Side chapter: Haloween

Halloween at the university campus was legendary, or so I'd heard. Since it was my first one here, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but the buildup was hard to ignore. Posters with glowing pumpkins and grinning skeletons had appeared everywhere, and the air buzzed with the excitement of costume contests, haunted houses, and something ominously called "The Midnight Maze."

Lise was practically vibrating with excitement. "Eileen, we have to go all out!" she declared one evening as she flopped onto my bed, scattering pumpkin-shaped candy everywhere. "It's tradition!"

"Define 'all out,'" I asked warily, already imagining something humiliating like a matching costume.

"Costumes, haunted house, the maze, everything!" She flailed her arms dramatically. "This isn't just Halloween. It's Halloween on campus! People take it seriously!"

"I'm not wearing a pumpkin costume," I warned her.