Page 55 of A Hexcellent Chance to Fall in Love

Until Halloween

Christina

When I open my eyes, I’m still in the Halloween store, except it’s different.

The monster circle that surrounded our picnic spot is gone—and so are the discount signs, and Kevin is nowhere in sight.

The racks are stocked again with costumes, but instead of Halloween, the store’s theme has changed to Masquerade.

The one thing that is the same is that Pepper is still with me.

“What’s happening?” I ask her.

“I don’t know,” she says, her gaze shifting back and forth—her hand holding mine even tighter than before.

“What do you mean? Is this not normal?” She has done this more than once, so what does it mean that she doesn’t know what’s going on?

“This has never happened before—”

Smoke rises from the floor, and a scroll appears in front of us. My heart is pounding now for a completely different reason. I pull myself closer to Pepper, and she wraps her other hand around my arm, securing me in place.

“This is how I got the rules my first year,” she says.

“So we did it? We’re stuck together?” My voice shakes. I don’t know whether I should be happy or sad. I’ll miss my family, but at least I have Pepper. At least we can be together.

The scroll unrolls.

It reads:

Congratulations.

You’ve done it. You’ve broken the curse of The Dead of Night Emporium Incorporated.

While we are sad to see you go, we are impressed with the sacrifice you were willing to make, and to show our appreciation, we are gifting you this store.

As with all The Dead of Night stores, it will be kept properly supplied, but after you read this letter, your memories of how you were able to break this curse will be removed.

You have to understand, we have a business to run, and we can’t have you spreading the word.

Christina, because of your willingness to sacrifice yourself for Pepper, you will have your memories of her returned. Another gift from us. You can’t say we aren’t giving, now, can you?

We appreciate your service, until next time.

Upper Management

A puff of black smoke, a flash of light, and it’s gone.

I blink a few times, allowing my eyes to adjust. Everything is the same. The store with its stocked shelves, and Pepper is here with me—her hand holding mine—and I remember her. I remember everything . Three Halloweens’ worth of memories flood into my head, making me so happy, I could cry again.

“What just happened?” Pepper asks.

“We did it.” I turn to face her, and she has shock in her eyes. “I don’t know what we did, but we did something.” We broke the curse. I can feel it just like I can feel a set of keys clenched in our hands—cold metal against warm skin.

She glances around again like she’s taking it all in and then pulls me toward the front window. Outside is Ginger Street. Across the way is Déjà Brew. We’re still in Clover Creek, and the clock tower that peeks out from behind the buildings says 12:03. “We did it,” she repeats.

I nod, and she holds me to her. I hug her back with all my strength. She is here with me, and now I never have to let her go.

She pulls away and looks around again. “And now we own a costume store?” She laughs.

It’s my turn to look at everything. It’s all so much to take in. “And now we own a costume store,” I confirm, and laugh with her. “It feels surreal. Almost too good to be true.”

“Because now you get to work in the ever-lucrative costume industry with me.”

“Well, there’s that,” I say. “But more importantly, I get to be with you. Which means you’re stuck with me.”

She laughs again. “Oh, no. You are the one who’s stuck with me .”

I kiss her cheek. “That’s fine. Because you got me.”

She kisses my forehead. “I got you, forever.”