Chapter 7: This is Halloween

I squealed in excitement, hugging Petey. "Halloween is today!" I gushed, squeezing his arm. Pete tried to make an angry face at me, but failed as he began to laugh at my elation. The incident with Gary from a few days ago all but forgotten. But for now, definitely forgotten.

"No prefects, no homework... Ah..." I sighed lazily, happy. And to top it off, Halloween this year fell on a Friday.

"You know what that means, right Kat?" Gary smirked.

"Matching costumes?" I guessed. He frowned.

"No, dummy. It means we can pull pranks." His devilish smile returned to his lips.

"Yeah, have fun with that." I looked away from Gary, instead staring at the leaves that fell from the trees. We all had completely different classes on Thursday, so we met up behind the main school building.

"Um, what do you mean? You're coming with us." I huffed as Gary spoke. "And, I got a costume for you too."

"Oh, how considerate of you." I replied sarcastically. We passed by the section of the walled-in Boys Dorm where the fence was missing; I wonder how that had happened.

"I have a costume for myself already anyway Gary. I think I'll wear it instead of your lame one." I finally noticed Jimmy still hadn't joined us.

"Where's Jimmy?"

"I saw him talking with Earnest in the hallway. He's helping him with his election speech." Pete answered.

"That's utterly pointless. The only people that are gonna support him are all the nerds in the Astronomy Club. Ted's totally gonna win, unfortunately." I stated bluntly.

"We should go." Gary immediately turned to me with a baffled look on his face.

"Didn't you just say it's pointless?"

"Yes, but it's no doubt the jocks will be trying to ruin it in one way or another." I mused. Gary hummed in agreement.

"I love to see poor fools suffer. Let's go." Gary commanded. We luckily were just passing by the stairs, so we ran up, and inside the school.

Despite the election occurring today and also it being Halloween, many students still wondered around. We ran up to the auditorium, quietly creaking the door open.

A few heads looked back, but turned back to Earnest once they realized it was just more students. We sat close to the front, and I heard something fly by me. I noticed a jock doubling over in pain, holding his crotch, and limped out of our sight. I looked back to where the thing shot at the kid came from; the person up there protecting Earnest had been none other than Jimmy Hopkins. I smiled, and waved at him, trying to catch his attention.

He waved back momentarily, and took a shot at a kid wearing the mascot uniform onstage.

•••

Once the speech had finished, it was nearing closing time for the school.

"Did you have fun, Jimmy?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I got a new slingshot too, so that's cool." He said, showing me the said slingshot.

"Oooh, can I hold it?" I requested.

"Sure." He handed me the super slingshot. It was a little funky, since it had a mini-scope for him to shoot from a ranged area. I gave it back to him.

"So, anyone else excited for today?" I exited out of the door first as Jimmy held it for everyone. The evening air felt rather cold, and I shivered.

"Not really." Jimmy admitted.

"We at least won't have prefects everywhere though." Pete reminded us. I groaned.

"Ugh, you guys suck. And why the heck is it so cold?" I wondered, rubbing my arms in an attempt to warm myself up.

"You live in Bullworth now, Kat. Now in sunny California anymore." Gary teased.

"Whatever. I'm going back to my room to change, and to get away from little gross boys like you." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He pushed me playfully, but I was still freezing.

"See you guys later!" I waved goodbye to them as I ran off to the Girls Dorm. Once inside, I felt much warmer. I sat by the fire in the lounge to heat up, scrolling through social media on my phone, and left to my room once I felt better.

Although I would have liked to wear my own costume of an elf, I knew Gary would be extremely disappointed with me, and nag about it the rest of the night. I was also extremely curious of what he had in store. I sighed as I decided to text him.

Kat: I'll wear the costume.

Gary: I see you've come to your senses. Drop by Jimmy's room to grab it.

Kat: Kk

I grit my teeth together, knowing fully-well Gary had the smuggest face ever after me giving in. I shook my head, putting on my mary janes, stuffing my phone in my pocket.

Standing in front of the Boys Dorm, I contemplated if I should really grab whatever embarrassing outfit Gary had in store. But there was also the chance of it being not some humiliating, or slutty costume, right?

I entered the dorm, now growing carless of getting caught by boys.

'Sometimes Angie came in here too, right?'

I was soon distracted by Gary's voice yelling, "Vhere is your kostume, you svine?" Making me burst into laughter.

Soon after he said that, I heard Jimmy's ushered voice kicking him out of the room. He was about to protest/insult, but stopped when his eyes landed on me.

"Ah, Kat, glad you could make it!"He announced. He held a large costume bag in his right hand, the other occupied by a riding crop. He threw the bag at me, and I caught it. Intrigued, I struggled trying to see what it was.

My worst fear had come true: an Oktoberfest costume. The corset was black, and the skirt a deep blue.

"Gary, I am not wearing this." I glared at him.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll still fit in it, regardless of your 12-year-old boyish body." At that, I felt my face grow hot, my jaw dropping.

