All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer, some parts were inspired by V.C. Andrews and the rest . . . my slightly warped mind lol! Happy Tuesday :)

All Hallows Eve

I can't turn my back on you
When you are walking away.
Bottomless celebrity scar
Staged circuses for schoolgirls,
Us boys are all dressed up like a
Mediocre suicide omen.
The Red Carpet Grave by Marilyn Manson

"Emmett McCarty, I did not just put all this effort into this for you to hang up fake cobwebs and bloodied appendages," Tanya said, her hands on her hips as her eyes scanned the pool house.

Leah and I were hiding in the bedroom that the pool table was in. We were peeking around the door, hoping she wouldn't venture in here and tear us a new one, as she seemed to be doing to Emmett. I currently had my hand over my best friend's mouth, stifling her giggles; it unfortunately didn't stop the skeleton in her hands from jiggling though.

I couldn't believe how amazing the pool house looked. Both of them had done a phenomenal job on it. It managed to look warm and inviting as well as contemporary and stylish. They'd outdone themselves. There was a vintage pool table taking up most of the room we were in. Thankfully the room was big enough that it wouldn't affect taking a shot, but it was the only thing that could be housed in here.

In the living room there was a huge, deep leather couch that had ottomans making it look like a giant bed in the center of the room. There were all kinds of throws casually strewn around it. It was facing a huge flat screen television which had every gaming unit that existed attached to it, as well as a computer hard drive, which according to Emmett had the best video card on the market installed in it. It meant absolutely nothing to me, but it seemed to excite him.

The crowning glory, of course, was the kitchen that doubled up into a wet bar. All of the granite countertops were dark, and the lights they had installed were almost spotlights that seemed to pick up the reflective surfaces, making it seem lighter than it actually was. I hated to admit it, but Tanya had a good eye for this kind of thing.

"I guess we should just do this over at Jasper's then. Ms. Whitlock normally just lets us get on with it."

Leah almost doubled over and I had to bury my head in her shoulder to stop from laughing myself. Emmett knew how to get around his mom, most of us did. A little tweak of her pride and she rolled over like a well-trained dog.

There was a long, silent pause.

"You better have it back to the way it was, Emmett. I'm not playing with you."

"I know, mom. Thanks."

We heard the click of her heels on the tile as she made her way to the door. Leah was almost convulsing as the door clicked closed. Before I could even look around the corner, her tongue ran along the palm of my hand, making me release her.

"Gross, Lee," I squealed, wiping my hands on my jeans.

She grinned at me and stepped towards the door, sticking her head out first to make sure the coast was clear.

"Great help you two were," Emmett grumbled from the other room, his voice not actually holding the disdain it was probably supposed to.

"Like we would have helped," Leah laughed, walking toward Emmett and punching him playfully on the arm. "She hates me and she's trying to make Bella's life miserable. I really don't think that would have helped with the fuck off and let us do our thing you just pulled."

"I guess you're right, but now you have to get on my shoulders and put this shit up to make up for it."

Leah laughed and clambered on the new couch without even a second thought. Her and Emmett worked together, finishing the rest of the cobwebs, while I tried to get the random skeleton to look like he was holding the pool cue. Which was proving to be a little more difficult than I'd anticipated.

"You're not giving him any form," a familiar voice said from behind me.

I stood up and turned around, smiling at the face that matched the voice. "Now correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I kick your ass the last time we played? I really don't think there's anything wrong with my form."

Edward laughed, his green eyes sparkling in the light from the specialty lamp Tanya had installed over the table. I felt the blush rise in my cheeks as I realized I was staring at him, my mind moving to places it really shouldn't be moving to. I turned around and hid my face while I played with the skeleton again.

"You caught me off guard."

I snorted.

Horrified I rolled my eyes at myself. I needed to get a grip.

"Did you just snort at me?"

"Yes I did. I believe you went to your 'best game' after you accused me of hustling you," I teased, looking at him as I made the quotations with my hands. "I still kicked your ass."

Edward laughed again, but I didn't look at him this time. I pretended to be too interested in the skeleton. I had to stop flirting with him; it was no wonder he'd used me as an excuse to break up with Rosalie. If I thought back to the times we'd interacted, it made sense. That thought alone made me blush again and I was glad I was keeping my head down.

"You're doing it wrong."

"Excuse me?" I chortled, shaking my head and concentrating on nothing but the joint of the finger I was trying to arrange to hold the cue.

"Does that look natural to you? The poor bastard would have to be double jointed," he chuckled, sliding behind me and making me jump. "Let me do it."

