They sat on the stone steps outside the school, patiently awaiting the
arrival of their school bus. It was October 31st, and a crisp Friday
afternoon, and the three girls were wondering if going to the party at the
Lennox mansion later was such a good idea.
"I hate parties..." Jenna stated dully, her chin resting on the palms of her hands.
"So do I... well, unless there is drinking involved..." Samantha added in the same dry tone as she sat next to her.
"You lush!" Jenna remarked sarcastically.
"I'm going..." Sara said suddenly, causing both girls to look in her direction curiously. "I might get another chance to throw Tim in the pool..." she answered their stares with a shrug.
*
*
*
The large house was overflowing with teenagers as the sun set slowly in the autumn sky. Simon, following the commands of his overly happy mother, unenthusiastically carried more plastic cups into the large ballroom of the house.
"This blows!" Jake sighed drearily as he sat in the middle of the staircase, suddenly the tall lanky boy stood over him.
"I know what you mean..." Tim replied in the same dull voice.
"I thought you liked all this party crap!" Jake wondered.
"I do... but not when your mom's walking around the place with you! It's just like my seventh birthday all over again!" Tim shrieked unhappily.
"Hey man, that clown was your idea, remember?" Jake reminded him, Tim only winced at the thought.
*
*
*
"I can't believe you made me wear this!" Jenna cried with embarrassment to the red head at her side.
"I gave you that dress and you never wear it! It cost a hundred damn dollars!" Sam responded forcefully, the brunette only hung her head sadly. "Don't worry... you look hot!" Samantha then insisted, giving Jenna a tight hug before letting her go once she noticed the odd looks they were receiving from the others around them. "What? Can't a girl hug her lover in public anymore!?!" the red head demanded to know from the small crowd, the others quickly went back to what they were doing before her outburst.
Jenna laughed slightly at her friend's remark before noticing who came up the steps into the house behind them, it was Sara.
"Nice dress... we going to a vampire coven later on, cuz if so I forgot my virginal sacrifice!" Sara asked sarcastically as Jenna gave her a mean look while glancing over the blonde's costume.
"You forgot your hardhat!" Jenna told Sara smartly.
"No I didn't... I just didn't want to wear it..." the blonde answered unsurely.
"Why not?" Sam questioned.
"Its yellow!" Sara answered quickly, rolling her eyes at the other two in front of her.
"You're wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and you are worried about a yellow hardhat???" Sam remarked, rolling her eyes as well.
"Let's just drop it, okay?" Jenna insisted, referring to their argument, which was about to ensue.
"Whatever you say Elvira!" Sara added, walking further into the room, and a safe distance from the now fuming brunette.
*
*
*
Jenna walked alone through the huge crowd of people her own age, pushing her way past some she recognized from school, others she had no idea who they were. Finally she made it to her destination, a quiet corner of the room where she could stand and not be noticed by anyone. She stood there for a few minutes, playing with the long flowing black velvet sleeves of her gothic dress, until she recognized a familiar voice speaking to her.
"So I see you came..." Tim stated as he walked up to her in the corner.
"Oh, yeah... well I figured it could be fun..." he answered him shyly.
"Well you figured wrong!" he replied with a cool smile, she grinned back slightly.
He looked her over closely, her long medieval style dress was made entirely out of black velvet with a sheer red satin-laced bodice.
"Oh, don't ask..." she muttered, referring to the way he was looking at her dress. "Sam made me wear it..."
"Why?" he asked a bit confused.
"She gave it to me awhile back because she never wore it anywhere... then she got kinda mad because I never wore it anywhere... so here I am... wearing it..." she explained with a hint of embarrassment to her voice.
"I see..." he said with a slight nod, continuing to look her over closely. "You wanna go upstairs?" he then asked her suddenly.
"Uh... sure..." she stated a bit unsurely, becoming a bit more nervous at the eager look he now gave her.
"Okay..." he answered back, lightly taking her by the hand and leading her towards the stairs, ignoring the others around them.
*
*
*
Samantha walked along drearily, not knowing anyone or wanting to talk to anyone she saw around her. It was then that she felt a slight tap on the shoulder, causing her to spin around curiously.
"Hey..." Simon acknowledged as he stood behind her, smiling shyly, like he always did around girls.
"Oh hi!" Sam answered, a bit too upbeat for her taste, she looked away from him suddenly once she realized she was blushing.
"So what are you supposed to be this Hollow's Eve?" he asked in a medieval manner.
"Oh..." she quickly remembered her costume.
She held up the white mask, covering her face with it, Simon then noticed her white poet's shirt and long black velvet skirt.
"You're the Phantom of the Opera?" he asked, giving her a wild guess.
"You actually knew that!" she replied, removing the mask from in front of her face, which now wore a shocked expression.
"Oh, yeah... well it is the greatest!" he responded in an obvious tone, she just gawked at him as if he were a beautiful vision.
*
*
*
Sara stood in the corner, giving the popular kids from her school the evil eye as they walked past her fearfully.
