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“Thanks for watching him tonight, Jo,” Lizzie said distractedly. Her voice came out a bit indecipherable, since she was holding her mouth open in a snarl while she tried to secure her fake vampire teeth in the mirror.
She’d gotten the type of fangs that were supposed to stick on. That made them a little bit more difficult to prepare. Josie found herself having to boil water and prep the adhesive while Lizzie rushed around the house, scrambling to get ready.
Josie smiled, even though Lizzie seemed to be too preoccupied with her fangs to pay any attention to her at all. “It’s no problem,” she replied. “I’ve been wanting to go trick or treating again ever since I grew out of it.”
Lizzie seemed to successfully secure the fangs, closing her mouth and licking over them before she replied. “Right,” she said, still distracted. She pursed her lips for a moment, like she was registering Josie's words. “Weird.”
Before Josie could respond, Lizzie turned and started to walk toward the door. Josie stepped back out into the hallway to avoid being in her way.
“How do I look?” Lizzie asked Josie a bit aggressively, baring her fangs to show them off.
Josie didn’t flinch—she was used to it. “Good,” she answered automatically, crossing her arms over her chest.
Lizzie hummed. “Sexy good?” she asked. “Or scary good?”
Josie blinked. “Um,” she started, shifting on her feet uncomfortably. “I don’t know how to answer that.”
Lizzie sighed, like Josie’s inability to answer was very inconvenient for her. “MG!” she practically yelled in the general direction of the living room.
MG appeared in a matter of moments, reacting as if there might be an emergency.
Pedro peeked into the hall from behind him. Josie made it a point to smile at him.
Lizzie propped her hands on her hips. “Do I look sexy good or scary good?” she asked MG, just as aggressively as before.
MG blinked, much in the same way Josie had. “Um,” he began, uncertain. “Both?”
Lizzie smiled, satisfied. “Excellent,” she said. “Let me just grab my cape and we’ll go.”
Lizzie charged down the hallway toward the bedroom like a woman on a mission.
MG looked at Josie as soon as Lizzie was gone, taking the opportunity to speak to her. “Thank you so much for watching him, Jo,” he said sincerely. “It’s really a huge help.”
Josie smiled. “No problem,” she replied.
MG glanced at the clock on the wall. “Trick or treating starts at five and ends at seven,” he explained. “We should be back by eleven at the latest, but his bedtime is 9:30.”
Josie nodded her understanding. “Sounds good,” she affirmed. She turned to smile at Pedro again. “It’ll be fun.”
Lizzie charged back out of the bedroom. “I’d advise going up the hill when you go out,” she chimed in, as though she’d been listening in on the conversation. She scowled, like she was remembering something. “Some of the neighbors down the other way are weirdo loners.”
Josie’s brow furrowed with confusion at that. She wondered what the neighbors might’ve done to deserve a comment like that. “Um,” she started awkwardly, glancing at MG, whose expression was unreadable. “Okay.”
A couple hours later, Josie found herself on the street with Pedro dragging her from house to house.
Her costume was really the bare minimum. She was supposed to be a witch, but all she really had was a pointy hat and a cape.
The hat made the costume, which was unfortunate because it was windy out. The thing kept almost flying off of Josie’s head every couple of minutes, so she ended up just taking it off and carrying it in the hand that Pedro wasn’t holding.
Over the course of a couple of hours, Pedro had excitedly dragged her all the way up the hill and back again. She was feeling a bit exhausted, but Pedro seemed so happy that she figured it was worth it.
They crossed the street again. They were about to walk up the driveway back to Lizzie’s house when Pedro tugged her to a stop.
Josie halted in her tracks, turning back to look at Pedro.
Pedro let go of Josie’s hand to pull off his werewolf mask, staring up at Josie with adorable puppy-dog eyes. “Auntie Josie, can we go down the hill?” he practically whined.
Josie felt the pout he was aiming at her tug violently at her heartstrings. She faltered and glanced at her watch. There was still ten minutes before seven.
Josie bit her lip, contemplating, but relented when Pedro’s pout intensified. “I guess maybe we can hit another house or two,” she said with a slightly exhausted smile.
Pedro cheered a bit excessively. Josie figured that he must’ve sneakily eaten a few too many pieces of candy at some point along the way.
They ended up on the doorstep of the house next door.
