Charlie Landon had her future worked out until her mother died in a freak shark attack. Her father uproots their lives in favour of moving back to his small town in America. Charlie meets Percy and Noah who unknowingly turn her life upside down. Bot...
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PUMPKIN CARVING
Saturday the 28th of October
George rocks out to his electronic playlist while Percy focuses on finding the right driveway to turn down. Further along the road, there's a gravel driveway that leads to an old faded blue house. Annika, Samantha, Noah, Lea and some other people are gathered near the house.
"We're here." Percy proudly smiles.
We hope out the car and Percy races over to hug an older woman.
"Hi Granny."
She peers to the side and smiles.
"Who are these faces?"
"This is Charlie and Elle."
"Charlie?" She frowns and Noah coughs to hide his laughter.
"We're good friends now."
"Welcome to our annual pumpkin picking tradition. We love it when new people join us. You can call me Granny, everyone else does." She chuckles.
"Thanks." I tug on a smile.
"Let's find some pumpkins to carve," Lea shouts.
Everyone scatters into the small pumpkin patch behind the house. George and Elle wander away together, while Annika and Samantha stare at Noah while they pretend to look at pumpkins. I take a deep breath and wander into the field.
There's a good variety of sizes and shapes but I have no idea what to look for. I've always wanted to carve a pumpkin but never got around to doing it. I don't know why, perhaps because I had nobody to do it with.
I wish I could do this with Noah. We'll be near each other which is better than nothing.
There's a rustle of leaves and Granny appears beside me. I slap my hand over my heart and take a deep breath.
"I'm sorry to scare you."
"It's alright."
"Can we walk and talk?"
"Um, sure." I nod.
"I had to pry it from Noah but I know about you two."
"Oh." I look at the pumpkins and pretend to be interested to stop myself from looking scared.
"I'm worried about my son. This relationship could ruin his career. If the circumstances were different, I would feel different about the situation. I hope you understand where I'm coming from."
"I do understand and I can assure you, I would never do anything to ruin his career."
"Perhaps you'll consider pausing this relationship until you've graduated from school."
