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were becoming more infrequent. My mother had called the school to try and find out how Charlotte was doing, but they wouldn’t tell her anything. It was college, not high school, and Charlotte was an adult. The night of Halloween I tried calling Charlotte on her cell phone. Amazingly, she answered.
     
    “Hi, favorite big brother ever.”
     
    “Char, what’s going on?”
     
    “Oh, you know. The usual with the usual suspects.” There was loud music and voices in the background and her speech was slurred.
     
    “Are you at a party or something?”
     
    Charlotte giggled. “When am I not?”
     
    “Charlotte, when are you going to see Ma and Dad? They’re worried about you. I’m going to see them—”
     
    “Patrick, tell them not to worry. And you shouldn’t either. You’ll get wrinkles on that handsome face.”
     
    And she hung up. I was two seconds from throwing the phone across the living room when I heard giggling behind me.
     
    “Oh. My. God.”
     
    I turned to face Chloe and my sword scraped the floor.
     
    “Are you kidding me?”
     
    “What?” I asked innocently.
     
    Chloe was staring at me with her mouth open and shaking her head from left to right.  I was dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. The costume was expensive to rent, but Roman Glen’s annual Halloween parade was a big deal. I’d asked Chloe to go with me, but she’d already made plans to spend the evening with Brianna. Chloe was wearing faded blue jeans, black high-heeled boots, and a tight black turtleneck.
     
    How the hell did I get so lucky?
     
    “You’re not dressed up.”
     
    “Uh, yeah. I don’t get dressed up on Halloween.”
     
    “Why not?”
     
    “How ‘bout ‘cause I’m not twelve?”
     
    “Oh, come on! See, this is why you should be coming with me tonight. The whole town dresses up, not just the kids. There’s live music, good food, and my Mom’s pie.”
     
    “That all sounds really great,” Chloe said as she walked into the living room and grabbed her keys off the coffee table. “Well, all but the part about dressing up. Not for me.”
     
    “Oh, you’ll dress up next year. I promise you.”
     
    I grabbed Chloe around the waist, pulling her close.
     
    “Did you talk to Charlotte? Is she coming?”
     
    Just that quickly I’d forgotten about my disturbing phone call with Charlotte. Chloe had that effect on me. “No, she’s not. It sounded like she was already at some kind of party and I’m sure she was wasted on something.”
     
    “I’m sorry.”
     
    Chloe ran an index finger across my lips and I kissed it. She smiled and said, “I would kiss you, but I don’t want to mess up your makeup.”
     
    “Oh, you got jokes. Kiss me, woman.”
     
    Chloe giggled and tried to wiggle out of my arms.
     
    “No. It’s creepy! And you’re wearing my eyeliner!”
     
    She kissed me anyway then called over her shoulder as she turned to leave, “Are you coming home tonight?”
     
    Before Chloe, I would have stayed on Long Island after the festivities. I would have slept at my parents’ house and spent the next day, Sunday, with my friends. But that was then. As I watched Chloe walk away, all long legs, perfect hips, and bouncing hair, I replied, “Absolutely.”

Chapter Six

When the Masks Come Off, Part Two
Chloe
     
    On the train ride to Crystal’s I encountered zombies, witches, and Jedis. Patrick wouldn’t be out of place on his trip to Long Island. Just picturing him in that getup made me giggle. Lately it seemed there was always a giggle on my lips and a smile on my face. Everything between us seemed so easy—almost too easy, but I was determined to stop over thinking it. For the first time I wanted to follow only my heart, and my heart was telling me to do some very un-Chloe like things.
     
    Dirty text messages? Check. The dirtiest thing Lawrence ever wrote me was a note asking if I could pick up his dry cleaning. Making out all over the