Moonfire

Chapter 10

Friday, October 31st, 6:45am

I wake up on the morning of Halloween, feeling nervous, but ready for the day ahead. Maybe a little nervousness is good, though. It might help me retract my Moonfire.

I've learned so much in just a week of having my Moonfire. I enjoyed my last dream, because Aelia taught me more, even if it was in preparation for the Purestars. I find myself looking forward to the next one.

But first I have to get through the day.

I get out of bed and walk out of the door to go eat breakfast. I shriek a little when I am confronted with a fake zombie face on a coat stand, right in front of my door. I roll my eyes and smile, then skirt around it and head downstairs.

Dad smiles at me mischievously when I enter the kitchen. "Did you like my surprise?" he asks.

"Yeah, it was great, Dad," I say teasingly. "Next time I'm going to put that in front of your door."

"Oh really?" Dad raises his eyebrows. I grin.

I board the bus and sit through the long ride to school, staring out the window. When the bus finally arrives at school, Ella is waiting for me, a witch hat on her head. I smile. I don't know if that would even be allowed, but of course Ella had to try.

"Hi Luna!" she greets me excitedly.

"Hi!" I say back. "Happy Halloween!"

"You too!" Ella replies, and adjusts her witch hat. We walk inside, and Ella is told to take her hat off.

"No hats inside," the teacher tells her. Ella reluctantly takes it off, looking glum. It doesn't last for long, though, because as soon as we turn the corner she puts it right back on. I wonder how long she'll keep that up, I wonder, smiling inwardly.

We arrive at our lockers and put our coats inside then grab our books. Ella chats to me excitedly about her plans for our Halloween sleepover. I chime in occasionally as we walk to our first classes.

I'm unusually impatient for school to be done. I want Halloween to be over, and our sleepover to start. At least then I won't have to worry about my Moonfire.

By the time we get to lunch, both Ella and I are ready for the school day to end. We still have half the day left, but that doesn't stop Ella from being excited. Her witch hat is back on, and as we stand in the line she talks animatedly to me about her plans.

"I was thinking we could get out some games from the game closet and maybe turn my room into a creepy spider cave or something, and play there." Ella chatters.

"You told me that already," I smile. Ella isn't fazed, and keeps talking until we reach the end of the line, where she is again told to take her hat off and we get our food.

We head over to our normal table and sit down. Ella keeps chattering, and after a few minutes, I have to remind her to eat. She reluctantly stops talking and we eat our meal in relative quiet.

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After school, I finish my small amount of homework and help Tyler get into his frankenstein costume. It's big, bulky, and very green, and it takes a bit of effort getting it onto my brother, who is squirming in excitement. I barely have time to get on my basic witch costume before Ella arrives.

I stare at her a moment. She has the same witch hat from today on, but she's wearing a skeleton mask, a dinosaur shirt that has a tail, and furry pants with boots. "How do I look?" she asks, grinning. I blink.

"Great," I say, shaking my head in disbelief. Ella laughs. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised.

Dad comes into the room wearing a skeleton shirt, and stares a moment at Ella's hodge-podge costume, then chuckles. "Nice costume, Ella," he says.