"You look cute," Mom stifled a laugh as I walked down the steps.
It was officially Halloween which meant it was time to fulfill my promise to Miles. I looked absolutely ridiculous. The costume was a bread-shaped tunic with purple jelly on it. Since it was sleeveless and basically just shirt, I paired with a long-sleeved black shirt and black jeans.
I allowed my curls to hang free instead of wearing my usual puff or hiding them under a beanie. Then I added a purple and white gingham print headband to complete the look.
"I know," I laughed, striking a pose. "Everyone's going to be so jelly."
Mom got quiet, a proud smile on her face. She was having yet another one of her proud mama moments.
"Mom," I groaned as she pulled me into a hug. "How much longer are you going to be all mushy like this?"
"However long I want," she retorted. "I thought you were going to become a shut in and you'd end up never moving out and living in the basement."
"Wow, it's nice to know you had such high hopes for me."
"And here you are now," she continued. "Going on a date."
I nearly choked on air. "It's not a date, Mom. I'm just helping him win a bet."
The doorbell rang and my heart rate accelerated. I was more nervous about this outing than I thought I'd be. Or maybe the side effects of downing six Pixy Stix in one go were settling in. Mom opened the door before I could get to it, letting Miles in.
"Hello, Mrs. Reed," Miles greeted her with a wide smile.
He was dressed in his costume, wearing the same thing as me underneath his bread slice. We looked so silly, but I guessed that was okay for a kids party.
"I'm going to need a picture of this," Mom announced.
"No," I groaned. "We don't need documentation of this."
Mom ignored this as she left the room, to get her phone I presumed.
"If we leave now we won't have to endure a photoshoot," I said, trying to nudge Miles out the door.
"The selfie queen is running from a camera?" he laughed, refusing to budge. "Let your mom have her picture."
"She has more than enough," I said, giving up on getting him out the door.
"Trust me, parents never have pictures of their kids." He seemed to be speaking from experience.
Then I remembered what he told me about his sister. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. When Dad died we realized we didn't have very many pictures of him.
You never really think of that kind of stuff when people are alive. You think they'll always be there. That you'll have more time collect pictures and things. Then they're not and all you have left to remember them by is a family photo that was taken over a decade ago.
"Alright," Mom said, reentering the room with her phone in hand. "Just one picture, I promise."
Agreeing to the picture, I stood next to Miles. I even smiled. When he draped his arm around my shoulder it took me by surprise and I looked up at him. He was looking down at me, a smirk on his face as Mom's phone clicked. Capturing the moment forever.
"I half expected you to to back out of this," Miles said once we were outside. "You know, after Vivian's stunt."
My mind went back to yesterday and what Vivian said. Miles must've apologized on her behalf twenty times. To be honest, I felt like I should've been the one apologizing for falling for her act in the first place. Also, a part of me felt guilty for not telling him about what Vivian was talking about before she left.
Me kissing Jerrell was none of his business, but I couldn't shake the feeling dishonest feeling that settled in my gut.
My mom calling this arrangement a date was messing with my head. We weren't dating, we were friends and I didn't have to disclose my weekend antics with him.
"I'm only doing this for the money," I told him as we got into his car.
"I never said I was paying you."
My eyes darted over to him. "If I'm going to walk around looking like half a sandwich, I'm getting half the prize money."
"Fine," he chuckled, starting up the car and pulling out of the driveway.
We arrived rather quickly at the elementary school where the party was being held. The parking lot was pretty bare because we got there early in order to help set up. The only other people to be seen were two ladies at a sign-up desk at the front entrance.
"Hello," a woman dressed as a gumball machine waved us over. "Miles, glad to see you back again."
"You know I only came for your cupcakes, Ms. Erickson," Miles teased, making her blush with his effortless charm.
The woman laughed. "You know what, you two can work the snack station," she said, pointing to Miles and I. "Try to leave some of the sweets for the kids."
"We'll try," he said, signing our names on the sheet.
The two of us walked into the building, heading towards the gymnasium where the party was being set up. As we navigated the halls, we passed by classrooms decorated with fake spider webs, bats and pumpkins. Very festive.
"I didn't not sign up to spend my night reading to snot-nosed children," a familiar sounding voice complained. It came from the library.
