Hey guys! So, I left an author's note in the other fic, "A Happy New Year". I'm not going to continue that fic. I also decided to use some of my ideas from that fic and put them into this fic, cause I have major writer's block for this fic.

So much has been going on, which is why I haven't updated and why I decided to discontinue the other fic. As you guys know, my health is not the best, and in 2016 it took a huge plunge. But, I'm better and back, and hopefully, I can finally continue (and finish) this story.

I'm also going to try to improve my writing style, mainly because I started this fic when I was about 13 and..well, there's just so much that I regret. I also realized that my writing of the characters has been kind of...well, not great in my opinion. I feel like I wrote them sort of out of character. I'm going to try to do better. I might do a reboot where I just take the whole fic and edit all of the chapters, but only if I've got the time.

ALSO: I checked out the Boy/Girl Battle wiki page and saw that on Jake's bio, someone had put in "Eddie Malloy" under his "likes" and I cannot stop laughing. But let's be real, he totally does and it has been accepted as canon by the fandom. I just wonder if Phyllis Reynolds Naylor ever reads our fanfictions and what she thinks about how we keep shipping the boys with the girls.

Thank you guys so much for all of your support, and I hope you guys enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the boy/girl battle series or its original characters, only my own fanfictions and my own OC's.

Chapter 20

Jake's POV

The morning after the festival should have been a good day. We should have just relaxed after the long night that we had.

That's all I had wanted, a simple, normal, and non-stressful day.

But did I get that?

No.

Why?

Because the universe enjoys working against me, that's why.

It started out pretty good. I slept in and woke up around 11:30. I got up, got dressed, and went upstairs. My parents had already gone off to work, and the only one awake was Wally. I walked into the kitchen to see him making waffles for himself. I reached over to his plate and got smacked on the hand with a spatula.

"Get your own," Wally said.

"It's hard to do that when you're hogging all the batter," I replied. "Make some for the rest of us."

"Fine. Only because you'll all steal mine if I don't," Wally said. "Make yourself useful and make some bacon to go with them."

"Yes, chef," I said, making Wally roll his eyes.

Just as we finished making breakfast, Peter strolled into the kitchen.

"I smell food," he mumbled.

Scott walked in right behind him. They were both still in their pajamas.

"Good morning rays of sunshine," I said.

"Morning? It's noon," Josh said as he walked in.

"Same difference," I said, setting the plate of bacon down in the middle of the table. Peter instantly reached over and grabbed one.

"Peter, couldn't you have waited for a plate?" Wally asked, setting the waffles down.

"What kind of a monster makes bacon wait?" Peter replied. He got up and grabbed plates for the each of us while Josh poured us all juice.

We sat down and ate. We were silent at first, mostly because our mouths were full, but then our phones collectively rang at the same time. We paused and looked at each other before looking at our phones.

It was an invitation to a Halloween party. Specifically, a Halloween party that was being hosted by the Bensons. My brothers and I looked up from our phones and at each other.

"Are you going?" Josh asked me.

I shrugged. "Maybe. I was invited, so why not?"

"I am," Peter said.

Scott grinned at Peter. "You're only going because of the free food."

"Do you think the girls got invited?" Wally asked. "I've got a weird feeling about this."

"We should ask them," I said.

I dialed Eddie's number and put her on speaker.

She answered quickly.

"Did you get it too?" she asked.

"The invitation to the Benson party? Yeah, we all did. We were calling to see if you girls had gotten it too," I told her.

"Yup. All at the same time," Caroline's voice said. "Beth says she's got a weird feeling about it."

"So does Wally," Josh said. "But you know Wally. He's paranoid."

Wally gave Josh a quick glare. "I'm not paranoid, I'm calculated."

"Halloween is still three weeks away," Beth said. "Party invites usually go out at least two weeks before. Besides, with Jake and Steve on bad terms, isn't it a little weird that he got the invite too?"

"Maybe their parents made them invite Jake," Scott suggested. "But it's not like all of the Bensons are upset at Jake. It's just Steve. Or maybe Steve is getting over it."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Eddie said. "I'm going. Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

Normal POV

The Hatfords and Malloys began pondering their costumes. The boys invited the girls to their house to think about ideas.

