Sudden inspiration struck on Halloween. So Happy Halloween and enjoy
"C'mon Seth!" Summer called from the door of the bathroom. She walked back into Seth's bedroom where Marissa and Ryan were sitting on the bed already in costume. Ryan tossing his fedora in the air, his Blue Brother's outfit almost completely matching the movie and Marissa on the other hand had to be dragged out of her room and Summer almost had to force the costume on her. The costume which consisted of a black hoodie with a skeleton's torso screened onto it was pulled out of the bottom of Marissa's closet by Summer and was the only Halloween-esque thing Marissa was wearing.
Summer in usual fashion was dressed as an angel in a short white cocktail dress and a halo made of sparkling garland over her head with white, glittery eye shadow completing the look.
"I swear he takes longer than I do to get ready," Summer adjusted her dress.
"I'm ready," Seth stood in the doorway. A uniform eyebrow raise crossed the room. Seth had a paid of bulky goggles on his forehead and a was wearing a white coat that buttoned up on the left side with white gloves and white rubber boots.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Summer raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe this will refresh your memory," he smiled and let out what was supposed to be a stereotypical evil laugh. When there was silence from his three comrades, he rolled his eyes, "C'mon. Have anyone of you heard of Dr. Horrible? And his Sing-A-Long blog?" Again there was silence, "Seriously, get some culture people."
"Whatever," Summer picked up the keys on the nightstand, "C'mon we're going to be late."
Ryan stood and followed Summer, then Marissa sulked after them. Seth grabbed Captain Oats who was wearing a black mask over his eyes and then followed them.
"This is supposed to be the biggest party in LA," Summer said looking over the invitation.
"How did we get invited?" Ryan asked from the driver's seat.
Summer put the invitation in her purse, "I ran into the guy that was throwing it while I was shopping in LA. It turns out his sister is best friends with my hairstylist."
"Small world," Seth added.
Marissa hadn't said anything so far. She didn't mind being dragged along, she just didn't want to have to interact and so far it was going according to her plan.
About half an hour later, the GPS told them to turn down a driveway. Ryan followed the direction and in front of them stood a house bigger than all of their houses put together. There were fake cobwebs, skeletons, and lights all over the place. There was a line of cars along the half circle driveway and a valet crew on the front steps of the mansion.
Once they were at the front, Ryan handed off the keys to the valet and they all got out. At the door, they were stopped by two burly security men. Summer handed off the invitation and they were all given bright orange wristbands.
Inside, there was a seat of bodies, some milling around, others dancing to the sounds coming from the DJ that was set up on a second floor balcony facing the crowd.
"This is so cool!" Summer looked around at the pulsing lights and all the costumes.
Marissa, deciding that she needed to drink in order to tolerate the music, walked to where the kitchen looked to be, leaving the other's behind. She saw that there were at least fifteen kegs stacked along one wall of the kitchen. She headed to the one that had already been tapped and filled a red plastic cup.
After she had downed an entire cup of beer, she refilled and decided to find someplace quieter. As she walked out of the kitchen, she saw a set of open doors to lead outside. People were milling in and out, but considerably less people than who were going in and out of the door to the living room.
Outside she sat there was a massive lighted pool that instead of the standard blue was an eerie green with tea lights floating along the surface. There was a different DJ outside that was playing music with a slower tempo than the one inside.
Marissa found a lawn chair to sit in and watch people while she downed her beer. She went to the kitchen to get a refill twice before Summer found her.
"C'mon drunky," Summer pulled Marissa up, "We're going to another party."
"Great," Marissa tossed her cup into a nearby trashcan, "There's no liquor here."
It was a short drive to the new party although at this point Marissa had lost all sense of time. They got out at a much smaller house, but it looked like there were the same amount of people there. The house was much older. A small blue two story house with a wrap around porch in a more modest neighborhood.
Summer bounced through the door with Dr. Horrible and a Blues Brother behind her. The half skeleton ambled in behind them in her own time.
It wasn't long before Marissa was mixing her drinks in the kitchen. Someone asked her for something and she readily made it, soon she'd become the impromptu bartender.
