Everybody Scream

It's the 30th of October. It's the eve of Halloween. The time is 3:30 pm.

Grieco is sat on the couch watching whatever Halloween specials are on, and Zack is sat beside him scrolling through his phone. Me? I'm sat on the floor in front of a coffee table covered in pumpkins. Seven pumpkins to be exact. Why so many pumpkins? It's almost Halloween and the other two don't give a shit. This has led to a severe lack of pumpkins and decorations to boost the Halloween spirit. Good thing they live with me: the self-professed king of the pumpkin patch.

No one has ever understood my love for Halloween. When I was young it wasn't that weird but still a tad peculiar. At twelve years old I was told that I was too old to go trick-or-treating and that completely crushed me. Then I just started having friends stay over where we dressed up, watched scary movies and ate a shit tonne of candy. When I turned eighteen it turned into nights out with friends and we would all still dress up. Now my group of friends have a routine where each year we take it in turns to hold a party. This year it's Phil's turn.

Speaking of the party...

"Guys, have you got your costumes sorted for tomorrow?"

"No." The two answer in unison, Zack seeming slightly panicked and Grieco not appearing to give two shits.

"Seriously? But it's Halloween tomorrow!"

"I'll run to the store later and grab something. Actually, I might as well go now. Need to grab some groceries seeing as both of you are incredibly lazy."

"Hey! I'm not lazy!" I object ct, slamming the pumpkin carving knife on the table. However, I slammed it down a lot harder than anticipated and now have a horrid stinging sensation across my palm. Grieco doesn't even react to the statement.

"You are most of the time. The last time you went out you came back with so many goddamn pumpkins and no groceries."

"I will have as many pumpkins as I damn well please." I announce, crossing my arms over my chest. "They are an incredibly important part of Halloween!"

"Groceries are a higher priority than pumpkins, Jack." Zack sighs, grabbing his keys and throwing on a jacket.

"The King will no longer be taking questions concerning his purchases. Be gone." With a wave of my hand, I return my attention to the last pumpkin to be carved. I think I'll try and carve the face of Jack Skellington...

Zack doesn't think I can see him, but I notice him roll his eyes out of the corner of my eye. As he exits the room, mumbling under his breath about "those stupid pumpkins" and "I wonder where the nearest costume shop is", I snort. He is completely and utterly unprepared for such an amazing time of year. It's as if he doesn't care for Halloween in the slightest.

What a turd.

As the front door clicks close, it causes a lightbulb to go off in my head. There's still the bag of decorations to put up. There's still candy to get. Grieco still hasn't got a costume.

Time to correct these things.

First things first, I leap across the table to grab my phone which is hidden among the pumpkins and it takes a few attempts to actually find it. Once the device is in my grasp, I hurriedly text Zack with far too many typos to tell him to buy candy. I really hope he can translate "ZAK WF NESD MKEE XANDY PLWSDE". Next matter of business: Grieco and his costume for tomorrow.

"Grieco!" I exclaim as I jump onto the couch beside him.

"Can I help you?" He sighs, not even looking away from the television.

"What are you going to do about your Halloween costume?"

"I'll find something."

"But Grieco." I whine as I start to jump on the couch. Without even glancing away from the screen in front of him, he grabs me by the ankle and yanks it forward. I tumble down onto the couch as I lose my balance, hitting my elbow pretty damn hard on the arm of the couch.

"You bitch!"

"I said I would find something. Now go piss off back to your pumpkins."

Muttering obscenities under my breath, I pull myself up from the couch and get on with the next mission: decorations. With my goal in my mind, I run to the cupboard.

**********

I discovered that Zack had finally returned from grocery shopping when there was a shout of my name. Zack walked into the room just as I looked up from the last pumpkin that needs carving. To be honest I never planned to be confronted by a disgruntled Zack holding a plastic bat whilst I am half a forearm deep in a pumpkin (get your mind out of the gutter) as I pull out guts upon guts of pumpkin.

"Why was this hanging directly in front of the door?"

"Why not?"

"Because it hit me in the damn eye, you shit."

"I mean, if you didn't see it then your eyesight must be pretty shit already."

"Shut it, smartass." One moment he's speaking, the next there is a bat hitting me in the face. The smug look on his face doesn't last long as I pull my arm out of the pumpkin with a clump of pumpkin guts that I am 100% prepared to throw at his face.

"Jack." Grieco pipes up.

"What?" I sigh. Still focused on the television, he simply points at the floor and says two words.

"Cream carpet."

With a thud my hand falls back into the pumpkin as Zack walks out looking incredibly happy with himself. Then he makes a swift return for a moment as he throws bags of candy at me. It seems that he does understand the bullshit I text, regardless of typos.

He shall be spared for now.

This last pumpkin is the top of my priorities right now. I'll punch Zack later for throwing the bat at my face, even though he could probably break my arm in a second.