SMARTS

Chapter Twenty One

I see Jamie’s house in the distance. My watch says 5:54 pm. Great, five minutes to spare. I slow down my pace, still breathing heavily from sprinting over. It takes another minute before my breath begins to steady, and my heart is no longer racing. I reach Jamie’s house and decide to ring the doorbell. A lady in her mid 40’s arrives at the door, looking astonishingly like Jamie.

“Hi, I’m Sheldon. I’m here for Jamie” I tell her.

“Yes, I could tell from your pirate costume” she replies, with a laugh.

I enter the house and look around. The house has a cozy feel to it, the dark walls, leather coaches, big fireplace. I wait for Jamie as her mom calls her down. All around me I see photos of Jamie and her family. Apparently she has an older brother, as he is seen in most of the pictures. He must be gone to university by now, I think. I then see her walk towards me in her pirate costume.

“Ahoy there, Jamie” I say, attempting to imitate Jack Sparrow’s voice.

“Aye there, Captain Sheldon” she replies, with a smile.

We laugh, and then head outside to wait for the others. Avery is the first to arrive, then Logan and Joseph. I stifle a laugh when my eyes come upon Joseph. He is no longer wearing the usual bright, daring clothing that I have become accustom to. His pirate costume makes him look just as each of us, which may not please his bold personality. Nevertheless, there is the same smile on his face as we patiently wait for Jacob. Once he arrives, it is 6:07 pm, and it is time to begin trick-or-treating.

We rush through the first group of houses, resulting in lots of candy in a short amount of time. So far, we’re doing better than we planned. Halloween is almost like a game; the goal is to get the most amount of candy in one night. Once we’re done the first few streets, we plan to go to the other side of the neighborhood, where most of the candy is. The only problem is the fact that it’s a twenty minute walk, taking up a lot of our trick-or-treating time.

“Hey, wait a sec” says Logan. We all stop in response. He continues “I think I know a shortcut that’ll save us half the time.”

“Really?” Jamie and I ask in unison.

“Yeah” he replies. “It’s just around that corner, through the woods. It comes out right at the start of Billingsley Street.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Avery asks with a look of concern in her eyes.

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure. It’s just a 5-10 minute walk down the trail, then we’re out” he replies.

“Well, I’m up for it” says Jacob.

“Me too” says Logan.

Avery hesitantly agrees then everyone turns to me and Jamie. I think about it, at first, not wanting to risk it. But then, I remember my goal to let loose this year, and nod. Jamie looks at me, as if asking for reassurance, then nods.