"Did you make sure to buy the candy Travis?" my mom calls from the living room.

My dad looks up from his laptop with fear in his eyes before slowly closing it. He gets up from his chair and walks out the front door with his car keys without saying another word.

My mom rolls her eyes before turning her attention to me. "So, what time are you leaving for the haunted house?"

"Sabrina is picking me up around six and I think we are going to eat a little bit at Kayla's and take some pictures before we leave," I explain.

"Good. I can't wait to see all of the costumes you guys have this year. They are always fun to look at," my mom smiles.

I nod and head upstairs to my room to get ready. It is currently four o'clock and I have to get my costume all ready.

I take my hair out of braids that they had been in all day, so that my hair has a more wavy look. This year I am going as Jo March from Little Women and there are a lot of pieces to the costume. One of them being her hair.

It takes me a while to get my hair pinned and tied up so that it is in a low bun kind of hairstyle. After I have my hair all done I put on some light makeup that looks natural, and then start putting on the pieces to the outfit.

There is a long skirt, an undershirt, a vest, and a small scarf that I have to put on. I'm not sure my costume is one that is easy to guess what it is, but as long as I know who I'm going as, I don't really care.

After I have my entire costume all put together, I go back downstairs to find Greyson and Lila giggling in the kitchen.

When I walk in, Greyson falls silent, "So who are you going as this year?"

"Jo March. And no, I do not want your opinion on my costume," I say haughtily.

"Well I think you look really nice," Lila smiles.

I smile back while Greyson watches our small exchange with an open mouth.

"So what are you guys doing tonight? I don't see any costumes," I say pointing at their outfits.

"We were just going to stay in and eat candy while watching Hocus Pocus. Not everyone takes Halloween as seriously as your crazy friends," Greyson comments.

"You know what? We are crazy, and I like us even more for that," I say before turning to go back to my room.

I check my phone and see that Sabrina has started to make the rounds to pick people up and that she will be arriving soon.

I grab my purse and slip on black boots before I hear the honk, indicating that Sabrina has arrived.

When I get out to the driveway I smile when I see Sabrina and Tony in the front. I hop in the back and take in both of their costumes.

Sabrina has gone as Cruella De Vil, which consists of an outfit of a long black dress, a huge white coat, and long red gloves.

"Sabrina, you look amazing!"

"Thank you darling, you look fantastic as well," Sabrina says with an accent.

"Ah, you're really getting into character aren't you? That's fine, as long as you don't kill any puppies," I reply.

Sabrina's eyes widen for a moment and then she winks at me through the rear-view mirror.

I turn towards Tony and take in his costume. He is wearing a simple black suit and tie with his hair slicked back. The one thing that sets him apart is a fake mustache that he has on that is ridiculously long and curls up.

"I don't think I recognize who you are Tony. Will you tell me or shall I guess?" I ask.

He sighs. "I'm Salvador Dali. He is a very famous surreal artist. He is  the guy that painted the melting clocks."

"Oh I've heard of him. I'm proud of you for actually putting some effort into your costume this year, it's nice."

Tony returns a small smile and then focuses his attention away from me.

We soon arrive to Jasper's house which is fully decorated for Halloween. There are fake cobwebs in the bushes and pumpkins sitting out front.

"Alright, this is our last stop before we go to Kayla's. Apparently everyone else is just meeting us there," Sabrina informs.

Sabrina honks the horn and we wait a moment before the door opens and reveals Jasper in his costume.

"You have got to be kidding me," Sabrina says.

Tony leans back in his seat and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I am not going out in public with him."

Jasper slides open the door with a huge grin on his face.

There he is: dressed up as a damn cookie.

"You have a problem," I say.

"What? I love cookies," Jasper replies.

"This is a cry for help. You have an addiction. I think you need to go to rehab," I say shaking my head.

"So you guys don't like it?" Jasper asks, worried.

"No, I love it. It fits you very well," I sigh.

A smile returns to his face and he tries to buckle up his seat belt, which turns out to be a little difficult in his costume.

Sabrina scoffs and pulls out of his driveway and we are on our way to Kayla's house.

