The Loveliest Lies of All

Nine: Into the Unknown

  It was Halloween and after a fair few hours I had finally perfected the sweets for him: my next door neighbour, Wirt. I had had a naive crush on the boy for the past few months, but I had no idea how to tell him. It was an internal battle on whether I should or not, and finally I thought that tonight I might make my attempt, after the football match at school this evening, then maybe we could attend the Halloween party I was invited to together.

I ran upstairs and changed into my costume: a boho style red skirt, a floaty white off the shoulder top and a thick black belt. On my head I wore an elegant but subtle headdress, and pair of long boho style silver earrings. I slipped on my wedges at the front door and grabbed the sweets, putting them into my skirt pocket. "Into the unknown," I breathed, trying to build up my confidence.

Alone I walked over to the school's football pitch, the bleachers already appearing quite full as the match had already started. That's when I spotted him, dressed in a blue cape and a red pointy hat. Greg was stood next to him with a teapot on his head, although I didn't expect anything different from Wirt's younger half-brother. I wasn't exactly sure what Wirt was supposed to be, but I thought he looked cute all the same.

I approached the brothers, seeing Wirt hanging onto the metal fencing that surrounded the football stands, and I wondered what he was up to. Something seemed to have captured his great interest, as he didn't even notice me approaching. "Hey Wirt!" I called out to him as I approached, but he didn't even turn around.

"Hi Mary," he said, his attention firmly elsewhere.

"Hello Mary!" Greg said enthusiastically. "Wanna learn some rock facts?"

"Er... maybe another time, Greg," I laughed lightly. "So - er - Wirt, I..."

"Is that bee named Sara?" Greg suddenly asked.

"W-what?" Wirt said nervously.

"Your tape says 'For Sara,' are you going to give it to Sara the bee?" Greg asked innocently. That was when I spotted it, seeing the tape in Wirt's hand and indeed, written on it was 'For Sara.' I followed Wirt's gaze to see that it indeed landed on Sara dressed as the school mascot. I furrowed my eyebrows and bit my lip, feeling sadness build up within me.

I had my suspicions that Wirt had fallen for a girl, due to his change in his poetry that I often heard him recite from his bedroom as his window was near mine. I hoped it would've been me, that he would reciprocate my feelings but the poems he recited seemed to say otherwise. Now it seemed clear that it was Sara he had fallen for, not me. After all, he had never made me a mixed tape before, nor had he shown that I was anything more then just a friend, and now he had both for Sara.

I remained standing there silently as the two brothers continued to speak. They both started to speak about Sara, so I decided not to listen and awkwardly I walked away, neither of them noticing my absence. I was hurt, my heart ached as I looked at the bag of homemade sweets that were in my hand, labelled 'Wirt x'. I bit my lip, determined not to cry, as I shoved the sweets in the pocket of my skirt and walked sulkily to the Halloween party.

There were many trick or treaters walking around the streets, yet I felt so lonely. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go to the Halloween party, but I thought maybe it would be an opportunity to take my mind off of the fact that Wirt's heart belonged to a different girl, a girl much better then me.

I sighed as I entered the house full of people dressed in costumes, and I wandered over to the drinks table solemnly to pour myself some juice. I felt the weight of the sweets in my pocket, and again I tried not to cry. There was a tap on my shoulder, so I turned and saw Charlie, a classmate of mine and the host of the party, standing there dressed as a vampire. "Glad you could come Mary, it's great to see you," he said with a smile.