Weeks and weeks went by, even a month. I'd normally be thankful that such a time had gone by, but in these circumstances - Theo avoiding me like the plague - I was not so joyous.

I had obviously been stuck in my ways of not wanting to talk to him - not like I did anyway - but I did try a couple times to spontaneously bump into him or walk into our classes together acting completely dumbfounded that he was in them too. But then, he'd just scowl at me or roll his eyes. Oh! Then he'd just distance himself even more - if that was even possible sitting in a seat that was next to me - stupid. I know!

But he had been acting weird, weirder than normal.

I sometimes heard rumours and gossip being spread about him in the hallways. He, was the talk of the school. Him, him, him, him. Everyone was talking about him and I had no idea why. I knew he was the eye of the school. Everybody thought of him, everybody looked at him. I mean, he was him. He was absolutely, insanely gorgeous and it baffled me to think we were close. Close enough that we almost kissed. But I just didn't understand why they were talking about him even more than usual.

But it wasn't any time to dwell. Not when Halloween was right around the corner waiting to bite me in the ass.

Halloween was in a couple days and the streets and roads were plastered with blood goo and fake-looking bats that hung from the street lamps. Pumpkins were carved out with either nice and friendly looking faces, or some scary looking faces that looked like the type to come alive and eat you when you weren't looking.

My Mom was on decorating overload! There were 'Beware' signs hung up around the house, even pumpkins and spiders in big white cotton cob webs. Mom had gotten the chance to swap out every piece cutlery and normal looking decoration in the house for some orange, Halloween looking one.

But she went even bigger this year. Bigger than bigger. When I came from being out with my friends, I saw a bunch of massive inflatables in the yard. A ghost, a spider, a witch. I asked her where she got them from and she said from grandma. From grandma? I never knew grandma had that wild side to her.

But, even though it was nice, being reminded that halloween was finally here, it still didn't go missed that the pumpkins laid outside were slightly decomposing due to the humid heat.

Yeah.

Thanks hot weather.

Thanks a lot.

"Mom. I look absolutely ridiculous!" I said, looking at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a rather large, fluffy pumpkin costume and some bright and intense Halloween makeup.

What the actual f-

"Honey, you look adorable!" My Mom squealed as she swiftly came to my side. She booped my nose and I continued to scowl at myself through the mirror.

How did I let this happen?

"Yeah. For a four year old." I retorted and placed my hands on my hips. My Mom rolled her eyes, then a second later, she was attacking me by planting an intense kiss on my cheek.

"You look adorable, my sweet. I must send a picture to your grandma." She said and I turned to see her energetically running out of my room and into hers.

I turned back around and stared at myself in the mirror.

This was a disaster and I couldn't believe I was going through with this. Although I was practically forced into this with no escape.

I pulled the costume away from my body with an irritated groan. This was fucking hot...and not in that way.

I think I was actually going to suffocate and die.

Ha.

That would be a fun way to go.

I sighed and let out an exasperated groan.

"Mommm. I really don't like this idea!" I shouted and saw my Mom coming back in, and this time, with her phone.

Goodness me.

Not this again.

"Tough. You're wearing that and that's final." She said sternly, though I knew she was somewhat joking. But not joking enough for me to get out of this. No way.

"This isn't cool, Mom." I said and groaned as I saw her cackling behind her hand. "What's Callum wearing?" He better of been wearing something just as hideous as this. No way was I the only one who was going to be dressed up like a total clown.

She laughed and slightly skipped to the door. "Callum! Come in here. I need to get a family photo!" She shouted and everything went quiet. Then a couple seconds later, emerging from the darkness of the hallway, was Callum.

I couldn't help but laugh my ass off.

He was dressed up in a scarecrow costume with a massive straw hat. Fucking hell did he look ridiculous. His face was a mix of, 'I was forced', and 'kill me now."

"And I thought I looked bad."

