When the new week arrived, everyone buzzed about the annual Halloween party, which was a charity event organized by the student council. I didn't share the same excitement with others because I could imagine how chaotic and stifling the gymnasium would be. But then, Clover and everyone else in the group was coming, and I would hate to miss out on the fun.

I spent the week tossing around costume ideas with Clover. One day, after school, she, Rose, and I went to the thrift stores to get some clothes and accessories. Rose wanted to dress up as an anime character, and she wanted to go all out, so our shopping took longer than expected. It was tiring, but it was fun. I felt like I was the same age as them.

The night of the Halloween party came around, and I was dressed up as a witch. Totally original, I know. But Rose had helped me pick my clothes and accessories that gave it a steampunk look.

When Clover and I stepped inside the gym, my stomach did multiple somersaults. As expected, the place was thronged with people in costumes, and the noise was so loud it was practically shaking the building. It was hard to tell who was who, so I had to hold onto Clover so I wouldn't get lost or, worse, get trampled on.

We met Rose and Clint at a table in a corner, drinking what I hoped was juice. Clint was wearing a cowboy suit, much to Clover's disbelief, as she was dressed up as a cowgirl bandit. This coincidence put Clint in a full-on-smiling state that I was sure would last all night long. Nate came later on in his '80s rock star outfit. We almost didn't recognize him because of the thick curly blond wig.

"Dude, you look like a rejected band member," Clint told him, and the group fell into stitches.

Too bad Michael wasn't there to share the fun. Since I got there, I had been craning my neck to look for him around. We hadn't seen each other that much at school. And we hadn't exchanged any text messages that week except for him asking if I was going to the party and me saying yes. He hadn't confirmed if he was also going, which kept me on my toes all day.

Later on, the host announced that they had set up a game where two to three people had to travel around the school building to look for specific items to win cash and free lunch meals for a week. The mention of the prizes built up excitement within the crowd.

Nate raised his hand, facing the group. "All right, free food. Who wants in?" he shouted over the music.

"No way! Do you know how haunted our school is?" Rose glowered at him. "According to history, this place was built on a cemetery in the 1900s, and a decade ago, someone jumped off the building and died on the spot."

"Oh, I know that story," Clover chimed in, holding Rose's arm as she looked at her. "Her name was Caroline. The janitor said he saw her ghost wandering the building every night, and she'd flick the lights on and off."

The boys stared at them as if they were crazy.

"What are guys smoking? Ghosts ain't real," Nate said.

Rose folded her arms in a pouting manner. "Yes, they are. I see them all the time. Sometimes, I even mistake them for real people."

"Really?" I piped up, astonished. All these talks about the paranormal sent my imagination into overdrive.

Clint held up his hand to quiet everyone down. "If this place was infested with ghosts, I'm sure they got nothing on us. They're just ghosts. Nathan here is a fucking demon."

Nate narrowed his eyes as if he wanted to bop Clint's head, but he couldn't do so because the insult was too good. "This may be the only time I believe in the shit y'all saying," Nate said, surprisingly empowered. "Let's go find some ghosts!"

"I hope Caroline haunts you in your sleep," Rose yelled as the boys walked away.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll send you her autograph."

Us girls talked some more about the paranormal, and Rose was in the middle of telling about her experience at her aunt's cabin when a girl in a maid costume came to our corner. It was Sunny, and she was beaming at me in an almost crazy way.

"Autumn! I've looked everywhere for you. Sorry for barging in, but could you come with me for a sec?" She didn't bother to wait for my reply and just grabbed me from my seat.

"What's the matter? Where are we going?" I asked. Cold night air enveloped me as she dragged me outside the gym. I looked around to see if something unusual was happening, but she immediately put a piece of cloth over my eyes. "Hey, what is this? Are you kidnapping me, Sunny?"

She laughed, tightening the knot behind my head. "Don't be silly. I'm just sending you to someone who wants to talk to you."

"Oh, so interrogation with a side of kidnapping," I said dryly. "Who wants to talk to me? And why should it be outside?"

