I should’ve looked back to see    
which finger Darryl had measured, or   
even just looked at my own hand, but I 
didn’t think of it at the time, and    
also because Beth looked so beautiful, 
that I had to kiss her again.          
     I did, and it was nice.           
     Then Pee Wee was giving us a bear 
hug and wiping a tear away himself.    
What a guy.                            
     Darryl, trying to stay in         
character, did what a gentleman's      
gentleman would do and shook my hand,  
“Congratulations, sir. This is         
certainly a wondrous occasion. Don't   
you think, sir?” and then also gave me 
a hug.                                 
     I had just enough time to say,    
“Thank you,” before I was hit from all 
sides by Beth first, then Mouse, and   
* then my arch-enemy.                      
     Group hug!                        
     That didn't seem right somehow.   
My arch-enemy was making it very       
difficult for me to not hate her.      
     She was definitely not following  
the rules, whatever the hell they were,
unless, that was her plan.             
     Keep me off guard, and then lower 
the boom. Pretty ingenious, I thought, 
especially since that was also my plan.
     After the group hug, we still had 
a few minutes before we had to leave.  
     First, I asked for everyone's     
coats, put them in the closet, grabbed 
my bag of goodies and handed out black 
insulated sweaters and hoodies.        
     Everyone put them on, and then I  
handed out high-intensity flashlights, 
and new walkies-talkies, just in case. 



CHAPTER 14: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st
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