"Shut up." He glared at me. Before I could retort some snarky, witty comment, Mom was pulling him inside and over to the wall where I was standing.

"We now take pictures." She said, holding up her phone and I cried into my hands. I looked absolutely ridiculous in this outfit and wouldn't be caught dead in this...ever!

"No." I said firmly but Callum nudged my side.

"If you go along with what she wants, it'll be over before you know it." He whispered to me and faced back towards Mom. I swear I could see his mouth drop into a frown and his eyes close as he slowly took on a deep breath.

"Fine." I sighed and Mom clapped her hands excitedly. Then she raised up her hands as she held the phone landscape.

"Mom." I said, catching her attention.

"Yes, dear?" She asked, poking her eyes over the phone.

Hold it together Willow.

"I thought you said flappy phone cases were not in and were not your style."

She stilled and then laughed awkwardly.

"When did I say that? I don't remember." She hid her face again and Callum looked down at me, biting back a laugh.

"I think I remember you saying that too." Callum said, defending my point. Mom looked up at him, confused and also a little shocked.

"I don't like it that you're both ganging up on me." She stated but snapped a picture amongst the tension. "It's unusual for you both to be agreeing on something." She eyed us with suspicion.

"Yeah, I don't like it." I said and Callum nodded from beside me. "Should we go back to hating each other? Like true siblings?" I asked and Callum looked down at me, face neutral.

"Yes, I'd love that." He nodded and we went back to being like how we used to. I was a couple centimetres away from him with a pained expression on my face. Mum wouldn't stop taking pictures and the bright light from the flash was killing my eyeballs.

"Callum stand up straight!" She pointed and to her luck, he obeyed. He didn't even cry in protest like I was. Maybe he really did want to get this over and done with.

"You look really great in that costu-" I started to say as I was rudely cut off.

"Shut up." He bit.

"Awh! Aren't my kids wonderful human beings?" My Mom said, staring at us in adoration. "I can't believe I birthed you both."

"Please, Mom. There's no ne-"

"You are my kids. No one else's." She said, staring at us with again, that same look of adoration on her face. She tilted her head to the side and glanced at the both of us. "My Facebook page needs to see this."

I froze.

"What? No way!" I said in defence. She stilled, crossing over her pink knitted cardigan over her body.

"Why not? I want everyone to see how adorable and cute my children are. Why can't everyone see that?"

I sighed and threw my head back, letting out a fake cry of desperation. "Because we look like imbeciles." I reasoned and she gasped.

Then Callum turned to me, "That's only you. I think I look particularly good in this costume." Then he dragged his eyes down me with a grimace on his face. He looked like he was going to vomit everywhere. "You, on the other hand-"

"Look amazing. I know." I rolled my eyes but he sniggered.

"I was going to say like a clown dressed up in kiddy clothes that Mom bought from a thrift shop for losers."

I stuck out my tongue at him but he pushed me to the side, making me collide into the wall.

"Fucking id-"

"Language!" My Mom shouted, making us stop our childish bickering. But I still managed to stick up my middle finger at him as I pretended to scratch my face. The side of my face was itchy, okay?!

"Sorry." I said, putting on a fake but also slightly genuine apologetic frown to my Mom.

My Mom kissed my head. "It's okay. Just don't do it again." She warned and then whipped out her phone in front of my face.

"It's picture time!"

🝮🝮🝮

"So your Mom is making you and your brother go to some Halloween party? On Halloween?" Angel asked and I nodded.

"That's the plan." I said, sounding not so happy as I shoved a piece of chicken into my mouth. Why was this chicken so salty? Damn this chicken.

I pushed back the tray of food and passed it to Angel who was eager to take it. She liked her chicken being salty which made me get the idea that she probably had a little talk with the dinner ladies. It was something she'd do.

"That's too bad." She sighed. "Me and the girls usually do something together on Halloween." She said and I looked over at Cadence and Charlotte. They were both distracted by something on Charlotte's phone.

