Autumn Season

"I'll just be gone until midnight or so, Mom, I promise." I couldn't not go out on my sixteenth Halloween. I wanted to trick or treat, I wanted to stop by the high school's costume party. I'd stayed in for the last three Halloween's, just to learn about my heritage and study my magic. I think I'd come a long way in three years. I deserved a little fun.

"Alright. No later than midnight." Her voice was stern but I could tell, she knew I needed a little fun. "And no magic!" She hollered in my direction as I grabbed my cloak and headed out into the sun-setting evening that was All Hallows Eve.

How could I go without using some magic? I just couldn't. It was coursing through my veins, begging me to use it. When I got out of sight of my house, my rather drab witches costume spruced itself up, magically of course. I guaranteed I looked the part now. I walked down the sidewalks and saw all the little kids, starting to trick or treat now that it was just getting dark. Parents were out, talking among themselves and watching their children go door to door.

In this town, everyone knew everyone. The pedophiles, well, every year you had a frantic Mother on the news searching for her kid who ended up just being at the house next door; the Mother thinking they'd been abducted. Nothing bad really ever happened here...

Before long, I found myself running into the older spooks as it got darker out. My friends. "Wow! Luna! Look at your costume!" My friend, Jessica shouted above the rest of my friends. I laughed a bit and nodded,

"it isn't too much is it? Perfect for the costume contest huh?" I asked and she immediately nodded, continuing to praise me.

"I bet you'll win! There's no way you won't." Jessica continued and my friend Brittany agreed with her, "first time out on Halloween in forever and you decide to do us all up huh?" Brittany teased. Jessica was a Playboy Bunny rabbit; she was after all eighteen. Brittany was a fairy, she was seventeen so the costume was just slightly risque.

To me, Halloween should be dressing up as the impossible. Jessica is beautiful and busty, she could very well be a Playmate in a year or two. Brittany, she could always be a fairy princess in a Broadway musical one day, especially with her liking drama in school so much.

But, who, besides myself; is ever going to be a witch? You should, on Halloween, be something that you think you'll never have another chance at being. Vampire, ghost, werewolf... But, girls, maybe they just liked the play dress up aspect of it. I'm the one that's truly different. We all know that.

As Jessica, Brittany and I walked the sidewalks; headed slowly towards the high school but stopping at a few fantastically decorated houses and getting some candy.. we ran into some boys from school. They weren't even dressed up as anything..

"Crashing the costume party, without costumes?" I asked, quirking a brow and one of them, wearing a leather jacket chuckled softly. I knew that chuckle but it'd been years since I'd heard it.

"Maybe we're dressed up as the local bad boys?" He offered, I noticed the cigarette in his hand. He'd always been the rebel, always.

"You know that's bad for you," I commented, not like I didn't still smoke myself when my Mother wasn't looking. It was him that got me into it those years ago.

"But it looks so good, doesn't it, Luna? Inviting. I think that's why I got you on these years ago. You can't say you don't still smoke.." his voice was like velvet...he'd gone through puberty since I'd seen him last. We would have been twelve the last time... A year before I found out who I truly was.

"What are you playing at, Jacob?" My friend, Jessica asked. Of course she'd remember Jacob... Back when I was twelve and getting into all this bad shit with him, like smoking and drinking beers behind his Dad's shed... it was Jessica that helped keep me away from him so I wouldn't get into shit with my Mother. But then... Jacob disappeared, I supposed he'd moved.

"Jess, I don't believe I was talking to you," Jacob batted his eyelashes towards her and then looked back over towards me, I shrugged a bit.

"You disappeared, Jacob. I haven't seen you in what, four years and now you're like, back in town on Halloween? Talk about suspicious. You out stalking for a victim or something?" I cracked the joke and saw him smirk a bit.

"I could be a secret serial killer for Halloween." Jacob admitted and looked over towards Jessica and Brittany, "you two will be first," he teased and I couldn't help but laugh...they didn't think it was all that funny.

"Lighten up you two," I pat them on the back and they rolled their eyes, especially Jessica.

"If you're going to hang out with him, we're going on to the school. You want to be around him, fine, cool. But we don't. See you in a few," she said rather firmly and gave Jacob the, 'you're the scum between my toes' look and took off walking down the sidewalk with Brittany. Jacob's two guy friends had kind of wandered off...I don't know where.

"Looks like it's just you and me," Jacob said and I nodded a little, looking down at the sidewalk, then back up at him. "Just like old times," I commented back.

Jacob and I started walking down the sidewalk together, not headed towards the school but not really headed anywhere else in particular. We stopped by the city park, that was a few blocks from the high school and the park itself was decorated rather beautifully for Halloween. Everything you could imagine, they had out.

We sat down on a hay bale and started to talk.. I'd missed Jake.. He was my first love, in all honesty..

"Why'd you leave?" was my first question to him; that's all I truly wanted to know. Why he left and didn't say goodbye..

"Dad got a better job somewhere else, Lulu.. But I got my full license about a week ago and I knew I had to come back and see you." That didn't make sense to me, how did he have his full license? He's sixteen, like me.

"But... Jake, you're sixteen like me. You should only have a permit," my voice was quiet and he laughed a bit.

"We were twelve when we knew each other. You had your birthday, I hadn't had mine. I'm eleven months older than you, Lulu. That's how I have my license." Now it made perfect sense. I'm sixteen, he's seventeen. I ran my fingers up through my blonde hair and nodded a bit,

"now it makes sense.." I laughed softly and sighed, laying my head against his leather coated shoulder. "I'm glad you came back though.. you came back just for me?" I asked, not honestly believing that my ears had heard him say that...

"Course I did." Jake replied and wrapped an arm around my waist.. I felt my heart rate pick up... I swallowed a little dryly.. He chuckled softly, as if he knew how..nervous I was to be held by him.

"You're gonna have to calm down to be near me, Luna... I'm not the same boy I used to be.." I thought he was making a joke about, perhaps he thought I was turned on... and he was being a typical male... so of course I got even more flustered, but then I found myself sitting on the hay bale alone...and the male standing, gazing down at me...had the reddest eyes I'd ever seen a day in my life..