Lylli

As I place the bowl of candy on the stand next to the door, Abbey runs down the stairs in her Tinkerbell costume, my parents in tow.

"Okay Maria, we're leaving now. We should be back later tonight," my mom says.

"Don't throw a party without us," my dad adds with a wink.

"Don't I need friends to have a party?" I ask as they open the door.

"What are we then? Rocks?" I hear Lizzie ask sarcastically. I look out the door to see Justin, Marcus, Timmy, Lizzie, and Bella dressed as the grim reaper, a zombie, a pirate, a ladybug, and a monarch butterfly, respectively. I laugh as my friends walk into the house like they lived there and my family leaves for the night. I turn towards my friends.

"Where's your costume, Maria?" Bella asks me.

"I haven't put it on yet. I was setting out the candy for the trick-or-treaters," I reply.

"Well, go put it on," Marcus chimes in. "We'll wait in the living room." I nod and, as they walk to the living room, I jog upstairs to my room. I walk to my closet and pull out my blue Alice dress and black headband. After I put them on, I slip on my white gloves and apron and clip my pocket watch to one of the apron strings tied around my waist, tucking it into the pocket. I walk back down the stairs and into the living room.

"There. You guys happy now?" I ask, pretending to be exasperated.

"Yes we are," Timmy says, smiling at me.

I roll my eyes as the doorbell rings. I walk to the front door, grabbing the bowl of candy. As I open the door, three little kids yell "Trick or treat!" I smile as I hand each one a couple pieces of candy. The little boy is Darth Vader, one little girl is dressed as Belle, and the second little girl has white pigtails and is dressed as a black fairy. I feel my heart jump as Darth Vader and Belle start to scream, pointing behind me. When I turn around, I see Justin acting like he is going to hit me with his scythe.

"Knock it off," I tell him, smacking his arm. He laughs and puts it down. When I turn back to the door, the first two had run off to the next house while the fairy still stood on the porch, staring at me. "Can I help you?" I ask her. She just smiles, holds out her bag again, and, in a tiny voice, says "Trick or treat." "I already gave you some," I tell her. "But there's more at the next house," I add, smiling at her. As she frowns, I thought I saw her eyes flash red before going back to green. She smiles again before running down the sidewalk to the next house. I look after her for a second, trying to figure out whether or not I was just seeing things, before I shut the door and put the bowl back on the stand.

"She looked like she was about to tackle you for that candy," Justin laughs as I start to walk toward the kitchen. I wave my hand at him dismissively as he walks to the living room. As I pull a small bag of chips out of the cabinet, the lights go out. I put the bag on the counter and start for the door, feeling my way along the wall. When I reach the door, I feel for the light switch to see if it's still on. It is. I slowly make my way to the living room.

"The power must've gone out," I hear Bella say from the darkness.

"No duh, smart one," I hear Lizzie retort.

"Guys. Don't start," I tell them both, reaching the doorway.

"Sorry," Lizzie mutters. I make my way to the table beside the couch and find the flashlight in the drawer, turning it on. Timmy smiled as I shined the light on him.

"What?" I ask.

"We should tell stories!" he says excitedly.

"Yeah, how about no," I say back.