To My Future Cheating Husband

XL. Haunted Hallway

Ava's POV:

I look back, attempting to pinpoint what occurred around the Fall Festival, but nothing came up. It's been so long, far too long for me to remember all the details.

The only thing I can think of would be his parent's bickering, but he didn't look that depressed before.

I looked over at Mina, who was cheerfully chatting with our classmates. It seems like she is trying really hard to make friends, my useless and annoying informant (Seth) told me.

According to him, I gave her the courage to talk to others. Like bitch, what the hell did I even do? Why praise me? Can you stop talking to me like we are long lost best friends?

God, I hate him so much.

Seth gets on my nerves, whether he is yelling or praising me. I get irritated either way.

He is like this blood-sucking leech who refused to let me go.

I released a deep breath. Maybe I'm too hard on Seth. He hasn't done anything to me...yet. But, whenever I see him, I can't help but remember his heroic acts. He is another reminder of how badly I behaved in the past.

When I reached the front, I scanned the area for Mr.Nocella. With squinting eyes, I circle myself, but I can't seem to find him. "Mr.Nocella. Oh, Mr.Nocella, where are you?" I sang slowly before exhaling. "If you're not here. I'm going back and don't say I didn't tr-"

"Ava!" I look down to see Mr.Nocella's boys. They had chocolate around the rims of their mouth and a massive grin on their faces as their sticky fingers tugged against my jeans.

I squat down and pat their heads, "You remember me?"

Quickly, they nod, "How can we forget such a pretty girl." Miles grinned, bashing his lashes.

Player. Player. Mood activated.

"Where is your daddy?"

"Daddy is with mommy."

I don't get a good feeling from that.

"Then, who is watching the both of you?"

"Grandma."

"Miles! Zach!" an older lady screamed. I look up to see a somewhat familiar woman walking towards us. "Oh, boys! I told you not to run!" She pinches their ears, "I'm so sorry if these boys gave you any problem."

I smile, "Not a problem at all Mrs-"

"Emily Nocella." She places out a hand.

I shook it, "You're Mr.Nocella's mother," I said, remembering how I saw a photo of her before. However, I don't ever recall meeting her.

She smiles, "That...I am...and you are?"

"The prettiest girl in the world!" Zach screamed, flinging his arms in the air and began running laps in circles.

I giggled, "Ava Makee. I'm one of Mr.Nocella's students. I'm trying to find him to discuss the reports on the donations. Do you happen to know where he went?"

Immediately, the smile on her face drops. "He is...busy with unexpected matters."

I nodded, understanding what the unexpected matters meant. "I'll wait for him at the booth then. If you happen to see him, can you pin him to my location?"

Emily nodded, "Definitely."

"Thank you, Mrs.Nocella."

She waves an arm at me, "Call me, Emily. Mrs.Nocella makes me feel old."

I guess all women who reach a certain age in their life feel the same way. When I turned thirty, I told everyone to shave off five years, "I understand. Thank you, Emily."

I crouch back down, "I'll see you then, Miles and Zach."

Immediately, each of them clings onto my arms, "Please stay with us!" Zach whined.

"Yes!" Miles agreed, pulling out his big ole eyes.

"Boys!" Emily spoke in a stern voice. "Ava is busy."

"But...But you're looking for a daddy! Daddy will try to find us later, so if you stay with us, you get daddy!" Miles attempts to reason. I wonder if he knew how inappropriate his words are.

I gave him a grim smile, "I'm sorry, Miles." I decided to keep my distance from my teacher's sons. "They need my help to run the booth."

Miles and Zach pout even harder, something I didn't think was possible. "Come with grandma boys. We can visit daddy and Ava booth later."

"O-kay!" They screamed, being back to spirit. After waving them goodbye, of course, I have to kiss them on the cheeks. I walk back to the booth to help out.

My eyes trace around seeing a man carrying pink cotton candy. I wipe the drool from the edge of my mouth, promising myself to purchase a bag before the fair ends.

"Ava!" I turn my head to see Mary, Winnie, Eli, Trevon, and Ben.

"Hey. What's up?"I shove my hands into the pocket of my sweater to warm up. I tilt the upper half of my body and look up, seeing the words: Haunted Hallway. "Why not a spooky house?"

"That's what I said!" Trevon screamed.

"Freaky twins," Eli mumbled underneath his breath.

"How's everything going on over there?" Mary question.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I left right when I got there. Had to find Mr.Nocella, but I can't find him."

"Oh, I saw him walking that way earlier," Ben said, pointing his finger.

"Huh, thanks," I responded, hearing a scream from inside the building.

"Oh, yeah!" Eli and Mary gave each other a high five. I watch as their high fives go down low and around the world. They started doing a weird handshake then burst out laughing while everyone stayed quiet.

"That was our twentieth screamer!" Eli bounces up and down like a little girl.

"This is so much fun," Mary squealed.

Eli hit his head, "Oh, M, you know what we should've done?"

"E, I told you. No fake blood!"

"Urk. You're no fun."

I chuckled, glancing at Trevon, who shrugged, "E?" I smiled, "M?"

"Oh, the other day, Eli and I were watching this movie. Then, we-" Mary began waving her hand, "you have to be there to understand."

I ran my tongue across my cheek, "Huh. I see." I nod slowly, "Well, I'm going to go check out that way."

"You don't want to try the haunted hallway?" Eli asked.

I smile, "Maybe tomorrow." I walk away from them.

I released a single chuckle as I drove myself down the lane. "Oh, E. You're so funny." I began fake laughing, "M! We make such an awesome fake haunted hallway together." I laughed louder and started slapping my hands all around.

"Stupid. Not even a haunted house," I grumbled, making a turn.

"Please! Honey! Give me another chance!"