All the Things We've Done by A.L. Kent

Author:A.L. Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Thriller, Teen and Young Adult YA, Midwest, Black main character, Black girl main character, tearjerker, cry worth books
Publisher: A.L. Kent
Published: 2023-05-16T05:00:00+00:00

Then

October, Senior Year

Davey eases into senior year hesitant and scattered. Practice and homework are starting to pick up from the ease at the beginning of the year. He feels scattered, like his brain won’t let him get anything together.

Laine comes over all the time and sits with him at his kitchen counter as they do their homework. Arthur and Sorrel and Mack do too, sometimes. But more and more, it’s just him and Laine.

The beginning of October brings the Halloween hayride event, thrown every year at a local apple orchard. He piles in the back of Sorrel’s car with Laine and Mack while Arthur sits in the front.

The night starts with a hayride to the pumpkin patch. Then corn mazes of varying difficulties, and a haunted forest starting at nine after all the small children have gone home to bed.

They start with the smaller maze first, dodging families with kids, before moving to the more difficult one. After that, they pause to get food. Sorrel’s driving tonight, but the rest of them spike their hot chocolate with Arthur's hidden flask of Irish cream.

Then they move to the haunted hayride and corn maze. He holds Laine’s hand as they walk through the maze as Sorrel, Mack, and Arthur hold each other and walk behind them. By the end, his throat is raw from yelling and his cheeks hurt from smiling.

Throughout the night, Davey takes pictures of all of them laughing drunk and happy. He hasn't told his friends that he plans to make a photo album for them for his senior art portfolio. He just wants to remember his friends in moments like this. That's what his mom always says; when people are gone, all you have left are memories. He wants to remember his friends.

He swings his arms and stumbles. Laine grabs onto him, laughing. He picks her up and spins her around. He doesn’t notice Melanie and Lewis standing next to them until Laine’s foot hits the hot chocolate out of Melanie’s hand. Melanie screams at the top of her lungs.

“Sorry,” Laine laughs as he sets her down. Laine winces when he turns to her. The contents of Melanie's hot chocolate cup have spilled all over Lewis’s white hoodie. Steam rises in the cold fall air.

“Ugh, what the fuck,” Melanie screams.

“Sorry,” Davey says, wincing.

“I’m going to get some napkins,” Melanie huffs, before glaring at them and storming off.

Laine offers Lewis a napkin from her pocket. “Not much, but it'll help.”

“Thanks,” Lewis laughs. Davey sees the way he looks at Laine and something ugly flares in his chest, but he pushes it back down. He steps next to Laine and grabs her hand.

“I think they sell hoodies at the gift shop,” Laine says.

Davey tugs on her hand. “We gotta go.”

“I’m going to find Melanie,” Lewis says, before leaving in the same direction as Melanie.

Laine seems to have forgotten about it later, but Davey wishes he had his camera then. The look of happiness on her face when he spun her around was so beautiful, he wants to look at it every day.

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