"What did you get then?" Ella asked curiously as she spun around. "Obviously it wouldn't be as good as mine, because I had the best present." She waggled her tongue excitedly.
"Someone got me LED drum sticks! And a candy corn zombie tee shirt," he grinned. "Oh! And a cool RC skateboarder," he said remembering all the contents of his great secret santa gift.
"Man I'm going to miss everyone when they all go home for break," he said.
"I was thinking about having a New Years party or something, get everyone back together towards the end of break," he smiled. Mostly he was thinking of getting everyone back together so he could avoid his family for a little while.
"Yeah, it's been pretty creepy around here yeah?" he asked looking around suspiciously.
"My house, my folks are cool with it as long as I clean up afterwards and try to not break anything," he grinned.
"I did," he nodded. "It freaked me out a little," he lied. It freaked him out a lot. He didn't like to be anywhere near the woods these days. Anything about bits in the woods brought him back to that night two summers ago. He shivered at the thought. "I'm sure things will get sorted out you know?"
"Yeah, they probably don't want people in or around when they start checking things out," he nodded. "A gator makes sense though," he nodded.
"Enough about those un-pleasantries though," he grinned. "I was thinking about working on some cheer routines during vacation, you up for a visit one of these afternoons?"
"Oh man, sure! I'm a little rusty. I've been uh, sick. I mean, I rolled my ankle and I haven't been to practice since Halloween. Some extra sessions will be great!" Ella beamed back at Sam, excited at the prospect.
"Right on! I'll try and practice extra hard. This is going to be great!" The song ended and Ella released Sam from where she was holding him, deciding to go get a drink. "Thanks Sam. I'll see you over break, yeah?"