Gabe stumbled forwards as his younger sister led him out into the cool late afternoon air. It had already dropped into the mid fifties, and this costume was definitely not designed to keep the wearer warm. He shivered from the cold, and then again as he glanced around. The streets were already filled with parents and kids making their way from house to house, and it felt like every eye was on him. “Gabby, c’mon!” Tara said excitedly, yanking him forwards.
Through sheer luck, Gabe managed to teeter forward without toppling over. The first three or four houses passed in a blur as Gabe slowly worked out a way to walk in the heels. His feet still hurt, but at least he wasn’t in danger of toppling over with every step anymore.
“Gabby, hurry uppppppp.” Tara complained. To her, it seemed like Gabe was purposefully trying to slow her down. “I’m going to tell mom if you don’t.” She threatened. Gabe gulped. He didn’t even want to know what his mom and Molly had thought up as a backup punishment. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just not used to these.” He replied. Ordinarily Gabe didn’t like having such a high voice—his friends would tease him about it all the time—but right now he was grateful it didn’t take much effort to get his pitch sounding like his sister’s own voice. Tara grudgingly nodded. “We still have to hit a bunch of houses before mom wants me home.” She insisted.
“Besides, practice makes perfect, right? You’ll be walking fast in no time!” She added with a giggle, hurrying down the street towards her next house. Gabe tentatively followed her. To his immense relief, no one seemed to bat an eye as he made his way after her. To the harried parents struggling to keep an eye on their excited kids, Gabe was just another teenage girl taking her younger sister trick or treating.
House after house went by. Thankfully, Gabe found he didn’t have to interact with most of the homeowners; simply standing at the end of the steps and watching as Tara went up to the door seemed to be fine. Thankfully, that kept embarrassing conversations to a minimum as well, although one middle aged woman passing by with her kids heading in the opposite direction down the street had winked at Gabe and whispered “don’t do anything I wouldn’t have, young lady.” Gabe’s jaw had dropped, and by the time he was ready to stammer out a reply she was already long gone.
After about an hour, Gabe’s feet felt like they were going to fall off. Walking in heels hurt, he grumbled to himself. They were a fair distance away from home, and he was about to put his foot down and tell Tara they needed to start making their wag back towards home when he saw the boys.
Gabe’s blood ran cold.
Eric, Paul and Tim were three of his school’s “cool kids”. Gabe had a circle of friends, but if anyone could be said to “rule the school,” it was these guys. What were they doing out here? Their neighborhood was an hour away. Even worse, Tara was happily walking past them, which meant Gabe was going to have to as well. He didn’t think they knew him, but if they recognized him, well…..he’d have to transfer schools. Leave the state. Go into witness protection.
”Gabby, hurry up!” Tara called again, and now all three guys were staring at him. Swallowing down the wave of dread threatening to engulf him, Gabe approached them. “Hey, lil’ lady.” Paul called, tossing him what he clearly thought was a suave wink. “Looking good!” Gabe faked a smile as he teetered past. Their eyes were all over him, and he shivered.
“Hey, wait a second.” Tim called. Gabe turned and froze as the African American boy, wearing a costume clearly intended to be a fighter pilot from Top Gun, took a step forward. “Gabby, right?” He asked. “I’m hosting a Halloween Party tonight, and I’d love it if you’d come to it. It’ll be fun. You can bring your sister too, we’ve got lots of candy.” He said with a smile.
Gabe hesitated….