Marissa saw Ryan walk through the kitchen with a redhead. They looked pretty friendly, but Marissa didn't care. Ryan wasn't hers and she sure as hell didn't want him. At this point she just wanted to be left alone.
She handed off the bartending duties to the next person who walked up and took her own drink up the stairs. There was a living room up the stairs that was fairly crowded. It was the only room with music on in it. She started talking to a guy that was dressed in a toga and a girl dressed in a batman costume from the kids' department, her dark brown hair cascaded around her shoulders and her dark eyes sparkled.
As it turned out batgirl's name was Parker and toga guy was an 'actor' from Cleveland. Marissa, Parker, and toga guy went back downstairs to get more liquor and then went out to the pool. When they got there Parker smiled, "Hey there's my girlfriend." She pointed to a girl standing at the opposite side of the pool. Parker took Marissa's hand and started walking toward, "She's great. You'll love her."
Marissa chuckled as Parker pulled her along. The bubbly girl was starting the lighten her perpetual dark mood.
"Hey hot stuff!" Parker called from a few yards away from a small group of people. A girl wearing a pink miniskirt and strappy heels. When the girl turned around the white muscle shirt had 'Harbor' spelled crookedly on the front with one of the 'r's backwards. Fake blood littered the shirt which explained the prop in the young woman's hand of a fake knife with a replica of a human heart stuck on the end. When Marissa saw the girl's face she took a step back nearly falling into the pool.
"Hey baby," Parker kissed the girl, "I just brought my new friend over to meet you. I think you two will totally hit it off."
A few seconds of silence followed as Marissa tried to regain control of her vocal chords, while the young woman was just as stunned.
Not realizing the reason for the silence, Parker introduced them, "Marissa this is my girlfriend Alex. Babe, this is my new friend Marissa."
Alex was the first one to regain the luxury of speech. "Nice costume."
Marissa immediately looked down at the hoodie she was wear, which used to belong to the blonde standing in front of her. "Uh…thanks." She looked Alex up and down again, "What are you supposed to be?"
Alex looked at her own costume briefly before halfway hiding the fake knife behind her back and answering, "Um…you."
The taller girl wasn't sure if she was insulted or slightly amused. She didn't have time to decide because Parker was speaking again.
"Whoa, wait," she directed her words to Alex, "That's the Marissa."
Alex bit her lip and nodded.
"Small world," Parker looked between them. After a beat, she added, "Well since no one is saying anything I think we have three choices. One, Marissa and I can go finish our conversation on the 1970s counterculture. Two, Alex and I can go make out in her Jeep. Or three, I can go find some vodka and leave you two in this awkward silence." She paused looking between them. "Vodka it is." Parker walked back into the house.
"I, uh…what are you doing here?" Alex asked.
Marissa wrapped her hand around her elbow, "Summer dragged us up here."
"Us?" Alex urged, "You, Seth, and Ryan?"
"Yeah," the brunette shrugged, "I don't really hang out with anyone else."
The blonde nodded, "Uh…well I'm sorry about the costume." She looked down at her shoes and then the Converse Marissa was wearing.
"It's okay," Marissa ran her fingers through her hair, "I basically dressed as you."
"Yeah," Alex put her free hand in the pocket of her miniskirt, "Weird."
"Mhmm, weird," Marissa nodded. She rocked back and forth on her heels. "So…you and Parker?"
Alex looked out at the pool, "Yeah."
The Newpsie scratched the back of her neck, "How long?"
The blonde raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, it's none of my business," Marissa shook her head and put her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, "I'm going to go get a drink."
Blue eyes just watched her as she took a few steps backward. Suddenly, Alex jumped forward and grabbed Marissa's waist. The shock cause Marissa's breathing to shallow and Alex was slow to let go.
"I, um," Alex tried to reign in the words tumbling out of her mouth, "You were about to fall into the pool." She took a step back and smoothed out Marissa's shirt, "Sorry."
"Thank," Marissa automatically answered and looked behind herself seeing that she was mere centimeters from falling into the pool, "So I'll see you around?"
"Yeah…sure," the shorter girl answered and walked back into the house and into the crowd, her miniskirt swaying behind her.
Marissa expelled a breath before also heading back inside to get another drink.