Page 37 of Lost Track

“Wow. Didn’t even know buses ran through here until you threw me under one, Piper.”

Piper snorted.

Dave laughed outright.

“Why don’t you like Halloween?” he asked, taking a seat on the sofa. Piper bounce passed the ball back to him.

“It’s just an excuse for people to get drunk and be horrible.” She scrunched up her nose. “I’ll pass, thank you.”

Piper fiddled with her pen as she thought. “I guess that can be true. But I really like the dressing up part.”

“Yeah!” Dave jumped on that. “Costumes and candy for the win!”

Sabine smiled at their enthusiasm.

“Listen, I get it. I’m not saying other people can’t enjoy themselves or that Halloween should be banned. I, personally, don’t care for it.”

Piper sputtered.

Dave narrowed his gaze and held the ball in his lap. “But Halloween is everywhere.”

Sabine rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“So what do you do instead? Lay on the floor with the lights off?” His eyes widened as a new thought occurred to him. “Do you at least hand out candy?”

You’d think she’d committed a crime against children with the way they were looking at her.

Her shoulders rose in defense. “I don’t see the point. That’s all.”

“You withhold candy from children?” Piper blinked, more affronted than the time she found out that bananas were technically berries. That had been a wild afternoon.

“I’m not withholding candy,” she defended. “They still get candy. Just not from me.” She waved her hands in front of her, flustered. “Besides, the children of America have enough problems without me adding to their cavities.”

Dave and Piper exchanged a look that Sabine had never seen before from either one of them.

“So that’s it, huh?” she asked. “Halloween is the dealbreaker with you two? Now I’m what? Shunned?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

They answered at the same time. Piper being the yes.

“No,” Dave reiterated, and he arched an eyebrow at Piper. He set the basketball aside and leaned forward, elbows to knees. “So, what do you do? On Halloween.”

“Lock my doors and windows, and pray for dawn.”

Dave stared at her. “It’s not the Purge, babe.”

Sabine covered her face with both hands. “Gah!” She dropped her hands. “This is why I don’t tell people.”

Dave’s smile stretched across his face and she knew he wasn’t making fun of her, not really. But fun was definitely being had at her expense. “I’ve never met someone who doesn’t like Halloween.”

Sabine pressed her lips together because she had already said too much. The only person who “got it” was Kara. And even that was more of a tolerance than a true understanding.

“I’m going to a party at Ana’s,” Piper decided to contribute.

Dave held Sabine’s eyes for a moment, his mouth still doing that smile thing, and then he glanced at Piper. “Costume party?”

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