jeans shorts. Or her black tights. Almost everything she was wearing was a present from Agnes. Agnes loved dressing her up too much.

“It’s not weird. Actually, since you’re in the mood already, you can answer the door when the kids come,” Amy looked away before adding: “And, well, you look cute.”

Agnes giggled behind Amy’s back.

“A-Anyway,” Amy tried to change the subject. “You brought movies, right? We can start watching them. We also have food for when we get hungry. Mom left juice since she knows you can’t stand soda.”

“Oh, that’s right! I spent this whole time making a selection with the most brutal, bloodiest and scariest horror movies I ever saw.”

Amy felt a shiver running down her spine by listening to her friend’s enthusiastic words.

“Y-You could’ve brought something you didn’t watch yet,” she said, taking the bag Agnes passed to her and looking inside. “W-Wait. There’s at least ten!”

“I said I won’t let you sleep tonight,” Agnes gave a smile.

“No, no, no, wait! Forget about sleeping, we don’t even have that much time.”

“We do,” Agnes looked at her clock and showed it to Amy. It was 8 PM. “Come on, it’s Halloween. You don’t want to sleep during Halloween, do you?” She threw herself on her friend’s couch. “Choose something and put it on already.”

Looking at those titles, Amy was sure they were as terrifying as Agnes made them out to be. She couldn’t even look at the cover without feeling uneasy. She just took something and put it inside the blu-ray player and sat beside Agnes, who just looked at her with a mischievous smile as the movie started.

The first few scenes weren’t as scary as Amy feared.

Agnes had her legs bent, putting her feet on the couch. She always felt at home when she and Amy were alone at Amy’s house. Her knees invaded her friend’s space a little and her long skirt touched Amy’s legs.

Glancing at Agnes, Amy realized she had her eyes glued on the tv screen. She had watched that movie already, but her excitement looked the same as always. Amy could feel how much her friend loved horror movies.

Amy’s body flinched as a long buzz sounded inside the house. Agnes looked at her and Amy was sure she was holding herself to not make a joke about it.

“P-Probably kids looking for candies,” Amy said, hitting pause on the controller.

“You can keep watching it. I already watched that one.”

“N-No. I’ll… wait for you,” Amy said while dreading the thought of watching it alone. Agnes giggled.

The front door wasn’t that far from the living room, but she had to cross a hallway to get to it. Agnes almost skipped through the house as she went to open it.

“Tricks or treats!”

In the other side, there were three kids. Two boys wearing a werewolf and a vampire costume and a little girl wearing a ghost costume.

“I’m a witch, why would I carry candies?” Agnes said and grinned. “But I don’t want to be pranked, so let’s see what I can do…”

With a fast movement, Agnes managed to get candies from the bowl on her side and hide it on her sleeves. With a theatrical gesture, she made it fall on the three kid’s bags. The sleeves of her dress were long, so it looked like the candies were coming out of her hands.

“Wow!” the three kids said, amazed. When they looked at her again, the first boy let out a shout.

“Eh!? Agnes!?”

“Oh, you found me,” Agnes said, clapping her hands.

“What are you doing there?! We’re against the children from the other street this year. If we can’t get enough candies, we lose. You’re our secret weapon!”

“I’m sorry. I’m a grown up now and grown-up girls spend Halloween in a grown up way! I can’t be a kid forever.”

“No way!” the little girl said.

“You’re our leader!” The third boy said. “We can’t win without you!”

“Of course you can!” Agnes said and pointed her finger towards the kids. “From today on, I elect you three to be the leaders. Pass this message to the others and say that their order is to win! That’s my word, so if you lose, you’ll stain my name forever!”

“Yes, ma’am!” the three children yelled and turned away running, soon meeting other kids at the street.

Agnes let out a sad smile and turned to meet her friend waiting for her, leaning against the wall in the hallway.

“Back to the movies,” Agnes said and walked towards the hallway.

“You’re so good with kids,” Amy said. She had a serious face and didn’t move from her place. “Any plans for having some of your own?”

Agnes stopped. She looked at Amy and gave a nervous smile.

“N-No. We’re too young to think about these things, right?”

“We should always think about our future.”

“Well, true,” Agnes looked away. “I don’t think I wanna have kids, actually. I wouldn’t be a good mother. And I think spoiling other people’s children is good enough for me.”

“That’s not true. You would be a great mother. You’re so great with kids, so not having any would be a great waste.”

“I-Is that so?” Anges was fiddling with her skirt. “G-Guess it can’t be helped, though. I don’t think I want it.”

“Are you sure? I could be the godmother.”

“Jezz, Amy, could you shut up?!” Agnes blurted.

Amy felt her body jump. She gave a startled look to her friend.

