Page 108 of Losing the Rhythm

“I’ll do it as many times as you need me to.” Toby said it a little too seriously for my liking, the undertone too heavy for me to think about. I never wanted to think about a scenario where he or anyone sacrificed themselves to keep me alive.

“Come on,” I said. “I want to claim our prizes. What do we get?”

“We get to choose,” Toby said relenting as we headed toward a nearby booth to prove we were survivors. “What’s with all those tips, by the way?”

“What tips?”

“With the crouching and the flashlight? At the end it went all to hell, but we were able to bypass the first monster.”

I shrugged. “Common sense. And Lindie liked to bring guys over. I didn’t want it to be known I was in the house too, so I’d move around the house with the lights off, as quietly as possible.”

Toby made a low humming sound as we approached the counter and handed over our tags and the belt they had been stuck to. We were able to choose from different toys and gimmicks, to coupons from the gift shop or free food.

We settled on the free food at one of the vendors. The coupons we got from there, we used at the dessert vendor, getting pie and hot apple cider to drink.

“I can’t believe you got pumpkin. Apple is an American classic.”

“So is pumpkin,” I said, eating a bite along with the delicious whip cream they put on it.

Toby shook his head as he scarfed down his pie. They were big, healthy slices, super good.

“I had a lot of fun,” I said to Toby. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

“The Spookfest is all weekend, we can try coming again if you want.”

“Maybe,” I said, thinking about the schedule.

Paxon had a game tomorrow, and before that I was going to have my friendate with Bryan. I wasn’t sure what he had planned either. Seemed they all kept in theme with not letting me know until it was time. I was okay with that though. They were putting time into planning our friendates and making sure I was comfortable and happy. It was interesting to see which direction each of them went. I wasn’t sure about Bryan’s plans though, what he’d like to do with me. I guess it was going to be a nice surprise tomorrow.

For now though, I was going to have fun with Toby and not think about the day we had at school. Or the fact that now all the guys knew that I had kissed Justin and they even had photo proof.

So far, they hadn’t really reacted much with me outside of the initial surprise. I didn’t know what any of them thought, and anytime I thought about it, I felt sick to my stomach.

For the moment, I was going to enjoy my time with Toby and not think about the guillotine hanging over my head, ready to drop at any moment.

I smiled at Toby. “Apple is good. But pumpkin is better.”

Toby sputtered, trying to find words to explain the amazingness of apple pie.

I laughed, enjoying the way my stomach ached from all the happiness that was building up inside of it.

Chapter Thirty-four

“Ready?” Bryan asked, opening my door for me.

“Yeah. And still curious,” I said.

He laughed as he closed the door and went around to get in on his side.

The plan was to have our friendate and then go meet the others at Paxon’s game. It was a big one, so all the guys were excited. I think Toby was even with Paxon’s dad and Calv, planning how to embarrass the poor guy during the game. Seth was working to finish his homework in time for the game. And all I knew about Justin was that he was with Aunt Laura.

Bryan got in the car and we headed out toward the highway.

“So?” I asked.

Bryan smiled. “Apple orchard.”

“We’re picking apples?”

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