When we get there, Connor's car is already there so we walk inside to find him and Adam talking with Kayla and eating some snacks. Kayla jumps up when she sees us and runs over to give all of us hugs.

She is dressed up as Sandy from Grease which I think fits her perfectly. She teased her curly hair so that it stood out more and she is wearing black leather pants and a off-the-shoulder top.

"I love all of your costumes! Even yours Jasper, although it is a bit odd," Kayla says.

We all walk into the living room and I make my way towards Connor.

He is wearing a white toga along with a gold leaf headband around his head.

"So you're from Greece I take it?" I ask him.

"Not just anybody from Greece. I am the Greek god Apollo, are you familiar with him?" Connor says with a glint in his eye.

I smile. "Actually I am. You chose to be the sun god, Sunshine? How fitting."

"I thought you would like it. He's also the god of poetry so I knew you would like him."

He smiles at me and I can feel my heartbeat speed up. God, he can just smile at me and I feel like I could melt. I need to pull myself together.

"And who are you dressed up as?" Connor asks me.

"I am Jo March from Little Women," I say while looking down at my skirt.

"She's the writer. Perfect for you, Superstar."

I nod and turn my attention back to the rest of the group. Kayla is eyeing Adam up and down.

"Really? This is the best that you could do?" Kayla asks him.

"Well I wasn't as prepared as the rest of you seem to be," Adam adds.

Adam is wearing a Lakers jersey with the number 23 on it, showing that he is supposed to be Lebron James.

"It's fine Adam, I'm just glad that you decided to dress up," I say.

Adam sends a grateful smile my way as Tony walks up to me with a concerned look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Allie's late. I wonder if her car broke down again or something," Tony says quickly.

"I'm sure she's fine. If she's not here then we'll send a search party out, but until then just calm down," I try to assure him.

Tony scowls and walks over to the couch. Just as he is about to sit down, Kayla's front door swings open and Allie walks in. I look over at Tony to make sure that he sees that she has arrived, but his eyes are already on her.

Allie is wearing a white dress with white wings on her back and a golden halo floating above her head. She's an angel.

"Sorry I'm late. I underestimated how long it would take for me to get ready," Allie explains.

"You're not late. You look beautiful by the way," Kayla comments.

Allie gives a shy smile and then walks over to sit next to Tony. He stares at her for a moment before returning his expression to his usual self.

Kayla soon announces that there is food in the kitchen and we all quickly make our plates. Violet and David, the Miller twins, make their way into the kitchen in their own costumes. Violet is dressed  up as a vampire and David is dressed up as a pirate.

I nudge Connor's arm with my elbow. "Hey what's Jenny up to tonight?"

"She's out trick-or-treating with my dad. She is dressed up as a chef tonight, real shocker there," Connor mutters.

"It's a good thing she's not going to see Jasper tonight, I think he might scare her away."

Connor laughs and takes a bite of his pizza. I smile inwardly to myself, proud that I could make him laugh. At least he doesn't think I'm completely boring.

After everyone finishes eating, we take a few pictures before all piling into Becky. Everyone is a little tight together with all of the costumes that are taking up space.

It's a little bit of a drive to get to the haunted house and once we get there, it is packed.

We all wait in line to get our tickets and after waiting for almost half an hour, we finally make our way to the entrance.

"Who's ready?" Jasper asks.

We all cheer loudly as we walk inside together.

Immediately we are in complete darkness except for a red light at the end of the room. We all carefully walk through the room and when Sabrina reaches to open the next door, someone jumps out and grabs hold of Connor and I.

Connor lets out a high pitched scream and I can't help but laugh after my own heartbeat goes down.

"Was that you Sunshine?"

"I don't want to say," he grumbles.

I laugh as we walk into the next room which has fake dead bodies lying all around it. Allie gives out a small scream when one of the bodies reaches out and grabs her ankle. Tony kicks the arm away and we keep on walking.

We continue walking through the haunted house, there are many jump scares and by the end of it we are practically running out of the exit.

"Damn. Some of those people really scared me," Jasper says out of breath.

"When that clown came out I thought I was going to piss my pants," Adam says.

"Speaking of pissing my pants, I need to go to the bathroom," Sabrina states.

