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“It’ll go perfect with my crown.” He picked it up off my desk. “I was wondering if you still had this.”

My mom had put Axel’s homecoming crown on my desk a few days ago. She said she’d held on to it just in case. And I’d snapped at her. It was like she’d willed Jacob to break up with me. For God knows what reason.

“You can be a princess.” He put the crown on my head. “And I’ll go as a psycho murderer.”

“Go where?”

“We’re going trick or treating.”

I laughed. “No. We’re not.”

“Yes we are.”

“We’re seniors in high school, Axel.”

He smiled. “Which is why I’m wearing a mask. And we’re not trick or treating anywhere around here. Come on. It’ll be fun, I promise. You loved trick or treating. I don’t even know why we ever stopped.”

“Because we grew up.”

“It’s free candy.”

I laughed. We’d stopped trick or treating years ago. But I had always loved it... I sighed. “I need a shower.” I pointed to my rat’s nest of a hairdo. “And I’m wearing glasses and...”

“You look perfect. Just put this on.” He tossed me my dress.

Perfect. I pressed my lips together. How many times had I wanted him to think I looked perfect? For a second I just stared at him. My heart hurt. But going out trick or treating would surely make it ache a little less. And the candy wouldn’t hurt either. “We could just order in some candy.”

“And where’s the fun in that? Come on, get dressed. We’re going to make you all bloody anyway.” He pulled some red lipstick he’d snatched from my bathroom out of his pocket. “You’re my homecoming queen murder victim.”

I laughed. “Okay. Fine. Turn around.”

Axel sat down on my bed and turned his head.

I quickly changed into the dress and held it tight to my chest. “Zip me?”

Axel walked over. His fingers trailed up my spine as he zipped my dress up.

I stared in the mirror, trying to ignore the way his fingers made my skin tingle. The dress was from a few years ago and didn’t fit quite right. But the tight fabric actually made my boobs look better. Which was a confidence boost I needed. For some reason all day, I just had this terrible fear that Jacob would start dating Olivia. God I hated Olivia. I’d just die if that happened.

I pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “What do you think?” I turned around to look at Axel.

“Perfect,” he said again. “You’re just missing one thing.” He took off the cap of the lipstick and ran a line from the corner of my mouth, down my chin and neck. He stopped at my clavicle bone.

I tried to force myself to keep breathing normally.

He placed the cap back on and tossed it on my bed. “Ready for the best night ever?”

***

Axel parked his car on the curb next to an old brownstone. The street reminded me of the one Jacob’s house was on. But I knew why Axel had brought me here. The whole street was decked out in Halloween decorations. It was almost vulgar, in the best way possible. Kids were running down the sidewalk with bags full of candy laughing. And by kids, I mean, little kids. No one looked as old as us.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked. “What if we get turned away?”

“Then we grab all the candy and run.”

I laughed and climbed out of the car.

Axel grabbed my hand and pulled me up the steps of the first brownstone. He dropped my hand and knocked. Instead of a normal knocker, it was a white skeleton head. Why hadn’t we come to this street when we were little? It was epic.