"What do you girls do?" I asked, leaning on my elbows. Angel shrugged casually, taking another bite of the chicken and moaning in delight.

"Well, we usually take in turns on who's house we go to but when we decide on where to go, we end up buying a load of junk food and watch spooky movies. We don't go Trick or Treating anymore but we still like to have our fun."

I nodded in understanding and felt my stomach rumble. I still had that chocolate muffin stuffed in my bag. Uneaten.

I think it was about time that that thing was going in the trash.

"What time?" I asked and Angel looked up at me with an expression telling me she had already forgotten what we were talking about. "What time do you girls meet up on Halloween?"

"Oh! Around five. We like to meet early so we can get everything ready before it gets dark." She took a sip of her water and then glanced at the two distracted girls on the side of the table. I watched as her eyes narrowed on Charlotte for a slight second before travelling back to me. "I'm sure the girls won't mind if you join us."

I bit down on my nail. For some odd reason, I felt a weird feeling in my stomach. But why? "I'll have to see what time the stupid party finishes first. But if I can sneak off a little earlier than expected, then count me in."

Angel's face lit up. "We're going to have such a great time." I felt a smile break my features. "That means this year we can get extra candy and, and, oh! We need to get twinkies!"

I laughed. "They aren't exactly Halloween-like."

"No, but they are the best creation known to man kind!" She reasoned and I scrunched up my face slightly.

"Not really."

"Not really?" She asked and her voice raised a considerable amount. "They are quite literally the best thing that's ever been in my mouth." She then paused at her last words and grimaced at herself.

We went quiet and Angel gave me a weird looking face.

"I'm never going to say that ever again."

I slowly nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I think that's for the best."

"But hey! I'm still buying those Twinkie's." She winked and I learnt my chin on my hand. "I'll make you love them."

"I'm sure you will. I'm counting on i-"

"Hey."

A voice said and we both looked up from the table. I couldn't believe my eyes at what I was seeing. Never in a million years would I of thought Mike, the shy, timid, anti-sociable Mike would be standing at our table, in front of Angel, with eyes hopeless as I was when I found out I wasn't going to get glasses. We all went there okay. We all wanted glasses at some point in our life's.

Angel was staring up at him in complete silence. Even if she wasn't verbally saying anything, her body definitely was. Her dark hair was pulled back away from her face and I could see in the blatant morning sunshine, that her ears and cheeks were flaming pink. Her mouth opened and random words were splurging out of her mouth. Mike looked just as flushed as she was.

I could see Cadence and Charlotte looking at them both too. Then they looked at each other, shrugging as they were trying to figure out why Mike Carlton was at our table in the school cafeteria on a random Monday morning.

So was I.

The difference was, was that they both didn't know about Angel and Mike. Well, what was there to tell?

"H-wow." Angel managed to say before looking back at me, wide-eyed. I shrugged as I didn't know what to say or do to make this any better. I just continued to stare at them both in utter shock. Mike rubbed his neck and abruptly made the decision to sit down next to her. "I meant, h-hi. Not wow. I don't know why I said wow. Well, I do, because it came out of my mouth." She laughed nervously and I hid my face in my hands. Dear God, please save this girl from the embarrassment. "S-so, what're you doing here?"

Mike rubbed his neck again and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, erm. Sorry for coming over here like this." He gulped and looked at me, giving me the most awkward wave of all time. "Hi."

"Hi."

He glanced around the table and seemed to shrivel up even more in himself.

"You're here because-? Are you here to see me?" Angel asked and I watched him as he laughed nervously, avoiding all the desperate glances from us all.

"Yeah, I-I am, actually. I wanted to know, possibly, if you want to go out on a date with me sometime." As soon as the words left his mouth Angel's cheeks blew up with a darker shade of pink I had never seen before. I felt a bright smile appear on my lips and Cadence and Charlotte looked insanely happy for her too.

