CHAPTER
9: HALLOWEEN
After 2nd period Alex
stapled a flyer to the bulletin board at the school's main entrance and taped
one to the large double doors leading into the office. Max came up behind him
and read the leaflet over his shoulder.
"You're
throwing a Halloween party?" Max asked.
"Yea, and everyone's invited."
Max whistled. "Wow, what did
your parents say?"
Alex grinned, "My parents are
out of town."
Max laughed, "Your parents are
leaving you at home by yourself over Halloween? When Halloween happens to fall
on a Friday? For 2 lawyers they aren't very smart are they?"
"Yea, I figure they get what
they deserve for bad judgment like that."
"Well, Isabel and I will be
there." Max said.
"Don't forget costumes!"
"I doubt Isabel will. You know
how she gets over Halloween."
"I'm already working on my
outfit." Isabel announced proudly. She had cut study hall to hang out with Maria
and Liz during their lunch period.
"Oh, God." Maria said. She had
started hanging out with Isabel a little before Halloween last year, she knew
her friend could go a little crazy.
"Yea, it's so cool. I found a
whole bunch of this red spandex-y material on sale a while back and I'm turning
it into this devil costume. I bought some little horns and that fork thing at
the craft store. Can I borrow those cute little red pumps of yours? Oh, and
remind me to get some red stockings."
"Uh-huh."
Maria replied, staring at her Spanish textbook. Isabel was basically talking to
herself, Maria didn't have to patience to listen to her go on and on about the
finer art of Halloween costumes.
Liz sat down next to Maria with
her lunch try. "Hey, guys. What are we talking about?"
"And I need to pick up some
candy, but luckily I found a really great place to get cheap candy. And some
plastic spiders and stuff for the house, but not too much." Isabel didn't even
acknowledge Liz.
"Halloween?" Liz asked Maria,
amused.
"You guessed it. How are we
going to last a whole week and a half?" Maria whined.
Liz smiled, "Did you hear about Alex's
party?"
"Yea. I've been trying to
convince Michael to do matching costumes with me. He says no. But I still have
a while to make him crack. Is Max taking you?"
Liz took a bite of her french
fry and grimaced. "These are cold. Yuck. Yea, I guess I'm going with Max."
"He hasn't asked you?" Maria
asked.
"I'm sure he will. Probably in
math." She took a bite of her
hamburger. "This is cold, too. Damn school lunches."
Maria smiled, "Not counting the
dance, this is the first group thing you guys will go to since you've been
going out, right?"
"I guess. We haven't really
discussed our relationship. I hear guys don't like that. Do you think I can get
the cafeteria lady to nuke this if I ask nicely?"
"Liz. Shut up and listen."
"What?"
"You are dating Max."
"Thanks for clearing that up for
me." Liz said, rolling her eyes.
"You're not dating anyone else.
Is Max?"
"I'm the first girlfriend Max's
had in at least 3 years. My money's on no."
"And now you assume that he's
taking you to the party?"
"We're both friends with Alex.
We're both going. Why wouldn't we go together?"
"Congratulations, Girl!" Maria
said.
"For what? What are you even talking
about?"
"You and Max. You've crossed the
border from date to couple."
"So?"
"It's an important step. You now
have a date for every major event, you now know who you will be with over the
weekend, you now can brag about him to other girls. It's an important step."
"Really?" Liz asked.
"You have been initiated into my
world. Welcome."
"Are you sure? Max and I haven't
talked about it, I don't know what we're doing. We're just dating, it's no big
deal."
"Ah, that is the old you and Max.
The new you and Max are a couple. And practice saying me and Max. You'll
be using it a lot lately."
"You're so full of it."
"Just watch for the signs.
Meanwhile, you guys should get matching costumes."
"Why?"
"Because as Max's girlfriend and
not a mere date you can make him do stuff like that."
"Matching costumes are dumb. And
no one said I was his girlfriend."
"You are so his girlfriend." She
paused, "In fact, if I were you I'd start picking out china patterns!"
"Whatever," Liz stood up,
grabbing her tray, "I'm going to go and beg the cafeteria lady to heat this
crap up."
"And
maybe I can decorate the Jeep." Isabel mused. "We can ride to Alex's party in
style…"
It
was a mistake to listen to Maria. It was always a mistake. Yet, Liz
continued to listen. She had blown Maria off at lunch, saying how she didn't
know what she was talking about. But she wondered, was she Max's girlfriend? It
never mattered to her, Max was there when she wanted to go out or have fun, but
they had separate lives and she was happy to be alone. Would things change if
she started defining things?
