I thought about it and realized that we were getting pretty close to Halloween.
I said, "Sure, that sounds like fun."
Layla responded, "Ok, cool. The others talked about getting together so I'm inviting you along."
"Do you want me to go?"
"Yeah, I do. It's just that, everyone else either lives together or on their own. So for me who still lives with my family who doesn't put up any decorations for Halloween. It's kind of hard to show up with a pumpkin when I know I'm just going to hear a lecture when I get home."
"Does your family not do Halloween at all?"
"Nope. They are pretty hardcore believers in The Church. They think that Halloween is demon worshiping."
"Do you like Halloween?"
"Yeah. I love it. It's one of my favorites."
"Sounds like your parents failed to show you the way."
"LOL. That's so ironic. They like to refer to themselves as "followers of the way"."
"Wow. Well if they know the way, then they can follow the motion of the ocean."
"Eww. Gross. Stawp."
"What time is the get together? And where?"
"It's pumpkin farms at 10:30."
"Cool. I'll try to be awake for that."
"Yeah. Sorry for the late text but I was working and only saw the plans after I got off. Then I had to think about if I wanted to go."
"You're ok. I only just got home from the job site."
"Job site? You mean for the business?"
"Yeah, they got the foundation and driveway fully poured today."
"You're already that far along?"
"Yeah. It doesn't take that long."
"But, it hasn't even been a week yet?"
"Yeah… I am a product of the new generation. I am very impatient about some stuff. If this was a more important build I would take longer. But this is literally an aluminum building sitting on concrete."
"I would still build something more for quality than speed."
"I would agree with you mostly. I'm not going to waste time and resources on something temporary. I don't think we will be in this space for 10 years, so I'm not going to invest a ton of money into it."
"So you don't think this is going to last?"
"No. That's not what I said. I think we will be on to bigger and better things than a small, uninsulated, glorified shed. In fact, I don't think it will even take a year until we move to someplace bigger."
"Well, no one can claim that you don't dream big."
"I like being optimistic."
"You're right. Sorry. I'm at home and my parents are just being annoying. I really have to find a way to move out."
"Is it that bad?"
"Not really. It's not like I hate my parents, but we just don't see eye to eye. They have their life and I have mine. I just don't like that they keep trying to lord over me despite me being an adult."
"Yeah I can somewhat understand that sentiment. I'm lucky, my mom doesn't really do anything extreme, just lets me live my life."
"Yeah. You really are lucky."
"Well, it's getting late, we should probably go to sleep, the morning will be here soon."
"Yeah, you're right, good night."
"Good night."
…
The next day. Saturday.
Ugh. My body is sore.
I sent Layla a text at 8:00, "Hey do you want me to pick you up? The farm has gravel roads and dirt parking."
I got a reply 20 minutes later, "If you would that would be great."
"Yup, I got it."
I left home at 9:30 to go pick up Layla.
I arrived at her house just before 10:00, she was already waiting outside.
She was wearing a black sundress with lace trim, a cropped black jacket, and some black boots.
When I stopped she opened the door and got in quickly. Before I could even say anything about how amazing she looked she said, "Ok, let's drive."
I have seen far too many horror movies to hesitate and question someone in moments like these. So, I pulled off and drove away before asking, "Which serial killer are we running from?"
"Ha ha. Very funny. I just didn't want to have my family be annoying. I have brothers after all."
"Ah, trying to escape the teasing."
"Yeah."
While making our way over to the farm we talked about various things, mostly about which car to fix first or where to get it.
…
We arrived at the pumpkin farm at 10:32, a little late because of the traffic.
When we got out of the car I got another good look at Layla. She really was stunning.
While I was looking at her she was looking for her friends. She noticed them from afar, "I see them, over there. Samantha, Emily, and Nathan are standing by the entrance. I guess Mariana and Seth aren't here yet."
She took a few steps before turning around to look at me.
When she did, I smiled and said, "You really are stunning."
Layla turned away and ran her fingers through her hair and after a moment said, "What are you standing around for, let's go."
It's one thing to expect a compliment and another to get one when you don't.
I chuckled and quickly caught up.
We met up with her friends and started talking.
Layla asked, "Are Mariana and Seth not here yet?"
Emily said, "did you expect them to be? They are always at least 10 minutes late."
Smantha spoke up for them, "Well, that's just part of their charm."
While they talked about that Nathan side stepped and started talking to me.
"It seems like you were right."
I was a bit confused, "Right? About what?"
"The stocks. Did you not see what was happening this week?"
"No actually I didn't. I was busy with other work. I mean I was worried about what might happen but I didn't think anything big would. Did it?"
"Yeah, something big did happen."
I was intrigued, "Really? What happened?"