by Ashley Royer
Caleb: Hahahaha! Wish I was there to see it.
I smile and put my phone in my pocket, which is quite hard since I have the Skittles costume on.
I’ve hung out with Delilah and Aiden a few times since we all went out for breakfast. I’m not sure if we’re friends; maybe acquaintances. They live close by, and they always seem to be showing up at my house randomly. And they’re starting to grow on me.
I walk out of my room and Aiden is standing in the living room. He’s dressed as a giant banana.
“We’re going with the food theme,” he says, referring to our costumes.
Delilah walks out dressed as a hot dog. She looks upset, and Aiden starts laughing.
“Aiden, you told me you got me an ice cream cone, not a hot dog,” Delilah pouts.
“What’s the fun in ice cream? This way I can call you hot, dawg,” Aiden tells her, laughing even more.
Delilah rolls her eyes, but I can tell she’s trying not to laugh too. “You’re so weird!” She slaps his arm.
I wonder if they’re dating or just friends.
My dad walks into the room and smiles. “I thought you had no plans tonight, Levi.”
“We surprised him!” Aiden says, still rubbing the spot where Delilah hit him.
“Let me go get my camera! You all look great!” My dad runs off into his room, quickly returning with his camera. “Go stand over there, the lighting is good!” He pushes us all to one side of the room. “Levi, smile just a little, please.”
I smile—not a teeth smile, but I smile. I notice Delilah quickly look up at me and back at the camera before the photo is taken. She puts her arm around me and her other arm around Aiden, since she’s in the middle. I look down at her, and she beams. I hesitantly wrap my arm around her too.
“Perfect!” my dad says, taking the picture.
“Okay, let’s go then!” Aiden says, grabbing three pillowcases and giving one to each of us.
We walk outside, the sun still slightly setting. We get some weird looks from younger kids that we pass.
“Are you a banana?” a boy dressed as a pirate asks Aiden.
“Yes.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Actually, bananas are quite delicious. They are also high in potassium and magnesium. They’ll help stop your poop too, young boy,” Aiden says in all seriousness.
“You’re weird,” he says, walking away.
Delilah starts laughing and so does Aiden. I can’t believe he just said that.
“Did you see the look he gave you?” Delilah says in between laughs.
“Just spreading my knowledge,” Aiden says.
We go to the house next door to mine, and Aiden rings the bell. I’ve never seen the people who live here. An old woman opens the door and squints her eyes.
“Aren’t you a little too old to be trick-or-treating?” she asks. She shuts her door a little, so it’s only open wide enough for her to see us.
“Ma’am, there is no age limitation on Halloween,” Aiden says. Delilah is trying really hard not to laugh.
“Are you hooligans that are going to rob me?” the old lady asks.
“No, no! All we want is some candy!” Aiden says.
She squints some more, but finally sticks her hand out with three pieces of candy.
“Have a nice night!” Aiden says as he walks down the stairs.
“That was strange,” Delilah says.
“I never even knew who lived there,” Aiden says. “Now I see why.”
After two hours of trick-or-treating, we’ve gone to every house in the neighborhood. It was really fun, surprisingly. The neighbors thought it was funny that we dressed up, and they loved our costumes. Some people gave us odd looks, but that’s okay. There were also some of those annoying people that force you to say trick-or-treat. Thankfully, Aiden explained my situation so I got the candy without saying anything.
We’re heading back to my house now, and we’re walking extremely slow. I forgot how much Halloween exhausts me. Aiden rummages through his pillowcase, looking for some Twix.
It’s weird how things have turned out with them and me. Things are still slightly awkward with Delilah, but it’s getting better. I’m getting closer with Aiden—I may even consider him a friend. I’m not sure yet.
I hold up a piece of unfamiliar candy to Delilah. Most of this American candy isn’t in Australia, and if it is, it’s usually only in a few special candy stores.
“That’s Reese’s. There’s peanut butter in the middle. They’re really good,” she tells me.
I open up the package, and there are two cup-like chocolates. I take one for myself and give one to Delilah. She smiles as she slowly takes it out of my hand.
I take a small bite at first. It’s surprisingly very good.
“Do you like it?” Delilah asks, chewing on her Reese’s.
I nod, taking another bite.
I can’t help but think that Delia would have loved to be here. She always liked holidays, every single one. She would have loved trying all the American candy and dressing up as food.
I try to push the thoughts out of my mind and focus on Aiden and Delilah, not Delia.
“Hey, guys,” Aiden says. “There’s this haunted house starting at ten o’clock tonight. It’s eight thirty right now. Do you wanna go?”
