Eddie Munson - Novel Like

005 - The Fall Festival

The school day passed considerably slower than I'd hoped. I wasn't sure if it was because I was looking forward to the bonfire tonight, or the fact I hadn't seen Eddie all day.

Probably a little of both. The dismissal bell rang, and Robin and I made our way to the gymnasium to help Nancy with last-minute festival duties.    

We walked through the double doors to Nancy running around like a shepherd trying to wrangle a flock of unruly sheep. There were booths set up all over the gym with more pumpkins, scarecrows, and hay bells than I could count.

Nancy spotted us from across the room and made a b-line in our direction.    

"Uh-oh" Robin said, "Too late to back out now."       

She looked flustered and had a slight sheen of sweat across her forehead. "You're late" she huffed at Robin.

Without giving her time to reply, she grabbed her arm and dragged her to the candy apple station. She said a few things, pointed a few fingers, and made her way back to me.        

"Okay, Ali I have you in charge of the pumpkin carving station. It's already set up I just need you to make sure everything runs smoothly once it starts." She led me to a table at the of side of the booth where extra tools and supplies were being stored.    

"You'll need to clean up afterwards also" she said, avoiding any eye contact. "I know it's not the cleanest job, but with you being a late volunteer all of the other tasks were taken." She said it in an apologetic tone, but something told me she wasn't all that sorry.        

Suddenly, we heard a crash and looked over to see one of the letterman boys had dunked a slimmer nerdy looking boy into the dunk tank. They were all high-fiving and laughing at the poor boy while he struggled to get out. "Oh Fred." Nancy huffed and scurried away to deal with the mess.        

Assholes.

Families began to fill the gymnasium participating in all the themed games and snacks the festival had to offer. The pumpkin carving was going smoothly, but I quickly realized what Nancy meant about the mess. I sighed and went to the side table to grab a trash bag and a roll of paper towels. When I returned, I saw Steve walking up with group of younger kids around him.    

He grinned, "Hey Ali, how's the volunteering going?"        

I held up my pumpkin covered hands and replied, "Oh you know, living the dream. What are you doing here?"       

"I know how you feel. Nance made me do this job last year." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'd pissed her off that day, and I guess that was how she got her revenge" he shrugged. "I was picking pumpkin seeds out my hair for days."       

Ah, so I was right.
Had I done something to piss her off?    

"I thought I'd bring the kids by to play some games and get hopped up on sugar." He rubbed the head of a cute curly haired boy. "This is Dustin by the way, and that's Mike, Will, and Erica." They all waved and gave me kind hellos. I thought I recognized some of them from Eddie's lunch table, but I didn't dare ask.        

"Hey nice to meet you guys. I'm Ali. Did you guys want to carve a pumpkin?" They cheered with excitement and made their way over to the booth.    

They spent the next hour or more designing their pumpkins and making a mess. Mike was chasing Will around with a hand full of pumpkin guts, while Erica practically dared him to touch her with it. She had some serious spunk, I liked her. Steve stayed with them the entire time. It was cute, almost like he was their big brother. I was busy cleaning up the mess when he tapped my shoulder.