prodigy | e.d.

fourteen

morgan

on october 1st, the campus is already filled with halloween decorations, making me groan.

i hate halloween. i never had a group to go trick or treating with when i was younger, and it ruined it all for me.

"but you have us now," josslyn simply replied when i told her just that while she was folding laundry. "and trick or treating was alway overrated when we were kids, anyway. we do this cool halloween party here, usually. me and a couple of people from my set design class usually make all the decorations, the computer techies DJ and everyone else just shows up."

now i sit on my bed, scrolling through my computer to try and find fun costumes to pin to my pinterest board.

ethan, who is laying next to me and throwing a ball up and down, glances over at my screen.

"already?" he asks. "really?"

"hush," i mumble, reaching my hand out to threaten to take the ball from him. he jolts his arm back, almost knocking the both of us of my small bed.

peter and devin are messing with josslyn's most recent paper mâché projects, and she stops her attempt to try and grab them from their hands.

"yes already, ethan," she says sassily. "let the girl have something to look forward to."

"good for you, morgan," he sits up and straightens out his sweatshirt. "but october like... just started. we still got indigenous people's day to get through and then after that your birthday, joss."

(authors note: screw columbus day.)

she waves a hand like it's no big deal.
"i hate my birthday. let's skip it."

"wait, when's your birthday?" i close my laptop lid.

"october 16. the ugliest birthdate ever, i know."

"i didn't know birth dates could be ugly," i laugh. "mine is august 9. is that ugly?"

"very," ethan retorts next to me, and i elbow his side. he clutches it and looks at me like i just shot him.

"ow, hayes. god damn. you're treating me like hot dog water recently."

"hot dog water?"

"yeah it's when—"

"guys," devin interrupts ethan. "i think we should do a group costume."

i wrinkle my nose. "gross."

"cheesy," ethan comments after me.

"absolutely not," peter adds.

"hey, i agree with devin," josslyn says defensively and puts his arm around him. "that sounds fun."

"no it doesn't," ethan and i say at the same time. we look at each other quickly. "jinx. damn."

i close my mouth to avoid any more accidental synchronization, and his eyes light up with a laugh.