He had no reason to be anxious, but he felt that way nonetheless. He was anxious because the party was nearly starting and he hadn't really been to one after the disaster that had happened at the beginning of the year. He was anxious because Tani would show up any minute now among the rest of the students pouring into the ROR fraternity house. He was anxious because of what they had prepared for the Oozmas that night if they showed up.

No, they would show up: Johnny had assured them all of that. There's no way anyone would pass up one of the biggest parties of the year. And all he had to do on his part was let go of a rope when the fraternity president gave the order. Everything was going to go perfectly according to plan. He had even slipped some cupcakes onto the food table that he had baked personally.

As the evening sky darkened and the street lamps flickered to life, the ROR fraternity house soon enough became a party house of mayhem. The bass on the DJ's stereo system was loud enough to shake the foundations of the building, the smell of barbeque poured in from the open doorway to the backyard, and every kind of monster imaginable on campus was crammed onto the dance floor shoulder-to-shoulder. Soon enough, the lights would go down and the party would spiral into further chaos.

What was really needed to made the night special were the guests of honor, and he felt his jaw go slack as one such guest entered the main foyer.

Tani's outfit was simple, but Randy couldn't help admiring the deep purple, long shirt she wore underneath a black leather jacket to battle the later winter weather. Just as he had asked her, she had her camera hanging across her shoulders. He couldn't entirely sort out what he was feeling: All he knew was that he thought she looked good. Her eyes widened as she spotted him in the ground and she waved, giving him a big, toothy grin. The warmth of a fire and the heat of the mass of bodies surrounding him made it hot enough that he had already taken off his jacket, and for a moment as she looked at him he felt subconscious about his more plain appearance.

No, this was Tani: Tani didn't care. And if she did, she'd forget how he looked in favor of what would happen later that night. Standing a little straighter, he closed the remaining distance to meet her midway among the crowd of monsters.

"If the music was any louder, I think my brain would be rattling in my skull," she joked, raising her voice above the stereo. Crossing her arms over her chest, she added, "I have to admit… Besides homecoming, I've never actually been to any college parties yet. This'll be a first."

He smiled at that. If that was the case, he had to make her first impression of it a good one then. Maybe this would be the night that would change everything. "The party hasn't really started yet, so if you want I could show you around." He hadn't personally spent all that much time in the fraternity house—he still lived in his dorm room that he used to share with Mike—but he still felt proud to show it to her. And it was impressive.

"Do let anyone else hear you say you want to sneak off with a girl at a college party," she smirked in turn, lightly nudging him with her hip and causing the scales on his cheeks to warm unconsciously. "But I guess I can't say that I'm not curious."

Even with her teasing, that was still a yes. There was no lack of confidence as he offered his arm out to her, and the way she slung her own arm around his felt natural. He was used to her antics—to her jumping out of nowhere to tackle him in a hug or grabbing him by the hand without warning—but on the other hand he wasn't all that used to inviting the physical contact himself. It just went to show that he was changing, building himself as a better monster.

There wasn't much he could tell her about the fraternity house without living there himself, but he could recite all that the ROR president had said to him. It was moments like these though that he almost wished he had his glasses to see better details that he could talk to her about. Almost. He could still get close enough to some things so that his poor eyesight wasn't all that bad a problem.

The hall of portraits lined with previous alumni and the Scare Games trophy could easily be defined as the pride and joy of the ROR house; however, Tani didn't seem overly interested in it. Out of respect for his fellow members' privacy and to save himself from his own embarrassment, Randy didn't dare show her the bedrooms. The whole of the tour, as a result, was shorter than he would've liked—ending in the wide, polished kitchen where they opted to stop to grab a couple of cold drinks rather than the lukewarm ones at the food table in the parlor.

If there was one thing that never failed to put Tani in a brighter mood, it was something to eat or drink. Scream cream, coffee, and nacho cheese-coated insects were some of the few things that were a must for their hangouts. No sooner had he tossed the bottle of soda her way, she tore off the cap and downed a long swig. He sat across from her at the island bar, and—just as wherever else they went in the house—the sounds of the party thrummed through the walls of the room as an oddly comforting noise in the background.

"You've been pretty busy with the RORs lately," she murmured, twisting the bottle between her fingers on the countertop, "We haven't even had much time to study together like we did last semester. Do you think you'll be ready for that phobia quiz we're taking tomorrow?"

He felt himself inwardly wince. The cost of training for the Scare Games, hanging out with the RORs, and preparing for that night had been a large wedge of the time he used to spend with her. That included their days of studying together in one another's dorms. He wasn't the sort to make the same mistakes as Sullivan though by ignoring his homework. "Go ahead and test me," he retorted with a note of challenge, a small grin on his face.

