Twilight: But it's a Thriller and I Never Read Twilight

Chapter 6: Bonfire at First Beach

((Trigger Warnings at the end of the Chapter, Happy Halloween)) 

By the time my Dad deemed me fit to go back to school, it was nearly Halloween. That weekend, everyone would be dressed as ghouls and goblins in search of candy. Back in Phoenix, Halloween meant no good. Most of the teenagers would egg a few houses before deciding that wasn't enough and break a few store fronts for good measure. I wasn't looking forward to it, until Jessica told me her plans.

"A bunch of kids are going down to First Beach for a bonfire," she said over a lunch of bland spaghetti.

I hadn't been listening to her all day. After nearly a week in my house, I had become paranoid. I'd been looking for Mike Newton, the kid who nearly crushed me with his van all day. He wasn't in any of my classes, or at least he hadn't been today. I just needed to talk to him, but I got the feeling he was avoiding me. Maybe he thought I'd be mad that he almost killed me. I wasn't. I just wanted to know if he saw what Edward did. I'd been too busy expecting to die to pay any attention.

"Isn't it supposed to be a school night?" I asked.

"It's Halloween," Angela offered. "It'll be fun."

I mulled it over for a second. I really hadn't had plans for Halloween except for handing out candy to a bunch of kids, but our house was close to the edge of town. We couldn't expect that many trick-or-treaters.

"I'll have to ask my Dad," I said, but that appeared to be agreement enough and Jessica pumped her fist in the air in triumph.

"It'll be fun, I promise," Jessica said.

"Are we even allowed to have bonfires on First Beach?" I asked.

"We do this every year, and we haven't been arrested yet," Angela said. "I'm pretty sure kids have always done it."

I considered that to be good enough for me and turned my attention back to looking for Mike Newton. He continued to evade me all day and when the last bell rang, he had managed to slip away without me. I found his van missing from the parking lot. It would have been obvious. The passenger door was still jammed shut, but he was gone. He must have run to escape first.

At home, I showered, avoiding getting my hair wet to keep the stitches safe and threw on a large sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants to lounge in. I had missed my chance to ask Mike about Edward, and I wasn't happy about continuing my school year as I was. Edward was a menace to me. He saved me, sure, but he seemed to occupy much of my thoughts now. I hated him, but somehow, I still felt bad for that, like I shouldn't have been so offput by him.

I wrestled the thoughts away and read the next part of Frankenstein for class. When my Dad came home, it was in a huff, tired from a long week and not excited about the weekend coming up. Halloween had to be a challenge for him. If it was anything like Phoenix, there would be a lot of complaints, a lot of injuries, and a lot of thefts. I brought up the idea of going to a bonfire softly, over dinner.

"So, Jessica and Angela invited me to a Halloween party," I offered.

"This the Halloween bonfire?" he asked over the chicken he'd overcooked.

I was a little surprised he knew it and even more surprised he wasn't upset about the prospect. I nodded and waited for his response as he swallowed the too dry chicken.

"If there's alcohol, you'll call me, right?" he asked.

"Are you going to pick me up in the cruiser if I do?" I offered back. I could handle being driven home by my Dad if I had too much to drink. I couldn't handle him taking me home in a police cruiser.