"Hey!" I growled. "I have half a mind to slap the living sh-" I stopped when I saw a black and white skeletal figure emerge from the right hallway.

"Jimmy?" I wasn't sure if it had been him. The skeleton's voice confirmed my guess.

"I heard yelling, what's going on?" He asked.

"Kat, was just about to head to the bathroom to change into her costume. Right, Kat?" I raised my brows.

"Um, I am not changing in the boys bathroom, of all places." I disregarded Gary's instructions.

"You can change in my room if you want. I don't have a roomate." Jimmy offered. I nodded, heading into his room.

After locking the door, I noticed the eternal messy state his room had been in. Magazines and pages scattered the floor, his bed unmade, clothes and shoes under his bed. I stared at the costume, still a little offended about what Gary had remarked of my body. I now had the strong urge to wear it, in spite of his comment.

Once I put on the dress, I looked around for a mirror of any sort, unable to find one. My last resort had been his closet, as I didn't want to intrude that much. Luckily, his wardrobe had a mirror, but it was small; I could only see up to my chest. I pulled the puffy sleeves of the dress off my shoulders, wearing it as it had been meant to be. Even with small frilly gloves, I still felt naked.

'Maybe I should wear the cape from my elven costume, and a necklace.'

I stuffed my uniform into the bag, and unlocked Jimmy's door. I found Gary laughing, while Jimmy helped a kid wearing an adorable pink bunny suit. I soon recognized the face as Petey.

"Hey Pete!" I bubbled. His head turned to look at me, his face red from embarrassment. Whether it came from wearing a pink bunny suit, or being stuffed in a trash bin, I wasn't sure.

"Hey Kat. Weren't you going to be an elf?" He asked. I directed my gaze to Gary to answer his question.

"Yeah, but someone insisted I wear this humiliating piece of clothing." I said, annoyed. "It's pretty cold, so I'm going to grab my cape from my room." He nodded.

I glanced back at Gary, since his eyes had been trailing over me when I first saw him. He furrowed his brows, going back to his conversation with Jimmy. I rolled my eyes, even if he couldn't see.

"I'll be back!" I said, running out of the dorm. The population of students now consisted of monsters and fairy tales. I smiled to myself.

•••

Hooded cloak now in my hands, I placed it over myself as I saw Jimmy sticking a paper on the back of another student. I giggled as I saw everyone immediately kicking him. I walked down the small steps of the Girls Dorm, jogging over to the boys.

"So, pull pranks, and haul ass when we do it to a powerful faction?" I asked them.

"Pretty much." Said Pete. We were encountered by at least four other students to prank specific targets. It felt like a childish game of Hitman.

Finally, after about an hour or so students stopped asking us to pull their cruel pranks. The chilly air now the reason the for goosebumps on my arms and legs. I also felt tired, and I wondered why; I checked my phone, realized it was nearing midnight.

"We should pull off one more prank, before we call it quits." Gary said. I moaned, tired of walking.

"Gary, it's almost midnight." I complained.

"Exactly. The perfect time for the perfect prank." He sang. I scowled at him, but he ignored me. He lead us to the Harrington House. He suddenly stopped, turning to us.

"Okay, here's the deal. We're going to feed Chad's dog some of this rancid meat." Said dog barked at us, running gayly. "Wait for him to take a dump, and then..."

"What... what the Hell!?" Pete exclaimed. "I'm outta here." Pete was about to run away, but I grabbed his wrist. I gave him my puppy dog eyes, asking him to suffer with me.

"Fine..." He groaned.

"Whatever. OK, let's do this guys. I'll explain the rest later." I pondered of Gary's intentions, confused.

"Get over here you little mutt!" I heard him call to the dog. He started chasing it, Chad taking note of it. He put his phone away, and clipped, "Hey! What're you doing to Chester?"

"Distract him!" Gary ordered. Jimmy went to go fight Chad, and easily won after successfully dodging his attacks, and throwing powerful punches. As Chad fell to the floor, Gary now able to feed the dog.

"Here you go boy, how about a trick, for a little treat?" He cooed. "Yumyumyumyumyumyumyumyum." I laughed at his ridiculous flat tone as he said that. Without even knowing, he let the smallest of smiles slip, for only a second.

Chester chomped on the food happily, but soon pooped as the meat didn't do good to his stomach. He whined, and ran off. Pete made sounds as disgust with Jimmy, especially when Gary scooped up with a flimy brown paper bag.

"Score!" Gary effused. He handed the bag to Jimmy, who made sure to avoid touching the bottom of the it.

"All right, let's go to the teacher's lounge. You lead on." We followed Jimmy to the front of the school, and slipped inside.

Our steps echoed, bouncing off the walls as heels made contact with reflective tile. The halls were dark, only illuminated by the occasional Jack-o-lantern, and the naked windows, allowing the moonlight to pour in. Jimmy stood in front of the door to the lounge, looking to Gary for instruction. He motioned for him to set it down.

