"Aren't we so lucky we can get away from the Academy for Halloween?" Karson said, pulling his scarf tighter around his throat. "Good thing we have the crip as an escort."

                "And me!" Isaac said.

                "Right, and the bastard with his fake dad's money," Karson said, wincing when Isaac kicked him in the shin.

                "Halloween is stupid," Jin said.

                "Fuck, wait, oh my god, what did you dress up as when you were a kid? I bet your parents dressed you up as something ridiculous and that's why you hate Halloween," Karson said.

                "I dressed up as an alcoholic. Oh, wait," Jin said.

                I whacked him with my cane. "Of course the only time you have a sense of humor it's dark."

                We'd been granted permission from Caroline Constance to leave the Academy Halloween night, as long as Isaac and I stayed with the Maroons the whole time. I'm pretty sure Isaac was the only reason we'd been allowed out, but none of us were complaining.

                We'd gone to a Halloween event downtown, where there were things like a corn maze, a haunted house, hay rides, a dance floor, and food and drink. Tickets were fairly cheap, so we'd agreed it was better than holing up at the dorms for the night.

                "Let's grab drinks and go on the hay ride," Lev said.

                "I want to do the haunted house!" Amelia said in excitement. "It'll scare the shit out of me. I'm so excited."

                "Amelia," Lev groaned. "You punched someone last time we went in a haunted house."

                "I got afraid," Amelia said defensively. "I'll be fine this time. Well, probably not. But I won't punch anyone! Well, probably not."

                Lev put his hand over her mouth. "Let's eat and go on the hay ride first."

                We found a refreshment tables where employees were giving out drinks and snacks. An employee came over to us with a smile.

                "Hot chocolates please!" Isaac said.

                Karson whacked him in the back of the head. "Yea, because we want the lactose intolerant one of the group dying of cramps all night."

                "Oh, oops. I forgot," Isaac said with a frown.

                "Blame Jin. He wasn't going to say anything," I said.

                "I don't care," Jin said.

                "Two apple ciders," I said to the employee.

                He got us the drinks and gave us all donuts. We made our way over to the hay ride, which was loading up for its next round.

                "Shit," I said, realizing there was a set of wooden steps to get onto the ride. Jin ushered the others forward.

                The man helping people onto the ride looked nervous as I slowly climbed the stairs. There was a little gap between the stairs and the ride, but I was just trying to get up there.

                "Pain in the ass," Jin said, putting an arm around my waist and helping me hoist my way up the steps. We reached the gap and the man tried to offer a hand, but Jin pushed it away and lifted me over the gap.

                We settled against the hay on the ride and ate our donuts as it started down the path. The whole place was decorated with orange and purple lights and Halloween decorations. People of all ages were running around.

                "I still say we should've dressed up," Amelia said. "Oh, oh! We could've been the Backstreet Boys."

                "The who?" Isaac said in confusion.

                "No, not The Who, the Backstreet Boys," Amelia said.

                "We're too old to dress up. Though I'm surprised the kid's not going out," Karson said.

                "I did earlier," Isaac said. "My dad picked me up and took me through my neighborhood so I could get candy. I might even share it if you guys are nice to me."

                "We don't want your candy," Jin said, pushing the brim of his hat up. He had one arm lazily leaning against my good leg, his body resting against mine. I had my bad leg stretched out in front of me, trying not to kick Lev but not really concerned when the bumpy ride made me do it anyways.

                "Aw, what did you dress up as? I bet it was cute!" Amelia squealed.

                Isaac gave that cute smile of his. "I was Luke Skywalker!"

                "Sexy Luke Skywalker?" Karson said.

                Amelia snatched Jin's donut from him and threw it at Karson's face. "He's nine!"

                "Is it really Halloween if there's not a slutty nine year old?" Karson said.

                "That was my donut," Jin said.

                "The one time you do care and it's over a fucking donut," I said.

                "Can we focus on what's important here? This freak is trying to sexualize a nine year old's costume. What kind of disgusting pervert does that?" Amelia said.

                "Piss off, I bet you have horse kinks," Karson said, throwing the donut back at Amelia.