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, would it? Just trust me. Nothing bad is going to happen." She patted my shoulder.

"Right. That's exactly what people say right before something bad happens."

The dirt crushed under my shoes as Sunny guided me along the way. I fought off the temptation to remove the blindfold because I wanted to be adventurous, and I was curious how this thing would turn out. Not a minute later, the dirt pathway changed to concrete, and I was climbing familiar stairs, and the cold air around me turned warm. My heart slammed against my ribcage as an idea of what was happening began to form in my mind.

"What the hell is going on?" a deep husky voice whispered beside me, making me flinch.

A hand pressed on my shoulder, and I felt Sunny's breath on the side of my face. "Welcome to the haunted scavenger hunt, lovebirds. Enjoy."

I pulled my blindfold down and gasped when I saw Finn taking off his blindfold as well. Before any of us could say anything, the door clicked shut behind us, and we heard a few people laughing outside. For a brief moment, I wondered if this was a prank Finn had concocted with his friends, but he looked as shaken as I was.

"Hey, we didn't sign up for this!" he yelled, trying to yank the door open.

"They locked it," I muttered.

He banged his fist on the glass. It had been covered with newspapers outside to muffle the light and boost the eerie ambiance. "Lance, you asshole. Open this up!"

"That's not how it works, dude." Lance cackled. "Play the game. Find the correct exit. Try not to get caught."

Huffing, Finn shook his head and swallowed whatever barbed words he wanted to throw out. "So this is what this stupid paper is for," he muttered, fishing out a piece of paper from the pocket of his pirate coat. It must contain the list of items that we needed to collect.

"I swear to God, I'll get back at you for this!" he yelled at the door, only to be responded with a series of chuckles.

"Forget it," I said and stared at the flickering light at the end of the hallway. "Let's just go find the exit. There's another one around this floor, right?"

He gave me a side-eyed look. "Wow. You're surprisingly chill about this."

"Only because I'm in too much shock and confusion that my mind has blanked out, and I'm in a state of total calmness," I droned.

"Yup. That makes sense."

We began our journey. Darkness dominated most of the area, so Finn pulled out his phone to use the flashlight feature. Fake cobwebs were strewn around, and bloody skeletons were dangled on the lockers and the ceiling. The shock from earlier was wearing off, and uneasiness began to claw its way up to my chest.

"Finn, what did Lance mean by 'try not to get caught'?" I muttered.

"No idea," he answered.

Just then, we heard a locker door creak open behind us. Bit by bit, we turned around and saw a bloody nun jump out and crawl on all fours toward us. Finn and I knew that it was just a person in a terrifying Halloween costume, but it all happened so suddenly and so fast that we screamed. He seized my arm, and we ran across the hall and rounded a corner until we reached an emergency exit.

Finn tried to push it open. Locked.

Footsteps echoed down the hall. I pulled him next to the lockers to hide in the dark. We poked our heads out just enough to see the nun passing by the main hallway. He or she walked slowly under the dim flashing light. The scene looked like it was straight out of a horror movie.

I flinched as a banging noise resounded above us. It must be the other players looking for the items. I hoped we'd bump into Nate and Clint somewhere so we could all go together.

"So all the doors are locked here," Finn murmured, his breathing labored. "We need to go to the other wing."

That meant we had to climb to the second floor and walk across the bridge to get to the next building. Who knew what could be lurking up there? A crazy ax-wielding killer? Caroline's ghost? I groaned. I had thought this would be a simple scavenger hunt. Apparently, there was a haunted house twist to it.

"I feel like I'm in a survival horror game," I said.

Finn muffled a chuckle. "You can say that again. Let's go?" He took a peep in the main hallway. "Looks like they're gone."

"What if we just let ourselves get caught? Maybe they'll eliminate us from the game and lead us to the exit."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

I considered it, and then I nodded with a shrug. Since both of us were trapped in this game, we might as well make the most of it. Besides, I looked forward to having some adventure that night.

