Free Saint of Sinners by Devin Harnois Page A

went on a few more dates, and I hung out with Casey and my other new friends. I did my best not to feel too bad about lying to them. Then suddenly Halloween was around the corner… and my birthday. I had to figure out if I wanted to tell my new friends about my birthday and if I wanted to have a party.
    Fuck yeah, I wanted a party.
    I wanted my demigod friends at my party too, but I thought putting the two groups together was a bad idea. First of all, I’d have to explain who they were, and that meant more lies and half-truths, and second, I didn’t quite trust them all not to let something slip. So, the bright side of all this was that I was going to have two birthday parties, the kind I’d always wanted and not the kind of parties my parents had for me. For one thing, I’d never had kids at my parties, and this time I didn’t have to worry about the possibility of anyone trying to sacrifice animals.
    Having a birthday party on Halloween was probably a bad idea, so I planned it for the weekend before. Friday night with my school friends, Saturday with the divine ones.
    “Your birthday is Halloween?” Casey said when I told him.
    “Yep,” I said. “How perfectly Gothic.”
    “I’m having a Halloween party at my house,” Lucia said. “We can turn it into a birthday party too.”
    I shook my head. “I was thinking of having a party the Friday before, but I would love to come to your Halloween party.” I wanted to see the fun side of Halloween, not the stupid-ass Satanist rituals. Halloween with my parents sucked, and my birthday sucked. The only good thing about them being on the same day was I got it over with all at once.
    She smiled, “Oh, you’re totally invited.”
    “So what are we doing for your birthday?” Hayley asked.
    “I haven’t thought it all out yet.” I knew it couldn’t be anything too expensive, and since it would be after school we didn’t have a lot of time. “Right now, I’d be happy just with you guys coming over, playing some games, cake and presents, that kind of thing.”
    “Well, keep thinking about it,” Hayley said. “If you want to do something special, just let us know.”
    “Thanks.” I kissed her cheek. We’d kissed a lot since our first date, and it still gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.
    ***
    My party ended up being at Hayley and Casey’s house. That way we had more room and we didn’t have to worry about being quiet. They decorated and everything. It was really nice. Their parents kept an eye on all of us, but they were pretty relaxed about it.
    We played some video games, a board game, had cake, and everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” I almost got a little choked up, thinking about how much I’d wanted this, and now here it was.
    The next day I went with my other friends to Six Flags. Holy shit, that was fun. Colin almost barfed after one of the coasters, Stefan got soaked on a water ride, and Emily convinced me to go on the craziest roller coaster in the park, which was at first terrifying and then awesome .
    On the downside, waiting in line sucked so much I was tempted to use my powers to get everyone out of the way. I kept thinking of how many more rides I could have if it wasn’t for the fucking lines. Still, it was one of the best days of my life, and I went home exhausted and happy.
    ***
    A few days later it was Halloween, and for the first time ever I got to wear a costume. I’d agonized over it for weeks. It was so damn hard to decide. I didn’t want to be anything “evil,” but I didn’t want to be anything boring, either. I finally settled on being a cowboy. I’d wanted to be one when I was little, and it seemed to fit. They were generally good guys, but not pure. A little rough around the edges, but they still saved the day.
    Just before I was about to leave, I got a text from Lucia. Party delayed. Have 2 take bro out b4.
    I called her up. “Hey, it’s Alex. What’s going on?”
    “I have to take my stupid brother out trick-or-treating