I was talking to a co-worker today about Halloween. We were reminiscing about what we used to do when we were kids, and this one popped into my head. I haven't thought about it in so many years! But here we go:
My best friend Emily and I were freshmen in Junior High. One day in school we got the bright idea to actually go out for Halloween. The plan was for her mother to drop her off at my house and then pick her up later, as it was a school night. Oh, what mischief we were going to make!
She got to my house, and we snuck two eggs out of the carton. We carefully put them in our jacket pockets and told my mother we were going to a friend's house and would be back by nine. Then we skedaddled out of the house for a night of mayhem!
Surprisingly, it was very quiet that night in my neighborhood. We walked around and only saw a very few kids trick or treating. What were we going to do with the eggs that were burning a hole in our pockets? No clue.
So after walking around aimlessly, we decided that we were hungry and would go knock on a random door to see if we could get any candy. We approached a nice house, knocked, said, "Trick or treat!" and then I realized we were at Bobby K's house! (remember, my elementary school crush???) And of course, he was the one to open the door and laughed. "Nice costumes!" he joked. I was mortified! Emily said, "Are you going to give us a treat?" and being the nice guy he was, he gave us each a big candy bar. "Have a nice night girls!" he said as he closed the door, chuckling. Ugh! Emily giggled at my mortification. "I hope he doesn't mention this at school tomorrow!"
We finished our treats and then headed for the junior high. "This night is a bust!" I complained. "And now Bobby thinks we're lame!" "So what?" Emily replied. "It's not like he's still on your list. You like Tom, and I like Bill." This was so true. "How about we throw the eggs at the school and then head back to your house. It's getting cold!" Sounded good to me.
So we speed walked the rest of the way to the school and there was no one around. We started walking up the long, wide driveway when Emily stopped, fishing around in her pockets. "What are you doing?" I asked. "Look what I have in my pocket!" She pulled out a box of sidewalk chalk. "Okay..." I said. "Let's write something on the driveway!" "Like what?" I asked. "How about 'we love Tom and Bill'?" "Are you kidding? People will know!" "No one knows. Come on: it will be a great prank!" "Well," I began, "I guess the condensation overnight and the dew will get rid of the letters. Let's do it!" And we did. When we were done, to us the letters looked as large as the Nazca Lines of Peru. But I wasn't worried: that pink and purple chalk would be gone by the time we got to school the next day. Before we left, we lamely threw our eggs into the road and went back to my house.
The next day at school she and I were upstairs talking to a couple of friends before first bell when someone came running up to us. "Have you seen what's in the school bus driveway?" "No, what?" "Come look out the window!" We did, and low and behold: the condensation and dew had NOT erased what Em and I had written! Big giant letters spelled out "we love Tom and Bill!!" in bright purple and pink chalk. Emily's face turned beet red and thankfully no one could tell that I was scandalized too! Our friend Robbin said, "Who do you think did it?" Emily babbled something non-sensical while I kept my mouth shut. "Hey Em, don't you like Bill?" She giggled. "Um...but how would I have gotten here to do that?" "Huh, you're right!" Robbin said. "Wonder how long before it washes away?" I said, "Maybe the janitors will get rid of it today!"
Those words stayed on that pavement for at least a good week. And every day we were reminded of how lame we were. I think I'm going to text Emily later today to see if she remembers! Happy Halloween! 💀👻
No comments:
Post a Comment