Of course she would rise to it: Knowledge of the various fears and how they worked was her specialty. An electrifying spark appeared in her eyes. "Ok then, we'll make a game of it. I'll ask one, and then you ask: What's the fear of knees?"

"Genuphobia," he answered readily, his grin growing wider. It was his turn. "What's the fear of fish?"

"Ichthyophobia. Fear of dirt?"

"Rupophobia. Fear of meat?"

"Carnophobia," she snorted, "Give me a hard one! Fear of beards?"

"Pogonophobia. Fear of school?"

"Didaskaleinophobia. Fear of cats?"

"Elurophobia." They were beyond the list of fears they had been told to know for tomorrow, but this was how they tested themselves. A battle of knowledge between friends. He knew he was right, but she had been trying to catch him with that question since it had more than one name. "It also can be called felinophobia, gatophobia, or ailurophobia. See? I've been studying enough to keep with you," he raised his one drink to his mouth, "You'll have to try a bit harder to beat me this time, Tanith."

Her eyes widened a bit at that. It had been a long while since they had studied together, so she must've been stunned by his own progress. Setting her bottle of soda off to the side, she kept a fairly neutral expression as she replied, "Ok then: Last round. I think it's your turn."

He paused for a moment, wondering what would stump her until finally he asked, "What's Athazagoraphobia?"

"The fear of forgetting things," she answered, then gave him a light smirk, "It can also fall under the fear of being forgotten. Now you…" She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter, "What's Katagelophobia?"

His smile fell as he turned his gaze to the floor, twiddling his lower pair of fingers out of habit as he thought. Despite himself though, he couldn't find the answer and shook his head.

"Kakorrhaphiophobia then." Tani pressed encouragingly. "They're kind of close."

Even with the bonus questions and small hint, the answer wasn't coming to him. He raised his shoulders is a shrug of defeat, "You win, Tanith. You're still the top monster when it comes to fears."

"I am pretty great at them, aren't I?" she chuckled, once more regaining her toothy grin and leaning back in her seat in a relaxed stretch. He knew she wasn't really boasting: It was just the sort of comment was what he'd come to expect from her typical teasing. He rolled his eyes.

For a moment of silence, the two stared at each other. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, but soon enough she pushed herself up from her chair and rounded her way over to him. Before he could say anything, she draped one arm around her shoulders and drew him closer to her, plucking her camera from her free hand and turning it around to face the both of them.

"This seems like as good a time as ever for a photo," she nudged him, "We won't be like this forever, right? Might as well make the memories count."

Time seemed to fly by after they went back to the heart of the party and as the witching hour drew near. Randy wasn't much of a dancer, but Tani was—and one without a care. Eventually, she somehow managed to corner him in order to push him to dance with her. All he did was shuffle from side to side—there was no way he was going to make a fool of himself in front of so many people—but she accepted the small compromise.

Come to think of it… He hadn't even seen her dance at homecoming the previous semester: The both of them had sat on the sidelines, talked, and ate after coming back from their trick on Fear Tech. Tani's dancing was crazy and chaotic to the electronic, pulsing beat of the music, but it was also fun-looking. It was very much like her, a show of her exciting personality without restraint.

Looking past her shoulder though, he spotted a towering figure through the crowd that made his blood boil. Oozma Kappa had arrived earlier in the night, while he and Tani had been away. He didn't know where Mike had gone off to, but there stood Sullivan. A part of him wondered why the hulking monster had even decided to show up. He had been kicked out of the RORs because he was an arrogant jerk, so even if he actually deserved to come back here why would he even want to?

Your team might be running on luck in the Scare Games, Sullivan, he narrowed his eyes at the other, but karma's about to come collect a large debt from you.

Randy turned his head and squinted toward the DJ and the fireplace. Johnny was there, and the rest of the RORs were starting to cluster around him. The night was coming to an end. A few other monsters that were in on the prank would get the lights, but he still had his own job to do.

"Tani!" he shouted at her over the music, saying her name a second time and taking her gently by the shoulders when she couldn't hear him. "It's time for the surprise, so get your camera ready!" He began to guide her in place, up the rightmost set of stairs and to the second level of the parlor where no one else besides just a handful of random students stood. It was the perfect location for a shot, and he motioned pointedly to where the rest of his fraternity was. "Just wait right here."

Now it was his turn to act without warning. He had left than a minute to get into position. Camouflaging himself with his surroundings, he darted down the stairs and to the opposite end of the room—in a darkened corner near the storage closet where a rope had been already fastened to a wooden beam.