"No," I laughed, swatting him away. "I'm perfectly capable of . . ."

Before I could even finish my sentence, he'd pushed me out of the way, flashing me his customary lopsided grin, which, to me, simply made him look arrogant. I stepped back and leaned against the wall, crossing my arms as I watched him.

"You've gone and fucked it all up, Masen," I sighed, pushing my tongue into my cheek to stop from laughing.

"Masen, huh? You working in reverse there Miss Cullen?"

"Swan," I corrected him. I hated that I was still so attached to the name, but being a Cullen right now wasn't exactly something I was rooting for. Especially after the incident with Izzy. It just reminded me of how fucked up everything was. It was easier to keep the line drawn for now.

"You what?"

"My surname—it's Swan, not Cullen."

He stood up and looked at me, one of his hands resting on the skeleton's head, while the other ran through his unruly hair. His smile passed across his lips again, making me reciprocate. It was impossible not to, his smile was contagious when he actually used it.

"It suits you."

"Why? Is she an ugly kid that turned into a beautiful white bird?" Leah asked, giggling as she sidled up to me and threw her arm around my neck. "Would you excuse us? We have to go and pick up our costumes."

"Sure," Edward laughed, leaning over and putting all of his attention back into the skeleton.

It seemed to be getting a lot of that this afternoon.

"See you later?" I said; it came out as a question rather than a statement, making Leah giggle and me give myself a mental eye roll. I hated that my speech was so stunted around him. If Rosalie hadn't said what she'd said, I would be fine. I would still have the same old indifference toward him. Maybe.

We made our way through the house, taking the directions from Emmett as we passed. Leah and I pushed and stumbled over one another playfully as we tried to get out of the door first. We chased one another around the pool toward the garage where my car was parked. It was customary to take mine now. As soon as she arrived at the house, her car sat at the curb and stayed there until she left.

"Were you just flirting with Edward?" Leah asked, dancing around to the other side with a grin worthy of the Cheshire cats.

"Shut up."

"You were. Look who the whore is now," she teased, climbing in as I unlocked the doors.

I got in and started the engine. We already knew what we were doing—we were coordinating with Emmett. He was a pimp and we were his hoes. I dreaded to think what had been picked out for us in advance.

I made my way to the store using the directions Emmett had given us. It didn't take us long to find the place, there was a huge crowd outside. The line almost wrapped around the building. However, thinking ahead as he always did, there was a line to pick up the pre-ordered costumes, where there were only five people waiting. We were shuffled in and greeted like old friends, the woman handing us the dress bags and pushing us out because it had already been paid for.

Dying of curiosity, we opened them the moment we got to the car. Each bag had a name attached to it, so when I opened the one with my name, I almost fell over. There was so little material it was practically going to be indecent exposure wearing it. I was going to kill Emmett.

"What the fuck?" Leah gasped, holding up hers after checking the bag for something more we both knew she wasn't going to find, except of course for the huge stripper boots sitting neatly at the bottom. "What was he thinking? I mean I knew they were going to be scandalous, but this . . ."

"I know," I groaned, turning my bag to face her. Her eyes almost popped out of her head.

"Oh this is going to be fun."

"Traitor," I laughed, zipping the bag and picking up Emmett's to see what he'd picked out for himself. Of course his was just a leisure suit with a loud shirt and cane. Add in the spats, shoes, cravat and fedora and he would look relatively normal compared to us. "Look at this shit."

"How is that fair?" Leah asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"It's not."

"You're right, but I have an idea."

"No, Lee," I laughed, zipping the bag and shoving it into the backseat.

"It's okay, I will convince Emmett, he'll come round to seeing things my way."

Somehow, I knew she would. Whatever devious plan she'd formulated in her head, she would work until she got her own way. Poor Emmett didn't stand a chance. Leah was a force of nature when she wanted to be; if it was something she believed in, or thought was right, she could convince someone that the sky was green.

"Do you think he dressed Rosalie the same way?" she asked, her teeth impaling her bottom lip as her mind worked over whatever plan she was devising. She was smart; she knew if she had Rosalie on her side there was a larger chance that Emmett would fold with the least amount of resistance.

"Probably." I picked up my phone and scrolled through the contacts until I found her. I hit send and waited as it rang, slapping Leah's hands away from trying to pull the phone out of my hands.

"Hey, Bella," Rosalie answered, her voice bright.

"Hey Rose, have you picked up your costume yet?"

