Every 30 Minutes

Prologue

1.07pm, 30 October 2020

-Ella's POV-

Halloween, my favorite holiday. I smiled as I entered the school gates, excitement bubbling in me. "Hey guys!" I greeted the rest of the committee, placing my bag of supplies down on the floor. Most of the committee members smiled at me, except for Veronica, who scoffed at my excitement and happiness. I wonder what crawled up her ass and died in there this time?

"Hi Ella," Erin smiled as she walked up to me. We shared a quick hug before she took out the giant pumpkin in my bag. THUD. Erin yelped as she almost dropped my precious pumpkin. It had taken me forever to find one as large and perfect as this one and if anyone dares ruin it, I will kill them personally.

I turned my attention to Kristine for a moment, watching her get all flustered as Alex only agitated her more. Oh well. "Who isn't here yet?" I asked Erin, not bothering with the two anymore.

"Oh, just a few people... Chad, Lauren, Jack, Matt and Sarah. Everyone else should be here already."

"Ok. Let's put the pumpkin here, where people can see the art I am about to carve on this thing." I grinned, obviously joking around. I could not carve well, almost stabbing my own finger once. Erin just looked at me as if I was crazy, knowing my art was horrible.

"BOO!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Erin shrieked as Alex dropped to the floor in laughter, tears on the brink of spilling out. "Oh my goodness Alex! Are you out of your mind?" Erin chided, steam practically pouring out of her ears.

"Uh no. You should have seen your face! It was hilarious!" He dramatically wiped a fake tear from under his eyes, earning an eye roll from me. "So, how's the pumpkin? Should I get Sonia?" I nodded, hoping he could go away and do something productive for once but of course, he just yelled for Sonia from our side of the hall to the other. I groaned in frustration and facepalmed, giving Alex a glare.

"Nice pumpkin you got there Ella. Perfect for carving. I'll need help getting the seeds and a bit of flesh out though, so can two of you stay and help me?" Sonia requested, smiling as she got ready to carve the pumpkin. I willingly volunteered, curious to how she could do such things so perfectly. Unfortunately, Alex was staying since Erin went to help Chad, her best friend who had just arrived, settle and sort out his supplies.

Do not get me wrong, I did not hate Alex. I just found him annoying sometimes. Wait scratch that. He's annoying most of the time. I turned my attention to the pumpkin being cut, ready to get the seeds out when suddenly, an idea struck me. "Guys guys, guys!" I started, repeating my words as usual whenever I had a sudden idea or extreme excitement. "Don't throw the seeds away! I'll take them to the kitchen where Hannah, Liz and Jason are baking. I got an idea for a new snack for the party and how not to waste some perfectly good seeds."

"Uh... Sure..." Sonia said, giving me a 'are-you-sure-it-is-not-a-crazy-plan-again' face. I grinned and ignored her, knowing well that I cannot mess this up. She opened the lid and we started digging the contents out and dropping it into the plastic bag I had. This would be fun.

After about thirty minutes of digging and rushing off into the the kitchen, I found myself washing the seeds as Liz and Jason talk about random nonsense and Hannah being super quiet as usual. As I switched off the tap, I realised that I did manage to screw this up. I had no idea what was the right temperature or time I had to set for the seeds to roast perfectly... Oh well!

I dumped the tray of seeds into the oven, setting it on medium and ten minutes, making a mental note to keep my eye out for the seeds. "Hey Ella!" Liz called me over, "Jason's crazy. You gotta help me get his brain to work again."