The late October air chills me as I make the short walk from the school parking lot to the front doors. Kendall meets me at my homeroom.
"Hey, Anna! I wanna run an idea by you."
I let my backpack fall into my seat witth a heavy thunk. "Sure, what's up?" I am actually in a good mood this morning. No bad dreams last night!
'"Well. You know how the Clubhouse for the Disabled has that haunted house every year?" I nod. "okay so my mom knows the person who's setting the whole thing up this year! She said they were always looking for people to help out... what do you say?"
I hesitate. "Don't Jake and Logan always help out with that? Along with Brady,Brigen, Adam, and everybody else we used to be BFFs with?"
She sighs and sits in an unoccupied desk. "I thought you would say that."
She looks so disappointed, I can't just give her a flat-out 'no.' "Hey, I'll think about it. 'Kay?"
Kendall brightens and picks up her backpack. She starts towards the door and replies over her shoulder, "By the way, the haunted house is this weeked!"
I dig through my planner looking for a calendar. Sure enough, in two days it will be Halloween weeked. Well that snuck up on me... Oh well. It seems like such a big deal to Kendall. I decide to tell her I'll help out.
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"Anna! An-na!" I glance over my shoulder adn smile to myself when I see Kendall fighting the after-school crowd trying to get to me. I decend the last few stairs and pretend I didn't hear just to get her mad.
When she does finally catch me, she looks very... exasperated. "Are you deaf?"
I give her a devious smile. "Nope."
She lightly shoves my shoulder. 'Whatever. I was going to ask if you wanted to just come over to my house. Then we can walk down to the Clubhouse."
"Sounds great! I don't have practice ro anything tonight, I'll just text my mom." I pull out my phone and find 'Mom' in my contacts. "So do you know if anybody else is going?"
"Yep. You were right."
I look up from my phone. "Everyone?"
She nods and I sigh. "Well this will be awkward..."
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After spending some time looking at random videos of grogoues boy bands singing romantic songs, her Dad makes a great dinner.
I stress how good the steak tasted and Kendall rolls her eyes. "You better stop now Anna, his head will get so big it will explode!"
"Hey, why don't you just scoop up some of that steak. It'll keep your mouth busy." Her dad replies.
I laugh at the teasing conversation.
We finish the amazing meal and shrug on jackets. It's still light outside, but barely. Kendall and her dad discuss who will pick us up after we're done at the haunted house.
We start walking. Kendall's house is literally right across the street from our school, and the Clubhouse is just down the hill.
Upcoming tests soon domintate the conversation. "Well I'm most worried about English." Kendall expresses. "Ms. Dover really puts alot on her tests."
"Yeah she does. I like long tests better than short ones though. You can get more wrong and still pass." I smile.
"Yeah but with shorter tests you can just get it over with."
We debate this serious topic right up to the Clubhouse. There is a small group of kids our age standing at the door. Yup, I guess I was right. Five people. Two girls, three boys. Jake, Logan, Brady, Adam, Brigen.
"Nobody's setting up yet?" I ask as we hopped up the stairs.
"Nope, it's locked." Jake answers, not looking directly at me. Right again, this will be very awkward.
As if by magic, someone unlocks the doors and held them open. "Come one come all to the Annual Haunted House!" A tall thin man with a scraggly beard stood in front of us. He has dark eyes that keet flitting everywhere.
"Wait, we're here to help set up the haunted house." Kendall explains.
"Look, kid do you want in for free or not?"
Everybody exchanges glances. This wasn't part of the plan.
"Come on, I don't have all day!" The man ushers us through the door, disoriented. We shuffle down a dimly lit hallway. "Now! Groups of two." His vioice startles me, and I jump.
"Scared already Anna?" Kendall teases.
"Noooo..." I'm sure I sound less that convincing. His voice. The stange man has an accent that I can't quite place.
"Do you have your groups yet?!" Kendall and I shift together. Jake elbows Brady and Adam goes over to stand by Logan. That leaves Brigen without a partner. The man growls, pointing to Brigen. "You there, pick a group." He hesitates before joining Brady and Jake.
The man starts walking again, and Kendall and I look at each other. It's almost like we can read each other's minds. So are we supposed to follow him?
As one, all of us kids start walking. Something just doesn't seem right, but I don't want to say anything. It's Halloween weekend for crying out loud. Things were supposed to be strange. Right?
At the end of the hall. the skinny man struggles to open a huge metal door. It looks pretty ominous, what with the red paint splattered all over it.
"Enjoy." The man gives us a sickly smile, and bows a deep bow as he held open the door. Now I am officially freaked.
I grab Kendall's arm, and walk in anyway.