Mike looked nervous and like he was about to puke right then and there in the middle of the school cafeteria but Angel looked happier than I had ever seen her. Her mouth was wide and I knew she was going to say yes.

"Yes. Yes I'll go out on a date with you." She said breathlessly.

"You will?" He asked in complete shock. It wasn't like she was going to say no anyway.

It was like I was watching a movie because she jumped up from her seat and pulled him into a hug. Mike's eyes went wide just before he hugged her back.

That was not the last of it. The whole day Angel and Mike were glued to one another and they acted like a proper couple. They were cute. They were really, super cute and they suited each other. I never felt happier for them both. Angel was the sweetest person I had ever met and seeing her completely dissolve like a bath bomb in water, was extremely entertaining.

"I'll be back." I said and stood up. I walked across the field over to the school building away from Cadence as we were sat down on the bleachers together. Mike and Angel were sat near us on the bleachers too, soaked up in their own conversation and Charlotte looked troubled. She also looked like she was looking around for someone. But as soon as my eyes met hers, she looked away.

Me and Cadence had cheer practise today and my feet were already killing. But it also didn't help that we had two hours of rock hard rehearsals for our cheer routine - the big, big, game was this year - and it was coming up quite fast. But, it also felt extremely too early to be practising for it. I already had a shit load of homework to do and adding cheer to the mix of it all was a nightmare. We of course had other games too, but we were practising hard for the end of year game. I tried to put in a lot of effort since this year was my last, but it still didn't go unnoticed that the heels of my feet were slowly but surely, turning numb.

I pulled down the sleeves of the dress and pulled open the door to the school. It was weird being here after school hours. It wasn't entirely empty since teachers were still here marking papers and drinking coffee like they usually do. Their breath always smelt like total shit but I didn't dare to comment on that.

The school gave me a weird feeling. Even though I wasn't alone in the school, I was in fact, alone to walk myself down the corridor to the only vending machine here. I only had a couple dollars to spend but I hoped the M&M's weren't gone. Please, please, please-

I stepped out in front of the vending machine and thank the heavens they were still there. In fact there were only a couple packs left.

I slotted in my dollar and typed in the code. I watched in amazement as the machine pushed out my bag of candy from its shelf and down to the bottom. "Thank you, vending machine. I'll see you sometime soon, I'm sure." I murmured to it like it was listening and walked myself back down the corridor. But from the distance, like all of my luck of not seeing him, went out of the window as Theo was pulling open the door with one hand and striding down the same corridor I was in. He was dressed up in his football uniform and I had never seen him dressed in that before. Holy shit. It suited him well.

For some reason, it made me feel all warm inside. His hair was pushed back away from his face and he had, what looked like black paint, smeared in two small but thick lines on either of his cheeks. I could see that because his head would move upwards as he occasionally - rarely - looked at the floor further ahead. But not once did he look up completely. But I was glad. He was just staring down at his phone like that had something way more important stuff on it beside knowing where he was going.

I cried over him.

Fuck.

I still don't think I was over him. Seeing him here, in the flesh, when he wasn't running away from me. Everything came back. But I gulped down that melancholy feeling and focused on how close he was to me.

He was getting closer and closer and I couldn't just stand here. I knew I couldn't just wait here and hope he'd say something and clear the air between us. But I knew he wouldn't tell me what I wanted to hear. No. He didn't seem like the type.

My heart rate quickened and I panicked in silence. I had no where to go. No where to go. I repeat. No. Where. To. Go. Fuck.

I almost dropped the packet of M&M's from my hands since they were so clammy.

I turned to look behind me and noticed it was a dead end. I looked to my right and it was a dead end.

I was just about to crumble down on the floor when I saw that he turned right down another corridor. Oh. He was probably going to the bathroom. They were down there. Okay. No. That was good. I wasn't trapped now.

I hesitantly walked forward, scared my trainers were going to make any kind of sound that'd make him turn around and see me. I really didn't want that. But then again, I also kind of did.