October 30

 I awoke the next day, immediately feeling nervous for Cece. I hadn't realized ghosts were able to pass out, but a part of me wondered if she was telling me the truth. When I had first met her, I believed she was incapable of lying, though obviously she was perfectly capable of deception after she kept her largest secret from me.

No phone calls came though, so I assumed the movie would still be on. We were all going to see Zombies 3, another unneeded sequel to a terrible movie. I wondered when the franchise would stop creating more sequels.

My phone rang once during the day, but it was only Michael, who had called to hang out before the movie. After affirming I would, I threw on a pair of shorts and a heavier T-shirt and grabbed my black duffel bag.

"Going to the soccer field, Mom," I said as I came to the front door. She raised her eyes as I walked by. "Michael wants to hang, but I'll be back by 5:00."

"Be safe!" she called as I exited, though I could tell she was still nervous about me being out alone.

It was another cloudy October day, though the forecast had predicted no thunderstorms. I knew that if there had been the slightest chance of thunderstorms, my mom would've locked me inside.

It felt odd walking to the soccer field to greet my friend. I had been so preoccupied with Cece and my incident that it felt like I hadn't seen them in ages, even though we'd been attending school daily.

As I approached the soccer field, I noticed Michael waiting for me. Upon seeing me, he raised his arm into the air and ran forward, grinning.

"Hey, Harry, how's it going?" he asked.

"Good," I replied, setting my bag down on the grass.

"So..." I glanced up, wondering what he was going to say.

"I heard you, um, got a date to the movie," he spoke quietly, refusing to make eye contact with me. "And you're, um, dating her."

I laughed, glad to have won the bet. "Have fun at that camp, Michael!"

Michael grumbled, but he quickly went back to his old self. "Well, I guess I can't make fun of you anymore..."

"Right you are!" I shouted, patting him on the back.

We began to kick the ball around, just like we had a week ago. Our game quickly turned into one-on-one, but with my mind only focused on Cece, my concentration levels were low, and Michael was breaking no sweat beating me.

"What's the matter with you today, Harry? You never let me beat you at soccer!" he exclaimed. "Did you have a tough day at school or something?"

I frowned. Michael had noticed I was off my game. I couldn't say anything about Cece, which made me resort to a pathetic excuse. "Huge Algebra test Monday. Stressing about it," I muttered.

Michael laughed. "Well, if that's all. You can focus on studying later, Harry. Let's play."

Afterwards, I tried extremely hard to concentrate on the game, but I just couldn't do it or find any joy in playing. After about a half hour, I stopped kicking the ball and sighed. "Michael, I just can't do this today. But I'll see you at 7:00 for the movie."

Before he could reply, I dropped the soccer ball and grabbed my bag, beginning to walk away.

"What?!" he called as I left the soccer field. "You're just walking away?!"

I didn't turn back but instead headed home. As I walked through the front door, I realized it was barely 4:45.

"You're back early!" my mom called from the sofa, a newspaper held in her hands. "How was it?"

"Cool," I replied.

With nearly two hours of free time, I had two hours to kill before arriving to the movie. I spent majority of it playing video games and glancing longingly at the clock and my phone, waiting for a call from Cece.

At 6:15, I was ready to go. My phone and money for snacks were tucked neatly in my pocket, as well as two tickets for Cece and me.

"Harry! Let's go!" my mom shouted from the garage door.

"Coming!" I called, running after her.

Climbing into her small, slightly chipped, red Honda civic, we were soon on our way to the movie theater. I arrived exactly on time and was left standing awkwardly outside the theatre as I waited for the others to arrive.

After a few minutes, however, Tony and Anthony arrived with their dates.

"Where's your date, Harry?" Tony asked.

"She's coming!" I growled.

"Well, this is Mary," Tony said, pointing to his date. She was small and curvy with thick, curly brown hair. A huge smile sat on her face, and she waved at me cheerfully.

"And you remember Anna from Spanish class," Anthony said, pointing to his date, a taller girl with sandy blonde-hair and brown eyes.

"Hi," I spoke quietly, waving my hand.

My friends talked for awhile until eventually MIchael and his date showed up. By now, I was beginning to get nervous, wondering if Cece truly was coming.

As I paced nervously, my friends' conversation fell silent, and they looked past me.

"What?" I asked.

A tap came on my shoulder, and I spun around to see Cece dressed in a beautiful gown. I was taken aback by how beautiful she looked, and for a moment, I just stood there, gaping at her.

"I hope I'm not too dressed up," she admitted, her cheeks flushed. "I just wanted to wear something nice."

"No, not at all," I assured her. "It looks nice--you look nice," I stammered. I turned around and faced my friends, my hand draped around Cece's waist. "And guys, this is my girlfriend, Cece."

"Hi," they all replied, going through quick introductions.

"We should head in," Michael said upon glancing at his wristwatch. "It's nearly 7:00."

We bought our snacks and headed into the theater right on time, taking our seats fast. Cece sat down right beside me and munched on the popcorn we were planning on sharing.

"Must be nice to see a movie from time to time," Cece whispered as the ten thousand commercials began to play.

"I guess so. My friends usually always bring dates though, so I'm the awkward one. Good thing you're here," I whispered.

There was a long silence before she spoke again. "Right."

"Shut it!" Michael hissed from his seat. Perhaps we were talking a bit louder than we thought.

As I sat back in my chair, I wondered wht Cece was acting so weird. Did she want to break up? I didn't get it. After her pass out the day before, it was like she'd taken on some new identity.

We sat through the entire movie without even glancing at each other. For some reason, I felt it was even more awkward than attending the movies without a girlfriend.

As the movie came to an end, I leaned over again. "So...my friends and I are going trick-or-treating tomorrow."

Cece giggled. "You still go trick-or-treating?"

I hoped she couldn't see me blushing. "Hey, when life offers you free candy, you don't turn it down," I explained. "Want to come?"

Michael shushed us again as the screen went black and the lights came back on. The movie had ended with yet another cliffhanger, which made it clear a fourth was in the making.

We all headed out of the theater, and I was still unsure if Cece had replied "yes" to my question. As we walked outside, the sky was as dark as could be, though the moon was still visible through the rolling gray clouds.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then," I said to Cece. "You look beautiful by the way," I told her, glancing at her dress one last time.

"Thanks," she replied. "See you tomorrow." She kissed me quickly then faded again. I sighed as she left, wondering if she would even bother showing up the next day.