Delilah says yes, and they both look at me, waiting for my answer.
The last time I went to a haunted house, I was ten years old, and I ran out screaming. I haven’t gone to one since. It was extremely traumatizing and embarrassing.
For some reason, I nod.
We’re standing outside the haunted house, waiting in line. We’re no longer in our costumes, we’re dressed normally.
It’s pitch black outside, the only light is the green luminescence of the haunted house. I can hear groans and screams coming from inside. I have to admit I’m nervous.
“If someone jumps out, you guys better protect me,” Delilah says.
“I can’t make any promises,” Aiden says.
“Levi seems like he’ll be able to. You won’t get scared, right?” Delilah asks me.
I shake my head no, even though I know I will get scared.
Before I know it, it’s our turn to go in. I hear Delilah take in a deep breath before we step inside.
At least this time I know I won’t scream.
We walk through the path . . . nothing too scary yet. There are just some weird noises and pictures on the walls. All of a sudden, a giant, bloody zombie jumps out. Aiden screams like a girl and jumps at least a foot back and crouches to the ground. Delilah stops breathing for a second, and I do too. She starts laughing at Aiden afterward.
“You’re such a wimp!” she says.
“I can’t help it! He attacked me!”
“He jumped out! He didn’t even touch you!”
We continue walking extremely slow, all of us nervous about what will happen. My heart is racing, but not in a bad way. It’s just the adrenaline
, not real fear for once. At least I don’t think so.
A man with a chain saw runs out into our path, standing in front of us and starting to wave the chainsaw wildly.
“No, no, no, no, STOP!” Aiden screams, moving backward. He crashes into me and screams even louder before he realizes it’s just me.
“Oh jeez,” Delilah mumbles. We’ve all ended up huddled together, not moving. Aiden is hiding behind me, and Delilah is behind him.
I’m so nervous; I didn’t expect it to be this lifelike.
Suddenly, a bloody woman jumps out, screaming. She quickly runs back and disappears.
Delilah screams and grabs my hand tightly, putting her head to my chest. I can feel her heart beating quickly and hear her fast breaths.
Aiden is continuously screaming and gasping. He keeps pushing Delilah and me to the front. Although I am actually scared, it is kind of funny to watch this unfold. Aiden is terrified.
The chainsaw starts up, and I hug Delilah tightly out of fear. She may think I am protecting her, but I am hugging her because I am so terrified.
“Why did we come here?” Delilah mumbles, still not letting go of my hand or moving away from me.
There are strobe lights going off, and people screaming everywhere. As we creep along, we hear a ferocious dog barking in the dark. A woman with giant fangs and long hair jumps out at us unexpectedly.
Aiden screams and then announces, “I just peed myself!”
I can hear Delilah laughing a little.
“Guys, I really peed. This is bad. This is really bad.”
The guy with the chainsaw starts chasing us, and Aiden finally flips out.
“CAN YOU STOP THE FREAKING CHAINSAW AND GET OUT OF HERE? JUST STOP!! I JUST PEED MYSELF. JUST SHOW ME THE EXIT,” Aiden screams.
The chainsaw stops, and the guy leaves slowly. As we seem to be approaching the exit, Delilah awkwardly moves away from me and stops holding my hand. I wipe my sweaty palm on my pant leg, breathing a sigh of relief that it is almost over. It appears we made it through the worst part.
“Levi’s going in front from now on,” Aiden mumbles, holding his hand in front of the wet spot on his pants. I can’t believe he actually peed himself.
We make it out within the next few minutes, the rest not being too scary. Aiden still screamed occasionally whenever a hand popped out or someone walked by. Delilah kept making tiny shrieks and squeaking noises.
“I’ve never been so scared,” Delilah says when we’re out.
“I need a new pair of pants,” Aiden whines.
Delilah laughs at Aiden, who is still covering the wet spot.
Tonight ended up being so much fun. Even though I was kind of scared in the haunted house, it was really great. I’m starting to feel like I may belong here and that Aiden and Delilah might actually think of me as more than just the guy who lives down the street.
Chapter Seventeen
DELILAH
The school day seems to be passing slower than usual. If that’s even possible, considering how much each day drags on. I watch the time pass slowly, each second feeling like a minute. I scribble down the notes on the board, waiting for the lunch bell to ring. I don’t hate school, but I don’t necessarily like it. I just have a an overall dislike of every class, so school is average for me.
Finally, the bell rings, and I grab my things. I wait by my locker for Aiden, like I do every day.
“Are you all right?” he asks me when he sees me. “You look stressed.”
