Curfew Read Free

of
the haunted house and Mary’s face went cold. Looking down at her
watch she noticed the time of 9:15pm. Judging the line that ran
around the entire building, she estimated that by the time they got
into the haunted house it would be around 11:30pm. The average
haunted tour lasted at least twenty minutes and the ride from
Antioch to Gurnee was another thirty minutes. So she concluded that
there would be no way she would get home in time. Triston noticed
Mary’s expression and grinned before saying,
    “ Mary, Mary quite contrary,
don’t you worry. My boy works here and I texted him while we were
at the restaurant. He’s gonna get us in through the side door, no
fee or waiting in line.”
    A bright smile shined on Mary’s face
as she excitedly anticipated her first night out on Halloween with
her best friend. Gripping Barry’s hand and squeezing it tightly,
Mary followed him out of the truck towards the side of the massive
one story building. Once they reached the side of the building
Triston’s friend was there waiting to let them in without a
second’s delay. Right before Mary followed Barry inside the dark
building filled with the screams of patrons and spooks alike, she
looked down at her watch.
    9:30pm.
    Forty minutes later Mary was running
outside the haunted house screaming to the top of her lungs with an
actor dressed as leather face chasing her with a real chain saw.
Barry, Triston and Amanda weren’t far behind, running from an actor
dressed like Michael Myers as he walked behind them holding a
machete. Barry ran towards Mary and she leaped into his arms
laughing with tears of fear in her eyes.
    “ How are you going to leave
me in there like that,” he asked while holding her close to
him.
    “ You’re too slow! I wasn’t
gonna wait for you. It doesn’t make sense for all of us to get
killed. Someone has to live to tell the tale,” she responded while
relaxing in his embrace.
    Triston and Amanda watched the two of
them and smiled. Triston was happy that Barry was finally a few
steps away from making his dream girl a real girl. Amanda on the
other hand rolled her eyes as she continued to flash a fake smile.
She hated the fact that Mary received so much attention. She felt
guys gravitated to her just because she was mixed with a Mexican
father and African American mother, so everyone considered her
exotic. But Amanda thought she was average looking, definitely not
more attractive than her and her innocent demeanor was an act that
Amanda knew was phony.
    Boys are so
stupid , she thought as she nudged Triston
for them to leave.
    Waving in Barry and Mary’s direction,
Triston signaled for them to follow them back to the truck. As they
all climbed into the SUV Mary glanced down at her watch
again.
    10:20pm.
    Right before they pulled out of the
parking lot, Triston turned down the music to make a
suggestion.
    “ Hey, let’s head over to
Independence Grove! A bunch of Warren and Libertyville High kids
are headed over there now.”
    “ Isn’t it closed,” Mary
asked uncomfortably.
    “ Yeah, so?” Amanda
snapped.
    Leaning over while staring at Amanda
angrily, Barry whispered in Mary’s ear,
    “ Come on, it’ll be
fun.”
    Looking Barry in his eyes Mary frowned
while leaning her head to the side. Placing her warm and soft hand
on his cheek she leaned forward and kissed him softly on his lips
and said,
    “ I don’t have time; I need
to be home before twelve.”
    “ We’ll only be there for
about an half hour, more than enough time to get you home,” Triston
said, trying to assure Mary that the trip to the forest preserve
wouldn’t be a risky detour. Looking at Triston staring at her in
the rearview mirror Mary remained silent as she pondered her
chances of getting home on time. After a few more seconds she
nodded her head and yelled out loudly,
    “ Let’s do it!
YOLO!”

    11:00PM
    Libertyville,
IL
    Independence Grove Forest
Preserve

    M ary rested her head on Barry’s chest as the two of them