It was Tuesday before Alex got the visit that she had been expecting since the weekend. She looked up from the circle of textbooks and spiral notebooks when the first series of heavy pounding came, closely followed by muffled shouting. Alex sighed. Sharon and Tiffany emerged from the bedroom and glanced weirdly at the door.

"What's going on?" Tiffany asked. "I believe that's your name I hear."

"I believe you're right," Alex rolled her eyes as she stood. "Remember that visitor I said we'd probably have sometime this week?"

"Oh," Sharon made a hum of understanding. "Well, best get good seats." She dragged Tiffany over to the couch and flung herself onto the cushions, smirking. "I love a good girl fight."

Alex scowled playfully before schooling her expression into boredom; she calmly opened the door to meet the livid girl on the other side.

"Hello, Sam. Fancy seeing you here."

"Don't get cute with me," the blonde hissed, her eyes flashing furiously. "I know what you're doing."

Alex casually glanced over her shoulder at the messy table. "Studying?" She turned back to meet the rage in Sam's glare. "I thought that's what college is all about."

"Don't be smart."

Alex shrugged. "Okay, Sam, you lost me. Why exactly are you here?"

Sam's eyes narrowed into mean little slits. "I heard that Jesse left last weekend's party with you." She emphasized 'you' the way people talk about gum on the bottom of their shoe.

"Ah, yes," Alex nodded, "you heard that correctly."

"He's my boyfriend," the other girl fairly snarled.

"Almost boyfriend," corrected Alex. "You'd have a difficult time convincing me of that."

Sam's face scrunched up unattractively. "What's that supposed to mean?" she spat.

Alex turned her expression thoughtful. "You don't happen to have a football-playing ex, do you, Sam?"

She paled slightly, but her eyes hardened. "That's nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing on Saturday," Alex's tone slipped, an edge of malice creeping into the words.

"You," Sam growled, "don't know anything."

Alex shook her head. "I know that Cory called me that night. I know that Jesse was trashed and completely out of it. I know that I brought Jesse back here to sober him up," she listed off matter-of-factly.

"Lies," was the hiss.

"No more, no less. Ask Cory. Ask Jesse. Ask either of my roommates," Alex gestured backward into the room. "Jesse left in the morning."

"Alex, stay away from him. He deserves better than you."

Her face betrayed her surprise. "Excuse me, what? I am so definitely not interested in Jesse. Not the way you are. I'm just so very worried about his well-being," Alex simpered. "What if you invite him to another party? Someone has to take care of him."

"I can take care of him," Sam said defiantly.

She shook her head. "To be perfectly honest… I don't trust you to do that, Sam."

"Just stay away from him."

Alex rolled her eyes. "Sure, Sam. Whatever you say."

The venom disappeared from Sam's face and a deceptively cheerful expression took its place. "Good. Just so we understand each other." She waved as she abruptly turned to leave.

Alex stared after the blonde. "Bye, Sam."

She shut the door gently and leaned her forehead against the wood, letting out a sigh. "Talk about emotional whiplash," she muttered under her breath. She straightened and turned around, catching the gazes of her roommates. "What?" Alex asked.

"Please, please tell me that you just agreed with her to make her go away," Tiffany said, her eyes wide.

"Yup."

Sharon smirked. "That's my girl." A teasing glint entered her eye. "I knew you wouldn't give up on Jesse so easily."

Alex shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I wish you'd stop trying to create something between us when there obviously isn't anything. Besides, he called me his best friend. I can't let him down like that…" she hesitated, "even if he doesn't exactly know that he said it."

"So dynamically complex," Tiffany agreed.

"Will you help him out again this weekend… if he gets in trouble?" Sharon wondered aloud.

Alex frowned. "What's so special about this weekend?"

"Halloween!" Tiffany chimed in enthusiastically. "Didn't you get the invite?"

"Uh," Alex raised an eyebrow. "Apparently not."

"Thursday," Sharon explained with a knowing shake of her head, "UCLA's having its own Halloween party over at Powell Library, in the rotunda. And," she fixed Alex with a stern gaze, "you are going with us."

