It Was You

Chapter 13

Halloween. My favorite holiday next to Christmas. It wasn't my favorite because of the candy and dressing up—I haven't done that in years—no, it was because of one thing...

"A full night of Michael Myers," I explained to Ben as we walked down the school hall. "There's always a Halloween marathon and it's all I do on Halloween. You're more than welcome to join." He nodded and said, "Yeah, sounds fun...but I have a proposition for you." As I opened my locker to get my books, I said, "Go on."


"Hallie Brooks is having a party tonight," he said, "and I would like to check it out." I shrugged and said, "Okay. Just let me know when you get home safe." He leaned up against the locker next to mine and said, "I want you to go with me. I know we talked about how you don't go to parties and I said I don't, either, but...why don't we just get out of our comfort zone a little bit? We won't stay long, only an hour tops."

Oh. No. This is what I feared when getting a boyfriend. Not just him, but any boyfriend. I'm all for doing something different every now and then, but a party? And at Hallie Brooks's place? Just let the cancer get me already. "Um...I don't know, Ben. Hallie and I, we've never really gotten along. I think you should go, though."

I shut my locker and started walking to home room with him behind me. "Yeah, okay, but I want you to come," he insisted. "My first high school party wouldn't be fun without my girlfriend." We sat down at our usual table in home room and I started to think. Would it be so bad? He did say only an hour tops, which seems like forever, but I'm sure it would go by fast.

Sighing, I looked to him and said, "One hour." He let out a "yes!" and kissed my cheek. I continued, "If you want to stay longer, that's fine, but I am leaving once it's up." He nodded furiously and said, "Deal! We should dress up, too! What's a good couples costume?"

As much as I didn't want to dress up, the idea of a couples costume sounded pretty okay. As a kid, I never had someone to dress up with. Since we're going out of our comfort zone anyways, I might as well try this. "How about...Han and Leia," I suggested.

He smiled and put his hand over mine. "That's perfect," he told me. "We can go to the shop right after school and find them. If they don't, since it is Halloween, we can find something else. I'm so excited!" I had to laugh because he reminded me of a little kid.

"Hey, lovebirds," Aaron announced as he sat down at the table. "How goes it?" Lee asked as she sat down next to him. "Good," I told them. Ben added, "Cass and I are going to Hallie Brooks's party tonight. You guys want to tag along?" I was internally begging them to say yes! Going with Ben was fine, but to have two other safety nets there would make that hour more tolerable.

Aaron shrugged and looked to Lee. "I don't see why not," he said. "Sounds better than what we had planned." Ben asked, "What did you have planned?" Lee and Aaron both told him, "Nothing."

After school, Ben drove us over to the only Halloween store in town. Of course it was jam packed, but he took my hand and pushed through people to look for our costumes. "Okay, here's Leia," he said, handing me the costume package. "Oh! The last Han!" He grabbed the package, but then it was suddenly snatched from his hand.

"Back off, Cum-on-my-back," Steven, the school's head honcho, said. Before Ben could say anything, I told Steven, "He had that first, give it back!" Steven mocked me by asking, "What are you gonna do? Give me your cancer so I can die a slow and painful death like you?" Ouch. To add even more pain, he flipped me off. Ben then suddenly grabbed that douche's middle finger and bent it back. Steven gasped in pain and I grabbed a hold of Ben's shoulder to try and calm him.

"Ben, it's just a costume," I assured. He shook his head and told me, "It's not about the costume. It's about the fact that he's insulting my girlfriend!" He bent Steven's finger back a little more, making him buckle to his knees. "I'll kill you," Steven threatened in pain.