“I-I,” Amy stammered, looking away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Agnes stared right into Amy’s eyes as she said it. “That’s what mom is always saying. How she wants a grandchild. But I’m an only child and I really don’t want one. I know mom will be disappointed, but…” Agnes lowered her head, asking in a low voice: “Am I being selfish?”

“No, you’re not,” Amy rushed to put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to bother you like that. I don’t know what got to me. I think I’m just upset. You really wanted to be out there tonight, right?”

Giving her friend a sad smile, Agnes went back to the couch. When Amy followed her, she met her friend with the controller on her hand, but the movie was still paused. Amy sat beside her.

“It’s true that I wanted to be out there,” Agnes said, staring at the paused movie. “At the same time, I understand we’re getting too old for that. Can’t help it, I guess. I’m just like a big child.”

“I’m sorry,” Amy said without facing her friend.

“And that’s why,” Agnes turned to Amy with a smile on her face. “I want Halloween to still be fun for me. One way or another, I want to get excited for these nights all years. And so,” Agnes leaned against Amy, resting her head on her shoulder. “That’s your responsibility now.”

Amy gave a nervous smile as the movie resumed.

***

For the first twenty minutes of the movie, kids came to get candies interrupting them a lot. Amy sighed in relief every time her friend hit the pause button. But after some time, the kids stopped coming. Even the voices outside couldn’t be heard anymore. They probably had gone to another street already.

So Amy was starting to get worried. It was just the first movie and she felt like she wouldn’t be able to endure it to the end. With each minute, the atmosphere would get more intense and dark and the silence at the house wasn’t helping. Her only comfort was Agnes’ warmth. Her friend was still leaning against her.

She felt her heart beating strong. Part of it was the movie. But for some reason, her friend's perfume was starting to affect her as well.

When the girl on screen got inside a dark room and a shadow passed behind her back, Amy gave up.

“You know!” She said, taking the controller and hitting pause. “I’m kinda hungry.”

“Already?” Agnes said. Her smile showing that she had seen through her friend’s fear.

“I didn’t eat anything during the afternoon. I was nervous…”

“Nervous? Why?”

“No, I mean. Huh…”

“Well,” Agnes put her finger on her closed lips. She pretended to think for some minutes. “I might enjoy some snacks. Do you have anything sweet?”

***

There were all kinds of snacks already prepared in the kitchen. Amy’s mother had left it for them. It was Halloween snacks. Some of them were sweet, some were salty. Agnes liked sweet food while Amy always liked the salty food the best.

Agnes threw a chocolate truffle inside her mouth and let out an expression of pleasure.

“Delicious! Did you mom make it?”

“I helped her.”

“Is that so? So I’m sure they’re all tasty!”

Amy hid her face so her friend didn’t realize that she blushed with the compliment. Agnes couldn’t take her eyes from the snacks Amy was putting on the table.

“I’ll handle this,” Amy said. “Go serve the juices. I don’t want you ruining anything.”

“Hey, I’m fine with food as long as it’s done already!” Agnes pouted, but still obeyed her friend and walked to the refrigerator.

Inside there was a jar with strawberry juice, which happened to be her favorite. She grabbed it, as well as two glasses.

“Don’t spill it,” Amy said.

“Hey! I’m not that big of a disaster! And I’m a witch right now, so respect me or I’ll curse you!”

“Is that so?” Amy looked at Agnes with the side of her eyes. “What can you do with these so powerful witch powers?”

“I can, for example, make this a potion!” Agnes poured some juice on a glass and gestured her fingers in its direction. “If you drink it, you’ll be under my spell!”

“Oh?” Amy smiled and grabbed the glass from the table. She drank the whole juice in one gulp and threw a defiant look at her friend. “So, what happens to me now?”

“That was, let’s see, a love potion! So you’ll fall in love with me now!”

Silence fell between them.

Amy stopped and gave a serious look at her friend. Agnes covered her own mouth, feeling embarrassed. They just looked at each other for a long minute.

“W-What are you even saying?” Amy asked, finally.

“I, I,” Agnes tried to look away. Her face getting red. “It’s a joke.”

Amy giggled.

“Well, stop joking around. We have a movie to watch, right?”

Saying that Amy took the snacks and walked away. She wanted to get away from Agnes for the moment so her friend wouldn't realize how fast her heart was beating.

***

Amy couldn’t even understand why Agnes’ joke had such an impact on her. It was common for her friends to do that kind of silly joke. But Agnes’ words just didn’t leave her mind.

The movie started to play again. Agnes had her legs on the couch again, too close to Amy. Sometimes she would incline her body to get the snacks in the chair in front of them and Amy would get a glance at her white neck. She couldn’t keep her eyes away from her friend for long.