Alex crossed her arms. "I'm busy."

"Are you really?"

She shrugged.

"Please?" Tiffany begged. "It'll be so much fun! And there's going to be lots of candy!"

Alex laughed aloud. "That's your reasoning? Candy?"

"Hey, sounds good to me," Sharon chuckled, throwing her arm around the British girl and giving her a friendly hug. "The girl has a point."

"Fine," Alex threw up her hands, but the smile betrayed her. "I'll go, I'll go."

"Yay!" Tiffany squealed excitedly. "Now, the biggest question of all…"

"That would be?"

"What are we going to wear?"

"Remind me again…" Jesse muttered as he walked into the living room, "How'd I let you guys talk me into this?"

"It's a party, Jess," Cory grinned. "It'll be fun."

Jesse sighed. "Do you know when the last time was I actually dressed up for Halloween?"

Cory laughed. "So you're okay with wearing a salmon-pink dress shirt and suspenders, but not celebrating Halloween in costume?"

"You watched the Regionals performance too?"

"Alex sent out a link."

"I swear I will throttle that girl."

"Aw, Jess, relax. Besides, you look fine. All…" Cory glanced at his friend, considering, "dangerous-like."

"Black tends to do that," Jesse remarked with a smirk.

"Zorro, right?"

Jesse shrugged. "Close enough." No, he wasn't Zorro, but that seemed much more masculine than what his actual choice of costume represented. It hadn't taken too much to throw it together – he already owned all the black he needed. Black pants, loose black long-sleeved shirt… the boots he'd had to borrow from the theatre department, along with the headgear and mask.

Cory had conferred with Tiffany and they had gotten their hands on some Egyptian costumes – a pharaoh king and his queen. Cory wore black as well, with gold stitching embroidered on the Egyptian garb and brown sandals. Jesse doubted that pharaohs wore pants, but refrained from commenting.

Jesse turned toward the bedrooms. "Matt! Come on! The Rover is leaving in five minutes!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," the boy shouted as he ran into the room. "I momentarily lost my cap." With flourish, Matt tugged said cap over his curly hair and grinned.

"I found Waldo," Cory remarked.

Jesse laughed. Matt hadn't put much into his costume either, it seemed. Blue jeans, a red and white striped shirt and matching hat… it helped that he already had the round wire glasses.

"Very cute, Matt."

He blushed and headed for the door. "Let's just go, all right?"

The roommates had decided to drive Jesse's Range Rover across campus, closer to the library. Walking was a pain in the ass sometimes. They were going sans Jamal, who had begged off in lieu of working yet another shift. Jesse couldn't actually blame the kid – he had a family to support, and Jamal had mentioned that his brother had taken ill recently. Medical bills couldn't be easy to pay off.

The Powell Library was decorated in traditional Halloween style – lit jack-o-lanterns led them up to the doors and inside orange and black colored nearly everything. Looking around, Jesse saw the usual pirates and nurses and maids, as well a few unusual costumes. He turned to Cory, who was scanning the crowd and decidedly ignoring the scantily-clad nurses and maids.

"Where were you supposed to meet the girls?"

"Here by the entrance," he replied. "At least I thought so."

"I found Waldo!" a familiar female voice called out.

Jesse swiveled his head to find the trio of girls who never went anywhere without each other, it seemed. Sharon, who had made the Waldo joke (he was sure to be tired of that one by the end of the night), had a grin on her face and wore a green-and-white cheerleading outfit. It had actual letters on it, making Jesse suspect that it wasn't just a costume for her. Slightly behind the redhead came Tiffany, a perfect complement to Cory's pharaoh. Her floor-length dress was one-shouldered and gold, black stitching patterning the material exactly like her boyfriend's. Her dark hair flowed across her shoulders in waves, and Jesse had to admit that the Egyptian thing worked on her.

"I'm sure Matt's heard that joke plenty of times before, Sharon."