"I thought they only looked that way at me..." Jake commented as he walked over to the blonde who was slumped in the corner.
"They're sheep!" she stated proudly as she glanced over the crowd, then at him.
"Sounds like something I would say..." he noted while leaning against the wall casually, he then began to look her over curiously.
"What?" she questioned his stares.
"What are you supposed to be anyway?" he asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh... I'm the power guy..." she answered, holding up her flashlight.
He looked at the orange jumpsuit she wore, then his eyes landed on the nametag pinned to the front pocket of the suit, it had the picture of someone in a pair of black-framed glasses, he then noticed she was wearing the exact same kind of glasses on her face.
"So I see..." he responded blankly, shrugging away the questions that were soaring through his mind.
*
*
*
"So did you always want to play the violin?" Samantha asked as she stood by the doorway with him.
"Not really, it was just sorta something that was handed to me when I was little and I was told 'here, play this'..." Simon explained unenthusiastically.
"I can relate..." Sam agreed with a faint smile of understanding.
"Its like the piano... I think I was able to play it before I could walk!" he joked seriously.
"It can't be that bad..." she assured him, he just flashed her unassuming look.
"We have eight pianos..." he told her sadly.
"What!?!" she said in disbelief. "How can somebody have that many pianos!?!"
"I don't know we just do... eight pianos and one pipe organ..." he sighed, Samantha's eyes widened at the mention of the instrument.
"You have an organ?" she asked eagerly, he nodded. "Show me!" she insisted, he only shrugged and began to lead the way.
*
*
*
They entered the large room that was lined in marble, there were books everywhere.
"So this is the library?" Jenna questioned as she slowly looked around.
"Uh, pretty much..." Tim said as he followed her closely into the room, shutting the door behind them.
She made her way over to the corner of the library, where a large leather- bound book rested in a glass case.
"You didn't tell me you had your own Arcanum!" she announced happily.
"What?" he asked in a very lost tone.
"Nevermind..." she laughed his question away. "Maleficio" she then read the title to herself out loud as he came up behind, looking over her shoulder at the book.
"Oh, yeah... I think its Italian or something..." he responded.
"No, I think its Latin..." Jenna mumbled back with distraction. "It means 'Magick'..." she then looked over her shoulder at him, he was looking her over with curiosity in his teal eyes.
"How do you know Latin?" he asked her while looking deep into her eyes.
"Oh... I picked some of it up during my Thir13en Ghosts phase..." she muttered back faintly, looking away from his stare shyly.
He noticed her apprehension and slowly brushed her hair away from her neck, lightly stroking her skin with his fingers as he did so.
"What are you..." she began to ask, she then felt his lips against her neck, kissing her gently and she stopped speaking.
She closed her eyes as his hands grasped her waist firmly while he continued to kiss her neck. She then felt his hands move to the back of her dress, his fingers pulling at the buttons, trying to unfasten them.
"I can't..." she told him certainly, turning around to face him.
"Why?" he asked innocently, lifting his hand to her face, lightly brushing it against her cheek, it was very clear he knew what he was doing.
"I..." she tried to say, just then he pulled her closer to him with his other hand, which was pressed against her back. "We shouldn't..." she whispered as he leaned his head down to hers, their lips were only centimeters apart.
Just as his lips touched hers they heard a loud sound which caused both of them to pull apart and look towards the closed door to the room.
*
*
*
"So how come you aren't in a costume?" Sara asked Jake, as they stood together, sending others around them menacing looks.
"Do I look like someone who would wear a costume?" he asked her seriously, she looked him over closely.
"Yeah, you're right... you're scary enough as it is!" she joked in a serious manner, then they heard the loud sound of someone playing a pipe organ... the theme to the Phantom of the Opera to be exact.
"God! I can't work with this racket!" the blonde woman shouted angrily, her hands pressed to her ears as she walked up to them in a hurry.
Her glasses where falling off of her face as she shook her head at the annoying sound which thundered throughout the large house.
"We're having a party and you're just now noticing it's noisy?" Jake asked his mother skeptically.
"Well it wasn't a problem then... just a little noise from you all, but this is ridiculous!" Sukie declared, continuing to shake her head at the music.
"How's the newspaper Ms. Ridgemont?" Sara asked her in an overly innocent way.
"Oh its fine... boring as usual..." she replied, Jake only rolled his eyes at her for no reason.
*
*
*
Jenna walked down the stairs in a hurry, lifting her long skirt as she did, trying her best not to trip as Tim followed closely after her. She quickly found who she was looking for and made her way towards Sara, Tim noticed her destination and turned to his right, walking away from her and out of the room... he definitely didn't want to be near Sara once she told her what he had tried to do in the library.
"Hey..." Jenna muttered to the blonde in orange and her two companions.
"This is Jake..." Sara acknowledge, motioning towards the boy at her side. "And his mother..." she then nodded towards the blonde woman in front of them.
