Everyone was trying to have the best costume this year at Hollywood Arts for the biggest party every held by a student. Obviously people like Beck, Andre, Cat and Tori were invited. People like Robbie and Jade were not on the guest list but everyone invited to the party had the opportunity to take a plus one. As both Beck and Robbie were newly single men, Beck had invited Robbie to the party in the hopes to help Robbie find himself a new girl while Beck would just relax while the girls threw themselves at him. Tori and Andre had decided to go together as friends. That left Cat dateless and Jade uninvited.
"Hey Jade." Cat said in her usual, ditsy voice. "What're you doing on Saturday?"
"Sharpening my scissors." Jade said in her usual threatening tone. She toyed with one of the small, red scissors that were in most-classrooms. She had stolen them. Jade and Cat both sat cross legged in Jade's bedroom on the floor while music played. It wasn't the sort of music Cat liked, in fact, it made her feel uneasy. That didn't really bother Jade, she was comfortable.
"Why is the guy screaming?" Cat asked after a particularly long chorus of screamo.
"Why aren't you?" Jade asked sharply.
"Will you be my date on Saturday?" Cat asked, changing the subject.
"I told you I'm busy." Jade said after a moment of thought. It was tempting, but she knew that her presence at the party wouldn't be easily welcomed.
"But I want you there." Cat said with her puppy dog eyes.
"You'd be the only one."
"So?" Cat said, completely oblivious of what Jade was frustrated about.
"I don't even have a costume." Jade continued. "And it's tomorrow night."
"I'm dressing up as a cat!" Cat said excitedly. "Get it? I'm Cat- dressing up like a cat!"
"I'm not going as a cat before you ask."
"But-"
"No." Jade dropped her scissors and finally made eye contact with Cat. "We're going as murder victims."
"But-"
"Don't you want to have the best costume there?" Jade cut her off.
"Yes, but-"
"Good." Jade tilted her head and smiled. "Come to my house at four o'clock and we'll sort out clothes and make-up."
"Okay." Cat giggled.
"And stop smiling like that." Jade said in her usual way.
"No," Cat continued giggling. "We're going on a date!"
Their school day went rather quickly and Jade ended up driving Cat straight to her house afterwards as Cat didn't have a lift to come any later. Jade had made Cat stand in her room while she threw smaller, Cat-sized clothes at her.
"How come you have so many clothes my size?" Cat asked.
"Because I was once your size." Jade said as she held up a shirt to Cat to check that it would fit Cat.
"Weren't you always this big?" Cat asked dumbly.
"No." Jade said sharply.
"Oh this is pretty-" Cat said as she held up a white shirt with black capital letters that clearly say 'I WOULD KILL FOR A SANDWICH', but she was cut off when Jade took it from her and greeted it with her large sheer-like scissors. "Oh."
"Put this on." Jade said as she handed it back. "I'll go get the blood."
"Fake blood?" Cat asked but Jade was already out of her room.
The two of them continued to create their costumes until it became dark and it was time for Jade to drive the both of them to the party. The costumes, in the end, looked pretty realistic. The two of them wore ordinary clothes for ordinary people but the difference was that the giant gashes in the clothing that was surrounded by a pool of fake blood (Cat hoped, Jade never got back to her on that.) Jade had spent most of their time however doing their make-up. She made both of them look incredibly pale with dark circles around their eyes that would put pandas' to shame. But that wasn't the impressive part. The impressive part was the realistic cuts and gashes that she had made. Cat, the usually adorable red-haired 5'0" girl, was now a victim of a fictional murder. Jade had even convinced her to put in temporary dye so that her hair looked black with a stripe of white.
When they reached the party Cat had had a warm welcome and was greeted by a plastic red cup that was full. Jade stared down the boy who had handed it to Cat until he also handed her one. The two of them entered the large mansion-like building and began to walk around the edges of the rooms as most of the rooms consisted of dancing teenagers. Everyone was dressed in their best Halloween costumes. There was a wide range of them as well. Zombies, ghosts, vampires, demons, as well as some non-mainstream costumes that seemed to be more like inside jokes rather than just the usual Halloween fashion. Then there was the odd person who had used the occasion to dress to pull. An example of this was some older girls' dressed in playboy bunny costumes.
"I like the music." Cat said. The two of them stood against the far wall of a dark room with flashing lights. A DJ was stood several metres away, keeping everyone pumped.
"I don't." Jade said. Cat looked down sadly.
"Are we just going to stand around like candyfloss all evening?"
"Like candyfloss?" Jade repeated with a raised eyebrow, confused. "Look, okay. Let's dance."
"Really?" Cat said but grabbed Jade's hand before she could change her mind. Both of them had already downed their drinks and left the empty cups on the side. Neither of them had recognised the song as it didn't seem to have been in English however it had a good beat and was easy to dance to. The next few songs were the same, and soon enough Jade was dancing more confidently and didn't need Cat to hold her hands to try get her to move around more.
Then the music changed. It was a slow song. Several other people stopped and stood dead still whilst contemplating whether or not to continue dancing with their partner or friends. It seemed like Cat was the only person who hadn't. Instead, she had taken Jade and pulled her close, much to Jade's struggles, Cat seemed to have put her claws in.
"People are looking." Jade whispered to Cat.
"Let them look." Cat said cutely as she put her head on Jade's bicep. Jade danced slowly and uncomfortably, fully aware that everyone else dancing consisted of a boy and a girl. Cat didn't seem to mind, in fact, she had seemed disappointed when the song had finished and she finally had to pull herself away from Jade to return to dancing to a faster song.
"I'll get us some more drinks." Cat said after bouncing around for a minute. She wandered off and left Jade standing alone in the middle of the dance floor. Jade followed Cat, all the way outside into the backyard.
"Cat!" Jade called from about twenty metres away, Cat had managed to move quickly regardless of her short legs.
"Leave me alone!" Cat called back but stopped in her tracks for Jade to catch up.
"What's up, Cat?"
"That was nice, wasn't it?" Cat began to pace around Jade. "Nicer than it ever was with Robbie."
"That's because it was Robbie."
"No-" Cat was about to protest but decided against it. Instead she moved closer to Jade and stood as tall as she could to try make up the difference.
"Cat?" Jade said in a whisper.
"Shhh-" Cat whispered back. "-I want to see something."
Jade moved slowly and delicately until the two girls' lips met. The two of them stood still in a trance. They clung to each other; Jade held onto Cat's jaw and cheeks while Cat put one hand on Jade's shoulder and the other on her hip. It only lasted a few seconds.
"I smudged your make-up." Jade said as the two of them had pulled away from each other.
"That's okay." Cat smiled, brushing hair out of her face. "Do you want to go back in and dance?"
"I think you promised me a drink, Miss Valentine." Jade smiled back.
"Yes, Miss Jade." Cat said, turning round and running happily back into the mansion.
"West." Jade facepalmed before followed Cat, this time giving her more distance.
The two of them danced the night away and by midnight Jade had sobered up and had driver the incredibly intoxicated Cat home and into the care of her Nona. Jade then took the scenic route home, contemplating the night that she just had and trying to remember how soft Cat's lips had been and had gentle she had been held as well as trying to remember how warm her cherry chapstick had made Jade feel inside.
