"Max?"
"Yes?" I responded, glancing at Nudge warily.
"Can we-"
"I think I"ll go ahead and say no in advance." I interrupted. Looking over at her, I could visibly see her gear up for a good, long babble.
"Well, when we were down getting food, I saw this sign, and it said 'Halloween Party', and that reminds me that it's Halloween tomorrow! And we should totally get costumes and go trick-or-treating and stuff, because that would be SO FUN, and maybe go to a haunted house-"
"i stand by what I said before," I said stubbornly. No way would they shove me into some flimsy costume and make me run around town.
"Yeah, Max!" Gazzy yelled, speeding up next to me. He stared at me, blue eyes bright with excitement and hair whipping around his face. "How could you say no to free candy?"
Hm. The boy had a point. Candy was a rare treat for us; normally we had our food for energy, not taste. It was a tempting offer, but-
"Still no," I said. Angel turned to face me, devastated.
"But Max, we hardly ever get candy! And we haven't played dress-up forever. Can we? Pretty please with sugar on top?"
I tried. I really, really did. But, I had to look in font of me at some point, and when I did, I had three pairs of Bambi eyes staring me down. I didn't even know Gazzy could do them, but apparently he could.
"I-" I paused, choosing my words carefully. "-could maybe consider the possibility of perhaps pondering the idea of trick-or-treating."
They cheered, and even Iggy smiled. Fang just glanced at me.
"Suck-up," he muttered under his breath. I glared.
"You got Angel a freakin' dog." I countered. He looked away, a ghost of a smile in his eyes.
"Oooh!" Nudge exclaimed suddenly, pointing to a small cluster of stores below us. "I think that's a Halloween store! Can we-"
"Oh, whatever," I said, having finally accepted that resistance was futile. "I've got my Max card. Knock yourselves out."
Another chorus of cheers echoed through the sky, and we angled ourselves downward, toward a clump of trees behind the store. Convenient, huh?
We gracefully landed on the ground, not even stumbling, like little wood fairies. Nudge and Angel were babbling excitedly about what they would be, and Iggy and Gazzy were trying to come up with ideas as well. I drifted over to Fang as we walked toward the store.
"I really hope they don't expect me to dress up," I murmured to him, thinking aloud. He chuckled darkly.
"Oh, they will. And the pinker the better. A fairy princess, maybe?" He said. I glared.
"I hope you have to be dressed in, like, bright yellow or something. That'd put you in your place."
Shuddering at the mere thought, Fang ushered Angel, Nudge and Gazzy through the double doors of the Halloween store. It was, I had to admit, pretty decked out. Huge black-and orange letters reading 'THE HALLOWEEN EMPORIUM' stood out over the white brick, and all kinds of window decals and posters were stuck everywhere imaginable. As I pushed open the door, I was hit by a blast of warm air.
"Sacred bovine," I muttered, taking it in. All 1000+ square feet of the store was crammed with costumes, hanging on racks, folded on tables, displayed on the walls. Big signs pronounced 'Kids', 'Teens', and 'Adults'. Even Fang seemed impresed by the sheer quantity.
"So, where to start?" Iggy said, rubbing his hands together. "The blackness to the right, or the blackness to the left?" I rolled my eyes before remembering he couldn't see it.
"Can we start with my costume? I think I want to be a cheerleader, or maybe, like, a movie star or something! A vampire? Ooh, I don't know! What if-"
I stared at her pointedly, and Nudge quieted, still staring at the place with wide eyes.
"We'll start with Angel and Gazzy," I said confidently, striding toward the kid's section. "And Nudge, if her size is in the kid's section too. Iggy, Fang, go ahead and get yours. I'll help the others pick theirs out."
Iggy stared in my general direction. "When are you getting your costume?" He said, a challenge in his voice. I looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.
"I'm not." I said already hurrying the kids to their costume aisle. As if on cue, they broke into a chorus of protests.
"But Max, you have to!"
"They won't give you candy unless you have a costume!"
"Max! You have to be a fairy princess with me!"
I stared at Angel, who had said the last comment.
"You want me to be a fairy princess?" I drawled disbelievingly. She nodded earnestly.
"I'm being one, so you should be one too!" she said, her face breaking into a smile. "We'll be like sisters!"
Fang looked at me, barely suppressing his sniggers. "Yeah Max, you'll be like sister fairy princesses!"
I squared my shoulders, prepping to say that no, sweetie, I wouldn't dream of it, but instantly deflated.
The big, wide innocent eyes were filled hope and sadness, probing my soul into doing their bidding. I stared at the Bambi eyes, and opened my mouth to say no.
"Yes."
Okay, not good.
I BET YOU CAN'T GUESS WHAT I AM. GO AHEAD. TRY. GIVE UP? I'M A PAGE BREAK! HA!
