[GL] Someone Once Told Me the Grass is Much er on the Other Side-Chapter 109: Halloween Arc: Four

"TODAY IS HALLOWEEN!" Adama yelled throughout the house, waking everyone up that morning. Aurora groaned, her silk scarf wrapped around her head as she looked down at her phone. Her sister had woken her up an hour prior to her alarm going off.

The Omega slammed herself into the pillow screaming into her while she kicked her legs like she was going swimming.

Her door opened widely with Adama prancing in her room and then quickly leaving, like she were a tornado making its way through Kansas.

"Welp, might as well get up," Aurora said, throwing her pillow to the side.

"AAH!" Salmona jumped when she saw Aurora coming down the stairs with bags under her eyes, her hair barely done, mismatched socks. "You look horrid!"

Slap!

Salmona rubbed her shoulder where Lacy slapped her, not understanding at first why she was slapped.

Aurora walked to the kitchen table and slammed herself in the chair.

Bam!

Her head landed on the table as she felt herself about to practically pass out. She was so tired. Why did Halloween have to fall on a Monday that year?

"This is why I tell you to not go out on school nights," Lacy scolded her eldest daughter. She placed the eggs on the plate with the toast and bacon, and slid the plates to Adama, Saloma, Samantha, and Aurora. "You just hardheaded." She finished off before joining them at the table.

HONK!

Aurora nearly got into a bike wreck when she almost ran the stop sign. She shook her head, doing her best to keep her eyes open. Maybe it would have been a better idea to stay home. She was just so exhausted.

She finally managed to get to the school and park her moped. By the lockers were her friends.

"Damn, you look a mess, Aurora!" Brie said.

Aurora slammed her locker shut after getting her books.

"Is it true you broke up with Mattess?" Shatwa asked.

"What?" Aurora inquired.

"Mattress," the Alpha said again. "Rumors are saying when she asked you out, you said no."

The six of them walked down the hall to their first class. Aurora did confirm that she broke it off, that she wasn’t for anything serious at the moment.

Shatwa nodded her head and stopped Aurora right outside of her classroom. "Do you think maybe we can give ourselves a good one more time?"

Aurora rolled her eyes and walked into the classroom.

Aurora slumped into her seat, the plastic chair groaning under her weight. Her eyelids felt like sandpaper dragging across her vision. The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed with the intensity of a trapped hornet, casting a sickly greenish-yellow glow on the rows of desks.

She blinked slowly, the world swimming in and out of focus, the blurry outline of Mr. Henderson writing equations on the board, the rhythmic tapping of Shatwa’s pen three seats away, the faint smell of stale coffee and cheap disinfectant clinging to the air.

Her fingers traced the cold metal edge of her desk, finding a sticky patch near a carved doodle of a frowning ghost. She pressed her thumb into it, the tackiness grounding her for a second. Outside, a squirrel skittered across a bare maple branch, its frantic scratching against the windowpane the only punctuation in the monotonous drone of the lecture.

"Aurora!"

The Omega jumped in her seat with the class laughing at her expense. She sighed and looked at the Beta teacher.

"You seem distracted. How about reading the first paragraph?" He suggested sarcastically.

"Uh..." Aurora flipped through the pages, doing her best to figure out where they were without having to ask.

"Lost, are we?" The teacher asked, same condescending tone.

Aurora sighed. "Yes." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"I thought so. Try and focus," he said walking back to the white board.

She sat back down and exhaled a large breath, it was going to be a long day but thankfully, she was able to relax around lunch time.

Aurora had a content smile on her face while she dipped her cheese stick into the marinara sauce. She let out an excited gasp and hugged herself. Completely happy with her life at that moment.

She leaned back, stretching her arms above her head, and felt a satisfying pop in her shoulders. The cafeteria noise blurred into a comforting bsckground white noise, the scrape of plastic trays, the rhythmic thump of a basketball dribbling outside the open doors, the sharp tang of ketchup cutting through the steam rising from pizza slices.

Sunlight streamed through the high windows, warming the worn vinyl of the bench seat beneath her legs. For the first time that day, the bone-deep exhaustion retreated, replaced by a pleasant lethargy. She watched a lone sparrow hop along the ledge outside, pecking at invisible crumbs, its tiny head jerking with quick, decisive movements.

Freedom!

That’s what lunch meant. Freedom from equations, from condescending teachers, from the tangled knot of expectations tightening in her chest since morning.

RRRRRIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

"Ugh, back to reality," she groaned.

"FREEDOOOMMM!" Mo Yong screamed as he ran outside once the school bell rung for classes to end.

"Yeah, but we still have four more days to go until the weekend," Shatwa moaned, popping her back.

"Okay so where we meeting at for Halloween? What cool parties are happening?" Brie asked. She opened her combat mirror and began to check in on her makeup.

Aurora shook her head while the six of them continued to walk to the parking lot. "Remember, I’m going trick or treating with the fam," she reminded them.

After waving good bye, she hoped onto her bike and road home. She yawned a couple of times but managed to make it home safely.

Skirt!

Adama was sitting on the front porch with a white sheet over her head with two holes for eyes. Aurora couldn’t help but smile when she saw her sister.

"Are you kidding me?" The Omega asked.

"What!?" The little Alpha replied back. Aurora could tell her sister was smirking underneath the blanket.

"What time are we heading out?" Aurora asked.

"When mom and sires get back from work. I did my chores but there are some things you still gotta do," Adama said.

Aurora sighed and walked into the house. She grabbed a snack from the kitchen and headed to her room to finish her homework. She was determined to get it done so she could enjoy Halloween without any worries.

After an hour of focused work, she closed her books and leaned back in her chair, feeling a sense of accomplishment. She glanced at the clock and realized she had just enough time to get ready before the family outing.

But first she had to check the list to see what chores she still had to do: washing dishes...and that was it.

"Ugh, thank goodness," she said and by the time she was done with the dishes, her parents were home.

Salmona and Samantha began to argue on who should stay home for the kids that came to their house for the little scary Halloween. It was only fair for Salmona to do it because apparently Samantha had stayed home last year, and took care of the trick or treaters.

"Samantha and Salmona, stop that racket and Salmona, you know its you that’s suppose to be staying back tonight," Lacy scolded.

Salmona lifted up her shoulders in a defeat and placed her head down. She flopped onto the couch to put the television on since she was staying home that night.

Lacy brought out a small waste basket that was filled to the brim with candy. She opened the door and placed the basket outside on the porch. She walked over to Salmona who was streaming surfing.

"The basket of candy is outside,"Lacy said. "Be outside when them little kids come so you can watch how much candy they take."

She quickly went upstairs to change into her costume. She had chosen to be a zombie princess, complete with a tattered gown and fake blood dripping from her mouth. She applied the makeup carefully, making sure the dark circles under her eyes looked intentional rather than accidental.

Her reflection in the mirror showed a tired girl transformed into something eerie and powerful. The fake wounds on her arms looked surprisingly realistic, and she couldn’t help but smile at her handiwork. This was exactly the kind of escape she needed after such a draining day.

The sound of footsteps thumping up the stairs broke her concentration. Aurora turned just as her bedroom door flew open without warning. Adama stood framed in the doorway, her ghost costume billowing around her small frame like a cloud of trapped smoke.

Her eyes widened behind the cut-out holes in the sheet, taking in Aurora’s zombie princess ensemble with undisguised awe. She bounced on the balls of her feet, the excitement radiating from her in lucid waves that seemed to vibrate the air between them.

"Holy shit, your costume is rad!" The thirteen year old said.