Of their own accord, Jesse's eyes traveled to the girl who was being dragged behind Tiffany by her wrist. He immediately saw Alex's inspiration – Jasmine, Disney princess. The light blue fabric floated about her legs, cinching at the waist and ankles; her feet were clad in golden sandals, and the off-the-shoulder top covered as much as a bikini, with sheer blue cloth falling around her stomach. It was a very enticing view, obviously enforced by the eyes that followed Alex as she was dragged through the crowd.

"My queen," Cory bowed formally when the girls reached them, reaching out and kissing Tiffany's hand. She giggled.

"That doesn't look like a store-bought outfit," Jesse remarked to Sharon. She waved her pom poms in his face.

"Is it so hard to believe that I was a high school cheerleader?" Sharon smirked. "How do you think I got into performance?"

Alex slid up beside him and muttered so that only he could hear, "Westley, The Princess Bride?"

He glanced down at her in surprise, which she could clearly see behind the mask. She chuckled.

"I like it."

"Thanks, Alex. Or should I say Jasmine?"

Alex blushed, although she grinned widely. "It's just general Arabian princess. But if you want to get technical…" she laughed. "I had to modify it, actually. I am not oblivious to the stares I'm getting even wearing this…" she whirled suddenly and sent a death glare toward the cluster of boys gawking in her direction; they scattered like deer. Alex sighed and turned back to Jesse. "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it, but that doesn't mean we all want to."

"Isn't that a quote from something?" Sharon said. "At least part of it is."

"Mean Girls," answered another familiar voice.

"Speaking of sluts…" Alex muttered, too low for anyone to hear.

Sam had taken the classic schoolgirl costume and slutified it big time. Last time Alex checked, it was considered bad taste to wear three inch stilettos, a skirt that was little more than a fringe across the legs, and a tight white oxford shirt tied under your breasts to school. But hey, what did she know?

"Hello, all. Jesse," Sam purred, wrapping her arms around his waist. "How's my handsome ninja?"

Alex snorted and hastily covered it with a cough when Sam shot daggers her way. Jesse smiled, ignoring the ninja comment. Close enough. "I'm good, Sam. Haven't seen you in a few days."

"I've been busy, you know, classes and making RA rounds," she said, returning his smile.

Alex gave a little wave as she left the group, headed for the big bowls of candy on the other side of the room. Jesse watched her go briefly before turning his attention back to Sam, who was rambling on about her life in one breath.

"Would like some punch?" he interrupted her.

She frowned up at him, but smiled after a slight hesitation. "Yeah, Jess, sure. Let's go."

Sam seized his hand and began leading them through the mass of people. It was Jesse's turn to frown. Sam was clingy, no doubt about it. Did she think that she would lose him if she didn't hold on to him every second they were out somewhere? It was odd behavior, but then a few of his exes

(Rachel)

had been clingy as well. Maybe it was a girl thing.

They chatted idly over drinks (a can of soda for him, a glass of punch for her) until the music started around ten. Sam dragged Jesse onto the dance floor, though there was more of her pressing up against his body than any true dancing happening between them. Jesse suspected that the punch had been spiked, judging by his almost-girlfriend's clumsy movements; he was glad now that he had chosen the soda instead.

Familiar beats sounded in the room and a cheer rose as people spread out. Jesse allowed himself a grin. He knew the dance, at least. In the confusion, he lost Sam, but figured they would find each other soon enough.

'Cause this is thriller, thriller night
And no one's gonna save you from the beast about strike
You know it's thriller, thriller night
You're fighting for your life inside a killer, thriller tonight

"Having fun?"

Alex had to shout to be heard above the music; Jesse turned his amused gaze on her as they clapped and shimmied through the dance.

"How do you always find me?"

"I look for the black!" she yelled back with a grin.

The song ended with the maniacal laughter that always made Jesse's skin prickle, just a bit, and the crowd whooped and clapped. Alex laughed and moved off the dance floor; Jesse followed her, taking off his headgear and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"You seem to have lost your date," Alex said over her shoulder as she headed for a window, which was open and letting in the October breeze. She breathed a sigh as the fresh air hit her face.

"Yeah, she disappeared before Thriller started. Probably in the bathroom," he replied, glancing around the room.

"She runs off and you automatically assume 'bathroom?'"

"Isn't that where you girls go when you vanish from sight?"

