Beautiful Lives

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Good Life (OneRepublic)

The weather slowly started to get colder, and before we knew it, late fall was upon us. Fall had always been my favorite season – the weather was on the chilly side, but not unbearable. It contained Halloween, which was my favorite holiday, and it was the perfect time for cozy cardigans, horror movies with friends, pumpkin spice lattes, and walking through piles of crisp leaves on the way to and from school.

I hadn't expected to like the fall in Pennsylvania, but after the night at the karaoke bar, Sebastian and Maya inducted me into their group of friends, and the months became substantially more enjoyable.

In between projects and tests, I'd started spending my nights with the group of them; made up of the two boys I'd met in the storm shelter (Toby and Adam), Nate, Sydney, and Adam's girlfriend Juliet. They'd all been welcoming and friendly in their own special ways; Adam was a total chatterbox, and he could talk to me for hours on end. Toby was more of the 'strong and silent' type, but when he spoke, he was probably the most insightful teenage boy I'd ever met. Sebastian and I grew closer and closer each day, and the more time that passed, the more he started to feel like a brother to me.

The only slight wrinkle in the gang was my relationship with Nate. He was never unfriendly towards anybody, but his budding romance with Sydney had nowhere to go but up, and as they formed a stronger bond, his friendships with everyone else started to get neglected. I could tell that everyone was getting annoyed with him, especially Sebastian. The two of them had been best friends for a few years, and I knew Seb was feeling isolated. I tried not to care about it, but as it got more and more apparent that my other friends were hurt by it, I started to get angry with Nate for his behavior.

Even with the drama, everyone seemed happy. And even though I was still a bit disappointed over Nate's dramatic reconciliation with Sydney, I found myself loving my new home, feeling more and more comfortable with my friends every day, and missing Michigan less and less. The rest of my family seemed to be as happy as I was, and we spent most nights around the dining room table all talking excitedly about how well our new lives were progressing.

* * *

The Monday morning before Halloween weekend rolled around, and there was a chill in the air, as we got ready for school. I layered a cardigan over my shirt, and wrapped one of my favorite navy blue scarves around my neck before heading out into the cold.

As soon as we arrived at the building, I started pacing the hallways, looking for Sebastian or Maya, as I usually did before classes started. I found Sebastian talking to Toby and Adam in a back hallway towards the side of the school.

"Lexi!" Sebastian beamed when he saw me, and grabbed my arm, anchoring me to his side. "What are you doing for Halloween?"

"I don't know," I responded. "I usually give out candy with my brother, but we don't have too many kids in our new neighborhood, so I don't really have any plans,"

"Okay, then you're coming with us," he said, grinning maniacally.

"I am?" I asked. "Where?"

"Six Flags!" Adam cried, unable to contain his enthusiasm. "They do a wicked Halloween event, I went last year and I literally almost pissed myself it was so scary..."

"Adam," Sebastian clapped him on the shoulder. "Little too much information, buddy,"

"Yeah, fine," Adam huffed, crossing his arms. "You'd better come Lexi it's going to be amazing,"