"Why does this even come in my size?" I muttered, staring at the dress with a sense of impending doom. It was spring-green, with sky blue and pale pink ribbons and bows scattered randomly about. The skirt was just one massive froof, covered in flowers. It was like the barf of the child of a unicorn and a rainbow. Who had been adopted by a puppy.
Angel looked at me, hurt.
"It's beautiful, Max! Aren't you glad it's in your size and mine?" She gushed, fingering the cheap tulle on the skirt.
"Don't forget the wings!" Iggy called gleefully from the guy section, not bothering to smother his snickers. "Make sure they're nice and sparkly!"
Fang just quietly snickered in the background, sifting through all the black costumes he could find. I got an evil glint in my eye.
"If I have to be a fairy princess," I said, grinning deviously, "Fang has to be the fairy king."
He looked at me, panicked.
"You wouldn't." he said quietly, panicked.
"Au contraire," I drawled, enjoying every minute of this. "I'm quite sure I would."
"Omigosh! You're right! He could have, like, a bright yellow coat, and purple pants, and a big crown-" Nudge began excitedly. I watched Fang's had a steadily rising of panic.
Iggy broke in. "Did I hear what I just thought I heard?" He said, just as gleeful as before. "Will Fang be in purple pants?" I nodded firmly.
"Oh, yes," I replied. "The purplest pants that may be found."
"With pink pin stripes." Iggy added.
"Only the pinkest," I clarified. Payback, buddy.
EVentually, Nudge settled on a fabric scrap of a vampire costume with the shortest skirt I had ever seen, Gazzy enthusiastically chose an army man, and Angel got the matching fairy princess costume. We got Fang the fairy king costume of our dreams, and Iggy found a magician costume that he hoped he could incorporate some exploding magic tricks into.
All in all, it would make for a very entertaining night.
HI. I'M A PAGE BREAK, AND MY NAME IS ARCHIBALD. MY MASTER IS RUNNING OUT OF CLEVER THINGS TO SAY WITH PAGE BREAKS, SO YOU'LL HAVE TO EXCUSE HER. GOOD DAY TO YOU, GOOD SIR. MADAM. WHATEVER.
I nervously adjusted my wings as we walked up to the door of the first house. Something about being surrounded by people dressed in costumes and talking animatedly made me anxious. Gee, I wonder why?
"I am seriously about to flip out and kill somebody," I muttered to Fang. He chuckled darkly.
" I can see the headlines now. 'Fairy Princess Goes On Deadly Chainsaw Massacre. No Survivors.'"
"You'll be the first to go," I said irritably, before plastering a cheery smile on my face.
"Trick or Treat!" we all chorused, grinning good-naturedly. A kindly old lady beamed at us.
"Well, aren't you just the cutest things! You have good night, now." she said, stuffing our little plastic pumpkins with candy.
"Thank you," Angel said sweetly, and we marched toward the next house.
"Eeew," Gazzy said, making a face. "It's all old lady candy, like butercreams and stuff!"
Nudge wrinkled her nose. "Yuck! I think this house will be better, though."
I glanced at Fang. "O Fairy King, what do you rule? Shall we continue with the treat-collecting, or continue homeward?"
He glared at me irritably. "As you wish, Princess Margaret Penelope Rainbow."
"Ooh! Can I be Princess Chrysanthemum?" Angel piped up. I waved my hand dismissively. "Sure, whatever."
"Can I eat all my candy?" yelped Gazzy. I shrugged. "Why not."
"Can I go take a flying leap off a bridge, wings tucked in?" Iggy called with fake excitement. I nudged him in the ribs. "Whatever you want."
The next house was much more profitable, as were the next ten.
And the next five after that.
And the three after that, as well.
OKAY, SERIOUSLY. WHAT IS WITH THIS CHICK AND PAGE BREAKS?
"Max! Maxmaxmaxmaxmax!" Nudge yelped giddily, skipping through the throngs of people.
"Yes, Nudge?" I said, my patience wearing thin.
"You know what we should, like, TOTALLY do?" She cried, coming to a halt in front of me and staring me down dramatically.
"I'm afraid not." I replied wearily, rubbing my temples. Two hours. TWO HOURS I had been dealing with the sugar-high Nudge, with little backup (excluding giggles, of course,) from the rest of the flock.
"We need to-" Nudge began, then Iggy jumped out from behind the hedge in front of us, wielding a camera. I hadn't even realized he'd been gone.
Suddenly, it really registered that Iggy was wielding a camera.
"NO!" I yelled, lunging for it. "This is a direct violation of your oath!"
Oath or no oath, however, Iggy was getting the picture.
Even if it was of Max in a fairy costume lunging for the camera, a panicked look in her eyes, Fang the fairy king staring amusedly at her, Nudge grinning manically while fingering the hem of her dress, Gazzy doing a firm salute, Angel smiling delightedly, and the tip of Iggy's thumb.