Liz groaned, "Please, God,
please don't let me end up like those kids on Dawson's Creek. If I
become a teeny-bopper, strike me with lightening, OK?"
"I hate you." Liz said to Maria,
without preamble.
"That's nice!" Maria said,
laughing. She had been working at the café for an hour. Liz stayed after school
to work on extra credit for science and was just arriving to work.
"I mean it, next time you have
advice for me, keep it to yourself." Liz said, irritated.
"What did I do now?" Maria
asked, honestly confused.
"You know what you did! At lunch
you went on and on about how Max was my boyfriend and how I should talk to him.
Of course he's not my boyfriend and I will never get the guts to talk to him so
I'm stuck being miserable, thanks to you."
"I'm sorry." Maria said, only
half-serious.
"Yea, yea. Whatever. That
doesn't help the fact that my mind is going off on one tangent after another."
"Stop bitching and just fix it, Liz.
God, you are such a whiner."
"How am I supposed to fix it?"
"Easy. Invite Max over. Make
your dad answer the door. When he asks who Max is see how he introduces
himself."
Liz looked mildly surprised for
a minute, "You're nothing but trouble, but I have to hand it to you, you do
come up with some half-way decent ideas."
"Did Max invite you to the
party?"
"Yes, during math. He says he
always goes as a vampire and I can be whatever I want. So I'll get Isabel to
help turn me into a kick ass vamp."
Maria laughed, "Sounds good."
She paused, "Of course, you know if you ask Isabel to help you she will bore you
with stories about every single Halloween of her entire life."
Liz laughed, "The things girl go
through to impress their dates."
Five days before Alex's party Liz
called Isabel to ask for help making a costume. "So what do you say?" Liz asked,
eagerly, "Will you help?"
"You're giving me four days to
make you a costume?" Isabel demanded
"Yea."
"Making good costumes is an art,
Liz. I've been working on mine for two weeks! And I'm still not done."
"Oh, come on, Isabel! Help me
out here! Look, I have an old black dress we can screw around with. Cut it up,
sew some lace on, buy me a pair of fangs and spray paint my hair and we're
done! How hard can it be?"
"I don't know…"
"Please? Pretty please? I'll be
your best friend!"
"That's your offer? Please!"
"Ok, look, I'll steal you free
books from the store and I'll give you all the coffee you can drink from the
café for the next month."
"Deal!"
"Thank you, thank you, thank
you! Now, can I come over tomorrow and we can work on it?"
"Come over to my house?" Isabel
asked, suddenly sounding nervous.
"Yea, I mean, you need me for
fittings and stuff, right?"
"Um, yea, but I don't think you
can come over."
"Why? Isabel, what's up?"
"Nothing," She lied.
"It's something. Are you ok?" Liz
asked, concerned
"Yea, yea, of course."
"I've never been over to your
house. Isabel, you can tell me."
"Max's not working tomorrow,
he'll be home, you wouldn't want him to see you in your costume before the
party, would you?"
Liz sighed, Isabel obviously
wasn't going to tell her anything. "No, I guess not. My mom has an old sewing
machine. You can work at my house."
"Great." Isabel said, relieved.
"That's great. Max can give us a lift to your place after school. We can work
on the costume and hang out."
"Sounds good. I'll see you
tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow." Isabel
echoed.
Liz was about to hang up the
phone, but stopped herself, "Isabel?"
"What?"
"If you ever want to tell me,
I'm here, Ok? No matter what."
Isabel sighed wearily, "Thanks, Liz.
Love you."
"Love you back. Bye."
Isabel hung up the phone and let
out a deep breath. This was hard, too hard. Her mother came out and put her
arms around her.
"Isabel?" She asked.
"Yea, mom?"
"Are you OK?"
"No."
"Look, Liz, I know you think I'm
this seamstress goddess but I can only do so much with an old black dress and 3
yards of lace." Isabel sighed wearily.
"I just think it would be cool
if we cut, like, holes in the dress and replace it with lace. Think how amazing
it would be! We could put it around my stomach and lower back and up my arms
and legs. Kinda like slits only way better."
"Do you have any idea how long
that will take me?"
"Come on, I have all the time in
the world, I told my parents I couldn't work today, just for you!"
"Have I mentioned how much
homework I have tonight?"
Liz sighed, "Fine, no lace
holes." She pouted a little.
"All right! One hole around your
lower stomach and the small of your back! But just one! And a thin one!"