Josie leaned against the porch railing. She glanced down at her watch while Pedro pulled his mask back on and rang the doorbell. There were still five minutes left, technically.
Josie bit her lip, praying that whoever lived there wouldn’t be irritated about the fact that they were cutting it so close to the end time.
The door swung open while Josie was still looking at her watch.
“Trick or treat!” Pedro practically shouted, eagerly holding out his candy bag.
Josie looked up.
Her jaw dropped. The most beautiful woman she’d ever seen was stepping out onto the porch.
The woman smiled, bending to place a bowl of candy down in front of Pedro. “Hi there,” she said as she straightened back up. She glanced over his costume. “What’s your costume?”
“I’m a werewolf,” he said, his voice a little bit muffled through his mask.
“Oh,” she replied, blinking like she was surprised for some reason. “Right.”
The woman’s eyes swerved over to Josie, then. Josie snapped her mouth shut, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. She shifted on her feet, taking a step away from the railing.
The woman seemed to be amused by Josie’s obvious awkwardness. Her eyes sparkled with interest—then, they trailed up and down Josie’s outfit, almost as if they were moving in slow motion.
Her eyes came back up to stare into Josie’s. “And what are you supposed to be?” she asked with a playful smirk. “A vampire?”
Instinctively, Josie pouted. “I’m a witch,” she answered, sounding a bit offended.
The woman raised an eyebrow, scanning Josie up and down once again—which wasn't strictly necessary. “You don’t look like a witch,” she challenged. “What kind of witch wears a cape like that?”
Josie felt herself start to blush under the stranger’s gaze. “A bold one,” she mumbled defiantly under her breath, averting her gaze and shyly brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
The woman laughed.
It was a beautiful laugh, Josie noted, even as her pout grew even more severe.
Pedro unsubtly cleared his throat.
The stranger blinked, looking surprised, as if she’d forgotten that Pedro was there altogether. Josie didn’t look away, openly staring at the stranger as if she were in a trance.
The stranger cleared her throat. “Oh, right, sorry,” she started, addressing Pedro. She pointed at the bowl on the ground. “Grab whatever you want out of the bowl—you can take more than one if you want, I don’t think anyone else will be coming.”
With that, Pedro was unleashed, practically pouncing on the bowl and searching through all the candy. “Auntie Josie, look! She has the big ones!” he called out over his shoulder. “This is awesome!”
Josie snapped out of it, forcing her eyes off of Hope to glance down at Pedro. “Uh, that’s great, sweetie,” she said, trying to keep her heart under control.
Just being in the presence of this woman seemed to be having a weird effect on it.
“I’m Hope,” the stranger says, looking back at Josie and holding out her hand.
Josie stared at Hope’s hand, taking a long moment to process that Hope was looking for a handshake. The second she realized it, she blushed heavily and reached out, grabbing Hope’s hand in her own and shaking.
“Josie,” she replied quietly, momentarily distracted by the softness of Hope’s hand. She swallowed thickly after a moment, dropping Hope's hand and blushing. “I mean, I guess you heard that, Pedro just said it.”
Hope chuckled. “Well, I haven’t seen you around, Josie,” she observed. “Do you live in the neighborhood?”
“Yeah, next door,” Josie blurted out before she could think.
Hope raised an eyebrow, looking extremely surprised.
Josie’s eyes widened with a slight panic. “Wait, I mean, no, not next door,” she rambled, her blush intensifying to the point of being nearly unbearable. “I—my sister lives next door. I don’t live next door. I’m just babysitting.”
Hope smiled fondly, apparently finding Josie’s nervousness very endearing. “Fun night to babysit,” she said simply.
“Yeah,” Josie said with a nod. “Really fun.”
Hope noted that Josie hadn’t said that with any sort of sarcasm in her voice at all. It warmed her heart. “Which house?” she asked curiously. “Down the hill?”
Josie gulped. “Um, no,” she answered. “The other one.”
Some kind of recognition dawned in Hope’s eyes. “Oh,” she replied, her tone unreadable. “So, Lizzie Saltzman’s your sister, then?”
Josie blinked, finding Hope’s expression weirdly difficult to interpret. “Yeah,” she confirmed. “We’re twins.”
Hope remained quiet for a moment.
“I don’t think she likes me very much,” Hope whispered, like it was simultaneously a joke and a secret.
