This is the ninth chapter of my second serial novel, The Year of the Winding Road < click here to see the main page for the novel, read the other chapters if you missed them or have no idea what this story is about.
Note to readers:
While this story does have events in it that were inspired by true life and the people who made them happen, all of it is fictional and made up. The people, aside from the popular culture figures that pepper this novel, are made up using qualities and quirks I have observed in the people I have met in real life. The places are also made up. The popular culture figures are used fictionally, though I tried to remain true to them in my writing.
The emotions though are very real. High school is a time for angst. High school is a time for finding one’s self and learning who and what one will become. I tried to keep that ribbon alive in this piece of fiction.
Halloween
Halloween was a week after Brianna’s birthday, which meant it also was on a Friday that year. And as usual, Brianna didn’t try to put too much thought into her costume. She wanted something that would be comfortable all day long.
She dressed as a black cat that year, choosing to wear her black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt to school. She had put on her usual makeup but used a black eyeliner pencil to draw whiskers on her face and color her nose. With her cat ear headband and a tail that was attached to her waist with elastic, she thought she looked cute
She walked to school, as usual. She was wearing her black sneakers, which were slightly more comfortable than her usual canvas shoes but not as fashionable.
Her first class barely had anyone dressed up, though Patrick was wearing a dark suit and sunglasses indoors. When Brianna asked him who he was, he smiled.
“I’m a secret agent,” he whispered, making her giggle.
Matt chose not to dress up. He rolled his eyes when he saw her come into their math class. He leaned forward to talk to her when he got a chance.
“A black cat again? Don’t you have other costumes?”
She glared back at him.
“Yes, but this one is easy to wear.”
“You’re lame,” he said. “Laaaaame!”
“Look who’s talking. At least I dressed up.”
Matt replied by sticking his tongue out at her.
She just turned towards the front of the class and ignored him.
When she saw most of her friends at lunch, she was relieved to see that most of them had dressed up as well. Mona was Wonder Woman. Maisie was a witch. John had dressed as a greaser. Corinne was a flapper. Selena had dressed as a sad clown. Seth and Adelaide were the only two who weren’t dressed up, though Adelaide did wear a plastic tiara.
“Who are you supposed to be, Laide?” Brianna asked.
“The princess of Mesa High,” Adelaide returned with a laugh.
Matt and Frankie walked by the planter, watching them. While Matt hadn’t dressed up, Frankie was in full Darth Vader gear, complete with the lightsaber he usually carried covertly. Frankie tried to death grip them all. Only Mona played along, falling to the ground in a dramatic heap as the rest of them laughed.
Since it was a Friday, Maisie was having a Halloween Party at her place that evening. Brianna’s parents had made sure Maisie’s parents and siblings were going to be there, so Brianna was allowed to attend with Patrick, who picked her up at five. He of course greeted her parents again when he rang the doorbell.
The party was fun, even if there wasn’t much to do. They watched Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Maisie joking about how it was Brianna’s virginal viewing. They danced to the infamous song from it. They laughed as they ate delivered pizza and snacks and drank copious amounts of soda. They handed candy out to trick-or-treaters at times too, scaring a few of the older ones as they came by. They had Maisie’s parents judge the “Best Costume” contest and Selena won, having turned her sad clown costume into a creepy clown for the night.
Patrick had to be home by ten, so they left the party around nine-fifteen so that he could get Brianna home as well. She gathered her things and said goodbye.
“That was fun,” Patrick said as he drove through the city streets towards her place.
“Yeah, Maisie has a bunch of those parties, but I don’t often attend.”
“Why not?”
“Well, it’s hard for me to get there without a car. I don’t like bothering my parents all the time for things like rides and I don’t want to remind friends I don’t have a car, so I elect not to go. Besides, once, in junior high, she had a birthday party and invited her crush and her childhood best friend. The childhood friend knew she had a crush on this guy and still made out with him at the party. I didn’t like all the drama that ensued afterwards. I think I have been afraid something like that would happen again if I went.”
Patrick didn’t speak. Brianna wondered if she had said something wrong. But she didn’t want to ask.
He finally spoke.
“You don’t like conflict, do you?”
“No,” she said softly. “I’d rather just be everyone’s friend and try to help them out as best as I can.”
She watched out the passenger side window as the conversation waned. There was a rock band playing on the radio, but Brianna got lost in her own thoughts. She felt stupid for admitting she didn’t like bothering people and wondered if Patrick thought less of her for doing so. She didn’t know what to do or say to fix it either.
He pulled into her driveway and parked the car, but didn’t move for a second. He looked at her.
“You know, you don’t bother me when you ask me for rides and such. I don’t mind helping you out, Bree.”
“I know that. I just… I just second guess myself, I guess,” she admitted softly. “I don’t want to make it a habit of asking everyone for help, because what if they say no? I would have to do it myself then. So I just take the easy way out and do things on my own.”
He laughed as he undid his seat belt and leaned over to kiss her gently.
He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes.
“I don’t know why you do that. I think you are awesome, even if you lack confidence in yourself.”
She smiled and leaned in to kiss him once more before undoing her own seat belt and grabbing her things.
“Thank you for the ride home,” she said.
He walked her to the front door and gave her another kiss. This one was long and sweet.
“Love you,” she whispered.
“Love you too. Remember what I just told you, okay?” he said softly before turning and walking back to his dad’s car. He buckled his seat belt and started the car, waving goodbye.
She waited until he had driven away before entering the house to deal with her family. She knew she would be pestered with questions she didn’t want to really answer and needed a moment of solitude before she dealt with them.
Click here to read the next chapter – Thanksgiving (live on 25 October 2025)
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction written by K. S. Wood, and thus is copyrighted 2025. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.If you enjoyed this chapter, please share it with others. Every other Saturday, there will be a new chapter posted for your reading pleasure. The entire story can be found on this page – The Year of the Winding Road
If you liked this portion of The Year of the Winding Road, comment below! I do return comments!
Share with others, if you dare. Subscribe to my blog for updates. Visit my “About me” page if you want to contact me.
If you wanted to see some of the fantasy works I have written, check out my Portals Series < Click the title to see it.
If you are interested in my other online endeavors, check out the drop down menu to see more.
And as always, #writeyourownstory
K. S. Wood Writes 
I loved this! Awesome writing, love the characters. X
LikeLike
Thank you
LikeLike