"Thank you, thank you, thank
you!" Liz threw her arms around Isabel, "You are the best!"
Isabel smirked, "I know. Now go
and put the dress on so I can measure." Liz smiled and striped. "You're not even
going to bother with modesty are you?"
"Modesty sucks."
"Great, Liz. Max will love
that." Liz stuck her tongue out at her friend and zipped up the back. Isabel
knelt down so she was facing Liz's stomach. "Ok, so we can cut about here and
here." She pointed to just under Liz's belly button and just below her ribs.
"That seem ok?"
"Perfect." She tried not to
giggle as Isabel drew on the dress with chalk to mark where she had to cut.
They talked while Isabel sewed
and Liz watched. "You know my mother could sew." Isabel said.
"No, I didn't."
"Yea, she made me Halloween
costumes for years. Plenty of other things, but costumes especially. They were
always better than the ones that came from a store." Isabel smiled,
secretively. "Whenever I hear the light hum of a sewing machine I feel like a
kid. All warm and safe and happy, because I know that whatever is happening,
I'll have a new outfit soon."
"That's nice, Isabel." Liz said,
sincerely.
She looked up momentarily from
her work. "Yea, it is." A sad smile rested on her face for a moment before
disappearing. "Did I tell you about that one time I went as April O'Neil from
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?" She giggled, "Not one of my prouder
moments."
"April O'Neil, huh?
That's…special."
Isabel laughed, "Yea, the
costume was awesome, though. I had a yellow jumpsuit and we found these boots
at a thrift store. The best part was the camera. My dad and I worked all day
the Sunday before Halloween on a camera. It was an old box that we painted
black. We even wrote channel 11 news
on it. It was perfect. Max went as…Donatello, I think."
Liz burst out laughing, "Max?
Donatello?"
"Yup! Your man was a mutant
turtle."
"I would have paid to see that."
"Oh, I'm sure we have pictures."
"Isabel, buddy,"
"I'll show them to you if I find
them." She smiled at Liz. "Max's costume was cool, we got him one of those
cheesy muscle coats, you know, the ones that have bulges where men should have
muscle. Somehow mom managed to dye it green and—"
Liz sat back on her chair, feet
resting on it, chin on her knees and listened to her friend's stories. She felt
happy and excited and a little sleepy from the long day. For a moment, she
understood why Isabel loved Halloween.
"Well, it's 10:30 at night, but
we are done and it looks great!" Isabel said proudly as Liz did a little spin
for her.
"Isabel, it's a work of art!"
Isabel polished her nails on her
shirt and smiled "I know."
"It's too perfect to only wear
for Halloween. I have to wear this to school or something." Liz joked, "It's
too special for a party."
"Well, you will be the belle of
the ball. Or however you describe—"
"The best dressed chica at a
teen orgy?"
"Right!" Isabel laughed.
"I owe you big time."
"Yea, you do. But we can discuss
how wonderful I am and how much you owe me later. Right now we're on you."
Liz did another little spin. "I
look hot!"
"Yea, you do. You also sound
like Maria." Liz laughed and swatted Isabel playfully.
"Nice, Isabel."
"Anyway, I love this dress so
much. I know I sound really conceited, but I rock."
"I love it, too." She twirled
again, "I have no idea how you did it."
"Me neither. Especially since I
only worked for 7 hours. Usually it takes me longer."
"Well, we had an angel on our
side….Seriously, I want to wear this to school tomorrow. Or at least sleep in
it."
"Now who sounds like a kid?"
"I can't help it, it's too
cool!"
Isabel laughed, "I'm glad you
like it." She grabbed her stuff, "I better get going. Mom and Max will wonder
where I am."
"Do you need a ride?"
"No, I dropped Max off at work,
he bummed a ride home, so I could drive home."
"Awesome." Liz gave Isabel a
quick hug, "Thanks again."
"Anytime. I'll see you later."
"Bye." Isabel waved and let
herself out.
Liz looked down at the dress. It
was originally a floor length black dress that was a little loose. Isabel
tailored it so it was practically skin tight. The sleeves were tight, except
for below her elbow, that area stayed loose so it hung down like an old
fashioned gown. She did a similar look with the legs. There were high slits,
almost up to the thigh, and it was tight, except for halfway down her calf,
that was loose enough to billow slightly. Then there was the lace along her stomach.
It had the same effect of a tank top, you could see her stomach, but in Liz's
mind it was much sexier with the tight black lace.
