SMARTS

Chapter Fifteen

While Jamie and I walk home, we casually converse about our day at school and more about Star Wars. We walk by a house covered in cheesy Halloween decorations which reminds me about the upcoming holiday.

“Jamie, did you realize Halloween is this week?!” I excitedly ask.

 “Nope, I just kinda forgot about it” she answers, rather lethargically. I must admit, I am slightly disappointed at her lack of interest in the topic; I was hoping she would go trick-or-treating with me.

 “Oh, well are you planning on trick-or-treating?” I ask.

 “Well, I usually never go,” she says, then pauses, “ but I was hoping you’d want to go with me this year” she continues, in a much more enthusiastic manner.

 My ears perk up at this. “Yeah, I was just about to ask you! I can’t wait to pick out costumes and everything! That’s actually my favourite part of Halloween, getting to be someone else for the night.” I say.

 “I have no clue what to be though, I haven’t actually dressed up in years” she says.

 “Hmm, well I was going to dress up as a pirate... we both should!” I offer.

 “Definitely, that sounds great!” she says, smiling. “We can talk more about making the costumes tomorrow at school.”

 “Sure, see ya tomorrow then!” I say, as I wave goodbye. I turn into my street and walk up the driveway towards the door. As I get closer, I think I see a face in the window, but then it disappears. I’m probably just imagining it. Once I open the door, I accidentally hit my mom who appears to have been standing in front of it.

 “Ow” she cries.

 “Mom! Are you okay?” I ask.

 “Yes, yes, don’t worry about it” she replies, rubbing her head.

 “I’m so sorry!” I say.

 “Don’t worry about it Sheldon!” she says. She then pauses. “By  the way Sheldon, you and Jamie seem like you’re becoming fast friends. You should invite her over sometime” she says, smiling. I realize the face in the window must have been her peeking outside at us.

I do not understand why, but her doing so embarrasses me. “Yeah, I'll keep that in mind” I mumble, before going upstairs to my room. Am I embarrassed of Jamie? I don’t think so. Maybe just embarrassed about my mom being so excited about me finally having a friend? I go over to my desk, and take out a piece of scrap paper. I flip it over and write “Pirate Costume” as the title. I then add beneath the title  – in checklist form of course – all the supplies I’ll need to create the costume. Pirate’s hat. Eye patch. Sword. Vest. Parrot. Poofy pants. What else? I am not able to think of anything else so I decide to turn to the Internet for assistance. I snuggle under the warm covers of my bed and place my laptop over them. Moving the mouse to the search bar, I enter “How to make a pirate costume”. The search results all seem to display a pirate costumes for girls which is definitely not what I’m looking for. I then go back to the search bar and add in “for boys” to the end, and press the search button once again. I choose a video at random and begin to watch it, making notes as I go along. I finally complete my checklist just as my mother calls me down for dinner.

“Sheldon, sweetie. I have to head back to work, they need me to work the night shift tonight. Sorry honey, but dinner’s on the table. Clean up when you’re done, love you” says my mom as I arrive downstairs. I wave goodbye as she leaves, then sigh. I wish my mom didn’t have to work as hard as she did, but living in a single-parent household certainly has its disadvantages. I don’t know exactly who my dad is, but just that he left when I was young. The topic doesn’t seem to bother my mother much, as she still tells me he was a nice man, just wasn’t able to raise a child. I decided when I was very young to stop bringing up the topic. As long as my mother is happy, it doesn’t matter who or where he is. I begin to eat my roasted chicken quietly then put away the dishes and head back upstairs. I feel lonely in the house, and decide to go to sleep. I yawn as I turn out the lights then head to my bed. I am asleep before my head hits the pillow.