Boys of Halloween Past
The Year: Tenth Grade
“Looking good, Kitty Kat,” Aunt Viv says, giving my bouncy curls a playful tug as she sashays past me into the living room, wearing a glittery gold evening gown and heels too high for her own good. “Where you off to? A Halloween party?”
I look out the kitchen window at the lake in the distance.
The fall foliage reflects back at me from the lake.
There isn’t a cloud in the sky. It is one of the warmest Halloweens I can remember, with weather in the low seventies.
If I was younger, I would have loved trick-or-treating before Samhain rituals without having to wear a jacket.
But Laney and I decided that this year, since we were officially in tenth grade, we were a little too old to be going door-to-door.
Which frees me up to do something much better.
My favorite jeans aren’t the most festive for handing out candy, but I’ve paired them with a black top and cute pumpkin hanging earrings.
The Halloween headband in my hair hopefully is mature and festive.
Laney and I worked hard to find me the perfect outfit because I’m going out with Reese Whitaker, the boy I’ve liked all year. Someone pinch me.
I was starting to lose hope, if I’m being honest, after these past few years. After what happened with Justin—and Ashton—last year, I swore to try a Halloween without a crush.
And then I met Reese.
Well, Harry technically met Reese first, when they worked together over the summer at the town pool.
But every time I’d stop by to visit, I couldn’t help but stare at him in his lifeguard red swim shorts.
For the whole summer, I’d get tongue-tied every time I went past him, because he was cute and he was shirtless, and when he smiled, he had this one dimple. And he smiled at me. A lot.
And then we wound up in Honors English together and everything changed.
Somehow, it was easier to talk to him about books than anything else, and Reese loved reading almost as much as me. Despite all my intentions, it happened again—a Halloween crush.
When I let slip that I think Halloween is just the most romantic holiday because it’s sort of a night meant for true love in my family, Reese with his one dimple had smiled and asked me if he could come over after football practice. He even offered to meet me at Hadley Lake around four o’clock.
I watch from the window, scanning the crowd of trick-or-treaters walking around the lake for Reese. Joggers, older couples, and mothers with infants dressed as pumpkins in their strollers promenade by.
“No Reese yet, dear?” asks Aunt Diane as she comes down the back staircase into the kitchen carrying a glittery orange-and-black clutch.
“Not yet,” I say, keeping my voice light.
It’s only 4:20 p.m. Maybe practice went late.
I reach my hand into the glass jar with candy pumpkins and eat two at once.
Reese never told me where we were going, just asked me if Harry would be home—I guess he wants to say hi to his old coworker before heading out.
I’m hoping we’ll go to the town green. Most of my class was meeting to hang out there and go to the Halloween carnival, so it’ll feel like a real date if we go together.
My heart swells at the idea. Me and Reese, finally.
I’ll have someone to hold my hand this Halloween, and maybe next year we’ll be casting the ritual wards together.
“He’ll be here. He was really excited about it. ”
I watch Aunt Viv and Aunt Diane exchange a look.
“What is it?” I ask, feeling my magic tingling.
“Nothing at all, darling,” says Aunt Viv. “We just want to make sure your heart is protected.”
“My heart doesn’t need protection,” I argue. “Because he’s going to take good care of it. He likes me. I’m sure, this time.”
In the living room, I hear a cough. I am not even sure why Harry is still home.
She’s supposed to have plans with her boyfriend to go to another senior’s Halloween party.
This year she’s dating a guy named Jack, and while I’ve seen Harry date a few guys, she’s different around him.
He even got her to dress up for the first time in years; they’re wearing matching costumes and going as peanut butter and jelly.
I teased her that the costumes were something a toddler would wear, but really they are super-cute.
And she didn’t even get embarrassed. I’m starting to wonder if Jack is Harry’s person the way Dad is Mom’s.
My parents are out right now checking the grounds and getting ready for our Samhain rituals.
