Evan sat at his family's ornate circular dinner table while their overhead light flickered and buzzed wearily, threatening to consume the room in darkness at a moment's notice. The only distraction from the incessant little noise being his little sisters excited prattling.

Her chatter fell on death ears, though. Evan was a million miles away from her conversation, picking at his pasta and scrutinizing it as turmoil roared within. The pasta's paleness was eerily similar to the hair pigment of the boy he had met earlier. Or was he reading too much into things?

Whatever the case was, it wasn't doing much to alleviate his nerves or satiate his appetite.

It wasn't necessarily that he was afraid of the boy and his malicious, primal eyes boring into Evan, so much as he was unnerved. Evan had repeated this, among other mantra's, frequently in his mind since he'd left the park, assuring himself that there was a difference between the two.

"You're bound to meet creeps wherever you go." He consoled himself. But why Clay had chosen to make friends with one was beyond him.

His mind flashed to Clay's hostile reaction to the request Evan had made before his departure when it was just the two of them. Evan had privately asked if Clay's friend could sit the get-together out.

"He's just...well, he's your friend and I can respect that, but I just don't want him at my house. Which I hope you can respect." Evan had explained, maintaining an empathetic but firm disposition. He would not be swayed.

"Huh? Why? You don't like him? I thought everything went well!" Clay asked with genuine surprise

Evan clicked his tongue, picking his next words delicately,

"Well, I'm sure you noticed how uncomfortable the atmosphere between us was," he elaborated, "he's kind of...weird. Sorry. I'm not trying to insult your taste in friends or anything, but I'd rather we just keep it small."

Clay looked dumbstruck and peered at Evan like he was missing some piece of an elaborate scheme. "That's just his humor, Evan! He's joking! Learn to take a joke, man! He's fine!" he insisted, irritation lacing his words and pricking Evan like a thorn.

Clay had been irritated a lot more recently, and Evan had tried to be conscientious of it, but he hadn't expected such a defensive reaction. The last thing he wanted was to anger Clay the night before they hung out, though. He had to make amends. He had to pull out his fool-proof last resort.

"I was also just missing how things used to be between us, like how the three of us celebrated Halloween, before all the parties and stuff, y'know? Just a good time." Evan added, trying to appeal to Clay's nostalgic side.

It was true, they hadn't been seeing much of one another recently, and he was bound to have noticed. He hoped against hope that Clay had felt enough of the same feelings for Evan's persuasion to work.

It didn't.

"Alright," Clay sighed, "I still don't see why Ryan can't join us. But it's your house so it's your call." he relented exasperatedly

'Ryan.' Evan made a mental note. How could someone so strange have such a normal name? He shook the thought out, refocusing on his moping friend.

Evan smiled gratefully at him as they walked to his car. "Thanks, Clay. We'll invite him next time, I promise." he lied, hoping there wouldn't need to be a 'next time.'

"Yeah, yeah." he accepted, still no doubt insulted by Evans reluctance to play nice with his new friend, Ryan.

"I'll tell him we cancelled or something, so you don't need to worry about it anymore."

Now that Evan was certain he had nothing to worry about, he could finally allow himself to forget his interaction with Ryan.

"Evan." his mom's stern voice cut through his thoughts, "Did you hear me?"

"No, sorry. Repeat it?"

"Your father and I are taking Cecilia to the next town over for trick-or-treating tomorrow night." she repeated slowly, emphasizing her words as though she thought he might stop listening half-way through. "Are you okay with that?"

Evan took this opportunity to ask HER a question instead.

"Actually, I was wondering if Alex and Clay could come over tomorrow? Just to hang out." he requested hopefully, slightly surprised that the excuse he made up actually had some stock in it and came to fruition.

His mother rubbed her arms, thinking.

"I don't know," she said at last as Evan deflated, "It's Halloween night and you know how reckless other kids can be, especially when no one's home." she mulled

"Alex, Clay and I would be home!" Evan protested, "we wouldn't let anything happen!"

"Come on, love. Alex and Clay are practically our own. They're good kids. And most importantly, they'll keep an eye on each other." his dad chimed in, arguing in his defense.

He shot Evan a wink. "Besides, since when has Evan ever done anything reckless?"

"That's true," she conceded, skeptically rubbing her cheek thoughtfully, "Alright. Fine. They may. You know what's expected of you, don't make me regret trusting you." she warned, waggling a stern finger that did little to hide her worried eyes.

"Awesome. Thank you. I'll be good, you can count on that." Evan promised appreciatively. Though he was confused by her hesitation. When had he ever given them a reason to not trust him otherwise?

"See? There's nothing to worry about." his dad restated confidently, reaching across the table to take one of her bird-like hands in his.

The rest of dinner came and went smoothly. After Cecilia had declared that she was retiring to her room, and just as Evan was beginning to excuse himself as well, he heard the quiet whispers of his parents conversing in the kitchen. He slid and eased his way quietly against the wall to eavesdrop.

"Why were you so worried earlier? Yes, Evan's not like most other kids, but he still needs to fit in and socialize. It's just Clay and Alex."

The soft clinkering of plates slowed as the soft voice of his mother replied,

"That's the issue. He ISN'T like most kids." she sighed, "I just can't shake the feeling that something will go wrong. Call it mother's instinct, if you will."

"Evan's changed, darling. He needs to know that we can trust him. WE need to know that we can trust him. But if you still feel this way tomorrow, then maybe we could take Cecilia somewhere more local."

"Alright."

Evan cringed and slipped away to his room, not wanting to hear what else they thought of him.

Once Evan had settled into bed, he pulled the covers over him, excited for the big night.

Except, he couldn't sleep.