I shrug. “We got a huge writing assignment in English. We have to interview someone and write about their life experiences. It’s so stupid because it has to be someone our age. I don’t know anyone interesting enough to do it on,” I groan.
I could ask Levi, but I highly doubt he’d ever agree to it. I can’t imagine he would willingly let me interview him for a school project.
“Um, hello, I’m interesting,” Aiden says.
I roll my eyes. “I already know everything about you.”
“Not everything,” he whines.
I look at him from the corner of my eye as we walk down the hall. “You’d be surprised what Hunter tells me about you when you’re not home.”
Aiden’s cheeks blush. “Oh, shut up!”
We get to the cafeteria and sit with our usual group of friends. There’s myself, Aiden, Ally, Tyler, and Alex.
“Delilah thinks I’m not interesting enough to do her English project on,” Aiden says the second we sit down.
“I never said that!” I tell him as I take out my lunch.
“What’s your English assignment?” Ally asks.
I explain it to everyone, and we all try to think of people I could interview.
“What about that math genius who sits behind me in chem?” Alex says.
“I’m not in your chem class, I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I tell him.
“What about Levi?” Aiden blurts out.
“I thought of him, but I don’t think he’d agree,” I tell him.
“Who’s Levi?” Tyler asks.
“This kid who moved into our neighborhood from Australia. He doesn’t talk. His dad is Anthony Harrison, the soccer coach at the middle school,” Aiden says with his mouth full.
I roll my eyes. “He’s more than just some kid,” I say.
“Oh?” Ally says, laughing.
“That’s not what I mean!” I say, blushing. “I just mean that he’s, like, complicated. He doesn’t talk, he doesn’t go to school, and he’s just so different.”
“Why doesn’t he talk?” Alex asks.
I shrug. “We don’t really know. I don’t know much about him.” I do know he stopped talking when his girlfriend died, but I’m not sure why he decided to stop.
“Seems interesting enough to interview,” Tyler says.
“You think so?” I ask.
Levi could be someone to interview. I’m just not sure if he’ll give me the answers I need.
After school, I head straight to Levi’s house. I knock on the door, and Anthony opens it.
“Hey, Delilah! Looking for Levi?” he asks.
“Uh, yeah,” I tell him. I’m nervous to tell Levi about the English assignment. I’m afraid he’ll get angry or upset. He probably won’t want to do it anyway.
“Okay, he’s in his room,” Anthony says.
I head to Levi’s room, and the door is partially closed. I knock, and after a few seconds, Levi opens the door. He steps back to let me in. Each time I come, I feel extremely awkward. I never know what to do or what to say. I always end up standing in the center of the room, looking around, but not really seeing what I’m looking at.
I clear my throat. “Hey.”
Levi nods and rocks back on his heels. I’ve noticed that he does that a lot when he waits for someone to say something.
“So, uh, I got an English assignment today, and I was wondering if you’d want to maybe help me with it.” I say it more like a question than a statement.
He shrugs and types in his phone. “What’s it about?”
“Well, uh, I have to interview someone my age and learn about their experiences and what they’ve gone through. I thought that maybe I could do it on you since I don’t know much about you, and I thought you might be a good person to interview. But if you don’t want to do it, I understand. I just thought I’d ask.” I talk very fast, and I’m out of breath by the time I’m done because I’m so nervous.
He sits on his bed and rests his chin on his hand. He types something in his phone. “What kind of stuff would you want to know about?”
“Um, maybe life in Australia, and how it felt moving here. You could tell me about your childhood or something. If you don’t want me to know certain things, I understand.” I don’t mention his girlfriend because I don’t want to intrude. I know he likes to keep that to himself.
He thinks for a few seconds. “Why did you pick me?”
“You seem interesting to learn about, I guess.” I don’t really know how to answer. Why did I pick him?
“I’m not interesting, trust me.”
I don’t say anything because again I don’t know how to respond. I just hope he’ll agree to let me interview him.
He types more onto his phone. His fingers hesitate as he writes whatever he wants to tell me. “I guess I’ll let you do your project on me. I’ll only answer the questions I want, and I can’t promise that you’ll like the answers I give you.”
It takes a second for his answer to sink in. I thought for sure he’d automatically say no. I can’t believe he actually agreed. Now that he’s actually said yes, I feel a whole new set of nerves.
“Really?” I say.
He nods and types something. “When do you wanna start?”
“Can you do Saturday? We can go to the coffee place downtown if you want.” I have a flashback to the time when he threw his coffee on the ground. Hopefully that won’t happen again.