Farmgirl

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I woke up earlier than usual on Halloween morning. It was a Saturday, and I usually sleep in on Saturdays, but I was much too excited to stay asleep. The sky was grey, the sun casting suspicious looking yellow streaks into the early morning sky. I almost squealed, everything was so perfectly spooky. I grabbed my Halloween sweater and began to get ready for the day. I hung up cobwebs on the porch and put our pumpkins in a perfect position. And, of course, I sprinkled plastic spiders all over the house. My mom woke up about an hour after me, which was good timing, because I was getting very close to allowing myself just one piece of candy that was for the trick or treaters. I was practically going to explode, I was so excited.

The morning dragged by and I thought I was going to pass out of boredom and anticipation when finally it was two o'clock. The doorbell rang and I shrieked, dropping the plastic bat I was holding and running towards the door.

"Sierra!" I said.

"Meredith!" She said, with the same enthusiasm.

"Hi! What's up? Come in!" I said. I was so excited, I was almost jumping up and down.

Sierra came inside and I showed her all the decorations and laid out our plan. At three thirty, I texted Abigail and Sierra and I made our way into the woods.

"I'm so excited to meet Abigail. I bet you guys are gonna be really cute together." Sierra said.

"Shhh!" I whispered, but I was smiling. "I haven't asked her out or anything yet so keep your voice down." I pleaded. Sierra just smiled.

Abigail was waiting for us at the fence, without Andrew. Relief swept over me, until she spoke.

"Andrew's coming in about ten minutes." Abigail said. "He just had to finish some chores and I think he wanted to clean up a bit." Abigail gave me a sympathetic frown. "I found some flowers in his room yesterday. I think they're for you."

"Did you tell him-?"

"No offense, but I'm not gonna be the one to break his heart, partially because he wouldn't believe me." Abigail said. I groaned.

"It wouldn't really break his heart, would it?"

"Probably not, but he's still gonna be pissed as hell."

"Well, I'd rather him pissed than under the assumption that I like him back, so-" I swore under my breath. "Here he comes." I saw a dark figure approaching us from the distance. Thank god, it didn't seem like he had flowers or anything. But he was dressed up nicer than I'd ever seen him.

"Looks like he cleaned up for you," Abigail said with a smirk. I gave her a playful but annoyed shove. Sierra giggled.

"Hi," Andrew said when he showed up. He took in the scene, three girls staring at him with mixed expressions. His sister, looking amused, Sierra, looking a bit confused, and then me, and I had what was a neutral and not disgusted expression on my face.

"Let's start the party!" Abigail said, jumping up. Sierra and I brought out the bags of candy and chips we'd smuggled out of my house, and I started playing music from my phone. We all found decently nice spots to sit and began chatting like we'd all been friends forever. I was glad to see Sierra and Andrew striking up a conversation, distracting Andrew from me and allowing Abigail and myself to talk. I smiled. Sierra was a smart girl.

"Happy Halloween," I said, turning to Abigail. She grinned.

"Happy Halloween!" She replied, tossing a piece of candy into her mouth. "Are you dressing up for trick or treating?"

"Of course," I said, "but it's a more casual costume. I'm going as a black cat."

"I bet you'll look adorable." Abigail said. My cheeks flushed. I was grateful for my darker skin, because it was rather hard to tell when I was blushing, but nonetheless, I probably still looked a little bewildered. It's not every day I get compliments from pretty girls.

"Thanks." I said after a short pause. "You look really nice today, too." Abigail was wearing her hair in just one braid today, loose and pulled over her shoulder. She had one long strand of hair on the opposite side, and it framed her face quite nicely. The oncoming sunset made her skin seem to glow and she looked stunning. As always.

"Thank you, but really," she said the next part in a whisper so only I could hear, "I didn't clean up nearly as much as my brother did." I couldn't stop myself from giggling just a bit.

The music playing just so catchy I couldn't stop myself from tapping my foot along to the tune. Abigail caught my eye and she began to sway to the beat. I smiled, and suddenly she'd grabbed my arm and we were jumping up and dancing to the music. Sierra joined in instantly, and even Andrew stood up and kinda bounced slightly after some hesitation. I felt alive, right then and there, more alive than ever. I had Abigail's hand in mine and we weren't dancing, really, just jumping around and grinning like crazy teens on a sugar high (which we probably were) but it felt amazing.

We wore ourselves out pretty quickly and eventually collapsed back onto the ground, giggling. I would've never left, but Andrew's watch beeped. His face darkened.

"Abigail, time to go." he said, shooting me a look of regret. "Five o'clock. We gotta start dinner soon." He began to stand up and brush the dirt off his clothes.

"Thank you so much for having this!" Abigail said, giving me a big hug. I was a little surprised. She was warm, and smelled slightly like cinnamon. We were both smiling when we pulled apart. I gave Andrew a wave good-bye, and Sierra and I began to head home.

"They both seem really great," Sierra said, once we were far enough away.

"Yeah..." I said, still smelling a trace of cinnamon.

"You and Abigail though..." Sierra shook her head, smiling playfully.

"What about us?" I asked, a little defensive.

"Christ, you're both head over heels for each other, can't you tell?"

"What?"

"Meredith, I love you and all, but you're blind as hell. Clearly you picked up on Andrew, but apparently only because he's even less subtle than his sister! Jesus, you and Abigail need to get together already, honestly."

"Are you sure?" I asked, worried. "I'm not sure, maybe she's just being nice to me."

"Meredith," Sierra began in a calm and controlled voice. "she's a lesbian. And you're bi. She really likes you and she is not hiding it."

"I dunno," I said, almost scared a little. "Her father is really homophobic and racist, I don't think it'd be in Abigail's best interests to start dating a black girl."

"I mean, he hasn't found out about you yet." Sierra said. "Who says he ever has to?"

🍂🍂🍂

"You didn't bring the flowers." Abigail let the words hang in the air. She had to admit, she was shocked (and relieved) when Andrew showed up without the flowers that had clearly been for Meredith.

Andrew didn't respond, so Abigail continued.

"Did you not want to do it in front of everyone, because I can understand that. But you'd better hurry, because flowers don't last that long."

Andrew once again declined to reply, prompting Abigail to keep speaking.

"Listen, Andrew, I'm gonna give you some advice, because as a girl, and knowing Meredith, here's what you should do. First-"

"Abigail?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

The twins made their way back to the farm in silence.