"Is there a theme?" Beth asked.

"The invitation says that it's a mask-themed party," Caroline said.

"How original," I said sarcastically.

"That's just adding to my suspicion," Wally said. "Mask parties are creepy, you don't know who anyone is."

"I think they're romantic," Caroline said. "Just imagine it: two mystery people meeting. They have no judgments because they don't know each other's reputations. It's like a Cinderella kind of thing, but for both of them. Then, when the party is over, they part ways and they search for each other, trying to find that person by using clues that they've gathered from just talking to them and- "

"Earth to Caroline," Wally said.

She stopped in mid-daydream and blushed.

"This is actually why we started calling you the Crazie," Jake told her. "Because you used to turn everything into some kind of spectacular show."

"I was eight," Caroline pointed out. "At least I wasn't boring."

"You guys called her "the Crazie?" Scott asked.

"The three of them have their own names," Peter said. "The Whomper, The Weirdo, and The Crazie."

"Sounds like the title for a kids series," Mary said. "Why did you call them that?"

"It was based on their personalities. You see, we weren't exactly used to girls being so extra," Josh explained. "The three of them were, and still are, pretty different than the girls we knew from school."

"Eddie is the Whomper," Wally said. "Because of how hard she can hit and pitch when she plays baseball. It makes a loud "WHOMP" sound."

"Beth is the Weirdo," Peter said. "Because of all the weird books that she's always reading. You already know why Caroline is the Crazie."

The three girls stared at the boys, unamused.

"Now that I think about it," Jake said. "We haven't given you two any names."

"We can live with that," Mary said.

"Why didn't you guys give them names?" Ruth asked.

Eddie thought for a moment. "Well...we sort of did. We called them animals in general. But we also rated them."

"Wait, what? You rated us?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. Peter was the nicest one," Caroline said. "Then Wally was a bit more tolerable. He was only beaten by Josh because he was always doodling all of your awful tricks. Jake, you were the worst, because you were the one who came up with most of the ideas."

This time, the boys stared at the girls.

"I feel so judged," Josh muttered.

"Try being called Weirdo," Beth told him.

They all laughed and began plotting their costumes.

In the end, they decided to do a group theme. After some heavy debating, they finally settled on characters from Alice in Wonderland. They were originally going to do superheroes, but they figured that with the recent superhero films that were being released, a lot of other people would do that too. The next debate was on the actual costumes.

"Dibs on the Queen of Hearts!" Caroline said.

"Isn't she the villain?" Scott asked.

"That's the thing about Caroline," Wally said. "She finds villain roles exciting. Especially because they're usually a big role in the story."

"Wally, you should be the Knave of Hearts," Caroline said.

"Can I carry a sword?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then sure."

"I'll be the Cheshire Cat," Peter said. "It's cool how he teleports."

"I'll be the White Rabbit," Eddie said. They all looked at her and she shrugged. "There's no law that says the White Rabbit has to be a boy."

"In that case," said Jake. "I'll be the March Hare. He's a pretty funny guy."

Josh pondered for a minute. "Can I be the Mad Hatter? He's creative."

"Oh! Beth, you should be Alice!" Ruth said. "Because you're always daydreaming with stories in your head."

Beth smiled softly. "I'm okay with that."

"I can be the White Queen," Mary said. "She's nice."

"Scott, you and I can be Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum!" Ruth said, bouncing in her seat. "It'll be so fun! Plus, we hang out all the time."

He blinked before nodding. "If it makes you happy, then I'll do it."

"Oh, I've got so many ideas already! This is great!" Ruth said. "Josh, will you help me sketch out some costume designs?"

Josh quickly grabbed a notepad and a few pencils and the two of them got to work, muttering to each other about different designs and props. The two agreed that Ruth, with the help of Caroline, would work on the costumes, while Josh would work on the props and any other details.

"Boy, this is gonna be one wild Halloween," Wally said. "All of us together in one space. We haven't really done that since the Bensons came up to visit from Georgia."

Beth gave him a side glance. "You're right. And with our reputation for getting into trouble when we're all together, I already know that something is going to go down."