We all make our way towards the bathrooms that are out of the way of the crowd. The men's bathroom is on the other side of the building so our group splits up.

After us girls do our business, we wait for the boys next to the building.

"Well look who we have here," a voice says from behind us.

We all turn around to see three guys eyeing us like candy. They look really familiar and after studying their faces for a moment, I recognize them to be Connor's old friends.

"Leave us alone," Sabrina snarls.

"It's not safe for girls looking like you to be left out here alone," Tyler says.

"We're fine. I would leave before the guys come back. I know that they don't want to see you," I say.

Tyler takes a swig of something in a flask and then glares at me. "You're Connor's little bitch aren't you? I think I can change that."

He walks over to me and wraps his arm around me, latching onto my shoulder tight enough to leave a bruise.

Wyatt takes the flask out of Tyler's hand and takes a drink. He passes it to the other guy, who I don't know the name of, and he saunters over to Allie.

Sabrina tried to grab him before he can keep walking but Wyatt slaps her across the face, leaving her speechless.

Kayla runs over to her to make sure that she is okay and glares up at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kayla demands.

Wyatt just gives a short laugh and then gestures towards the other guy to continue. "Why are you picking this one Caleb?"

Caleb reaches his hand up and lightly strokes Allie's face with a finger. "I like her innocence."

Allie looks over at me with tears starting to stream down her face. I try to think of a way for us to get away from here.

Caleb grabs Allie's butt and I try to get myself out of Tyler's grasp.

However I don't have to, because suddenly there is a fist slamming into Calebs face.

"Do. Not. Touch. Her!" Tony yells in between punches.

Connor shoves Tyler off of me while Adam sizes up Wyatt. Jasper pulls Kayla and Sabrina off to the side to check up on them.

Tony continues to beat Caleb to a pulp and Allie watches in horror, screaming at him to stop. But Tony continues to swing.

"What are you doing her Tyler?" Connor questions angrily.

"I was just getting to know your girl and all of her friends, that's all. I felt I should, seeing as you've been spending so much time with them," Tyler says.

"They're my friends! Something that you and I are no longer. Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?" Connor yells.

"Aw you don't miss me, that's too bad," Tyler pouts, "But see, you can't get rid of me. You can't get rid of our past."

Jasper takes Tony off of Caleb and holds his arms to his side, preventing him from continuing to swing.

Tyler takes another swig from his flask and then offers it out to Connor. "Come on, take some. For old times sake."

I look at Connor confused, "What's he talking about?"

Tyler laughs hysterically. "Oh this is great! Pretty boy over here hasn't even told his 'friends' about what's he's done."

"Shut up Tyler," Connor growls.

Tyler waves his arm, "Don't worry I won't tell. I'll let you handle that one all on your own."

Tyler walks over to Caleb and helps him to his feet. Adam shoves Wyatt over to them before walking over to Sabrina and Kayla.

Tyler turns around and looks back at us, "Invite me next time to the group hangouts Connor, it looked like you guys had a wonderful time in Oakland."

With that, the three of them walk away and we are all left standing in silence.

I think about the last thing that Tyler had said to us before walking away and I remember the figure that I had seen outside of Connors house on Thursday. It seems I've figured out who it was.

Tony flexes his hand then walks over to Allie. He reaches out his arms to give her a hug but she pushes him away.

"You went too far," Allie mutters.

Tony drops his arms and looks down at the ground.

Connor turns to me, "Are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"No I'm fine," I say shortly.

Connor looks at me with concern in his eyes. "Nova, what Tyler was saying... it's nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing," I grumble.

"It's stuff from my past that I don't like to remember."

"But you won't tell me what it is?" I ask looking up into his eyes.

Connor opens his mouth to say something but then closes it, staying silent.

I turn away from him, "If you don't want to tell me that's fine, but I thought we agreed that we would talk to each other about the hard things."

"Nova..."

"Let's go," I say to Sabrina and she nods her head. Her face still pink from Wyatt.

We all walk away from the haunted house in silence, too afraid to talk and face the true monsters of life.

***

Thank you so much for reading!

A lot happened in this chapter, let me know what you thought of it. If you enjoyed it, please vote and comment, it means a lot to me.

I love you all!❤️