"Hey, quiet! Quiet! Quiet down, you pair wranglers!" the ROR president began to shout over the crowd. In seconds, the music faded, the noise deafened, and the lights began to flicker on. All of this happened no sooner than the instant his hands fumbled around the length of rope. He felt his heart thudding in his chest as he kept the cord in a tight grip and a wicked smile began to cross his face even if no one else could see it.

"Alright, on behalf of the RORs," Johnny continued on with his speech as Chet cheered behind him, "We'd like to congratulate all the teams that have made it this far." The mass of students clapped and hollered as, one by one, he began to call off the fraternities and sororities still in the running, "Alright let's hear it for the PNKs! Love that trick: Never gets old… HSS—very creepy! And finally, the surprise team of the Scar Games… Oozma Kappa!"

The final cheer was louder than the rest as the wave of monsters parted ways for the Oozmas to step forward as Johnny urged them on. Mike was with them now as they grouped together, walking closer to his own fraternity brothers. Not a thing in their expressions showed any sign of suspicion. He almost felt bad for their teammates, but he hated how naïve Sullivan seemed to act to the whole thing. He had no right to look like an innocent victim when he was nothing more than a bully. And Mike—! Why did Mike have to team up with him? Why was he befriending him?! He should've been smarter than this…

"Now I gotta admit fellas, I thought you were a bunch of nobodies," Johnny praised with such ease that it was almost impressive, "But boy was I wrong. Let's hear it, for Oozma Kappa!"

And then it happened. Right in the middle of the roaring crowd, a batch of monsters who had snuck away during the party and were clinging to the ceiling above drowned the Oozmas in buckets of paint—one vivid, pastel color for each of the members.

"The most adorable monsters on campus," Johnny finished with a sly grin after the room had fallen silent.

With his own grin, Javier waved a remote in one of his insectoid claws and pressed the large, red button on top of it. Another group who had drug out and hid amongst themselves a confetti cannon stepped away just in time for the burst of glitter to fire and rain down upon the stunned group of paint slathered monsters. Reggie didn't waste a second after, grabbing the wicker laundry basket that had been pushed behind the stereos and tossing its contents—a swarm of yellow daisies—all over them as well.

The shock that had washed over the parlor was soon taken over by a wave of laughter as the surrounding students gawked at the Oozmas. The funniest thing still though was that the OKs still clearly didn't know what to make of what was happening! What, Mike and Sullivan hadn't warned their teammates? Didn't either of them say a word about what could happen? No, everyone loved the 'great' Sullivan, so why would they doubt him about coming here, and Mike was pushy enough to rally them here on his own. Both of them were nothing but jerks who more than deserved this. The two were dumb enough to come and the others were dumb enough to follow them.

So when Johnny gave the signal, Randy de-camouflaged himself. He wanted them to see it was him pulling the final trigger. He wanted them to know that this was payback for everything: To Sullivan for all of the bullying and all of the times he skimmed by his own failures, and to Mike for stabbing both Tani and himself—his friends—in the back.

The second he let go of the rope, a maelstrom of plushy hearts, stars, six-legged rabbits, three-eyed elephants, and a multitude of other stuffed animals came crashing down on the Oozma's from the torn away net that had been attached to the ceiling.

He saw a camera flash out of the corner of his eye, but where the light came from was completely wrong. Instead of it coming from the second level, the light came from the right side of the fireplace. His job done, Randy wove through the mass of monsters still roaring with laughter to see Chet with his own camera in his claws. Then he looked up and everything else seemed to drown out around him.

Tani stared down at Oozma Kappa brothers with a look betraying confusion, horror, and disgust at the scene. And her camera was held down in a limp grasp.

Why wasn't she laughing? It was a prank and they more than deserved it—she had to know that. Mike had been their friend, but that all changed the instant he shouted at her. It changed when he choose Sullivan, of all people, over the two of them. Didn't that matter to her? Why wouldn't she want payback?

Then, suddenly, her gaze fell on him. There were fierce words, demanding some kind of explanation from him, behind her eyes, but he couldn't tell what she was asking. And he couldn't answer.

There was no way he could've chased after her as she spun on her heel, making her way down the stairs and bolting for the exit. At about the same moment, the Oozmas started to push their way through the crowd as the surrounding monsters taunted and prodded at time as they went by. The other RORs gathering around him and following after the Oozmas to continue their jibing only made it harder. In seconds, Tani's disappearing figure was hidden by the towering monsters around him.

By the time he squeezed by and made it out of the fraternity house himself, she was already long gone.