                "That was my donut part two," Jin said.

                "Here," I said, shoving mine at him. "If it'll shut you up."

                "Shut up is my line," he said, but bit my donut.

                "If you tell me to shut up, I'll eat this whole donut while you watch in misery," I said.

                "Are they being cute?" Amelia whispered to Lev.

                "Fuck off. I'm just getting him to stop complaining," I said, glaring at Amelia. "Unless you want to hear Jin bitch all night because you threw his donut."

                "It needed to be thrown and I regret nothing," Amelia said.

                I settled back against the hay as the ride went on, sharing the rest of my donut with Jin. When the ride was over, Jin helped me off and we made our way to the haunted house.

                Lev had to keep his hand over Amelia's mouth the whole line up to the house, because she wouldn't stop nervous babbling about haunted houses and punching scary people. God, this was going to be a disaster.

                "Maybe we'll hear Jin shriek in terror," Karson said.

                "Maybe Karson will mysteriously die in there," Jin said.

                "I'm not that lucky," I said.

                We were ushered into the house, where the hallway was dark. A guide opened a door and gestured at us to go through, shutting the door once we were in.

                I was right about the disaster part.

                Between Jin's expressionless boredom to everyone jumping out at us, Amelia continuously screaming into Lev's shoulder, Karson and Isaac trying to scare each other, and me struggling to keep up with the group, it was the worst idea we'd ever had. And that was saying something considering we'd started a riot once.

                Two zombies lurched out at us, growling and snapping their teeth. Jin simply stared at them, trying to help me into the next room.

                "He's got one functioning leg and I've got zero appreciation for haunted houses, so get out of the way," Jin said.

                The zombies seemed thrown off a bit, so they growled and hastily retreated from us. I felt relief flood me as I realized we were almost at the exit of the haunted house.

                "FUCK HOLY SHIT WHAT THE HELL!"

                We looked over as Karson stumbled back so hard he nearly fell. Isaac smiled innocently at him.

                "It was an accident," he said, but I could see his fingers crossed behind his back. "I didn't mean to scare you."

                "You little shit," Karson growled.

                "Hurt him and we leave you in here to die!" Amelia said, still clinging to Lev's arm in terror.

                "Let's get out of here before you guys kill each other," Lev said with a sigh. "Kai, are you alright?"

                "I'm fine," I snapped. "Pissed I missed whatever scared Karson, but fine other than that."

                "If you're so fine then you don't need my help," Jin said.

                I gripped his shoulder. "Get me out of here."

                He shot me an impassive look but kept his hand on my back as he helped me through to the exit. We got the hell out of the haunted house and found a place to sit so I could rest my bad leg. I'd successfully made it through without hitting anyone with my cane, which was quite the accomplishment for me.

                Jin left and came back with two cups, handing one to me. I sipped the cider as Jin sat next to me.

                Lev was trying to calm Amelia down and keep Karson from punching Isaac at the same time. Jin and I watched, neither of us moving to help him.

                "You're in a good mood. You're not bitching too much," I said to Jin.

                "Shut up," he said.

                I took his hand in mine. "Yea, yea, you're edgy and you don't care. Halloween should be your favorite holiday. You can get away with being emo."

                "I'm not emo," he said.

                "You're wearing all black and dyed your hair white," I said.

                "Shut up," he repeated.

                I kissed him and hit him with my cane. "You're an asshole."

                "I don't care," he said, but he gave my hand the lightest squeeze.

                I knew he was enjoying himself in his own Jin way. He'd never admit it, of course, but he gave it away by not bitching as much and by not trying to get us to leave. I was having a little fun too, though I'd die before I admitted that to these people.

                "They're showing a horror movie outside. Let's grab more snacks and go," I said.

                "Great, more of Amelia screaming and Karson and Isaac trying to scare each other," Jin said, but he helped me up.

                I kept my hand in his as we went back over to the others. I felt frustrated I couldn't do half the things here thanks to my leg, but the others didn't seem to mind and we were making the best of it. Maybe it wasn't the best night of my life, but it was a pretty good one. I leaned a little closer to Jin and hoped we could stay out a little longer.