She tried to focus on the movie. It was getting to the scariest part, with grotesque creatures following the protagonists in the dark house. Amy felt a chill.

“You’re bad with horror movies, huh?” Agnes said, examining her friend’s scared face.

“If you know that, why do you keep suggesting them?” Amy replied, letting out a nervous sigh.

“Because I love horror movies and supernatural stories a lot. And I love you a lot, too,” with her friend’s words, Amy’s heart skipped a beat. “So I wanna share things I love with you. You’re my best friend, so I would love to talk about my favorite things with you. But if you really hate it that much…” Agnes gave a sad smile that made Amy shook her head.

“I don’t hate it. I’m not good with it and, well, I’m not a fan either, but I still enjoy watching. If, if you’re watching it with me, at least.”

“I see,” Agnes said with a happy grin seeing Amy embarrassed face. “Well, if it gets too scary for you, you can hold on to me.”

“A-And what good would that do?” Amy said while sighing, but discreetly linked her own arms with her friend’s.

Hugging Agnes was common for Amy, but she felt somewhat different about that situation. That gesture was usually shared by lovers, and yet she never thought about it before.

So you’ll fall in love with me now!

Her friend’s words echoed in her head again. Glancing at Agne’s face, Amy felt her whole body react to her friend’s smile. She knew that she was blushing.

“Agnes,” she said with a low voice, making her friend look at her. “I think your potion might be working.”

A surprised expression painted Agnes’ face. She opened her mouth, but Amy talked before she could say anything.

“Just kidding…”

***

The movie seemed to be close to the climax. Amy was too distracted to be scared. She was hugging Agnes’s arm, feeling the warmth and softness of her friend’s flesh so close. She was confused. As a kid, they even took baths together, but she had never felt like that. They had lots of sleepovers even after becoming teenagers and in fact, they were planning to share a bed that night.

Why she had to say something like that?

Amy knew that Agnes was cute. Sexy as well. There was an occasion before when a boy asked Agnes out. That made Amy jealous, she remembered. She always thought that was because Agnes was her best friend, so she was protective of her. But now she was wondering if that was all.

Another buzz rang through the house. Probably kids from other streets were getting close. Agnes paused the movie and jumped from the couch to go after them. Amy looked at her friend’s back as she walked to the hallway. The most she got away, the loneliest Amy felt.

That was bothering her. Suddenly she couldn’t understand her feelings anymore and wondered what Agnes felt for her. That was scary.

She walked to meet her friend with careful steps, so she wouldn’t be heard. When the door closed, Amy covered Agnes’ eyes with her hands. Agnes gave a confused gasp.

“Tricks or Treats?” Amy almost whispered in Agnes’ ears.

Agnes seemed to think for some time in silence. Amy was so close that she could sniff the shampoo on her friend’s blonde hair.

“I don’t have all the time,” Amy said and Agnes giggled.

“I’m not sure. A prank can be good sometimes.”

“Remember that you asked for it. Now turn around,” Amy said and took a candy from the bowl. She started to unwrap it. “Now, close your eyes.”

Agnes did as her friend asked. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, waiting for the candy.

Amy stared at her friend. Her heart almost jumping through her throat. She was sure her face was completely red.

She put the candy on her own mouth and approached Agnes. Wrapping her arms on the girl’s hip, she pulled Agnes close and joined their mouth. She felt the soft lips of her friend on hers. Her warm and pleasant breath. She opened her eyes while kissing to see her friend’s surprised expression looking at her.

Amy pushed the candy to her friend’s mouth with her tongue, brushing Agnes’ own tongue on the process. She closed her lips, locking her friend’s lower lips on them before parting their lips. She gave two steps back.

Agnes touched her lips. She gave a confused and startled look at her best friend.

“Happy Halloween, Agnes,” Amy said. Her face completely red. “How was that for a prank?”

The two girls stared at each other. Agnes’ face was just as red as Amy’s.

“That,” Agnes broke the silence. Her fingers still on her lips. Her voice was failing. “Was sweet. I mean, nice. I mean…”

Amy was nervous. She didn’t know what her friend’s reaction was going to be. She was sure of her feelings after that kiss, but what about Agnes. Maybe she would turn back and run away now.

Instead, Agnes held her hand. Her soft fingers playing with Amy’s skin.

“W-What now?” Amy asked, fearing the answer.

“Now,” Agnes gave her a reassuring smile. “We go back to the movies.”

Amy let out a relieved sigh and her lips turned into a smile.

“Really? As a punishment?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll hold your hand through all the night so you won’t be afraid,” Agnes said, pulling her friend with her. In the middle of the way, she turned back with a giant smile on her face. “Oh, and by the way, that was hardly a prank!”

That night, the girls’ hands didn’t part anymore.