CHAPTER ELEVEN
Adelaide sat in front of Isabel's vanity. Isabel stood behind her, brushing her dark curls. "So… Tate is your brother?" Isabel asked hesitantly.
"Yup." Adelaide was focused on her reflection as she was being transformed into a pretty girl.
"So… you know that he's…?"
"Dead, yeah." Adelaide acted so nonchalant about this. "That's why I like coming here. I like seeing him and my other brother."
Other brother? So there were even more ghosts? "I didn't know that you had other siblings," Isabel remarked. So Tate was Adelaide's brother, Constance's son, and there was another brother as well apparently. She hadn't thought Constance had children other than Adelaide.
"I've got two brothers and a sister but my mom gave the sister away when she was born." Adelaide had been aware of her mother's pregnancy and of the decision to give up the child. Constance had left Larry before that. It had been quite a chaotic time in their lives. But that was years ago.
Isabel took her eyeliner and started to apply it onto Adelaide's eyelids. She dropped the subject of the Langdon children and focused on the makeup, choosing a light brown eye shadow once she was done with the liner. "Almost done," she murmured in thought. Isabel contemplated on lipstick but decided against it.
She moved aside then so that Adelaide could see herself in the mirror. The makeup wasn't exactly done like the models in Vogue, but Isabel had done her best and it came out pretty damn awesome if she was to say so herself.
"Wow, Izzy, I look beautiful!" Addie gushed. She was beaming brightly.
Isabel smiled, very pleased with her work and how it made Adelaide feel. "Yeah, you do."
"''""""'"""'"""
Adelaide happily skipped back into her house. She felt so lively and pretty. She wanted Isabel to come with her to the house to hang out. And she knew that if Isabel was with her, then perhaps her mother would be in an okay mood. Constance always seemed to be in a good mood when Isabel was around.
But Isabel had said she needed to stay home to bake a ton of cookies and get her own costume ready. Apparently she was having a party and Addie intended to ask Constance if she could go since Isabel invited her. It would be so much fun and she'd be able to show off her makeover!
Addie found her mother in the kitchen, starting on dinner. Constance turned when she heard Addie enter. The woman nearly dropped the knife she was holding when she saw what her daughter looked like. "What in the hell are you wearing on your face?" Constance demanded. She had never given Adelaide makeup and so she assumed that Addie had gone through her things.
"Izzy gave me a makeover," said Adelaide, beaming. She was obviously quite pleased by this. "She made me a pretty girl for Halloween. She also invited me to her Halloween party."
Constance scoffed, shaking her head. "Go clean yourself up, Adelaide," she ordered.
"No."
Adelaide had never really defied Constance before. There had been many instances when she would make things difficult for her mother. But to say "no" flat out? It was unheard of.
Not at all pleased to hear this word come from her daughter, Constance set down her knife and folded her arms across her chest. "Adelaide, go wipe that smut off your face this instant!"
"No!" Addie repeated, this time more firmly. "I wanna be a pretty girl!"
"Well you're not a pretty girl!" No, not like Isabel. Constance refrained from saying that out loud though.
Those words were like a slap in the face to Adelaide. Worse, even. Her own mother did not think she was a pretty girl. Adelaide stood there, stunned for a moment. Unsure of how to respond, she said nothing. Instead, she ran out of the kitchen.
Realizing the effect of her words, Constance stepped forth in a pathetic attempt to get to Addie before she left the kitchen. But the girl was already up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door shut.
Constance stood alone in the kitchen now, rather dumbfounded. There was too much going on for her right now. She needed to find the right time to tell Isabel the truth and to claim her daughter once more and all the while she had her current family to balance.
With her head beginning to pound, Constance grabbed a tumbler and her bottle of whiskey from the cabinet and poured herself a shot.
""'"""""''""""'""
Isabel looked at herself in the mirror with pursed lips. Her long brown hair was a little frizzy from having just been blow dried. Once she had finished baking what could easily be a hundred cookies, she and the kitchen had been covered in flour. Moira was gone so Isabel cleaned the kitchen herself. Not surprisingly, none of the other ghosts had showed up to help with the cleaning.
And now she was showered and clean. All that was left before the party was to put on her costume and do her makeup.
Stepping away from the mirror, Isabel put on her multicolored striped tee-shirt, overall skirt with the label "Good Guy" on the front, and once she put on her red knee socks, she slipped on the red Converse shoes that matched the outfit.
"And what are you supposed to be?" Tate asked from behind Isabel.
Isabel did not turn to look at him and instead looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Dude, okay, super creepy that you're in my room when I'm getting dressed."
"Sorry," replied Tate. "But seriously, what are you supposed to be?"
He watched as Isabel began to do her eyeliner.
She answered, "I'm a girl version of Chucky from Child's Play. You've seen it haven't you?"
He rolled his eyes at the very thought of having not seen it. "Duh, of course I've seen it." It had come out six years before his death. He remembered sneaking into the movie theater to see it. His mother had been home, drunk at the time so it had been easy to leave the house without her noticing.
There was silence that followed as Isabel focused on her makeup. Tate didn't watch her and instead looked around her room… his room. It was hardly recognizable. The walls weren't the dark green he had them but instead were lilac. Dear god.
"Are you gonna stick around for the party or nah?" Isabel asked, setting down her eyeliner. She turned to watch Tate.
He shrugged. "I might show up." That was a lie. He didn't intend to show up at all. The kids who were coming were from Westfield. Isabel didn't know how he had died. But someone was bound to notice and even recognize him as the kid who shot up Westfield High.
Isabel returned to focusing on her reflection but couldn't quite decide how she wanted to do the rest of her makeup. "Do you think Chad would know anything about doing Halloween makeup?"
Tate gave Isabel a look that clearly said "is that really a question?" Of course he would. Halloween was Chad's favorite holiday. "Have fun at the party," said Tate as he opened her bedroom door to leave instead of just disappearing.
"Thanks!" Isabel replied over her shoulder.
"'"""""""""""
With her makeup done, the decorations up, and the house cleared of pretty much all spirits, it was time for the party to begin.
Isabel couldn't help but constantly look at her arm. Chad had helped with her makeup and with what she would describe as magic, the bite mark given to her by Thaddeus was no longer visible. It was a miracle, really.
At a little after eight o'clock, those invited and those not invited started strolling on in through the front door.
For music, Isabel had plugged her iPod into the stereo system; earlier she had downloaded new music after Leah had texted her a list of songs that needed be to played. But only minutes after the party started, someone already unplugged the device and put on their own music.
"What in the hell are you wearing?" Leah asked Isabel as she looked her from head-to-toe.
Isabel looked down at her costume and then looked at Leah's. What Isabel wore was nothing like Leah's sexy dead cheerleader outfit that was more provocative and suggestive than anything. "Uh, it's like… the girl version of Chucky," Isabel answered, sounding a bit embarrassed.
Leah huffed quietly. "Well, I guess it could be worse." Those words did little to make Isabel feel better. "Where's the punch bowl?"
Halfheartedly, Isabel pointed in the direction of the bowl of punch where it was nestled among a sea of homemade cookies and other snacks. Leah and her lackeys went in that direction, leaving Isabel by herself.
It wasn't a bad party. It just wasn't what Isabel was expecting. She sometimes forgot that this wasn't Massachusetts. This was Los Angeles. These weren't her friends.