We all promised to be home by eleven to be here when they perform them right before midnight.
“Reese is super-reliable. Right, Harry?” I yell into the next room. “Did he ever miss a shift at the pool?”
Harry is quiet for a moment. “Nope!” she finally says.
I look at my aunts triumphantly.
Aunt Diane gives my hand a squeeze. “He’s lucky to have a chance with a Hadley as wonderful as you. And if he messes it up, Aunt Viv can turn him into a nice toaster.”
“Oh, Diane! Please. The most I can do is make him eat flies. Or crave them,” Aunt Viv says.
I’m not sure if she is joking.
“No one’s eating flies tonight,” I say calmly. “Or crow. Because he’ll be here. I know he will.”
With that, I turn back to the window. And I wait.
4:30 p.m. becomes 5:00 p.m., then 5:00 p.m. comes and goes.
The sun starts to dip behind the trees, the grounds darkening.
Our Halloween lights click on outside, and the aunts must come through and switch on a few of the lamps because I’m not sitting in total darkness, but I keep my eyes fixed on the lake.
Voices rumble from deeper in the house, my parents returning. As the evening drags on, I hear Jack and Harry talking louder and louder, and then the slam of a door, the sound of a car engine turning over. I wonder if they were arguing about who loves the other person more.
Again.
Finally, at 6:00 p.m., after no one could convince me to leave the darkened window, the doorbell rings and Laney bursts in, her Supergirl cape flapping behind her. Apparently, she decided to dress up to hand out candy.
“Kat!” She runs straight toward me and puts her hands on my shoulders as she tries to catch her breath. “Reese . . . house . . . Reese . . . house . . . Reese.”
“Reese house . . . what?” I ask, alarmed, and rush her to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. “Is everyone okay?”
Laney takes a sip and looks at me, her dark eyes mournful. “I was heading to the green to stop for a pumpkin PSL at Witches Brew because this year they’re making them in actual pumpkins and it’s adorable and—”
“You passed Reese’s house?” I fill in, trying to connect the dots.
Laney nods. “Yes.”
“And?”
“It was there.”
“Was he there?”
She nods again. “And . . . so was a moving truck.”
I sway slightly. “No,” I say. “That’s not possible! Reese and I have plans. He would have told me if he was suddenly moving out of nowhere. You must have seen someone else—another van—someone else’s house.”
Aunt Viv and Aunt Diana seem to manifest behind Laney, their faces glum.
In the doorway to the front hall, my parents appear, arms around each other.
And in the far doorway, my sister leans against the jamb.
She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes are red and swollen.
Normally she’d be here by my side already, pulling me into a hug, consoling me. Instead, she hangs back.
“Maybe someone is moving in with him,” I suggest, panicking. “A distant cousin? A forgotten uncle? I mean, I feel like he mentioned having a step-grandfather in Arizona. And you know, it’s, um, gotten really hot . . . in Arizona.”
“Kat,” Laney says gently, “I saw Reese walking out of his house with boxes. I saw him. They’re leaving. Today. For North Carolina.”
“Moving? Today?” How could Reese be so cruel?
Why would he make plans if he knew he was moving?
Why has no one mentioned this before? Why hasn’t Reese?
My hands tremble as I reach for my suddenly running nose.
“Why wouldn’t he tell me? We made plans.
We talked about it this morning. He promised he’d be here!
” I sound shrill, my throat sharp and tight.
“I know,” Laney says, and her eyes are shiny with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Kat.”
“Me too,” I say, and that’s when I realize that I’m also crying, that there are hot tears streaming down my cheeks. I sniffle pathetically.
And then Harry is there, looking solemn as she wipes my cheeks and nose with a tissue. “He didn’t deserve you, Kat,” she whispers as she pulls me in tight.
I would have held her tighter, because that’s the last time she hugs me. The next week, she breaks up with Jack. She throws herself into her studies. And then she leaves for BC one August morning without even saying goodbye.