Liz had bought some black hair
spray to turn her light brown hair into a deep raven, and some teeth that
looked almost real. She had worked on her nails while Isabel sewed and they
were now black with little spider stickers on them. Liz took one last look at
herself in the mirror before she sadly took of her dress and went to her room
to change into some boxers and a tank top to sleep in.
All in all, it had been a great
day.
"Where the hell is my moose?" Liz
grumbled, looking frantically through the drawers of her bathroom. "You can never
find what you need when you need it!" It was 7:30 on October 31st and
Max was supposed to pick her up in 15 minutes so they could get to Alex's by 8,
when the party started. Liz was wearing the dress Isabel made her, some strappy
high heeled black sandals and lots of silver jewelry. She had her teeth in and
more than enough make up to get the undead look across. Her hair had been
painted, but the thick dye had matted Liz's hair and she was trying desperately
to get the wavy fullness back into her hair. "Thank God!" She grabbed the
familiar bottle out of the drawer put a lot on her hand and worked it into her
hair.
The doorbell rang downstairs and
Liz rushed out of her bathroom and to the top of the stairs so she could hear
the conversation on the floor below her. Her dad went to answer the door,
"Thank you, daddy!" She whispered. He opened the door to reveal Max. "Damn he
looks good!" She shook her head, she could drool later, this was important.
"Who are you?" Her father asked.
"Max Evan, sir."
"I thought Isabel was picking Liz
up."
"Isabel's in the car." Liz noted
that Max looked nervous and the conversation wasn't going how she had hoped.
"Sit down." Mr. Parker offered,
"I'm sure Liz will be down in a second." Mr. Parker sat in a chair and Max sat
across from him on the couch. "How do you know Liz?"
"Yes!" Liz whispered, happily.
The moment of truth.
"Liz is my girlfriend."
"Yes!" Liz cried softly. She
jumped up danced around for a minute. Max was her boyfriend!
"Girlfriend? Why haven't we met
you before?"
"Crap!" Liz ran her fingers
through her hair and raced downstairs. Max noticed her and smiled. Her father
turned so he could see her as well.
"Hello, Liz." Mr. Parker said.
"Hey, Liz." Max said.
"Hi, Max. Hi Daddy." Liz said
smiling.
"So your boyfriend is here." Mr.
Parker said. Yea, Liz knew she would get grief for not bringing Max over to
meet her parents. She looked at Max, who was staring at his feet and turning
red.
"Yea, so he is." Max looked her
in the eye and smiled at her. Liz grinned back, she had a boyfriend!
"Well, I expect we'll be seeing
a lot more of him." Mr. Parker said pointedly
"Yes, Daddy."
"I'll see you at midnight."
"How about 1:30." Liz suggested
innocently.
"Fine. At 1:30 and no later."
"Bye!" Liz grabbed Max's hand
and left. As soon as they were outside Liz turned to him, "Sorry. I didn't know
he would do that."
"It's OK," Max shrugged. He
looked at her for a moment. "You look amazing."
"Thanks," Liz said, shyly. She
had almost forgotten what she was wearing. "You look great too." His costume
wasn't anything special, but he did look good. Black jeans, a tight black
t-shirt that showed off the muscles in his chest and arms and a black cape that
Liz was sure Isabel had made.
"Thanks." They smiled at
eachother for a minute. "We better get going, Isabel's waiting."
"Yea." She smiled and laughed
when the jeep came into view. "I see Isabel got a hold of the jeep."
Max groaned, "She dropped me off
for work and it was fine, I come home a few hours later and it looked like
Halloween exploded on it." Liz laughed. The car was covered in fake spider webs
with big plastic spiders and pictures of witches and ghosts hung from the
windows.
"Wait till you see the bumper
sticker."
Liz walked around the back of
the jeep and cracked up when she saw "I brake for trick-or-treaters" on the
bumper sticker.
"Those are heard to get off." Max
complained.
"It's cute!" Isabel protested from the backseat, over
hearing their conversation.
"Isabel, you ruined my car!"
"Your car?" Isabel cried
indignantly
"Did we pick up Maria yet?" Liz
asked, before they started an actual fight.
"No, we're picking her up at Michael's
house then we're on to Alex's." Max explained.
"Sounds great. Let's get this
show on the road!"
"Now it's a show. Yesterday it
was a car, Isabel." Isabel stuck her tongue out at her brother. Liz patted Max's shoulder before he could
say anything else. He sighed and kept his eyes on the road as Liz and Isabel
exchanged smiles.
