Page 26 of When the Leaves Fall

DREW

A bout five minutes later, someone knocks on the family room door. An older gentleman walks in, introducing himself as Peter.

“I’m here to talk you through everything, and if you want to pray, I’m here for that too.” He tells us.

My parents both have a strong belief in God, so my Dad takes him up on his offer to pray. After they’re done, Peter asks us to explain what happened.

I inhale a slow, deep breath and prepare myself to tell this story…again.

“ W here to first?” Luca asks me.

“How should I know?” I laugh. “I’ve never been here. ”

He smirks and leads me to the information booth, where we grab a copy of the event schedule.

“I just meant, do you want to get food, go on rides, or play some games first?” he chuckles. “But here’s a list of the other things going on tonight, too.”

I narrow my eyes and stick out my tongue at him before grabbing the schedule. At that moment, my stomach chose to grumble. Loudly.

“Well,” he laughs again. “I think that answers my question. This way.” He nods down a path lined with food trucks. As we approach the area, the mixture of sweet and savory smells overwhelms my senses. “What are you in the mood for?” Luca asks.

“I don’t know.” I look around at all of the options. “For a small town, you sure have a lot of food truck options.”

“This event has gotten so big that food trucks come from a few hours away.”

“That’s cool.” There are too many choices. “What’s your favorite?”

“I’m a sucker for cheesecurds,” Luca replies. “It must be my Wisconsin blood.”

“Sold! I haven’t had really good fried cheese curds in a long time.”

We visit a few trucks and end up with a small smorgasbord, leaving us no way to eat our food without finding a place to sit, which seems impossible in this crowd.

“Luca!” Someone shouts from behind me. I turn to see a guy around our age waving maniacally at Luca. “Dude! ”

I nudge Luca with my elbow and nod in that direction. “Friend of yours?”

“Ha!” He waves back. “Yeah, that’s my cousin Graham. Told ya we’d run into people.”

“You weren’t wrong,” I reply. “And it didn’t take very long.”

“There’s room here,” Graham shouts back our way, gesturing to the table he’s at. Luca turns to face me. “We can keep looking,” he says. “We might be able to find a spot where I don’t know the people at the table. Or maybe we can find a patch of grass.”

I roll my eyes. “It’s fine,” I reply. “We’re here as friends, remember.” I shoot him a wink and start walking toward Graham.

“Hey, man,” Graham greets Luca when we arrive at the picnic table.

“Hey,” Luca replies, taking a seat. I sit next to him. “This is Drew,” Luca introduces me.

“Nice to meet ya, Drew.” Graham extends his right hand. I shake it and reply, “Nice to meet you, too, Graham.”

“What brings you two here tonight?” Graham asks.

Luca looks around and lets out a little laugh. “Fall Fest, duh.”

Graham rolls his eyes and punches Luca in the shoulder. “Ya on a date?” He gestures with his eyebrows toward me.

Luca’s cheeks flush, and he looks so darn cute, I just want to squeeze them. He seems to stutter over his response, so I answer for him. “Nah, Luca was kind enough to invite me because I needed to get out of the hospital for a bit.”

Graham’s mood dims a bit. “Oh, shit. Sorry.”

“Oh, no. It’s okay,” I chuckle. “Luca was my mom’s nurse until recently. I happened to mention I needed a night out and that I missed all the fall activities I’d normally be doing this time of year.” I look at Luca, who’s smiling at me.

“Yup, that’s how it happened.” He agreed, a knowing look in his eyes.

After about twenty minutes of eating and chatting, Graham gets a phone call. “Oh, this is work,” he says and saunters off.

“Graham is a plumber,” Luca informs me. “He must be on call.” I nod.

“I’m always on call,” he says as he approaches the table. “That’s how it works when you own the company.”

Luca laughs.

“I actually gotta go though, plumbing emergency. It was nice to meet you, Drew. See you around, Luc.” He waves and jogs off toward the parking lot. Erm, field.

“He seems nice,” I say to Luca.

“He’s a good guy,” he agrees. He slaps his hands to his thighs. “So, what next?”

I look around the event a bit, then glance at the schedule. “You up for some pumpkin carving? ”

“Hell, yeah.” He stands up and grabs the food trays.

I help clean up our mess, and then we head over to the pumpkin carving area.

They’ve got a whole setup here. Slop buckets sit next to every table.

Pumpkins and carving tools line each plastic-covered table.

At the entrance, we see a contest rules sheet, followed by a sign-up sheet.

People can carve pumpkins both Friday and Saturday, and then they are judged Sunday morning, winners are announced shortly after.

First prize is $100 gift card to a local vineyard/apple orchard.

