"So what are you doing?" he wonders as I continue on. I found a shortcut through some woods that shaves twenty minutes off the typical hour long walk. It's not the safest bet but I figure I'll be fine. I survived this morning either way. Let's just hope there aren't any creeps hanging out in there. I motion towards the exit of the lot. "Walking," I say as if it's obvious. "To your house?" he asks as he allows his eyebrows to rise. It's not as bad as he's making it out to be. Yeah, it's a good distance but it's such a long drive in a car because of all the one ways and dead-ends. Those don't affect walkers. "Yeah," I nod at him. "Do you want a ride?" he asks me after a few seconds of us just staring at each other. "So you can kick me out of your car again? No thanks," I retort with a quiet scoff. "I didn't kick you out of my car," he states. I stop walking and turn to look at him with my hands tucked in my pockets. "You leaned over me, unlocked, and opened my door. That's kicking me out," I state. "No, I'm pretty sure that's unlocking and opening your door. It's usually considered a gentlemanly thing to do," he responds as if it wasn't rude of him. I give him a flat look in response. "It's supposed to rain." "Then let it rain," I scoff as I keep walking, leaving him to stand in the parking lot. +++ When I arrive home, I'm informed that my mom is coming to visit on Halloween with my little brother Charlie. According to her, she just wants to see how I'm settling in. I personally feel like she wants to have an in-depth discussion with my aunt to remind her of the thousands of rules that are set for me here. She keeps telling me that my time spent in Harrington is not a vacation. I simply shrug her off because this is not the type of vacation I'd take. "Are you excited?" my aunt asks me with a small smile as she ducks into my room. I'm cleaning it, mainly because I won't have time to this week and I know my mother will call me a slob if there's so much as one sock on the floor. I'm also going to try to get Maddox to start the project one of these next few days. We have a month to do it, but I want to get it over with now so I won't have anything to worry about when the project is actually due. "Yeah," I lie. "You don't sound like you're excited," my aunt acknowledges. I shrug as I get up from the floor. "My mother's just coming here to enforce her rules, you know that, right?" My aunt tilts her head at me. "I don't think so. I think she misses you." I shake my head. "I've been gone for a week." "A week is a long time to be away from your daughter," my aunt tells me. "Then how is she going to do a year?" I scoff. My mother sent me away because I was being a teenager with friends. She didn't like seeing me happy so she sent me here because she knew I wouldn't be happy. Why should I care if she misses me? "You don't know if you're going to be here for a year," my aunt explains in an attempt to comfort me. "My mother just isn't going to sign me out of school, again, just to sign me back into my old school," I declare with a shake of my head. "Do you not like it here?" my aunt mumbles with a small frown. I feel guilty for putting that thought in her head. I look at her and quickly shake my head. "No, no, I love it here! You're so kind and your house is so nice! I'm just...having a hard time making friends." "I know it's hard being the new kid, but you'll find your group soon enough," my aunt replies hopefully. "What about that boy you went with to homecoming? Isn't he your friend?" I sigh and shake my head. "I don't know. He's not the nicest person," I tell her. "What's his name?" she wonders as she squints in thought. "Maddox," I answer as I begin folding my clothes and putting them away. "He's also the one that gave you a ride home that day?" she inquires with quirked brows. I give a short nod in response. She goes to speak again but her phone, which is in the living room, rings loudly. Thankfully, she jumps to get it. Though I appreciate her concern, I don't want to tell her about the embarrassing end to my junior year homecoming. The conversation would've eventually lead up to that and I just want to worry about myself alone. + + + Halloween comes around sooner than I thought. The school has been decked out with Halloween decorations since the day I arrived. I just didn't think much of it. I was so used to my old school's bright orange hallways that seeing the occasional pumpkin didn't do much to me. On that frightful morning, my mother and brother set out at nine in the morning so they'd arrive when I was getting out of school. My aunt convinced me to get a ride from Vivica today, at least coming home. I walked to school, mostly for some thinking time.