Angelo’s arms were full with a variety of different snacks and I added a partially full bag of popcorn onto the pile.

“Seriously?” Angelo asked in disbelief.

“Isn’t this what couples do or something?” I asked. “One wants to try everything and the other eats it all?”

“You think I’m going to eat all this?” Angelo’s voice cracked from how high it went.

“Relax, it’s for the romance novel research. We can just eat all this when we get home.”

Angelo stared at me and I stared back at him.

“Don’t act like you ate just chips for lunch the other day. You have options now. Anyways, I paid for all this so I don’t know why you’re so worried.”

“How did you even get this much money? I’m broke,” Angelo whined.

“I’m good with saving up and the scholarships definitely help,” I said absentmindedly. “Retail is hell though. I don’t know if working during high school was worth it.”

“You have money at least.”

“That’s true.”

I pulled out a reusable bag from my pocket that I got from a random booth and put all the snacks into the bag. Angelo was a little too excited to let go of all the stuff from his arms but also gave me a side glance.

I blinked. “What?”

“You had this the whole time?” Angelo asked. “Why didn’t you use it earlier?”

“I figured it would help with the romance experience,” I said. “Man holding all of your stuff out of chivalry or something along those lines.”

“Do you feel like your heart is exploding?” Angelo asked sarcastically.

“The only thing it’s exploding from is boredom,” I said. “You know what would really get my heart racing though?”

Angelo hesitated. “What?”

“Going to the haunted house.”

Angelo visibly deflated at the mention and he looked to the horizon. “Is it going to get dark soon?”

“I hope so, it’ll really enhance the experience.”

After some complaints from Angelo, we finally made our way to the haunted house. It looked like the club that had set up the experience had managed to rent out the cinema space for the night. There was a small lineup in front of the right-hand set of doors while people exited the left-hand side with giddy excitement. Small comments of it being really scary or one person they weren’t scared at all. One person stood in front of the doors to let people into the haunted house and promptly closed them so that other people couldn’t peek inside. Curiosity and anticipation flooded my body and I felt myself shake with energy.

“I wonder what they decided to do,” I looked at Angelo and he was muttering to himself.

“…full of grace, the lord is with thee—"

“Are you praying?” I asked.

“I don’t mess with ghosts, Boo. If we go back to our dorm and I see an unfamiliar face, we are getting a priest.”

“It’s not real at least, so that should ease your worries.”

Angelo threw his arms up and nearly dropped the tote bag. “My fear is very real, Boo.”

I carefully took the bag away from him and slung it over my shoulder. “You should use that to write your horror novel.”

“Alright, you’re next,” the person at the door said.

Angelo jumped at the call and I could only grin.

“You okay?” I asked him.

He slapped my arm and scowled. “You already know, I don’t even understand why you’re smiling like that.”

“Pretend I’m excited for a date for the romance book—no wait that’s my job,” I paused. “Pretend I want to murder you.”

“I hate you.”

“Should I hold onto you or do you need to hold me more?” I held my hand towards him and he stared at it.

“Maybe I don’t want to hold onto you.”

“Alright, that’s fine with me,” I said and stepped into the dark room. “I’m going to have so much fun.”

“No wait,” Angelo called out. “Boo!”

“Hey, we’re going into a haunted house to be scared not to do the scaring.”

There was a pause and I felt Angelo walking right behind me. I couldn’t see his reaction but I could imagine it.

“I don’t want to hear another word from you for the rest of this walk.”