The wind was picking up, scattering crisp leaves around the back of the school where Hughie Biggs sat on the stone bench, sipping a carton of chocolate milk and watching Joey try to kick a ball into the trash bin with zero success.

He didn’t hear her at first—not until the squeak of sneakers on pavement came flying around the corner.

“Hughie!”

He looked up fast, just in time to catch her—flushed cheeks, wild hair from running, eyes sparkling like she’d just thought of the best idea in the world.

“Okay, so your party—Halloween and your birthday? Kind of a big deal.”

He blinked, a smile creeping onto his face. “Yeah, I’m aware. Pretty sure my ma made flyers.”

“Right.” She took a deep breath and clutched her phone to her chest. “So I was thinking… we should do a costume together. You know. A matching one.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Bugs and Lola Bunny,” she said, grinning like she already knew he couldn’t say no.

Hughie froze for a second, blinking. “That’s… that’s a couples costume.”

Her grin didn’t falter. She just stepped closer, bumping her shoulder into his like she always did when she wanted to play it cool. “Yeah, but it doesn’t have to mean anything. We’re both single. It’ll be a laugh. I already ordered the ears.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying hard not to show how fast his heart had just taken off. “So I’m just a six-foot cartoon rabbit to you now?”

“Exactly,” she said, poking his chest. “But, like… a really handsome one.”

He stared at her, quiet for a second too long.

“Only as friends,” she added quickly, looking away.

Hughie nodded slowly, fighting a smile. “Right. Only friends.”

And if his stomach was flipping like mad and he couldn’t stop thinking about what she might look like in that Lola Bunny costume—well, he’d deal with that later.