Josie frowned, surprised. “Why do you say that?” she asked.
Hope ran a hand through her hair, averting her gaze. “I came back from the store at some point last week,” she explained, a bit reluctantly. “And, uh, I didn’t realize she was out on her porch, I think she thought I ignored her on purpose, because she kind of gave me a lecture about how I should really at least smile and look at people when I see them—yeah.”
Josie blinked, shocked. “Wow,” she replied after a long pause.
Hope frowned. “I didn’t mean to be rude,” she insisted, looking a bit guilty. “I just get really caught up in my head sometimes, you know?”
Josie nodded frantically. “Oh, yeah, of course,” she said, her voice dripping with sympathy. “I’m the same way. Don’t take it personally. Lizzie’s… sensitive.”
Hope gave her a little, awkward smile, grateful for the reassurance.
Josie stared for a moment, before she felt obligated to break the silence. “But, you—well, you seem great,” she blurted out gracelessly, immediately blushing the moment the words left her mouth.
Hope's eyes widened and she blushed herself, looking a little shocked by the compliment. “Oh... um, thanks,” she replied quietly, rubbing the back of her neck.
Once again, Pedro unsubtly cleared his throat to interrupt them.
Josie jumped a little at the sound, startled. She looked over at Pedro, who was staring up at her expectantly.
Josie cleared her throat, trying to snap herself out of whatever weird mode Hope had her in. “Well, um,” she started awkwardly. “We’d better get going, I guess. I wouldn't wanna hold you up or anything.”
Hope frowned, as if she didn't like the sound of that at all. “Oh,” she said, looking a bit disappointed. “Yeah, no, it’s no problem.”
Josie nodded, looking a bit disappointed, too. “Okay,” she breathed.
Hope licked her lips, staring at Josie intensely. “I’ll, uh, see you around?” she suggested.
“Yeah,” Josie said with a quick nod. “I’ll see you around, Hope.”
Hope awkwardly retreated into her house, not able to think of any reason she shouldn't do so.
The door shut gently and Josie frowned at it for a minute. Then, she turned and gave Pedro a tight smile, reaching out to hold his hand.
Josie walked down the porch steps, careful to make sure Pedro wouldn't fall.
“Auntie Josie, was that your girlfriend?” Pedro asked innocently.
Josie nearly stumbled and fell herself, her eyes blowing wide with shock. “What?!” she yelped. She paused in her step, feeling her cheeks instantly heat up. “No, I—that’s just the neighbor, sweetie.”
Suddenly, Josie heard the door swing open a bit violently behind them. “Josie, wait!”
Josie froze, turning back to stare up at Hope, who was standing out on her porch once again and looking a bit panicked herself.
Hope jogged down the steps. “Are you babysitting all night?” she said, somehow a little out of breath.
Josie blinked, surprised at the question. “Um, no,” she answered after a moment. “Lizzie should be back around ten.”
Hope licked her lips, looking like she was battling with herself for a moment. “Well, I…,” she trailed off. She swallowed, bracing herself before she spoke again. “Look, I don’t know if this is an awkward thing to ask because I know we just met, but would you maybe want to come over after?”
Josie's lips parted with shock. “Really?” she breathed.
Hope blinked, looking shocked herself, like she hadn't expected herself to really go through with asking. She shrugged. “Well, yeah,” she said simply. Suddenly, she faltered, looking like she was doubting herself. “I mean, if you want. I just… you seem great, too. And I thought maybe you might want to watch some scary movies with me or something?”
Josie continued to just gape at Hope, unable to snap out of her shock and respond.
Hope paled, looking more panicked by the second. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable—”
“Okay,” Josie cut her off.
Hope fell silent. She blinked, apparently having fully convinced herself that Josie was about to say no. “Wait, really?” she asked, bewildered.
Josie grinned, her eyes lighting up. “Yeah,” she confirmed with an enthusiastic nod. “That sounds like fun.”
Hope didn't react for a long moment, waiting for Josie to say 'sike'. “Oh. Cool,” she eventually said, shifting on her feet. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “I’ll, um—let me give you my number, then—so you can text me when you’re out, or if you change your mind or something.”
Josie's smile didn't falter for a moment. “I won’t change my mind,” she replied with the utmost certainty.
Hope finally let herself smile back.