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about
Tammy.”
    “Tammy kept complaining every five
seconds about how miserable she was because she was alone. I’ve
never complained.”
    Melissa looked up and stared
pointedly. They were close enough that Melissa didn’t have to say
the words.
    “I am miserable alone,” Lauren
admitted. “I just didn’t complain about it, and I did get a date
for tonight.”
    “You did,” Melissa said. “Is he a
keeper?”
    Lauren had been taping up fake
spider webs but she stopped and shrugged. “He is for me, but I’m
not sure if anything I feel is mutual.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    She wasn’t ready to talk about all
the ways it was complicated. At least he’d wanted to come to this
still.
    The doorbell rang and kept ringing
every few minutes for a half an hour. Just when she was losing
hope…again, a zombie showed up—a zombie who was the right height
and looked awkwardly at the group that turned to stare whenever the
doorbell rang.
    Daniel raised his hand in greeting.
“Hi, I’m looking for brains but I think I’ve got the wrong
house.”
    Everyone laughed and went back to
talking as she made her way to his side.
    “Ahh…this is more like it,” he said
when he saw her.
    “Yeah, I’m the only one with brains
in this whole place.” She took him around and introduced him, but
then dragged him onto Melissa’s back porch with a cup of apple
cider and plates of goodies. As Melissa predicted, her plate was
full of mostly veggies, but so was Daniel’s.
    “I’m glad you came,” she said,
sitting down on the porch swing. The sun was setting, but the
cloudless sky meant there was the nip of fall in the air. She slid
closer to him while trying not to seem overly eager. She was. And
she was getting her hopes up again. She had no self-preservation
skills.
    “I’m glad I came too. Sorry I was
late. My dog escaped and came home with the matching shoe to his
previous find—and he was followed by a pissed-off shoe owner. I had
to make peace and throw money at him. My dog has expensive taste in
chew toys.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “You look great.
This peeling skin is vile. I like it.”
    “I know. I bought this kit, and it
took a while to put on, but I think it was worth it.”
    “You look dead. I look like a tired
mime in comparison.”
    She laughed. He was undervaluing his
look, but the flesh-peeling makeup really did look authentic. Every
time she’d caught sight of herself in a mirror, she’d cringed. “I’m
a little afraid it’ll peel off, and I’ll accidentally eat my
face.”
    “That would be even more authentic.”
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “I’m glad you gave me
a second chance. I…should have said things better
before.”
    She glanced down at her food and
dipped a carrot in ranch dressing as if it was a complex process.
“I wasn’t sure you wanted a second chance.”
    One of her hands was on the swing
beside her, and he slid his hand to cover it. “I did. I do. I’m
just….” He sighed. “I’m just stumbling with words for someone who
has hopes of being a writer. Nadia and I met in high school, and
she knew even then that chances were she wouldn’t see thirty. Her
heart couldn’t take much strain so everything between us was quiet
and careful. Excitement could kill her.” He picked up her hand and
held it between both of his, playing with her fingers. “When you
and I were in the haunted house—“
    His smile told her what specific
time he was referring to, and her heart picked up its pace. Yeah.
That. That was amazing.
    “I’ve never felt anything like that.
It was amazing. I didn’t know it could feel like that.”
    Licking her lips, she asked, “Are
you sure that it wasn’t just maybe the novelty?” It was hard enough
to know she was the rebound girl, but maybe she could be anyone,
and he’d feel this way.
    “No, it was you. Well, it was us.
We’re amazing together.”
    She nodded. They were. So amazing.
Electric. She’d