Yawning, I rubbed my face and manually tried to wipe the exhaustion away. Parker and I stayed up super late, carving pumpkins with Hayden and watching Hocus Pocus and then, Halloween Town because Hayden never watched them. Since I started this trial with Parker, I've been over to her house more than my own house. Debbie even mentioned to me that she was happy to see Parker home so much (which mortified Parker in the best way possible).

In some ways, it started to feel like a second home to me. More so than Camille's house. No one was there to judge me. No one questioned my entire existence or my life choices. I could exhale inside of Parker's house.

As I poured my third cup of coffee, my phone buzzed in my sweatpants' pocket. I whipped it out and answered the second I saw Camille's name. "Hey, what's up?"

Getting a phone call could only mean something horrible was going on.

If everything was okay, Camille would just text me like a regular person.

"Just wanted to check up on everything. You never texted me after you got Parker home, so I got a little worried," Camille said.

I grimaced, taking my guilt like a bucket of ice water down my back. The worst thing about lying was that I had to continue this lie to my grave, which might be a while considering my age and my vow of never running with scissors, playing in traffic or missing a flu shot.

"Yeah," I said, coming up with the lie as I went. "When I took Parker home, she like immediately threw up and like threw up on herself and in my car. I might break the trial just for that. She's not a pretty vomiter. It like came out her nose..." As I kept talking and wouldn't shut up, I realized she didn't need to know all of this, even if it wasn't true. Parker would kill me for most of what I was saying.

"Wow, that sucks. It's good though. Sometimes vomiting just makes you feel better."

"Yeah," I agreed out of reflex.

"Okay..." A lull of silence sat between us.

Something about it didn't feel right, like I was sitting in the back of a car and didn't realize I was looking down for too long, long enough that nausea floated to the top of my head. Camille broke the silence.

"I guess, I'll see you on Monday."

"Okay."

Camille hung up and I stared at my phone, expecting more. That seemed weird. Usually, we hopped onto different topics. We could talk for hours on the phone. She didn't even ask to hang out. Not that I could. Parker and I were planning to stake out Miss Patty's Salon tonight and I needed a long cat nap if I was going to make it through the night.

"What's up?" Danny asked as he entered the kitchen. He came home from college more often lately. I wondered if he was feeling lonely. He grabbed his own cup of coffee. "You look confused."

I rubbed my face, erasing the perturbed look. "No, it's nothing."

At least, I hoped it was nothing.

#

If anybody looked at me, they'd probably expect me to be on a hot date, which wasn't wrong. It wasn't completely the truth either. Tonight, the air was electric, and that excitement made my heart flutter and my limbs weak. It felt like the kind of magical night that would change my entire life forever and my stomach couldn't settle.

Tonight, I would go inside of Miss Patty's Salon.

I dressed nice enough that I thought maybe I could impress Miss Patty when she opened the doors, wearing my cropped wide-legged plaid pants, a vintage black Queen T-shirt, my oversized emerald green jacket and my red converse that matched Lizzie's signature shoes.

Lizzie sat in the driver position, with the seat pushed all the way back to give her some room to stretch her little legs. She dressed comfortably, but so cute in her oversize sweatshirt and her half her short hair in a top bun. But at this point, I was pretty sure Lizzie could wear a trash bag and still look cute to me.

My leg bounced as I stared at the dark window of the salon. Being it was close to eleven at night, all the other shops were closed and even the bars nearby were getting ready to close, so Lizzie nabbed the parking spot right in front. It gave us the best seats on the street to witness this magic show.

No more wishing.

No more wanting.

Tonight, I would get what I've always wanted, and I was drooling.

Lizzie and I had been sitting here since ten 'o'clock at night, feeling confident we hadn't missed our shot yet. The window dressing was still the same as it had been all week. The lamp posts were still glowing. The Halloween decorations were ramping up. Little pumpkin lanterns were hanging from the trees, among little ghosts too. God. I loved Halloween.

"I'm breaking out the snacks," Lizzie said as she climbed into the backseat. She awkwardly maneuvered back and my face flushed being at eye level to Lizzie's butt. Yoga pants were really a great blessing on this earth. She got another huge tub of cheese puffs for me and random snack cakes and a full 12 pack of soda.

"Don't drink too much," I warned her as she popped open the first can, its fizzing tickling the air. "We don't know how long we'll be here, and I don't know if they close the public bathrooms."

"Good call." She nodded.

We collectively sighed and looked back at the window. Still nothing. An awkward lull sat in between us. My nerves took over most of my brain, including the part that could always come up with some small talk. I was just too antsy.

Glancing at Lizzie, she smiled encouragingly, maybe sensing my rising anxiety. She suggested as she raised a deck of cards. "Uno?"

What's up friends?! Who's ready to GET INTO THAT SALON! I'm like so excited about this whole moment and the moment after. We're having fun these couple of days kids. I wanna talk about so much more, but I don't want to spoil anybody :))

Don't forget to leave a comment! What did you think about Camille and Lizzie's conversation? What should Lizzie and Parker do to waste time for the Salon to open? Also! Tell me your Miss Patty theories now because all will SOON be revealed!