Image from Kenny Eliason on Unsplash
“Surprise!” my boyfriend shouted as he leap out of his hiding spot in the Haunted House. He had shown me the ridiculous pumpkin-head latex mask he would be wearing when he first took the job. And we had had a good laugh about it. Admittedly in the purple and blue lights of the House it looked better.
I gave a squeak and ran under his long arms into the mirror room. The floor moved under mine and Gretchen feet as we made the way to the blood room where her boyfriend worked through the fun house mirrors. Like good cheerleaders, we have been coming every day after school to support our guys. Today will be the last day.
Then it will be their turn to support us with the Cheer Squad Thanksgiving food bank drive. After that will be Christmas and the Christmas dance put on by the student body, and the world will be continuing its avalanche to Senior graduation.
Covered in blood, Jamal lurched toward us with a cleaver in his hand.
Side note, Jamal actually is really good with a cleaver, having worked in the butcher department at the big store in town over the summer. He can hack out a chicken into parts in minutes. We are all a little jealous of him turning 18 in June, meaning he could do adult level work during the summer where the rest of us were stuck stocking shelves and working the cash registers.
Jamal and Gretchen have a game to see if he could get some of the blood on her. In the last two weeks, he only managed it once because of where he is allowed to be at any time. Today he gave me ten bucks to get her a little closer to his restricted area.
Oops, I tripped.
He gets her good, a long smear down the arm. I grin at him, pulling her away. “See you when you’re done.” I wave as we move to the next area.
(words 334; first published 11/23/2023)