Page 60 of Releasing 10
“What if he comes out this time?”
“Let’s just go back inside, okay? Before we get caught.”
“Hell no, we have a mission to complete.”
“Maybe Baby Biggs is right, lads. Your mam will flip if she finds out we snuck out and took the girls with us.”
“Shut up, Feely. We don’t need that kind of negative talk. Now, throw the fucking egg, Hughie!”
“I’ll throw it.” Snatching up two eggs from the tray, I crept out from behind the car we were hiding behind and ran up the driveway of Hugh and Gibsie’s mortal enemy. Launching the eggs as I hard as I could, I scrambled back to our den as fast as I could.
“Holy shit,” Hugh whispered, looking at me with wide eyes. “You reallyarefast.”
“Told ya,” I replied, feeling my belly flip-flop when he looked at me like that. He had done it a lot when we were trick-or-treating earlier, and I liked it then, too.
“That was Tomb Raider–style badass,” Gibsie exclaimed, holding up his hand for a high five. “You got his windows.”
“This is fun.” Snickering, I high-fived him before grabbing more eggs. “Let’s do it again.”
“This is superbad,” Claire groaned, covering her face with her hands. “We’re going to be in so much trouble.”
“Okay,” Hugh said, pulling down his mask to hide his face. “I’m going to do it.” Grabbing the last two eggs from our very last tray, he broke off in a crouched run toward the house, while Gibsie cheered him on from the den.
However, the moment he reached the garden and reared back to throw his eggs, the porch light flicked on, and an old man appeared. “I’ve got ya now, ya little bollocks,” the man snarled, grabbing Hugh by the collar of his shirt. “Take off that mask and let me see who I’m dealing with!”
“Oh fuck,” Gibsie groaned, scrambling out from our cover to defend our friend, but I got there first.
Bolting out from behind the car, I rushed at the old man who was stringing Hugh up by the collar and threw myself at him.“Let him go,” I hissed, smashing him with the eggs I was still holding before biting down on his arm.
“Jesus Christ,” the old man yelped, releasing my friend and cradling his hand to his chest.
I moved to rush the man again, but a hand grabbed mine and pulled me away.Hugh’s hand, I realized, as we ran full speed after our friends in the opposite direction of his house.
“Holy shit,” Hugh laughed, still holding my hand, as we ran for our lives from the crime scene. “I can’t believe you bit Old Murphy.”
“I’m sorry,” I called back, running as fast as I could to keep up with him. “Please don’t be mad at me.”
“Mad at you?” He pulled me behind a wall at the end of their street. “Liz, you just saved me from being grounded for a month.” He was breathing hard from running. “I’m not mad at you. I’m grateful.”
“You are?” I replied, panting for breath, as we hid from sight. “Really?”
“Really.” Hugh squeezed my hand and smiled down at me. “Thanks for saving me back there.”
“Anytime,” I replied, grinning back at him.
“That was so badass,” Gibsie panted, climbing out of the bushes, with Patrick and Claire in tow. Jogging over to us, he slung his arm over my shoulder and laughed. “Lads, we have to keep this girl.”
“Agreed,” Hugh and Patrick said in unison, while Claire clapped her hands and bounced around excitedly. “See? I told you guys she was the bestest.”
“You were right, Claire-Bear,” Gibsie replied, giving her a big smile. “A star is better than a square.”
I scrunched my brows up. “A square?”
“Yeah, we’re a square, see?” Gibsie pointed to the four of them before pointing to me. “You make a star.”
“Yay,” Claire squealed, clutching her chest. “I’m so happy.”
“Okay, guys, all in.” Gibsie held his hand out, and we all piled our hands on top of his. “Team Gibson on three.”
