Page 10 of Death

Ari chuckles, bringing out the deep dimples in his chin. My own lips twitch as we ease into a slow, comfortable stride on the sidewalk.

“Why haven’t you left Ohio?” he asks.

“Oh.” I inhale sharply. “You were serious about the question thing…”

“Yes, I was.”

“Uh…” We part slightly as a ghost, a witch, and a vampire run between us with overflowing candy buckets. “Well…” I clear my throat, “I wanted to go… anywhere but here for school but my parents convinced me to stay back home for a while to get my gen-ed credits out of the way first.”

Ari nods to show he’s listening. “Not a horrible idea nowadays, I hear.”

“It’s not, no. But it’s just a delay on the inevitable that they seem to have a hard time accepting.”

“You leaving them?”

“Yep.” I exhale. “I don’t know why but they’ve always been a little clingy, sort of.”

“I’m sure they mean well,” he says.

“They do. Definitely.”

“My parents were the same way.”

“Oh, yeah?” I chuckle. “How’d you get them off your back?”

“They died.”

I pause mid-stride. “Oh, god. I’m sorry.”

He laughs and motions for me to continue with him. “Don’t be. It was ages ago. Though, even now, I can still feel them lingering over my shoulder, waiting for me to screw up.”

I study his face as we walk forward. He can’t possibly be a day over twenty-five — thirty tops — but he speaks like he’s much older than that.

We come to a stop at the corner before crossing it.

I point right. “This is my street,” I say.

Ari turns with me, almost before I even announce it. The busy downtown streets fade off behind us as we enter a quieter residential area. House lights illuminate our way forward, each porch decorated with jack-o-lanterns and spooky clings on the windows.

“Nice neighborhood,” Ari says.

“It’s not too bad,” I say.

“It looks like you’ve…” he pauses and smiles, “you’ve lived a good life here, Tannis.”

I breathe a laugh. “It could be worse,” I say with a nod.

“Are you happy?”

The question strikes me oddly. I come to a slow stop and he does, too, his eyes locked on my face as he waits for an answer.

My tongue weighs heavy in my mouth. “Hm,” I hum.

“What?” he asks.

“Nothing. I… just realized that no one’s ever asked me that before.”

Ari smiles.

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