As if in the blink of an eye, Halloween was here. Namęšéme had picked out a costume for me days earlier. My Halloween costume was Jem, the alter ego of Jerrica Benton from "Jem and the Holograms." I wore a mask of her face with holes cut out so I could see, and my outfit was some sort of pink plastic bag-like dress with Jem herself printed on it along with the "Jem and the Holograms" logo and some silver streamers spilling down on my left. Namęšéme, on the other hand, didn't really have a costume on. He wore the same kind of outfit he usually wore on a daily basis: plaid shirt, rugged blue jeans with an oversized belt, a cowboy hat, and ranching boots.

"You ready to head out to Frontier City to have some fun, Jessica?" Namęšéme asked me with a smile.

"Sure am," I replied enthusiastically. "I can't wait to ride on all the rides and then hang out at the mall afterwards!"

"That's a good girl, Jessica. Now remember, please be nice to Arizona. I don't want any stress to hurt her or the baby."

I rolled my eyes at this, but luckily Namęšéme didn't seem to notice. With that, Namęšéme and I piled into his pickup truck and began the two-hour drive to Oklahoma City, where the magic would truly begin.

All throughout the drive to Oklahoma City, I just gazed out the passenger window and concentrated on all the attractions that passed us by. We passed through the J. M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum and the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, we passed through the Golden Driller in Tulsa, we passed through the Campus Fire Station and the Old Central in Stillwater, and we passed through the Central State University in Edmond. Up until now, it never even seemed to occur just how much culture existed in this state. I mean, Namęšéme and I had only been living in Oklahoma for, what, two months now? Yet, it was starting to feel less like we'd been here for a short time and more like we'd been here for a lifetime.

Soon enough, we had arrived in Oklahoma City, and it was as astonishingly beautiful as we'd imagined. The skylines seemed to be lighting up all around us. The buildings that looked like skyscrapers stuck out to me the most. I couldn't believe how high they seemed to touch the sky. We passed through places like Waffle House and Taco Bueno. There seemed to be lots of people inside eating and talking amongst themselves. Goddamn, passing through those buildings kinda made me hungry.

"Alright, it looks like we've made it, Jessica," Namęšéme said. "Now it's only a matter of time before we arrive at Frontier City. Are you excited at all?"

"Yeah, I'm excited," I replied, trying not to hide my disappointment in Mrs. Richardson being there.

Namęšéme smiled at me. "As you should be. I don't think you've even been to a theme park in this state yet. You deserve a little fun."

"Thanks, Namęšéme. I guess I owe you one."

Soon enough, we had arrived at Frontier City. While we pulled into the parking lot, I could see what looked like Mrs. Richardson's car in the corner of my eye. Her car was a red 1971 Oldsmobile 442 with a shiny coat of paint, a black grille with silver surround, silver headlight bezels, round parking lights in front bumper, and horizontal tail lights. Mrs. Richardson looked like she might be wearing a Princess Leia costume. I saw her get out of the driver's side and then unlock the back door on that side to let out... oh no... Tiffany. Tiffany wasn't the only kid who had been in the car, though. Three more kids came out from the backseats. Two of them appeared to be twin girls with honey blonde hair that went all the way down to their shoulders. The other kid was a boy with mousy brown hair just like, I guess, his mom. Tiffany was in a Barbie costume while her sisters wore Care Bear costumes, plastic masks and everything. The boy, however, was wearing a Superman costume, complete with a plastic mask to accommodate the iconic superhero outfit.

"Oh, hey, Arizona," Namęšéme said. "Whose kids are these?"

Mrs. Richardson giggled. "Oh, these are mine. Wesley let me borrow them for this occasion."

"Wesley your ex-husband?"

"Yes, he is."

"What a nice man. Well, what are their names?"

"Well, obviously, you know Tiffany. Who wouldn't remember her? But anyway, the other two girls with me are named Tammy and Tracy, and the boy's name is Ryan. Tammy and Tracy are twins."

"They're adorable."

Mrs. Richardson giggled again. "Thanks, Warren. I could say the same about your granddaughter. Who is she dressing up as again?"

"Jem from 'Jem and the Holograms.' I'm not real familiar with that show, but Jessica really likes it. Too bad there ain't any Native Americans on there. What a shame."

And so Namęšéme and Mrs. Richardson went on just talking like that while we all entered through the gates and walked around the theme park. While we all explored the theme park, I couldn't help but think about Frankie and how she was probably spending her Halloween. She was probably going around the neighborhood, trick-or-treating with her siblings and other friends of hers and then sharing her candy with them. I wish she could've been hanging out with me instead. It would've been better than being stuck with Tiffany and the other kids. Having to stick with one of my tormentors from school sucked ass. Fuck it, though. I needed to have some fun.

So, while we were all at Frontier City anyway, we convinced our parental figures to let us go on some rides. Namęšéme seemed a little unsure at first, especially given that I wanted to go on the rides while wearing my costume, but after some more convincing, he gave me and the others the go-ahead. Going on all those rides energized us and even made us a little queasy to our stomachs, and it was totally worth it.

Afterwards, it was time for us to go down to Crossroads Mall and hang out and trick-or-treat with the stores down there like JCPenney and Dillard's. We hung out at the mall for what seemed like hours, even grabbing a bite to eat down at the food court. As the other kids and I ate with the adults at the food court, we talked.

"This has been an alright Halloween for me," I said. "How about you guys?"

Tiffany seemed to leer at me. "It would've been great if you weren't here. What makes you think you could hang out with us?"

"Why are you asking me? It's not like I planned to hang out with your mom or anything."

"Yeah, right. By the way, you're still a cross-dresser, no matter what you say."

My anger started rising, but Namęšéme was there, so I couldn't act on it.

"Hey, Tiff," Tammy suddenly said. "Why you gotta be so mean to Jessica?"

"This isn't Jessica, Tammy," Tiffany told her. "This is a boy who thinks he's Jessica."

The audacity of this bitch...

"But why do you have to be mean to her?" Tracy now asked.

Tiffany ventured on. "Don't you think it's weird that a boy is sitting here, wearing a girl's costume?"

Tracy shook her head. "No. Actually, I think you're weird."

I couldn't resist snickering to what Tracy had said.

Tiffany seemed flustered. "W-What?"

"Yeah, Tiff, you're weird," Tammy joined in.

Tiffany started getting red in the face. "How am I weird?"

"You seemed possessed with her or something."

"Actually, it's 'obsessed,' and I so am not."

I silently laughed in my head. Finally, it seemed like Tiffany was getting a little payback for what she'd done to me. Sure, it wasn't going to affect anything in the long run, but I was going to cherish this moment with everything I had.