Stories of Halloween

The Most Perfect Girl in the World: He & She

He watched her through her window as she looked in the mirror and brushed her hair, knowing that tonight would be the night he would sneak in through her backdoor and they would finally be together. Whether she wanted to or not.

Every now and then she would turn her eyes in his direction while he spied on her,  but she would quickly turn her eyes back to her own reflection. A smile spread across his face when her eyes would dart up towards his. On some level he believed that she knew he was out there and that was her way of giving him a green light for what he had planned later.

The past two months had been the best in his life. The past two months had been the most frustrating of his life. He found her while they were in line at Starbucks. She was standing in front of him and she ordered a large house coffee.

He liked that. Nothing fancy. Just the house coffee. Same as him. A girl who liked to get right to the point. Respectable.

She had dark brown hair that smelled like flowers and coconuts. He had inconspicuously leaned in to smell it. It didn't disappoint. She wore a long, burnt orange sweater dress with black leggings and tall brown boots. She had a great sense of style.

When the barista handed her the large house coffee, she turned around and nearly bumped into him. An embarrassed smile crept across her face and their eyes met. She had enchanting brown eyes. She didn't wear her makeup too heavy. Again: very respectable.

"Excuse me," she said quietly as he smiled back at her. Her voice was sweet. Like the singing of angels in his ears.

He knew right then they belonged together. She needed to be his forever. She was a the most perfect girl in the world.

The most perfect girl in the world walked over to the condiments station and put some cream and sugars into her coffee. All he could do was watch in awe.

The barista asked him what he could like and he ordered a large house coffee as well. He paid for it, but he didn't have time to receive his order.

She, the most perfect girl in the world, had finished fixing up her coffee and she was walking out the door. He had no choice but to follow her.

He walked far enough behind her that she wouldn't be able to realize that he was in pursuit of her. She and her coffee stepped into the Barnes & Noble. He crept in behind her. He walked up and down the rows of books to try and spot her. Finally he did.

There she stood behind the counter, ringing up a customer. Of course she worked in a book store. What else would a high class woman like her do for a living? Of course she was highly literate. All girls as perfect as her were.

When he would spy on her at night he found that she was actually quite a writer. She would spend at least two hours an evening writing on her laptop and another hour reading.

She liked to read when she got out of the shower. With a towel wrapped around her. She drank tea while she did it. It was his favorite time of the night. A few times he had tried to see in her bathroom window while she was showering, but there was too much steam for him to see anything. So he settled for waiting until she was out to spy on her loveliness.

He had watched her thought the window and followed her every move for the last two months. He wanted so badly to go and speak with her,  but he could never work up the courage. It was the most frustrating thing he had ever experienced. But just being able to see her every night made it the best two months as well.

He had been waiting for this night. It was Halloween. He would use the holiday as an excuse to finally get to speak to her. He would dress up in a mask, knock on her door and say, "Trick or treat!"

It would be nice seeing her up close again. He had been able speak to her in person three times. All three times when he was paying for books at the bookstore while she was ringing up his books.

"How are you today?" she would ask.

"I'm fine," he would reply with a smile.

"You want a bag for this?" she would ask.

"No thanks," he would reply with that same awkward smile.

He considered the first time she had rung him up at the register their first date. The book and the receipt were on his mantle. Two vanilla scented candles burned on either side of the book that embodied their first date. Above the candles and book were dozens of pictures of her that he had taken in secret. It was his shrine in honor of her.

She finished brushing her hair and started to put on her Halloween costume. She dressed herself as a nurse. Not a slutty one, mind you, but a real one. A classy one. She was so perfect.

She straightened her white skirt, grabbed her fake nurse's bag  and pinned her nurse's hat on her head then walked into her living room so that she could greet the trick or treaters who would start coming soon.

With her out of the room, he slipped on his simple ghost costume. A sheet with holes for eyes. It didn't get any simpler than that. He thought that she respected simplicity. He wanted her respect. He needed her respect. He would get her respect no matter what the cost.

Darkness had started to fall and he stepped out of his hiding place in the bushes and made his way around to the front of the house. A lone trick or treater was a few houses down. A girl in a cheerleader's outfit was working the neighborhood for candy.

It was the best opportunity for him. He would go up to the porch with the cheerleader. That way he wouldn't arouse suspicion by being much too old for gathering candy. He would look like her dad or older brother. It was perfect.  Just like her.

When the cheerleader made her way to the porch he fell in line behind her. The cheerleader rang the doorbell and the most perfect nurse in the world opened the door.

"Trick or treat!" they both said in unison.

"What a wonderful cheerleader costume!" she said to the little girl as she held out a bucket of candy for her to choose from. The cheerleader took a piece of candy, stuffed it into her bag and headed to the next house.

Then her eyes turned to his. She giggled. "Oh my god!" she said. "That is the best ghost costume I have ever seen!"

He laughed his nervous laugh along with her. "Thanks," he said, "I worked really hard on it."

She laughed again and offered him a piece of candy from the bowl. He sheepishly took a purple lollipop.

"Hey," she said, "You look like you probably have some muscles underneath that sheet. Do you think you could come in really quick and take a box of books down from the top of my closet?"

"Ummmm..." he fumbled for words. This was going better than he had ever planned on it going. "Y..yuh... yes. I would be happy to," he finally spat out.

"Great!" she said beaming. "It will only take a second!"

She moved to the side and cleared the way for him to enter.

He walked in. This was perfect. As perfect as she was.