Updating a bit late, sorry! I did have a pretty busy day yesterday but because of that I also kind of forgot about this... whoops.
Anyway, I don't really have a lot else to say right now so just... read and enjoy!
Chapter 7 - Costume
It took Amy at least a week to get used to having a cast on her arm, and she hated every single minute of it. Although it meant that she didn't have to do any house chores for a while, there was worse. She had to sit and watch multiple cheer practises, missed volleyball trials (thus not getting placed in a team), both of which Sammy didn't miss out on, and to rub the salt in the wound, Amy caught the stomach flu just a couple of days after the accident.
But now, it was only five days until the Halloween dance, which was taking place on the day itself. And to make matters worse, Amy had no ideas at all for a costume, whilst outside, Sammy's costume was just getting delivered. It was the complete opposite of what it had been the last few Halloweens.
"This is so not fair," Amy grumbled as she slowly paced around her room. "I would be so much better as an undead prom queen…"
As soon as she heard the delivery van drive off, Amy decided to try and find at least something, and started at her drawers. But after only a few minutes of looking through them, she gave up and sat down on her bed, glaring at the wall.
Meanwhile, Sammy was opening her package and making sure every part of her costume had been delivered, especially the bloodied "prom queen" sash and mangled tiara. "I got my costume before Amy," she muttered in a sing-song voice, grinning. "Feels so good… guess I should try it on though…"
Five minutes passed, and while Amy hadn't moved much other than to get her phone from the other side of the bed, Sammy had gotten into full costume, minus any make-up or face paint, and was looking at herself in the mirror. "Seventy dollars but so worth it…" she breathed, looking down at the torn knee-length skirt, "it'll be perfect..."
Right then, Amy came to the doorway and stopped as she saw her sister in-costume, and was quite impressed. Yet all she showed on the outside was a veil of jealousy. "I can totally wear that better," she said with a huff, slowly walking in. "Like, no one would want to see you in it."
Stung by Amy's words, Sammy flinched as soon as she heard them, but didn't bother to retaliate. "Well… I guess you might be able to ask Mom if you can get one too," she replied, looking over her shoulder, "but it costs seventy dollars… and even more if you want it delivered before the dance."
"Um, no," Amy snapped, then letting out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, you know what, I've got like, nothing! I looked on that website five times, and there was nothing!"
"So-"
"Do you even know how hard it is to find a costume that doesn't get in the way of an arm sling? Cause everything gets in the way!"
Sammy drew her lips into a thin line as she looked away in thought, then suddenly getting an idea. "You... could see if you can find some old stuff here for a costume…"
"But what though? What kind of costume?"
"Ugh, I don't know... you could always make your cast part of the costume, like... a hospital patient."
"Yeah, no, I've already been one of those," Amy quipped, smirking.
"Wait, I've got it!" Sammy started jumping up and down excitedly. "What about something-"
"Girls, lunch is ready!" their mother called from downstairs.
"Uh..." Sammy looked down at her costume, realizing that she'd have to get changed again, "yeah, but what about... an escaped asylum patient?"
"Escaped... asylum patient..." Amy repeated, looking away in thought.
"Like, you could use Mom's old nightgown from when she had her appendix removed, and a really old piece of fabric for a sling, and cover that in... well, red paint I guess, and... there's a lot you could do..."
Amy cocked her head and folded her arms as she contemplated her sister's idea. "That..." she began, yet struggling to come to a decision straight away, "I... I gotta think about that." She backed out of the room and turned to head for the stairs.
Sammy knew that Amy wouldn't have made a decision by the end of dinner, and waited patiently for a response. But there was nothing for the entire evening, and once ten o'clock hit, Sammy gave up and went to bed.
Three days later, it was a rather cool day, making it clear that summer was well and truly gone. And it wasn't until that day, just before cheer practise, that Amy had finally made a decision.
"So… that escaped asylum patient thing…" she said slowly as they approached the doors of the school gym.
"You're gonna do it?" Sammy asked, stopping when she saw a notice on the door. "Lights need replacing, all indoor practises moved to game gym until further notice…" she read aloud, then trailing off.
"Well I don't have a lot of choice so I… guess…" Amy shrugged as they turned around and headed back towards the main building.
And so she did. The next day after school, Amy decided to go looking for what types of clothes an escaped asylum patient would wear, going through old clothes of both her and Sammy, and even looking through her mother's drawers. By dinnertime, she had a pile of things on her bed to sort through, which even included some old face paint. "Maybe a bit of make-up too..." she muttered, staring at the pile.
Before Amy knew it, the day had come, and it was suddenly two hours until she and Sammy had to leave. And both girls were knee-deep in costume parts, face paint and make-up.
Sammy ran into the bathroom to check how her now-painted face looked, which was a pale whitish grey with dark black circles around her eyes, red paint splattered around to look like blood, with some more "dripping" from her mouth. "Okay... get changed, and then hair," she said to herself, jogging back out and over to her room.
Just a minute later, Amy went into the bathroom, having done as much of her face paint as she could with one hand. She studied herself in the mirror, cocking her head one side and then the other. "Hmm... Samey!" she called, looking over her shoulder. "I'm like, half done but I can't do any more."
Sammy immediately ran back over, still in her normal clothes. "So... eyes and stuff?"
It wasn't long until the girls were at the dance, with many commenting on both of their costumes. Amy had found a very old nightgown of hers, which had a few large holes in it, and used it along with old baggy pants of Sammy's. And instead of her hospital sling, she had a dirtied blue cloth from an old bed sheet. Both girls also had teased hair, with Amy's more so to fit with her costume.
One and a half hours in, it was time for costume prizes, which was a best dressed and most creative each for boys and girls, and was decided on other students' votes.
Sammy waited by the massive buffet table for the awards, having lost track of her friends, and also hadn't seen Amy since they arrived. "Where is she?" she muttered, looking up to the stage as the boys' awards were announced. "I carried these around for ages for nothing..." she looked down at the two cups of fruit punch she held, one of which she had drunken half of.
"And for the girls," the deputy principal began, catching Sammy's attention, "it would be a crime not to announce them together, so our best dressed and most creative goes to a pair of twins, in order of the awards, undead prom queen Samantha and an escaped asylum patient, Amelia!"
Sammy gasped loudly as cheers rang out, frozen in place for a second before putting the cups down and running for the stage. And as soon as she got up there to receive her prize (mixed bag of candy), she saw Amy coming up the other side of the stage, looking quite bemused herself. They met each other's gaze for just a few seconds, and both simultaneously grinned. For once, they both came out on top.
I swear the boring stuff's gonna be over soon... just keep on reading and hopefully the next chapter will be updated on schedule, lol.