Alex rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Men."

"Besides, she had something to drink earlier tonight, and it had alcohol in it," Jesse said with a frown. "Maybe she got sick."

"What'd she have to drink?" Alex asked carefully. She wondered if the jock was here.

Jesse shrugged. "I dunno. It was spiked punch."

Alex winced. "That's why you only drink from unopened soda cans." She glanced over at him, still scanning the crowd. "Care to take a walk?"

"I suppose…" he looked out at the hoard once more before following Alex to the door and out into the study court. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as they walked to one of the tables and noticed a dark outline through the sheer fabric of her costume, and it nudged a memory…

"Do you have a tattoo?" he blurted out.

Alex laughed as she perched herself on one of the tabletops. "Yes, hotshot, I do have a tattoo." She twisted her body and lifted the hem of the shirt she wore; inked onto her skin was an 'm' with a figure 8 on the last leg, flanked on either side by a pair of wings. The tattoo wrapped around her hip, though it wasn't very large.

"What's it mean?"

She chuckled again, dropping the material. "It's the Virgo zodiac sign."

"What is that – August to September?"

"Yeah. August 29th for me."

Jesse nodded. "So what're you now – nineteen?"

"Eighteen," she corrected.

"You're kinda young."

"If you say so." Alex paused. "My sister was a Virgo too."

Jesse noticed the phrasing of the statement and hesitated. "Was?"

"Was," Alex said quietly. "She was in an accident last year."

"I'm sorry, Alex."

"So am I."

Jesse took a seat beside her and stared at his hands as they sat in silence. The music and laughter from the party drifted out and Alex sighed.

"I guess we should head back to the party."

He glanced over; she didn't look particularly happy about the idea, but she was already standing and walking back toward the library.

"Yeah…" he said slowly, catching up to her easily. "I should probably find Sam. She's probably looking for me anyway; we've been gone for a while."

Alex nodded wordlessly, feet padding softly on the cement. Suddenly she swore under her breath and grabbed Jesse's wrist.

"Let's go in through one of the side doors. Near the drinks," she said hurriedly, tugging on his arm insistently.

"Alex," Jesse frowned. "The front door is right there. Come on, this way is closer."

She pulled at him. "Don't be so lazy."

"Alex, seriously, what're you…." Then he saw them.

Alex saw that he saw them and swore again. "Jesse, come on, let's go."

It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion. Leaning up against the side of the library wall was Sam, blonde hair stark against the dark stonework. That wasn't the interesting part. Alex recognized the football player from last weekend's party (suspicions confirmed, as he was indeed wearing a UCLA football uniform with the name 'JACOBS' printed across the shoulder blades) as he pressed Sam up against the wall, hands running up and down her flat exposed stomach. It was obvious that Sam was kissing him back, tightly clutching his shoulders as he nibbled her lips.

Alex snarled under her breath. She hadn't told Jesse about the incident at the party, not knowing exactly how to bring up the subject tactfully. Besides, though she had his well-being in mind, his personal life was really his own and she didn't have any right to intrude. But the look on Jesse's face made her want to tackle the bitch and punch her pretty little face until –

She took a deep breath.

"Let's get out of here, okay?"

Jesse looked down at her, his face still shell-shocked. What the hell? Okay, so maybe he wasn't officially dating Sam, but… seriously, what the hell? It stunned him more than a little to see Sam with her tongue halfway down some other guy's throat. It hurt. A lot.

"Jesse."

Alex had to repeat his name twice more before he finally responded. She smiled tightly at him. "Let's get out of here?"

He nodded slowly.

"Come on. Back to the dorm it is."

Jesse fished his keys out of his hidden pocket and held them out. "You drive."

She glanced over at him questioningly.

"I don't feel like it."

Alex shrugged and snatched the keys from his hand. "Fair enough."

Thriller, Michael Jackson

A/N: Whoops. Well, that certainly didn't go well...

Thanks to reviewers egyouppt, lacesandbows20, jesse lover, and ChronoNomad. You other 211 readers… seriously. I know you're out there. Please, please, please let me know what you think! Anything is appreciated.

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