Falling for Autumn | Jacob Black

Chapter 50 [edited]

Halloween arrived in Forks with the promise of late-night rain, falling crisp leaves, and the excitement of little kids eager to dress up in their costumes and go trick-or-treating after dinner. Mom and I had prepared goodie bags to pass out at the bakery; neatly placed in plastic purple and black spiderweb bowls next to the register, it was nice to see a customer's face light up when we handed them a bag of candy with their baked goods.

As the last few customers shuffled out of the door, the kids waving frantically to the "witch" and the "pumpkin queen" behind the counter, I blew out a puff of air from my cheeks. Mom grinned as she wiped down one of the countertops where sugar had been spilled, careful not to knock her witch hat off of her head.

"You feeling alright?" She asked as she tossed the sugar into the trashcan. "You look a little tired, Leaf."

"Honestly, I haven't been sleeping that well," I admitted sheepishly, grabbing the broom to sweep the empty shop before another rush came in.

"How long has it been going on?"

"A week or two?" I shrugged. "I just thought my body was finally catching up on all the sleep I missed when Bella and Edward came back from their honeymoon."

"Promise me you'll talk to Carlisle if it gets any worse." Mom raised an eyebrow as she shot a concerned look in my direction.

Before I could promise that I would, another small group of children burst through the door, followed by their parents. Mom immediately beamed at the children, gasping in awe at each of their costumes before putting a handful of candy in their jack-o-lantern buckets. The door opened just as Mom dropped the last handful into the bucket of a dark fairy and I nearly squealed when I recognized the group walking in.

"Excuse me, ma'am... you have the right to party with your friends tonight," Mike called out while he held the door for the parents, a genuine smile plastered on his face as he strolled into the bakery in a police officer costume.

"You guys came!" I ran from the counter and threw my arms around Angela, who was the closest person I reached.

"Of course, we came!" Jessica spoke up from behind us. "Nobody in their right mind would miss a Halloween party!"

"Especially at the Cullens' place," Eric added. "I mean, the graduation party was pretty awesome!"

"Actually, the party's at my house." I beamed. "Well, mostly the backyard. But Alice helped with the planning, so it's still going to be pretty epic."

"Even better!" Eric threw a celebratory fist pump in the air, causing Angela to giggle.

"So, what do we have here?" Mom looked over at my friends, pretending to contemplate their costumes. "We have Officer Newton - very nice, Mike. Angela... a black cat, love it! Jessica is obviously a zombie prom queen, and Eric is an international spy?"

"Yes, I am." Eric shifted into what he thought was a cool spy move, which looked more like 'Charlie's Angels.'

"Great costume choices!"

"Leaf, what are you supposed to be exactly?" Jessica asked curiously, eyeing the black gown with its skirt covered in pumpkins.

"I'm a pumpkin queen... ya know, like those vampire queen costumes? But it's pumpkins because I love to decorate for Halloween so much, I'm the 'queen' of the pumpkin."

"I get it!" Angela said, nodding at my explanation. "It's super creative and cute!"

"Thanks. It took me forever to make this tiara." I gestured to the top of my head where a pumpkin made out of orange and green gems sat proudly in the center of the tiara.