“Oh, I’m so game,” I laugh. “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

“Are we carving together or competing?” Luca asks.

I eye him curiously. “You serious? Competing, of course. I’m not risking the winning spot to someone who may be a pumpkin-carving amateur.”

He raises his hands in surrender. “Fair enough.”

I walk around, eyeing and carefully examining each available pumpkin until I find one that’ll work perfectly for what I have in mind. I grab the pumpkin and the tools I need and head over to an open table.

Luca joins me shortly afterwards with his pumpkin, tools, and a stencil of Spider-Man’s mask.

“How original,” I mock with a smirk.

“You’re not using a stencil?” He asks.

“They don’t have a stencil for what I’m planning,” I reply. “Now, you keep your eyes on your pumpkin over there, Luca. I don’t need you stealing any of my ideas or techniques. ”

He scoffs and shakes his head. “What did I get myself into?”

“Oh, Luca,” I pucker my bottom lip. “You have no idea.”

The next ten minutes are spent in silence as we both concentrate on digging out the guts from our pumpkins. Suddenly, I feel a splash of wet goop hit my cheek.

“What the?!” I yell out in surprise. I look up and see Luca’s face, which is simultaneously looking worried and trying to hold back laughter.

“Oops,” he says. “I flung the spoon a bit too hard when pulling it out of the pumpkin.”

“Mmhmm,” I reply, nodding. “Totally get it. No worries.” I get back to work.

He hesitates for a moment or two before getting back to his pumpkin as well. I take the opportunity to grab a fistful of pumpkin guts and toss them directly at the side of Luca’s neck. I watch as it splatters against him, and some of it drips down his collarbone and onto his shirt.

He straightens abruptly but doesn’t look at me. I can’t tell whether he’s upset or gathering up the strength to take on this fight.

It doesn’t take long for me to get my answer as another pile of goop comes hurdling at me. It splats me directly in the chest. I look down, gasping. When I look back up, determination lines my face. His determined eyes meet mine. We’re both holding large amounts of pumpkin guts in our hands.

“Throwing pumpkin guts is against the rules, Drew,” he says .

“Then call me a rule breaker,” I state as I throw a pile of guts at him, smacking him right in the middle of his chest. It hit him with enough force that it splattered onto his arms and face.

“ O kay, you asked for it.” He whips a handful of goop at me, but I duck out of the way just in time. “Ha!” I chide as I straighten back up, as another pile of goop comes at me, smashing into my arm.

“Ha, back atcha!”

We enter into a stare down. His hands are empty, but I still have one hand full of guts.

Do I throw it before he gets a chance to grab more?

Do I take the time I have to grab another handful?

I don’t have enough time to contemplate as I watch his hands start to dig into the garbage can next to him.

The one he’s been placing all of his guts into.

Shit. I take advantage of him being bent over and whip the pumpkin goo at him before digging into my own garbage for more goop.

I hit him square in the back, knocking him off his senses only momentarily.

As soon as my hands are full, I make a run for it.

The area is starting to fill with more people getting ready to carve their pumpkins, so I have to dodge around them.

“Hey!” Someone shouts over the crowd. “No pumpkin gut fights!”

I hear them, but I can’t focus on what they’re saying. I’m hiding behind a pole, carefully watching for Luca. I’m peering over my left shoulder when I hear, “See, I told you it’s against the rules,” from my right. I turn to see Luca smirking at me, a pile of guts at the ready.

“Luca,” I mumble. “I, uh, surrender.”

He lowers his hand, a gentle smile on his face. He leans into me and whispers, “Not a chance.” He then smashes pumpkin guts into my cheek, rubbing it in circles to really get it all in there.

“Oh my God, Luca!” I scream.

“You two,” a stern voice comes from behind. “Out.” I turn to see a large gentleman pointing us in the direction of the exit.

Shit.

Heads hanging low, we both make our way to the exit. As soon as we’re out of view and earshot, we both bust out in laughter.

“You jerk!” I yell at him. “You started all of this.” I gesture toward my clothes and body full of goop. “And my face! Really?”

He pulls me into him and gently removes the pumpkin guts from my face. I gaze into his beautiful eyes.

“Forgive me?” he whispers, his lips only a few inches from mine.

“Never,” I whisper back. His arms wrap around me, pulling me into him even more.

He leans down and gently bites my bottom lip. My heart is racing. I want him to kiss me. I don’t care who sees it. Being this close to him and not having his mouth on mine is torture .

A sly grin crosses his face. “That’s too bad.” He pulls back and starts walking back toward the carnival games. “You coming?” he calls back to me.

I try to hold back my smile, but it’s no use. I roll my eyes, but follow him back to the crowd.

What a shithead.