Free Halloween by Curtis Richards

totally charted," Linda remarked, giggling.
    "No, he dragged me in there to talk to me."
    "You just talked, huh?"
    "We just talked."
    "Sure," both girls said in unison.
    "Honest. Old Jerko got caught throwing eggs and soaping windows. His parents grounded him for the weekend. He can't come over tonight," Annie sighed, almost ready to cry.
    "I thought you were babysitting tonight," Laurie said.
    Linda sneered. "The only reason she babysits is to have a place to . . ."
    "Shit!" Laurie cried, snapping her fingers.
    "I have a place for that," Annie said, mock-indignantly.
    "No, I forgot my chemistry book."
    "Who cares?" Linda laughed. "I always forget my chemistry book!"
    "You forget everything but your pill," Annie teased.
    Laurie turned on her heels, wondering if it was worth it to run back to school to get her book. Maybe she could just borrow one.
    The station wagon turned into the street and cruised slowly toward them. Laurie frowned. This was the same car that that spooky man had been in when Laurie spotted him from the window of her English Lit class. She peered at the figure in the driver's seat, but the glint of late afternoon sunlight and the reflection of trees on the windshield made identification impossible.
    The girls turned to look too as the driver gunned his engine and glided by, staring at them.
    "Isn't that Davon Graham?" Linda said, squinting. "He's cute."
    "I don't think so," said Laurie, noting again the strange pale face with eyes limned in dark purple. A moment later the car whizzed by, leaving the three gaping at what they thought they'd seen behind the wheel.
    "Speed kills!" Annie yelled at the driver.
    All of a sudden the car screeched to a halt. The figure sat there, waiting.
    The girls stood on the sidewalk hesitantly. Usually they'd pile into a passing car that stopped for them, even if they only remotely knew the guy. But there was something unsettling about this situation. "Can't you take a joke?" Annie said, addressing the car but making sure the driver didn't hear her.
    He stared at them, making them intensely uncomfortable, as if he had the power to see through clothing. Then, to their relief, he stepped on the gas and took off down the street, disappearing around a corner.
    Laurie shook her head. "Annie, some day you're going to get all of us in deep trouble."
    "Totally!" Linda agreed, putting a hand over her chest and hyperventilating.
    "I hate a guy with a car and no sense of humor."
    "That's the only kind you date," said Linda.
    They strolled on, their spirits somewhat subdued by their encounter. Laurie was pensive and troubled Something was wrong. That man . . . the figure in the window of the Myers house . . . Halloween . . . a butcher knife blurring toward her . . .
    Meanwhile, her friends chattered on.
    "Well," Linda was saying, "are we still on for tonight?"
    "I wouldn't want to get you in deep trouble, Linda," Annie replied.
    "Come on, Annie. Bob and I have been planning on it all week."
    Annie sighed. "All right. The Wallaces leave at seven."
    Laurie made a conscious effort to pull her mind away from its morbid fixation. "I'm babysitting for the Doyles. It's right across the street. We can keep each other company."
    "Terrific," Annie groaned. "I've got three choices. Watch the kid sleep, listen to Linda screw, or talk to you." They stopped in front of Linda's house, a pastel green frame house with dark green shutters. It was nestled beneath a towering elm whose leaves twirled to the prim lawn with every gust of the autumn breeze. "What time?" Annie asked, without enthusiasm.
    "I don't know yet," Linda replied. "I have to get out of taking my stupid brother trick-or-treating."
    "Saving the treats for Bob?" Annie asked gaily.
    "Fun-ny. See you." Linda walked up the path to her house, her tightly clad rear end jiggling seductively.
    "You don't have to wiggle it," Annie called out to her, "there aren't any guys around."
    "You can never tell when one may be hiding in the bushes," Linda