There was a pause on the line, followed by a snicker. I imagined that was a yes. Rosalie had far more confidence than I had, so her easy laughter really didn't surprise me. It was almost the same response Leah'd had, with the 'this is going to be fun' comment.

"What color?" I asked.

"Red, bright fucking red, and leather too. The shoes alone are going to kill me. It's almost burlesque."

"Is there very little to it?" I asked, rolling my eyes to let Leah know that he had in fact given Rosalie the same kind of costume.

"It's practically indecent. How about yours?"

"Same," I laughed.

"Can I come get ready with you guys? There's no way in hell my parents will let me out of the house wearing this."

I was starting to wonder if we'd have the same problem, but being in the back yard at least gave us a little bit of advantage. I just hoped I wouldn't have to face my dad dressed as a slut, mortification wouldn't even cover that experience.

"The more the merrier," I confirmed, realizing I'd left her hanging on the other end of the line.

"See you in a little bit then."

I hung up and rolled my head to look over at Leah. She, much like Rosalie, had exponentially more confidence than I did. I knew it would be weird for her to show that much skin around people she really didn't know, but she was confident in her own skin. I knew she could make it work. I, however, had trouble showing my stomach most of the time, so this itty bitty costume was going to have me fidgeting all night, especially when it was doubtful I would get a shot to help ease my nerves. There was no doubt about it, this was going to be interesting.

~oOo~

The three of us stood in front of the mirror, looking at each other and ourselves. There was no doubt about it now, we were wearing the costumes, or lack thereof. Rosalie had helped with my make up and it made all the difference. She and Leah had run with it, their hair huge, their make up in bright colors and their jewelry matching their outfits.

My hair was straightened and my make up, although over done by usual standards, was downplayed compared to the two of them. My jewelry was all fake gold. Rosalie had even gone so far as to stick a roll of condoms down her cleavage. If nothing else, we certainly looked the part.

"Look at the three of you," Emmett boomed from behind us. We could see the sparkle in his eyes through the mirror. He had all of his little extras on. He was covered from head to toe.

"This just won't do," Leah sighed from beside me, turning around to face him. "You're too covered up, this situation has to be rectified."

"I have to agree with the girl, Emmett. Fair's fair," Rosalie said, turning around, her hands on her hips.

"What? What do you mean?" Emmett asked, looking down at himself and then into the mirror where he managed to catch my eyes. We'd been over the plan several times; I guess I had my part to play too. He was my brother after all.

"Sorry, Em. I'm with the two of them on this."

"Take off the jacket," Rosalie ordered as she shimmied up next to him, her hands pushing the cheap material over his shoulders. He didn't even fight them as they worked together to take the jacket off. Rosalie moved to the cravat around his neck, untying it and putting it over his eyes, using her natural prowess to get him to cooperate when he moved to fight it.

Leah nodded at me and I bolted into the closet, wobbling on my heels, as she unbuttoned his shirt.

"What the hell are you two doing? My sister's in the room."

"Shut up, Em. This is all about your costume, not sex," Leah laughed, slapping his stomach as I teetered over to them with the chest wig we'd had Rosalie pick up on her way over.

Knowing Emmett, he wouldn't be upset about the addition, but having the thing pressed up against my arm, I understood why it would be a punishment. The thing was scratchy, and to add insult to injury, the glue they were going to use—which was in fact made for this very reason—would pull at the small amount of natural hair he already had there.

Retribution was a bitch in the hands of three scantily clad girls.

Leah and Rosalie worked quietly as they added the chest rug, pressing up against him with silent giggles. I could see his frown under the well placed cravat as they finished and buttoned up his shirt.

"We figured your costume was missing something," Leah said, as Rosalie removed the makeshift blindfold. "What do you think?"

"It's awesome," Emmett laughed, stepping closer to the mirror as I stepped out of the way. "It looks so real."

"Excellent." Rose grinned, handing him his jacket and tying the cravat back in place. She patted him on the back playfully as she pulled her corset up and rearranged her chest. I could have sworn Emmett's eyes were about to fall out of their sockets.

"So, is it time for our big entrance yet?" Leah asked, fluffing her hair and wiggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I was just coming to get you. Jasper and Alice are currently watching the door and Edward is playing bartender."

We followed Emmett out of the room, all three of us gripping onto the railings for dear life as we made our way down the stairs. These shoes hadn't been designed for this, I was fine walking in the damn things, but stairs were something I hadn't mastered yet.