Miles let out a heavy sigh and I figured he had recognized the voice as well.
"Maybe you shouldn't have dressed up as a well-known bookworm," another voice chuckled, getting louder the closer we got to the room.
"It was the only kid-appropriate costume I could find on such short notice," Vivian pouted, stepping out of the library, fussing with her long, yellow gloves. She stopped when she looked up to see us, causing her friend Ava to bump into her.
"Cute costumes," she smirked, walking away with Ava in tow.
I was a little surprised that was all she said after what she'd done yesterday. It put me on edge, like the calm before the storm.
"The gymnasium is this way," he said to me, nodding towards a long corridor. "Sorry I didn't give you a heads up about Vivian. She said she wasn't going to show up this year."
I wonder what made her change her mind? I thought to myself, having the tiniest idea as to why. Out loud I asked, "Is that going to go against your bet?"
"No, I'm not here with her. I'm here with you," he replied. I nodded, ignoring the fluttering in my belly.
We stepped into the gymnasium, which was set up like a mini carnival. There were a variety of booths ranging from ring toss to pie-eating contests. The snack booth was all the way in the back, being set up by a tall, heavy-set woman dressed as the Statue of Liberty.
"Are you my helpers for the night?" the woman asked when we got to the booth.
"Looks like it," he replied, reaching out to shake her hand. "I'm Miles and this is Mermaid."
The woman's forehead wrinkled as she eyed my costume, clearly confused. I shook my head at Miles and told the woman, "I'm Loren."
"I'm Mrs. Moore," she replied. Then she leaned in to whisper, "This is my first year and I have no idea what I'm doing."
Miles gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I've been doing this for years."
"Oh, good. Maybe you know where the grab bags are? They told me they were in the supply closet, but I have no idea where that is."
"I know exactly where that is," he told her. "We'll be right back."
His hand easily slipped into mine, throwing me off for a millisecond.
"Retrieving grab bags sounds like a one-person job," I told him as he lead me back out into the hall.
"I'd look weird walking around in this costume alone," he said as we turned down a hallway that looked exactly like the last one. "Just a lonely piece of toast? That'd be sad."
I bit back a smile, letting him lead me down the halls. "of course."
We finally stopped in front of a door labeled 'SUPPLIES'. After letting go of my hand, Miles pulled the door open. He then placed his hands on my shoulders, guiding me to the now opened door and making me stand with my back to it.
"Stand there," he ordered.
I looked up at him, brows creased. "So now I'm a door stop?"
"Among other things," he smirked.
What the hell did that mean?
I watched him as he entered the small closet, looking around for the grab bags. There were so many boxes piled up in there, most unlabeled, so he had to go through each of them. He came up empty each time.
"Is there another supply closet?"
"Maybe," he said, making sure he's checked every box. Then he spotted an unchecked box on top of a metal shelf. "Or maybe they're in that one."
Despite his height, his reach wasn't long enough to get to the box. So, he jumped. Once. Twice. Each time moving the box closer to the edge, bit by bit. I stifled a laugh as I watched his attempts. The fact that he was dressed as half a PB&J sandwich made the situation even funnier.
"You laughing at me, Mermaid? " he questioned, taking a break from his cardio workout.
"Not at all," I quickly replied as a laugh threatened to escape my lips.
"Sounds like you're lying," he said, still looking up at the box.
He then did something that could only end in disater. He started to climb the shelf, like it was a ladder. The swaying of the flimsy looking shelf had me worried for his safety. Once he was close enough to the box, he opened one of the flaps. Turning to me, he had a huge grin on his face.
"Found them."
"Alright, King Kong. Now get off of that thing."
He started to climb down, but before he could reach the ground he lost his footing. He crashed to the floor, the shelf falling along with him with a loud crash. Everything from the shelf clattered to the floor, burying him
"Miles!" I gasped in horror, running over to pick the shelf up off him. It was an easy task, considering everything had fallen off of it. Moving boxes of crayons, markers and other school supplies aside, I finally uncovered his face.
He mumbled something as he tried to sit up.
"What?" I asked, helping him into a sitting posoition.
"The door," he said, more clearly this time.
Glancing back at the door, I realized it was closed.
"And now we're locked in."