"Don't worry, it'll be funny." Gary assured rather loudly. He got down on one knee, lighting the bag with his lighter. Gary hid behind the classroom in front of it, and so did we. He told Jimmy to pull the fire alarm. The sound blared from the ringing bells placed around the school, shattering my ears.

I could barely hear when Gary yelled, "Okay! Get ready!"

"What the Devil is going on out here?" A voice chided from inside. Mr. Burton came out, and began to put out the bag of fire. As he did, he registered what the squishy substance inside was. He looked down at his shoes, now covered in gooey poo. "Oh! God! Damn kids!" He raged. I heard Gary cackle from behind.

"Haha! Nice one, Jimmy." He complimented.

The moment Mr. Burton saw Jimmy in front of the alarm, he began to chase after him. Before Burton could pass us, I stuck my foot out, effectively tripping him. I snorted, laughing. I fled with my friends, rushing to the Boys Dorm.

We shut the front doors, gasping for air. I slid onto my bum, removing my cloak. I laughed once again, seeing my friends in disheveled states like me. Jimmy's skeletal makeup was smudged from talking and fighting, Pete's bunny hood off his head. I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, and saw it was the nerd Thad, in his pyjamas, holding a mug. When he knew I took notice of him, he kept walking. I stood up, placing my cloak over my left shoulder. The boys eventually got up as well.

"I'm gonna take off this... stuff." Jimmy finished, heading upstairs. Pete and I walked in the same direction, until he got to his room before the stairs. He went inside, and I continued walking with Jimmy.

"Of course Gary left earlier than we did." I spat out. At the top of the stairs, we went down the hall, into the bathroom. It was exactly like the one in the Girls Dorm, except with a different color scheme, and had urinals. I also noticed the bathroom was directly above Jimmy's room.

Jimmy washed off the face paint, dying the water black and gray. I only fixed the smudged mascara under my eye with my finger. As he dried his face with paper towels, I asked him a question.

"So, what do you think of Gary?" I leaned against the sink. He glanced at me as he dried himself.

"Gary? He's kinda weird I guess. And boring." I chuckled. "What?" He asked, albeit defensively.

"Nothing, just don't let him hear you say that. He'll surely try to kill you." I smiled. Out of habit, I took out my phone, checking for any updates as we walked back down. I noticed it was now 1:02a.m. I swore under my breath, knowing it would be difficult to sneak past prefects, and Mrs. Peabody. Jimmy didn't miss the swearing, or the look on my face.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's just that it's 1am, and I'm most likely going to die trying to get back to my room."

"Can't you just stay here?"

"I could, and I'm pretty sure either Pete or Gary would have extra blankets to borrow..." We unconsciously stopped in front of their room.

"So why don't you?"

"Gary might be in a good mood, but I don't know if it's good enough that he'd be fine with me staying with him and Pete."

"Just sleep in my room." I looked at Jimmy warily. He chuckled.

"Relax, I won't try to pull anything funny." I raised my brow at him.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Only if you leave the door open."

"All right."

Making up my mind, I knocked on their door. Not a heartbeat later, does Pete open the door.

"Can I borrow a pillow and a blanket?" I asked. He nodded, leaving to retrieve the items. I peeked my head inside, looking for Gary.

He laid in his bed, still wearing his costume. His hat covered his face, and I assumed he had fallen asleep.

Pete came back, with a pillow and a blanket. "Here." He yawned tiredly. I grabbed the stuff, thanking him. He nodded once again, rubbing his weary eyes. We wished each other goodnight, then he closed the door. Jimmy walked me to his room, opening the door for me.

Jimmy grabbed his stuff off of the bed, and made a comfortable spot on the floor. He motioned for me to sleep on the bed.

"Oh, are you sure? I can sleep on the floor, I really don't mind-"

"It's fine, Kat." He emphasized with a grin. "I couldn't let a girl sleep on the cold, hard floor." I still looked at him, and he reassured me with a pat on the shoulder. I placed the blanket on the bed, making myself comfortable, then placed the pillow beside me. I kicked off my shoes, and left my cloak hanging on the edge of the bedpost. Jimmy shut off the lights, and left the door ajar.

"Night, Jimmy."

"Night, Kat."

Jimmy had decided to sleep on the right side of the room, away from the door. I faced opposite of him, out of whatever courtesy that had existed here. My eyes were closed, my breathing steady, and yet my mind was racing with thoughts of today. I've had fun with Gary and Pete before, but now that Jimmy has joined our trio, it has gotten better. I wondered of whatever mischievous plans Gary might have for tomorrow. Er, later today.

I allowed my mind to come up with an endless amount of situations, until I dozed off into a dream.

Author's Note:

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this before, but thank you guys so much for all your support and feedback! You have no idea just how much it warms my heart to hear that you enjoy my story. Now, that winter vacation has begun, you can definitely count on me to update my stories! In the meantime as I write, I hope you have a great winter break/good luck on finals!