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I walked away, but as I moved through the trees, I glanced over my shoulder at him. He was sitting on the ground again, staring up at the stars. Whatever act he’d been putting on when we were talking was gone, and there was a look of pain and longing on his face that reverberated in my chest. We were both supposed to be moving on, but why did I feel like Noah was still living in the past?

CHAPTERTWENTY-NINE

The week leading up to the Halloween carnival was chaotic. All the clubs and sports teams were in charge of different stands, and everyone in school was busy preparing for it. People were skipping classes to work on their booths, and nowhere in the school felt safe as people got in the Halloween spirit. The boys at Weybridge loved nothing more than jumping out from behind things to scare the girls, and I spent most of the week on edge.

The school itself transformed too. There were glowing jack-o'-lanterns in the gardens and spiderwebs dangling in the corridors with huge fake spiders crawling across them. The teachers decorated their classrooms, and some even came to class in costume and handed out sweets. I couldn’t believe how much Weybridge Academy embraced Halloween.

“How’s everything for your booth going?” I asked Cress as we made our way to lunch on Friday. It was only one more sleep until Halloween, which meant one more sleep until I saw my mom again. I was struggling to contain my excitement.

“Great,” she said. “We’re pretty much ready. I just have to finalize the roster so everyone knows when they’re manning the booth. Are you sure I can’t convince you to volunteer?”

“Yeah, unfortunately not,” I replied. “Wes is a pretty understanding boyfriend, but I think there are limits.” It was hard to believe we’d only been dating a week. Already, everything about us felt so natural, and it was like we’d been together much longer. I think it was because we’d started out as friends.

“You’re probably right,” she said. “I can’t imagine Wes happily sitting by and watching you kiss other guys. I wouldn’t do the booth either if I had a choice. But since I’m the captain of the team I have to set a good example. Anna, on the other hand, can’t wait. She was the first one to sign up, and she’s not even on the dance team.”

"Of course, she was.” I laughed.

Someone slung an arm over my shoulder, and I looked up to find Wes grinning down at me. “Hey,” he said, planting a kiss on my cheek.

I blushed as I smiled. I liked how comfortable I felt around him and how normal it felt to have him kiss me on the cheek.

“Hey to you too,” I said. “Where have you been all morning?”

“I got a pass to skip class,” he said. “Had to work on the crew contribution for tomorrow.”

“I feel like I should already know this, but what are you guys doing?” Cress asked.

“We’re in charge of the haunted house,” he said. “It’s going to be super spooky this year.” He wiggled his free hand in the air to emphasize the point.

“I’ve never found haunted houses all that scary,” I said.

“Well, this one will scare you for sure.” Lowering his voice, he said, “Keep this just between us, but we’ve come up with the most terrifying ending to it. We’ve roped in Mr. Keech who’s going to be telling everyone they failed their chemistry test.”

Cress and I laughed.

“That is terrifying,” I agreed.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he said with a pleased look in his eyes.

“So, have you put any thought into a costume for tomorrow?” I asked.

“Well, Sawyer’s pissed at me because I told him I was planning to go as Thor. He wants me to dress as the Goose to his Maverick.”

“Of course, Sawyer thinks he’s Maverick.” I laughed.

“Yeah. He does have a slightly inflated ego.”

“Just slightly,” I agreed.

“And he loves to play on the fact we’re twins when we dress up for Halloween. He thinks it helps him entice girls when we match.” Wes rolled his eyes.

“That sounds like Sawyer,” Cress said.

“How about the both of you? Got your costumes all planned out?”

“Yep.” Cress grinned. “I’m heading down the Marvel path too and going as Black Widow.”

“That’s great,” Wes replied. “You actually look a lot like her.”