“What are you doing for Halloween?”
Holly looked up from her comic book when someone spoke beside her. She smiled when she saw Jodi standing beside her table. They were in the art room, waiting for class to start. It didn’t look like Jodi’s friends had gotten there yet, and Holly thought that might have something to do with why Jodi was talking to her.
In the past Two months, Jodi and her friends had steered clear of Holly. Sometimes Holly would catch Jodi looking over at her with apologetic eyes. She was glad that Jodi still thought about her sometimes.
Like now, when she was waiting for an answer to her question. “Um, I’m not sure.” Even though Halloween was just days away, Holly didn’t have plans. This would be the first year that she wouldn’t be trick-or-treating. Her parents had put their foot down this time.
Jodi leaned against the table. “Are you going to dress up?” She grinned, looking at Holly with wide, hopeful eyes.
Holly scoffed. “Of course!” She started to laugh. “If you don’t dress up for Halloween, then you have no spirit!” She pulled a notebook from her bag and placed it on the table. “I started planning last year, on November 1st.”
“Really?” Jodi slipped into the seat across from Holly and leaned forward. “May I see?”
Holly nodded and slid the notebook over. Jodi flipped through the pages, looking at the lists, descriptions, and sketches. The further into the book she went, Holly knew, the more detailed things became.
“Wow.” Jodi breathed. “There’s a lot of stuff in here.”
“But of course.” Holly had always wanted to say that. She grinned when Jodi looked up at her. “To be honest, I’m already planning for next year.”
Jodi looked at her with wide eyes as she passed the book back. “So, what are you going to be this year?”
“A Pop Tart.” Holly said, laughing at the joke. Every year she thought about it, but then realized that she wouldn’t be able to move in the costume. She was really going to go as a Canadian 2012 Olympic gymnast, but she wouldn’t tell anyone before the 31st.
But Jodi didn’t know that. She tilted her head to the side. “Really? I didn’t think you’d go for something so shallow.”
“Shallow?”
Jodi nodded. “Yeah. A skimpily clad girl covered in frosting.”
Holly blinked at her for a few moments before she burst out laughing. “No no no!” She had to struggle to catch her breath. “Not like that. An actual Pop Tart. Like, the food.” She was gasping for breath.
Jodi started to laugh too. “Oh.”
“And that was just a joke, anyway.” Holly clutched her notebook close to her chest. “You’ll have to wait for the real costume.”
“Okay.” At that moment Jodi’s friends came into the room and she got up to meet them. Then they all sat at a different table in the back. Their laughter filled the room and Holly sighed heavily.
* * *
Holly was deep in thought as she walked down the hall to her locker. During Art class, she and Fletcher had discussed what to do for Halloween. Holly was all for dressing up and just wandering around, but Fletcher didn’t want to. Holly couldn’t really blame him, since she had designed his costume to not be very warm.
She only looked up when she sensed that she was getting close to her locker. When she did, she groaned. “You’re blocking my--”
To her surprise, Nicole moved right away. “Happy?” She asked sarcastically.
Holly grinned. “It’s a Halloween miracle!” She joked. She turned to her locker and opened it. Almost immediately, a ghost on a spring jumped out at her. She jumped and swatted at it. “Fletcher.” She grumbled as Nicole and Lance started to laugh.
“That was a good one.” Lance said as he closed is locker. He leaned against the metal and chuckled. “I’m glad I wasn’t standing right behind you.”
Nicole nodded. “Yeah. Thanks for the laugh.” She and Lance started to walk away as Holly smirked and carefully removed the ghost. She was already hatching a plan to re-use it at home. Her dad hated ghosts.
“Hey.” Holly turned to see that Lance hadn’t walked away yet. “Do you have plans for Halloween?”
“Not really.”
“Great.” Lance smiled at her. “I’m throwing a party. You and your brother should come.” He waved and walked away.
Holly stared after him. A Halloween party? She had never been to one before.
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