My stomach rolled with my anxiety. My hands seemed to flutter uselessly around the practically non-existent skirt and the midnight blue corset that showed a little more than I was comfortable with. How we had thought Emmett picking out our costumes was a good idea was still beyond me.

We could hear the music the moment we stepped out of the house and into the courtyard. I could see the cars lining the street and I felt all the more need to go and change before someone actually saw me in this outfit.

"Look at you guys," Alice called, dancing out of the pool house and towards us in a costume that could only be described as slasher film victim. She was wearing a denim skirt and bikini top, fake knives peppering the skin of her stomach, while fake barbed wire hung around her neck.

"Alice, who killed you?"

"Michael Meyers. AKA Jasper," she laughed, pointing to the door where there was a figure in coveralls and a mask standing stock still, poised for attack. I'd honestly thought he was a statue added at the last minute, but the moment she said it, he moved.

"And now I have new meat. Ladies, you look fabulous. I may have to pull your pimp aside and get some pricing information."

"Shut up, Jasper," Rosalie laughed, flicking him off as Emmett pulled us into the pool house looking smug.

Everyone looked amazing. Ben was a zombie that was believable enough to have me steering clear of him completely. Jessica was the dead beauty queen from Beetle Juice, which really didn't surprise me; I actually believed she considered herself to be above everyone. The costume that had Leah most excited, was Izzy's. She was wearing boxing gloves and silk shorts with a sports bra. Her hair in pigtails as she sipped a drink I was sure was spiked.

"Did you do that?" Leah whispered, leaning into me so no one else around us could hear.

"Guilty as charged," I sighed, hating the constant reminder of my misjudgment. It was an ingenious idea though. She'd taken the week off school after having her nose reset at the hospital on Monday morning. It wasn't as though I was complaining, having her out of sight meant no one knew what I had done.

"I didn't know you had that in you."

"Lee," I sighed, bumping my hip into hers. "Stop it."

"What? I'm proud."

I laughed and shook my head. Only Leah could make it seem like something spectacular after a week of me feeling pathetically guilty and evil.

"Hey, Bella, I dropped my keys, you think you could get them for me?" Peter taunted, standing in front of me dressed as a bloodied horror version of a scarecrow. He actually looked scary as hell, it really didn't help with his creepy factor.

"Anybody got a lighter?" Leah asked, smirking. "What's the matter scarecrow, did the wicked witch get to you?"

"If you're the witch, you can get to me anytime."

"Peter, leave them alone," Jasper said, shoving him to the side playfully. "Now Em if you don't mind, I'm going to take my victim and one of your whores into the other room for a game of doubles."

The double entendre made everyone around us laugh, while Alice and I slapped him. We didn't buy his feigned innocence, yet we still looped our arms through his and let him lead the way to where the pool table was. How I was going to play pool in a skirt this short was beyond me. A slight bend and I would be flashing anyone that stood behind me.

Needless to say, I almost turned and ran the moment we entered and our fourth for the game was standing waiting for us. He looked like John Dillinger with his Tommy gun and fedora. Even without his bronze mess showing he still looked amazing.

If I could have slapped myself for the thought—without question I would have. When had I thought he looked amazing? Always? Recently? What the hell was wrong with me? I was going to have stop flirting with him so much. Sure he was good looking and single, but I couldn't do that to Rosalie.

"I'm teaming with Bella." Edward grinned, challenging Jasper to argue.

"Like that will be any kind of a game. How about girls against guys?"

Edward gave him a blank stare, his eyes moving between Alice and me and then back to Jasper who had his eyebrows raised. His smile rose to the left and he nodded. I wasn't sure what he found so amusing, or what exactly his plan was, but he seemed keener than he had been.

"We break," Jasper said, pulling the cues from the rack on the wall and patting the skeleton guy on the head.

"How's that fair?"

"You're one of the best players I've seen. If you break we don't have a chance in hell."

We played three games; they won every time. Alice was a terrible player, but with a little help from me her game was improving with each turn she took. I wasn't a sore loser by any means, but I felt bad leaving Leah alone for so long. She got along with everyone, but she was here to see me.

"Alright guys, have fun, I'm off to find Leah."

"Thanks, Bella," Alice sang, putting the cue back on the wall. The moment I left the room she seemed to follow suit and headed toward the bar, leaving Jasper and Edward playing another game against one another.

"What the hell's up with Alice lately?" Rosalie asked as I approached, her eyes following Alice as she slid up to the bar and took a shot of tequila. "She's been so jumpy."

"I don't know, but it's been going on all week."

"It has?"

"Rose, how spaced out were you? You didn't realize she was sitting next to you all week?"

