(Un)happy Halloween

“Dad, let’s go!” I try not to pace in the family room while I wait for Dad. But it’s hard not to. It’s Halloween, which means I have two places to be and no time to waste.

When Dad and I are finally in the van on the way to Mary Ann’s house, I go over the schedule with him again.

“I’ll call you when we’re done eating pizza. Then you’re going to pick me up from Mary Ann’s and take me to Pamela’s house so I can trick-or-treat.”

Dad glances at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to just stay at Mary Ann’s?”

I let out a breath. Mom and Dad think that I’m trying to do too much in one night and that I should have picked either Mary Ann’s party or trick-or-treating. But I really want to do both things. “Dad, please. We’ve already talked about this.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” says Dad with a wink. He and Mom are wearing matching pirate costumes to give out candy to trick-or-treaters. I know he thinks his pirate imitation is funny, but this is no laughing matter.

“Dad, when you pick me up, please don’t forget to bring my Halloween costume so I can change in the van on the way to Pamela’s house,” I say as we pull up in front of Mary Ann’s house.

“Be off with you, matey,” Dad says in his pirate voice. “I know what to do.”

I give Dad a smile as I get out of the van. “Thanks,” I say.

As I walk up to Mary Ann’s front door, I think about who is coming to her party. Zoe, Arielle, Danielle, Hannah, and Grace will all be here. Chloe Jennifer, April, Emma, Dawn, and Brittany are going to Pamela’s. I really wish everyone could have done one thing together, but that isn’t the case.

When I ring the bell, Joey opens the door. “Happy Halloween!” he says.

He’s wearing vampire fangs that make his voice sound funny when he speaks. I can’t help but laugh. “Great costume,” I say.

“Thanks,” Joey says, smiling. “I’m leaving to go trick-or-treating with Pete and Devon,” he adds. “The girls are in Mary Ann’s room if you want to go up.”

“Have fun!” I say.

When I walk into Mary Ann’s room, Zoe, Arielle, and Danielle are already there.

“Mallory!” says Mary Ann like she’s glad I came. She knows that I was torn about what I wanted to do and that I’m planning to leave after we eat. “We’re just waiting for Hannah and Grace to get here before we order the pizza.”

“Cool,” I say and look at the clock on my phone. I just hope they get here soon. I’m supposed to be at Pamela’s house in an hour to start trick-or-treating.

“Do you want to paint your nails?” asks Danielle.

“We brought black and orange polish,” says Arielle.

“Sure.” I plop down on the floor next to Zoe, who is already painting her nails in Halloween colors.

“Look,” says Zoe when she’s done. She wiggles her fingers. She painted her nails orange with black spots and stripes. “Cute, huh?”

“Your nails look like baby leopards,” says Mary Ann. She giggles.

I decide to paint all my nails orange except for my pointer fingers. I paint those nails black. By the time I’m done, Hannah and Grace arrive.

“I’m going to ask my mom to order the pizza now,” says Mary Ann. “Who wants pepperoni, and who wants plain cheese?” she asks.

She counts up who wants what and then writes it down on a notepad. I hope the pizza will get here fast. I have to leave in forty-five minutes.

While we wait for the pizza, we hang out in the kitchen, talking and eating chips and dip. “What’s your favorite kind of Halloween candy?” asks Hannah.

“I like lollipops,” says Grace.

“I like anything chocolate,” says Arielle.

“Mmm, me too,” says Danielle.

Halloween candy seems like a weird thing to be talking about, especially since no one who came to the party wanted to go trick-or-treating. I try to focus on what everyone is saying, but it’s hard not to look at the time on my phone.

All of my friends at Pamela’s are going to start trick-or-treating in twenty minutes, and there’s still no sign of the pizza. I decide to go into the bathroom and text Pamela.

I wait ten minutes and then another ten minutes but still no sign of the pizza.

I don’t know if I should stay or go. If I go, I don’t get to eat pizza. And if I stay, I can’t trick-or-treat.

I do an eenie, meenie, miney, mo in my head, but it doesn’t help. I feel my phone buzzing. I pull it out of my pocket and read the text from Pamela.

I walk out of the kitchen and text her back.

But it’s not OK. I’m hungry and I’m late. This is NOT how I planned Halloween.

I text Dad to come and get me. Maybe by the time he gets here, the pizza will have already arrived and I will have eaten it.

As I put my phone back into my pocket, Mary Ann’s mom comes into the kitchen. “Girls, I’m so sorry the pizza is taking so long,” she says. “I just called and the restaurant said Halloween is a busy night, but they promised the pizza is on its way.”

Unfortunately for me, Dad is a faster driver than the delivery guy.

“I guess I have to go,” I say when I hear him honk his horn.

Mary Ann frowns. “You don’t want to stay for pizza?” she asks.

Actually, I do. I’m starving, but Dad is here. I say bye and race out to the van. When I get inside, Dad hands me my witch costume. “How was the pizza?” he asks.

I know if I explain what happened, he’ll say I need to eat dinner, especially before I eat a bunch of candy. But I also don’t want to lie. “Tell you about it later,” I say. “I have to get dressed and text Pamela to find out where everyone’s trick-or-treating.”

Dad opens his mouth, and then he closes it. I’m not sure what he was going to say, but I’m relieved when he doesn’t say anything.

I slip on my costume and then buckle my seat belt as Dad pulls out of the driveway. I pull out my phone and text Pamela.

“Mallory, where are your friends?” Dad asks as we get closer to Pamela’s house.

I stare down at my phone. “Pamela hasn’t answered yet,” I mumble.

Dad looks at me like he gets what’s going on and feels sorry for me. “Why don’t I drive around the neighborhood? I bet we can find your friends.”

“Sure,” I say. There’s a lump in my throat. I feel like something is stuck, and it’s obviously not Halloween candy. As we drive from street to street, I text Pamela again to try and find out where they are. But she still doesn’t answer.

When I finally spot my friends, Dad pulls over and I hop out of the van.

“Mallory!” says Dawn. “What took you so long?”

“Look at how much candy we’ve gotten,” says Brittany. She opens up the pillowcase she’s carrying so that I can see how much candy is in it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t text you back,” Pamela says. “I didn’t hear my phone.”

“We’re going to do a few more houses, and then we’re going back to Pamela’s house to trade candy,” says April.

“We’ll share what we got with you,” says Chloe Jennifer. I can tell they’ve had enough trick-or-treating, but they feel bad that I haven’t had any.

“Don’t worry,” I say. I wave to Dad like everything is fine and he can go. But as he drives off, part of me wants to just get in the van and go home with him.

I’ve had enough Halloween for one night.