Page 45 of Now and Then

“What would you like me to do,” Greer says over her shoulder, “ignore whoever it is?”

“Um, yes.” Navy is now whisper-yelling. “That’s exactly what you should do.”

My heartbeats pick up, feeding off Navy’s fear. “Maybe Navy is right.”

Greer steps up to her door, Navy right behind her. Greer peers one eye through the peephole. “Oh. My. God.” She twists the doorknob.

“Don’t!” I yell, but it’s too late. Greer pulls open the door, and a cool autumn breeze whooshes in. A few papers flutter off the table, and I tuck my hair behind my ears. Navy and Greer pause, gripping onto each other and taking tentative steps onto the front porch. Duke jumps up next to me on the couch, shaking like a leaf.

“It’s okay,” I tell him.

Duke nuzzles in and rests his head over my arm.

“What the actual hell,” Navy says. “That definitely wasn’t there when I got here.”

10

Hunter

Luke approaches Greer’s door and knocks quickly, then turns and sprints across the street, where I’m waiting behind the bushes.

“This is a stupid idea,” I say. “You know that, right?”

Luke motions for me to be quiet as he ducks down behind the bushes, panting slightly. He shoves a plastic clown mask, complete with razor teeth and fake blood, in my hands. I roll my eyes.

It takes a moment to pull it over my face and get the damn thing in place. When the plastic practically suction cups to my nostrils, I instantly regret my decision to go along with his dumbass prank.

“I wonder which one is going to kill us,” I whisper.

“My money is on Navy.”

“The stuff I do for you, man,” I say.

The truth is, though, we’ve been ride or die friends for our entire lives. Being asked to buy a nine-foot skeleton and Halloween masks pales in comparison to the things we used to pull as kids.

Even Bob, the man who runs the pop-up Halloween store every year, just rolled his eyes as I was checking out and said, “You boys never learn, do ya?”

I thought for sure the jig was up when I saw Sutton watching me wrestle the box the skeleton was in, but somehow, we managed to construct the monstrosity and set it up right in front of Greer’s door.

“I can’t breathe in this thing,” I say, pointing to my mask.

“Don’t be a baby.” Luke motions for me to lower my voice.

Just then, Greer’s front door opens, washing the porch in warm, bright light.

“What the actual hell,” Navy says. “That definitely wasn’t there when I got here.”

Greer runs up to the giant skeleton. “No freaking way!”

Navy steps into the yard, hands on hips, and stares up at the skeleton. “Where did this come from?”

Luke nudges my ribs. I know if I could see his face, he’d have a massive smile plastered across it. He motions for me to move down to the end of the shrubbery for the next phase of our plan.

I peer through the small openings in the branches to make sure Navy’s and Greer’s backs are turned, then make a beeline for Navy’s SUV. When I look over my shoulder, Luke’s standing stock-still behind the hedge. Even from my viewpoint, the clown mask Luke picked out is creepy as hell. I stand up alongside the SUV and stare at the girls through the window of the vehicle.

“Greer,” Navy says, “will you focus for a minute? How did a nine-foot-tall skeleton suddenly appear in your front yard? This thing was not here when I—” A twig snaps, and she suddenly looks over her shoulder and spots Luke. She pulls on Greer’s arm and backs toward the house.

“What are you doing?” Greer asks.