Sean drove with one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on Sophia’s knee in the passenger seat. “Crack one open for me, Ashley,” he shouted over the blaring stereo, and lifted his hand from Sophia’s lap to grab a Bud Light from the backseat.

Sophia turned around to give her best friend the evil eye, but Ashley only shrugged while sipping her own beer. Sophia sighed, and turned back to her boyfriend. “Really, Sean? You’re dumb enough to drink and drive, but you have to do it in my car?”

“Babe, you act like this thing is a Maserati. Would you chill out already?” he rolled his eyes.

Sophia knew that her beat up 2002 Chevy Impala wasn’t the hottest car parked in front of Greenwich High School every morning, but she bought it with her own money, and she was proud of it. The white paint was chipped above the front left tire and the Connecticut license plate was dented from when she backed into the neighbor’s mailbox, but Sean was not about to wreck it further. “That’s enough until we get there,” she said, swiftly taking the beer can from Sean’s grip, spilling a little of its contents on the center console.

She turned to face the backseat and look at Ashley, then to her little brother next to her. “Don’t worry, Toby. We’re almost there.” Toby responded with a half smile. His excitement about going to the haunted hayride with his big sister had faded slightly, once he found out that she was bringing Sean.

“Hang on, kids!” Sean warned as he whipped the car into the gravel parking lot. They were about 30 miles outside of Greenwich, and the sun had set during their drive. Halloween night in New England was always crisp and autumnal, but this year’s seemed a little colder than usual. Sean flung his door open, and the three others followed suit. He grabbed his beer, slugged the rest of down, and crushed the can all in the same motion of slamming the door shut. “Let’s get this over with,” he murmured under his breath, but not without Sophia hearing.

Fed up already, Sophia stormed around the front of the car and grabbed the sleeve of Sean’s flannel shirt. She pulled him aside until they were out of earshot.

“What the hell was that for?” a buzzed Sean asked as he tore his arm out of Sophia’s grip. They both glanced over to the car to see Ashley keeping Toby occupied with some trick-or-treat candy they pawned earlier.

“You didn’t have to come, you know.”

Sean could see the disappointment in Sophia’s eyes as she folded her arms, closing herself off from him. “Look, Soph. I’m sorry that I’m not into this. I told Josh we would be at his party early. I didn’t expect you to say yes when your kid brother asked you to take him to a stupid hayride on Halloween night. Do you understand how trashed we could be getting right-“

“Is that all you ever think about?!”

Silence fell between the two of them. Sophia’s voice had been louder than she’d intended, and Toby became aware of the tension. All Sophia cared about was that her little brother have a good time, and she wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of that.

Thankfully, Ashley stepped in. “Alright, everybody. Last one to the ticket booth is a rotten pumpkin!” With that, Toby ran as fast as he could to the entrance, ready to hand over his pre-paid ticket. He couldn’t wait to tell the kids on the middle school soccer team how many monsters and ghosts and creatures tried to scare him on this hayride, and how he didn’t even flinch.

Sean rolled his eyes and started toward the ticket booth. Sophia and Ashley trailed behind, with their arms linked. Sophia took a deep breath of the brisk air that smelled of hay and cinnamon. The ticket booth was straight ahead – small, with only two young girls collecting money. They were each dressed as round pumpkins, and seemed to have trouble moving around within the booth. Sophia chuckled as the one pumpkin girl bumped into the other, knocking off her pointy green hat that she guessed was supposed to act as her stem.

To the left of the booth was a concession stand, with a line extending so far in front of it that it practically wrapped around the parking lot. Sophia considered buying a cup of cider, but didn’t feel like waiting. Instead, she and Ashley walked to the right of the ticket booth, flashed their pre-paid tickets, and started toward the entrance behind Toby and Sean.

Sophia turned to her best friend. “Thanks for coming with us tonight. Toby is so excited about this hayride, and I don’t think I could deal with Sean without your moral support. I know he only came because I’m his ride to Josh’s party after.”

“Honestly, Soph, I don’t know why you’re still with him,” Ashley muttered.

Sophia didn’t know either. She and Sean had been dating since tenth grade, but ever since their senior year started two months ago, things between them had completely changed. Sean had been partying every weekend with Josh and his crowd, and hardly ever wanted to spend time at Sophia’s house. She thought back to the beginning of their relationship, to when they would both look forward to hanging out with her family. Her parents loved Sean just as much as she did… At first.

“Things used to be so good between us,” Sophia tried defending Sean to Ashley too many times in the past, and knew the excuses meant nothing anymore. Not to anyone. Sophia could feel the tears well up in her eyes.

“It’s okay, Soph. I know you two have been going through a tough time,” Ashley consoled her friend, bringing her in for a hug. “You know what? We’ll take Toby on this hayride, we’ll drop Sean off at Josh’s, and then we can go back to your house and watch all the Halloween movies. We’ll start with the 1978 version and watch the complete evolution of Mike Meyers. Sound good?’

Sophia laughed, despite her frustration. “That sounds perfect. I really don’t feel like seeing Sean around Josh or any of those guys tonight.”

“And you wont have to.” Ashley and Sophia smiled to each other, and began making their way up to the parked tractor that would be pulling the hayride. Sean was idly waiting there next to Toby, who was jumping up and down, waving the girls over.

Sophia decided to make the most of her night. She was overjoyed to see her little brother so happy, and thankful for her best friend who always knew exactly what to do and say. The girls were determined not to let Sean ruin the night, but little did they know exactly what Halloween antics he had planned.