We left our hiding spot and ascended the stairs. Most of the lights on the next floor were dead as well. Our breathing came out fast and raspy, although we hadn't broken into another run yet. We visibly tensed at every noise coming from the classrooms, sweat dripping down the side of our foreheads. We tried to ease up by poking fun at each other along the way.

"Wait, what's that?" I asked. The relentless sound of drumming on the roof trickled in my ears. "I think it's raining outside."

Finn stopped, giving me a weird look. "What did you say?"

"I said it's raining outside."

"Yeah, I heard that one. What did you say after that?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"I heard you whisper something in my ear. Are you trying to scare me, Autumn?" His mouth made a twitching smile.

I shook my head to rid myself of the fright. "Maybe you're just imagining things."

He exhaled. "Right."

With the help of his phone's flashlight, we continued our way. No more goofing around. There was not much talking unless necessary.

The hairs on my skin stood up again, and I desperately hoped it was because of the cold that the rain had brought and not because of whatever was behind us. I held my breath every time we round a corner because I kept expecting something to pop out and give us a heart attack. When we passed by a bulletin board with sliding glass, I tried not to look at it, but my eyes were stubborn. At the subtlest glance, I saw a white misty figure reflecting on the glass.

All of my childhood nightmares slammed back to me, and I lost it. I grabbed Finn's hand, and we bolted across the bridge and zoomed down the stairs. He nearly tripped on his feet as he tried to keep up with me.

"Hey, slow down. Slow down!" he shouted.

I tried to think of something happy to distract me, but the image of the ghost crawling behind us like a giant spider kept entering my mind.

The hallways in the next building were pitch black when we got there. The power must've gone out. The only illumination in the hallway came from the menacing lightning flashes through the small windows.

Eventually, I stopped running and pressed my back against the wall. Finn did the same thing. We didn't part our hands.

"What was that about?" he asked, panting.

"The ghost... I saw it on the glass." I opened my mouth to breathe more air. "I thought it was following us."

"What? Ghost? There was nothing behind us. Maybe you're the one imagining things."

Despite my terror, I breathed out a laugh. "I guess both of us were being crazy."

The sound of the rain went louder as if the clouds were pouring bullets on the roof. In the brooding atmosphere, I somehow found a bit of peacefulness when Finn drew his hand from my grip and place it on top of mine.

"How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment.

"I'm okay now," I said.

"Good."

Silence.

"Um... Sunny mentioned earlier that you wanted to talk to me?"

"Huh? I didn't say that."

"Oh." I laughed. "So it was another one of her jokes."

Finn let out a short laugh before clearing his throat. "But I have to say... you look great tonight. You look like a warrior princess."

"Correction: a witch."

"Where's your pointy hat?"

I touched the top of my head. The hat was gone. "Oh no, I must've dropped it earlier."

"Should we go back and find it?" He smiled, daring me.

"No way."

Silence settled once more. Slowly and gently, his fingers filled the spaces between mine until all our fingers were interlocked. I looked at him, and he looked at me, and for a moment, time seemed suspended.

Cheeks warming at the gesture, I pulled my hand away from his. "Uh, let's go find the exit and get this over with. Our friends might be looking for us."

I was about to turn on my heel when Finn began, "This might be a weird time and place to bring this up, but... I don't want to brush this off any longer." He paused as if to steel himself. "You've figured out that I was the one that's been sending you those sticky notes, right?"

I tensed up. "Yes."

"And one time I told you that they probably came from someone who had a crush on you, and you didn't believe it."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because..." I gulped, my breathing becoming short and shallow again. "Because i-it's just hard to believe that someone would ever like me."

"I like you."

Lightning flashed again, and I found him staring into my eyes. He looked anxious but determined.

"I've always liked you, Autumn. All those songs that I've been trying to write are all for you to hear someday." He took a long, deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I'm sorry I took so long to say this. It's because... I thought I should better myself first before I ask you out."

He had said it. In the darkness, the rhythmic sound of rain and thunder, and the violent pounding of my heart, Finn had finally put the important things into words.

"So... will you go out with me?"