Reflect // Van McCann

16. Six Year Anniversary

*Ryan's POV*

Halloween

It was a little too quiet. Usually people would be buzzing about Halloween but all gatherings have been banned on campus. It didn't feel like Halloween but that didn't stop me from buying candy. I took out a Twix bar and began unwrapping it, taking a bite as I waited for my mom to pick me up.

As I finished up my candy, I saw the familiar car pulling up and I got up to discard my trash. I walked up to open the door.

"Hiya mom," I greeted her, slamming the door closed.

"Hi sweetie, how are you doing?" my mom asked, putting the car in drive and pulling out onto the road.

"I'm alright. Managed to survive another week and it's the weekend," I told her, smiling. "I've had exams in all my classes this week so it was awful. I have some reading to do this weekend, but other than that, I'm practically free!"

I'm actually surprised. In the past, I've always been swamped on Halloween. I pulled out my textbook and decided to get a head start on the reading since we had hours to kill anyway.

Before I knew it, we were pulling into the driveway. I grabbed my stuff and made my way towards the door, holding it open for mom. She had lunch already prepared so we spent the time eating and catching up. I excused myself to go upstairs, saying I wanted to get my reading done when in reality, I was planning on visiting Amy.

We didn't have much planned for Halloween this year. My mom and Jess's mom are having a scary movie marathon tonight. She'll come over for dinner and they have three movies picked out, though I'll tell ya, they'll only get through two before I find them fast asleep on the couch. As for trick-or-treaters, my mom had the candy bowl out on the front steps but she was smart not to have all the candy out—only some. And she'd check every once in a while to refill it.

I made my way upstairs, and once I was at the top of the staircase, I could hear my mom already starting her prep for dinner. That should keep her busy for a while. I threw my bag onto my bed and grabbed the bag of candy I planned to give to Amy. I made my way to the furniture room, pushed the bedsheet aside, and stepped through.

The room was dark but I could see her bedroom light spilling into the hallway. I crept down the hallway and leaned against the doorframe to see what Amy was up to. She was on her knees pulling things out from under her bed. Glancing around, I could see she was cleaning up.

She struggled to reach for something deep under her bed but I kept my mouth shut. I didn't want to scare her and have her bang her head on the bed frame. Once she got what she wanted, she scooted away from the bed and sat up, opening the lid. I figured now was a good time.

I knocked on the door and she quickly turned her head. "Hi Amy, whatcha doin'?" I asked her.

"Cleaning up," she responded, smiling slightly. She began digging through the contents of the box and I joined her on the ground. Inside the box were old books that I had gifted her. She always loved reading but the genres she read would change over time. Looking through the box, it seems like this was her Percy Jackson phase.

I smiled at the memory of those books. "It's a shame the movies were a flop because the books are great!" I commented.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Remember when you were smitten with Logan Lerman?" I joked.

Amy went to hit my arm. "Shut up!"

I left her alone to sort through the books. It's crazy to think that if my sister was still alive, she'd be sixteen now. She'd be a junior in high school. Maybe she'd have a boyfriend and she'd go in one of those moody phases, but instead, here she was, stuck at the age of ten. I still can't believe she hasn't changed a bit after not seeing her for years. Meanwhile, I on the other hand, am aging way too fast. Before you know it, I'll get married and have a family. I'd love for her to meet my wife and kids someday but if she's okay with going to paradise, I realize that will never happen. I looked around and noticed she had cardboard boxes stacked off to the side.