"Wow." Isabel breathed when she
walked into Alex's house.
"And you know if the queen of
Halloween is impressed it's really something." Maria murmured dryly.
"Yea, by the way, Isabel, I love
your costume!" Liz said. "Very hot."
Max groaned. "I can't believe
she wore that. Be careful, Isabel. I have other things to do than defend your
honor." Everyone laughed at that but Isabel.
"I can take care of myself." She
said, puffing out her chest.
"Sure you can. But if you run
into trouble I'm here." Alex said, coming up behind Isabel.
"Wonderful." Isabel said
sarcastically.
Alex looked her over "You do
look good," he said appreciatively.
"Great, the guy is supposed to
help me protect her and in an hour and I'll be scaring him off."
Alex laughed, "Relax, a guy can
look, right?"
"Ok, you know this is my little
sister, don't you?"
"So you really think I look
good?" Isabel asked, striking a pose for Alex's benefit.
Max groaned in frusteration,
"This is all too much! I'm her brother."
Liz giggled, "I think Max and I
better get some punch before any punches are thrown."
"Witty." Michael teased, rolling
his eyes.
Max's face was getting redder by
the moment so Liz decided not to get into a verbal fight with Michael. She
grabbed Max's hand and pulled him away, "Come on, Max. Let's go before smoke
starts coming out of your ears!"
He hesitantly went along with Liz.
On one hand it grossed him out to see his best friend hitting on his sister, on
the other he wanted to be there to protect her. Liz noticed the emotions
playing across his face. "It's ok, Max. Isabel can take care of herself."
"I know, but—"
"I understand, it's freaky
thinking of her like that. Now you know what she's been putting up with for
years." She smiled when Max looked at her blankly. "Yea, of course you wouldn't
notice. You're on the wish list of every girl at school!" Max continued to
stare, "Do I have to explain what a wish list is?"
"No, it's just, wow, I mean, I
had no idea." Max stammered.
"I know. It's just something
that Isabel has been dealing with forever, all these girls act nice to her so
they can meet you." Liz grinned. "Actually, now that Alex has shown some
interest she'll probably goad you with it."
"Great." Max mumbled. He was
lost in thought for a minute, then brightened suddenly. He said shyly, "So…Am I
on your wish list?"
Liz immediately flustered. "Uh,
I don't make wish lists. They're dumb."
"Of course." Max agreed quickly.
When Liz looked away he smiled. He had been living with Isabel for quite a
while, he understood girls a little. He was pretty sure that was a yes.
"That was an amazing party, Alex!"
Isabel said, hours later.
"Yea, I have to hand it to you,
this was the party of the year!" Maria exclaimed.
"Thanks," Alex said, grinning.
"Of course, it is only October,
but I'm pretty sure your title of party king is safe." Michael added.
It was 1:00 and the last people
had finally been kicked out. Alex and Isabel had offered to stay late and clean
up. Since Maria, Michael and Liz were riding home with them they were hanging
out as well, but doing more supervising than actual cleaning. Liz looked at her
watch lazily. "Just so everyone knows if I'm not home by 1:30 my father will
kill me. We have to leave in a few minutes."
"You're leaving?" Alex
exclaimed, "No! You can't leave! This place is disgusting. How am I going to
clean all this up myself?"
"That's your problem, party
king," Isabel quipped, "Our problem is
getting home by curfew."
"I have to be home soon, too." Maria
admitted.
"Hey!" Liz exclaimed suddenly,
"I have an idea." She looked around the room, "But I have to talk to the girls
in private for a minute, first." The guys shrugged and the girls all retreated
to the kitchen. As the guys cleaned they heard muted voices arguing
good-naturedly about something. They finally came out, smiling.
"All right, guys." Liz said. "We
talked it over and decided for the first time ever guys can be invited to our
monthly movie night."
"So?" Alex asked, "No offense,
but I'm not too excited about watching a chick flick."
"You haven't heard our plan
yet." Isabel said, "We usually have movie night at Maria's house, but we could
have it tomorrow at Alex's. We can watch a chick flick, pig out on junk food,
relax, gossip and also clean the house. Movie night can be our reward."
"I appreciate the offer and
all," Alex said, "Don't get me wrong, it's great you all want to help out, but
maybe you girls can watch the movie after and us guys can go and do something
else." The guys nodded in agreement.
The girls exchanged a look. "Did
we mention we wear our pajamas to movie night?" Maria said simply.
The guys exchanged looks, in unison they said, "We're there!"