The weekend was finally over and school was back in full swing, no pun intended. Halloween was nearing, and Jake and his friends were ready to get their annual costumes once more. Jake always went as Spider-Man, Mark as Ironman, and Evan as Captain America. Even though some may say junior year is "too old" to trick-or-treat, it's a tradition, and neither Jake nor his friends wanted to give it up.

As soon as school and football practice had ended, Jake rushed to meet up with Mark and Evan at this local Halloween store. The owners were really sweet and they loved the boys.

The chimes rang as they walked in, and the lady behind the desk, one of the owners, turned and gave them a big smile. "Oh, hello loves! Are you here to get your costumes again?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jake replied with a grin.

"Follow me, follow me." She led them through the aisles of costumes and to a back corner, where there was an array of superhero costumes. "These should be about the right size, check it out," she said as she handed the three their designated costumes.

They held them up to themselves to check the sizes and were surprised that they actually looked to be accurate.

"Thank you so much!" Evan exclaimed. Evan grabbed the shield from his Cap costume and hooked his arm into it, holding it up in front of himself with a laugh.

"Of course, my dears. Come to the counter and we can check you out." They followed her to the desk and gave her cash, paying for their costumes. "Have a wonderful Halloween. Don't forget to come back and visit!"

"We won't," the boys chorused. They thanked her and walked out, gripping their costumes.

As they walked down the street back to Jake's house, they passed Ryan going the other way. He eyes their costumes with a smile.

"Halloween shopping?" Ryan asked.

"Yep. We go as the same avengers every year for as long as I can remember," Jake replied with a smile.

"Oh that's awesome!"

"Yeah, it is." They stood in an awkward silence until Jake decided to break it. "Hey! Do you want to come with us? You could be... Bucky!"

"That would be wonderful! I'd love to. Thank you so much," Ryan exclaimed. Mark and Evan, unbeknownst to Jake, exchanged a glance.

"Of course! You can go to the store we just left, you're heading in that direction anyway. I'm sure she'll have something for you," Jake said.

Ryan said goodbye and continued walking. Jake turned to Evan and Mark with a grin from ear-to-ear. "He's joining us! Maybe I could use that as a chance to, like, ask him out? Isn't that wonderful!"

"Yeah, that's great," Mark replied with a small smile. He looked at Evan again, who also gave a slight smile to Jake. Jake cocked his head in confusion, but chose to ignore it.

"I know we were gonna hang out for a bit, but I need to get home. Ever since I quit ballet dad's been making me practice for half an hour every week so and he decided it would be today at the last minute. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," Evan said. They both waved and walked off with Mark. He walked off, the fabric from his Spider-Man suit turning hot in his grasp.

He got back home and threw the suit onto his bed before running upstairs to where his barre was and stretching. He let the familiar motions and rhythms clear his mind of Mark and Evan's odd glances, calm his heart of the jitters from thoughts of Ryan. He let the movements calm him, glad his dad had forced him to do so.