"She was?"

"Do you think maybe she likes Jasper? Crushing on him a little perhaps?" Leah asked, turning her back to Emmett so he wouldn't overhear our conversation.

Rosalie looked between Leah and me, concern making her pale skin look even more alabaster. Whatever reaction I'd been expecting, it hadn't been that. I looked at Leah and back at Rosalie who seemed to have shaken off whatever had just caused that kind of reaction.

"You okay?"

"I just . . ." she took a deep breath and started again. "I hate my thought process sometimes. I thought about it and I got all defensive, then I realized I am doing the same thing by going after . . ."

She nodded at Emmett and rolled her eyes. I hadn't realized she was still so conflicted by the whole thing. I think I had just assumed the two of them were talking and hanging out.

"You mean you haven't . . ."

"No, I've tried but he spends all his free time with Edward now. I thought . . . I don't know what I thought really, I just—can't walk in these heels," she finished, giving Emmett a grin seeing as he'd stuck his head literally into the middle of our conversation. "Right, I'm off to get a drink, anyone need anything?"

Leah and I shook our head and looked to Emmett.

"Good move, jackass," Leah laughed, pulling off his hat and putting it on her now huge hair.

"What did I interrupt?"

"We were speculating over Alice's odd behavior and deduced that she has a thing for Jasper, which would explain her avoiding him. We also deduced that with all your smarts, you're still a big dummy."

"And how exactly did you manage to get to that conclusion? It's the cravat, isn't it? It should say smart as fuck, instead it's just a big neon dork sign," he chuckled, putting his elbow on Leah's shoulder and leaning against her for support.

"No, it's not the cravat. It's your sense of direction."

"Leah, I adore you; you're like a sister to me, but would you please, for the love of your pimp, stop talking in riddles."

She shook her head, smiled and patted him on the head before walking away in the same direction Rosalie had disappeared.

"So Jasper and Alice, huh? You want me to kick his ass? He's my boy, but I told him if he . . ."

"Emmett," I giggled, squeezing his cheeks together with both of my hands. "Exactly how much have you had to drink? I haven't been gone that long and you smell like a Jack distillery."

"Am I making an ass of myself?"

I shook my head and patted one of his cheeks. I wasn't going to make him feel like shit for having fun. Everyone seemed to be getting slowly inebriated around me, so why shouldn't he cut loose and have some fun?

"Thanks, Bells. Really though, do you think Alice and Jasper . . .?"

"Em, Jasper and I were never dating. If he wants to date Alice, it's fine with me. I mean, sure, I hope he talks to me, but it's no big deal."

"It's weird, I always just figured the two of you would get together. You're not hurt?"

"Ask me again when you're sober and I'll explain it," I giggled. "For now, go and have fun. I'm fine! Rosalie and Leah are fine. Everyone is having fun."

I wandered through the mass of bodies toward the doors and stepped outside into the cooling air of the city. Fall was here so the humidity dropped a little in the evenings, making it pleasant to be outside. I'd meant what I'd said to Jasper all those weeks ago. Nothing had changed there, even after our night together. He and I were still better off friends.

I unzipped the huge boots I was wearing and almost groaned as the flat floor came into contact with the aching balls of my feet. I lowered myself to sit at the edge of the pool, and slid my legs into the water, just enjoying the subdued noise that was coming from the pool house.

I wasn't sure if the speculation about Alice and Jasper was right, but their odd behavior did make all signs point to yes on that front. They had been getting close for a while now, and I had been seeing Jasper alone less and less. I wasn't complaining by any means; I'd always known that I wanted him more as a friend than anything else. Maybe this would be for the best.

A/N: So there was finally some Edward, and finally some Alice and Jasper too by the looks of things lol :) We'll see how that goes!

Edward will be popping up again next week, and should be more often from now on. I really shouldn't say that . . . lol . . . oh well! It's said now.

Thanks as always to my amazing beta, Annabanana, who's sweet and awesome and kicks my grammar ass into shape, and helps me out with factoids about the great city of New Orleans :)

Thank you to miztrezboo, bendingmirrors, hev99 and newmoonaholic for the amazing support. All of you have been fabulous at helping me through freakouts, and brick walls, etc. I wouldn't know what to do without you guys! Love ya!

Thank you to everyone who reviews. All of you are so amazing, your questions and theories keep me smiling and my mind working and you're all awesome. I love you guys!

Thank you for all the well wishes last week too, I am feeling much better thanks :)

Much love and huge hugz ~Weezy