Page 86 of Olivia's Only Pretending
I tapped the counter. “No, it came in. I had second thoughts about it, though. I’m not sure I like it.”
“It’s got to be better than nothing,” Mom said, grabbing a plate from me. She opened the pizza box, and the scent of marinara and cheese filled the kitchen.
“Is that why you only have on a pair of cat ears?” I asked.
“I have on a striped shirt,” Mom countered. “I’m one of those cute little striped cats. Like Garfield.”
“It’s just surprising because you’reyou,” Lucy said, sitting down at my kitchen table. “The idea of competing with whatever you were going to have on is part of the reason I amped up my own costume so much.”
I looked over her blue and white polka-dot dress and pinned-back curls, and Adam’s suit and fedora. They had amped it up.
The doorbell rang, giving me an escape from this costume inquisition. I grabbed my big wooden bowl of candy and ran to the door.
As I gave the tiny trick-or-treaters handfuls of candy, I searched the faces of the grown-ups standing behind them.What if Victor and his nieces and nephews were trick or treating on my street?
My heart climbed up my throat as the trick-or-treaters skipped down my porch steps. I looked out into the busy street outside my house. The streetlamps were aglow, and red and orange leaves were underfoot. I searched the crowd for his face, but he wasn’t there.
I was the reason he wasn’t here.
The sun set in oranges and pinks while my doorbell kept dinging, and the bowl of candy slowly dwindled.
My house slowly started to smell like crisp apples, oranges, and cinnamon. I walked back into the kitchen after changing into my saltshaker costume to find my mom stirring mulled apple cider on the stove, a canister of my cinnamon sticks open beside her, and the leftover bits of an orange—a tradition from my childhood. Every Halloween, my mom’s house would smell like mulled cider and candy.
I walked over to her and rested my head on her shoulder.
“How’re you doing, honey?” she asked me with a Texas drawl.
“I’m …” I felt myself open a little. A crack. “Okay.”
“Only okay?”
I heard a movie start from the other room. I peeked over the kitchen island into the living room. Adam stood in front of the TV, holding the remote, whileHalloween Town’s opening credits rolled across the screen.
“There sure are a lot of Snickers bars in the candy bowl,” Lucy said, walking back into the kitchen after handing candy out. “And you know what? I think I like the saltshaker costume. It’s just missing something.”
I closed my eyes, my head still resting against my mom.Something was definitely missing tonight.
“Oh, you know, it would be cute if someone else was the pepper!” Lucy said. “You should’ve had Victor over tonight, and he could’ve been your pepper.”
A knife in my chest. Being twisted.
“Why isn’t Victor here?” Mom asked.
“It’s honestly weird he’s not,” Lucy mused. “He should be here and have built some table for us to set the candy bowl on or something.”
Mom chuckled at this, echoing against my temple. I lifted my head.
“Is he with his family tonight or something?” Adam asked from the living room.
“He’s been MIA lately,” Lucy said.
“It’s just been a week,” I said defensively, my voice high. “He’s been MIA foroneweek. It’s not that crazy.”
“One week, for you guys, is a little crazy,” Lucy said, her voice lower, softer.
Tears prickled against my eyes.Oh, no, was I about to cry?“Fine, Lucy, the truth is … we’re on a pause. I told him we needed a break,a pause, okay?” I said, bursting into a small sob. Too many questions. Too many feelings.
My mom’s hand found my shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.
