"What's up?" MRJ asked.
"The TV," Sherry pointed at the TV in the corner.
On the screen, they saw dozens of people dressed up as zombies, staggering toward a town square.
"An entire town celebrating Halloween as zombies?" MRJ muttered.
"That's so sick!" Sherry exclaimed.
"That is wicked," MRJ agreed. "Some take Halloween too seriously."
"It's fun, right? To go trick-or-treating or partying with friends!"
"I've never trick-or-treated in my life," MRJ spoke frankly.
"Really?" Sherry was taken back.
"Yeah, where I am from, there's no culture of Halloween. In fact–people are against it."
"What? Why?!"
"They say it is a celebration of evil spirits," MRJ wiggled his fingers in front of her.
"That's a bummer,"
"Yeah, wouldn't have hurt to try once,"
"It is fun! Too bad, we're too old now."
The two spent time chatting about their lives until MRJ's phone rang. He took the call; it was AJ.
"My dude, I am at the entrance–time to go!" he said.
"Like–now?!"
"Yes, right now," AJ insisted.
"Like super, super?" MRJ looked bummed out.
"Put the call on speaker,"
"Huh?"
"Just do it."
"Okay," MRJ did as he was told. "You're on speaker."
"Hey, Sherry!"
"Hi!" Sherry grinned.
"Thanks for babysitting my little brother," AJ spoke gleefully. "I hope he behaved well?"
"Yeah, he was a good boy," Sherry grinned at MRJ.
He turned red.
"For real?" AJ sounded surprised on the phone. "That's super rare! I guess he liked the babysitter."
"O-kay, time to go!" MRJ stood up, flustered.
Sherry laughed.
"Okie dokie!" AJ sounded cheerful. "Thanks again, Sherry. See you sometime?"
"Yep, sure!" Sherry agreed.
AJ cut the call.
"He sure takes every chance to embarrass me," MRJ sighed.
"Come on, he cannot be that bad a brother!" Sherry joked.
"Not you too," MRJ sighed.
"Hehe," Sherry laughed. "Sorry!"
"Well, I have to get going now," MRJ paused. "Would you–mind if I ask for your number?"
"I was gonna tell anyway," Sherry grinned.
They noted down each other's numbers.
"Well, then," MRJ and Sherry shook hands. "See you around?"
"Of course!"
***
"Do we really have to do this tonight?" MRJ complained. "I'm super tired."
"With what?" AJ shot back. "Flirting?"
"I wasn't flirting with her!"
"Yeah, right! Just grab a snack and get back. We gotta finish this thing asap!"
"What the?!" MRJ exclaimed. "Why is our fridge filled with cup noodles?"
"How else we're gonna survive the Apocalypse?" AJ narrowed his eyes.
"Not–This is absurd! You are taking it too seriously, man!"
"Maybe you shouldn't be taking it too lightly, man,"
"How many of these did you buy?!"
"Enough to last an apocalypse," AJ winked. "Just kidding. We may have to scavenge later on."
"Hold on, you used our entire food money at the mall to buy cup noodles?!"
"Of course not!" AJ scoffed. "We got some cash left."
"Dude?!"
"Fear not, I bought an electric stove too–rechargeable."
"You know what? I'm too tired to put up with your B.S. right now. I'm gonna inform your dad of your atrocities when he calls."
"Yeah, yeah, just make do with the noodles. And get me one too!"
The rest of the night passed by quickly. MRJ fell asleep at 2 AM. AJ was done with the final touches at the crack of dawn.
"Sleepy ass," AJ looked over at his sleeping roommate. "You'll thank me when we survive!"
AJ switched off the lights and walked back to his bed. He tripped over MRJ's charger wires.
"What the fu-!" AJ swore silently. "Jackass with his phone."
AJ fell asleep as soon as his face hit the pillow.