Chapter 37

                                    

                                          
Halloween was just around the corner, and as the spooky day got closer, Clay found himself getting more excited. Over the last couple of days, Clay had pitched in to help his parents decorate their house with some halloween lights, ghosts, ghouls, spiders and spider webs, skelotons, bats, witches, uncarved pumpkins, decorative, spooky tombstones, a "Beware" sign, and some other Halloween decorations. After seeing how well the Jensen's house was decorated, and after Matt and Lainie had given the credit to their son, Olivia and Andy Baker had asked Clay if he would want to help them out with decorating their drug store for Halloween. Clay had easilly accepted their offer without hesitation, and he now found himself helping Mr. Baker hang some Halloween-themed purple, orange, and green multicolored lights in the store's windows. 
                          
Andy Baker was busy untangling and testing the light strands before handing the working ones off to Clay, who was outlining the window frame with the orange, green, and purple colored lights. As the two were working on the lights together, Olivia was hanging some black and orange streamer-like decorations on some of the walls. The older woman smiled to herself as she saw her daughter enter the store, completely unaware of her boyfriend's presence as she walked straight over to where her mother was standing.
                          
"Hey, Mom." The teenage girl greeted with a small smile. Olivia gave a warm smile back. "Hey, Hannah." She greeted. "What did you need me down here for?" The older woman's daughter asked curiously. "Andy and I were just decorating the store a little bit, and I just thought you might want to help us out." She said, sounding suggestive. "But you've never asked for my help in decorating the store before. I thought that was just something you and Dad did together." Hannah said, sounding confused. "Would it change your mind if I said someone else is currently helping your father with the lights in the window?" Olivia Baker asked with a small smirk as she gestured towards the four upright rectangle-shaped windows at the front of the store right by the main double-door entrance. 
                          
Becoming slightly confused, Hannah slowly turned around towards the front of the store. Once facing the entrance of the pharmacy, Hannah smiled almost instantly when she caught sight of Clay Jensen helping her father line the store windows with strands of the multicolored lights that they kept in storage every year, never putting them to good use until now. Hannah smiled to herself as she observed Clay and her dad working together. Clay was using a decently tall ladder that the Bakers owned, so he could easily reach the top of the windowsills to hang the lights. As Hannah looked around, she noticed how three of the four windows were already framed with lights, including the window above the double-door entrance, and Clay and her dad were currently working on outlining the fourth window with the remaining strands they had. 
                          
Watching Clay and her father for another minute or two, Hannah glanced around the store, seeing some other Halloween decorations already put up, but she took notice of how there was still a box with a couple decorations left. Hannah glanced back over to where Clay and her father were when she heard her dad compliment Clay on how good the lights looked in the store's windows. "Thanks for helping us out with this, Clay. Everything looks really good so far." Olivia Baker complimented with a warm smile as she walked over to Clay and her husband. Seeing her dad walk away from Clay after telling him something, Hannah walked over to her boyfriend. "You're truly amazing, Helmet." She said, admiring all the lights and other decorations that had been hung up around the store. Clay blushed at the compliment, making Hannah smile at him. "It's nothing, really." Clay said with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Nothing? That's nonsense. You must have been here for at least a couple of hours." Hannah said. "Actually only about an hour and a half or so." Clay said after briefly checking the time on his phone. "That makes me even more impressed." Hannah told him, gently wrapping her arms around his neck as she smiled. In response, the boy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist as he smiled too. "Well...I'm impressive." Clay said, making Hannah laugh a little as he had quoted what he had said to her back at the Winter Formal dance.