"Oh, hi..." the brunette said, looking at both of them, not sure which one she was talking to.
"Hello, I'm Sukie Ridgemont... you must be the daughter of the man Alex sold her sculptors to?" she asked in a friendly manner, smiling brightly as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
"Oh, yeah... I'm Jenna." She explained, Jake only waved slightly at her, not saying a word.
It was then that they heard the sound of the pipe organ being played again, all four of them looked around in curiosity.
"Looks like Samantha found a piano..." Jenna stated, referring to the Phantom-esque theme to the loud music.
"Oh well in this house there are many to choose from..." Sukie joked with another smile.
"I should get her before she breaks the windows or something..." Jenna then implied.
"Oh, I'll show you where it is..." Sukie then gestured for her to follow as she led the way, walking away from Sara and her son.
Once his mother and Jenna were visibly gone from his site, Jake turned to the blonde at his side.
"So..." he muttered to her with boredom.
"So..." she answered in the same dull tone.
He sighed before looking back at her, an eyebrow raised as a thought occurred to him.
"I'll give you ten bucks if you jump in the pool..." he said suddenly, Sara looked over at him curiously, she then thought twice about it.
"Twenty..." she replied coolly.
"Okay... but you have to take the jumpsuit off!" he threatened, she looked at him a bit insulted, then her expression turned happy again.
"Deal!" she agreed.
Sara handed him her flashlight, she then removed her black-framed glasses and nametag, handing them both to him before unzipping the orange jumpsuit she wore. He threw her a look of disbelief as she stepped out of the suit, she was now wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of black pants.
"You're really going to do this?" he asked with doubt.
"Of course... why wouldn't I?" she asked as she kicked off her shoes. "Wish me luck!" she then announced before taking off in a run towards the open doorway that led into the room which housed the large indoor pool.
Jake watched her with fascination as she ran towards the pool fearlessly, everyone else looking at her as if she were insane.
"Jesus stole my tennis shoes!!!" Sara shouted frantically as she leapt into the air, diving into the pool, sending a tidal wave of water splashing onto the others who stood nearby.
"Gotta love crazy people..." Jake sighed with satisfaction as he joyfully watched the guests cry and complain about being soaked and their costumes ruined by the insane girl who now casually did the backstroke in the middle of the swimming pool.
"I hate parties..." Jenna stated dully, her chin resting on the palms of her hands.
"So do I... well, unless there is drinking involved..." Samantha added in the same dry tone as she sat next to her.
"You lush!" Jenna remarked sarcastically.
"I'm going..." Sara said suddenly, causing both girls to look in her direction curiously. "I might get another chance to throw Tim in the pool..." she answered their stares with a shrug.
*
*
*
The large house was overflowing with teenagers as the sun set slowly in the autumn sky. Simon, following the commands of his overly happy mother, unenthusiastically carried more plastic cups into the large ballroom of the house.
"This blows!" Jake sighed drearily as he sat in the middle of the staircase, suddenly the tall lanky boy stood over him.
"I know what you mean..." Tim replied in the same dull voice.
"I thought you liked all this party crap!" Jake wondered.
"I do... but not when your mom's walking around the place with you! It's just like my seventh birthday all over again!" Tim shrieked unhappily.
"Hey man, that clown was your idea, remember?" Jake reminded him, Tim only winced at the thought.
*
*
*
"I can't believe you made me wear this!" Jenna cried with embarrassment to the red head at her side.
"I gave you that dress and you never wear it! It cost a hundred damn dollars!" Sam responded forcefully, the brunette only hung her head sadly. "Don't worry... you look hot!" Samantha then insisted, giving Jenna a tight hug before letting her go once she noticed the odd looks they were receiving from the others around them. "What? Can't a girl hug her lover in public anymore!?!" the red head demanded to know from the small crowd, the others quickly went back to what they were doing before her outburst.
Jenna laughed slightly at her friend's remark before noticing who came up the steps into the house behind them, it was Sara.
"Nice dress... we going to a vampire coven later on, cuz if so I forgot my virginal sacrifice!" Sara asked sarcastically as Jenna gave her a mean look while glancing over the blonde's costume.
"You forgot your hardhat!" Jenna told Sara smartly.
"No I didn't... I just didn't want to wear it..." the blonde answered unsurely.
"Why not?" Sam questioned.
"Its yellow!" Sara answered quickly, rolling her eyes at the other two in front of her.
"You're wearing a bright orange jumpsuit and you are worried about a yellow hardhat???" Sam remarked, rolling her eyes as well.
"Let's just drop it, okay?" Jenna insisted, referring to their argument, which was about to ensue.
"Whatever you say Elvira!" Sara added, walking further into the room, and a safe distance from the now fuming brunette.
*
*
*
Jenna walked alone through the huge crowd of people her own age, pushing her way past some she recognized from school, others she had no idea who they were. Finally she made it to her destination, a quiet corner of the room where she could stand and not be noticed by anyone. She stood there for a few minutes, playing with the long flowing black velvet sleeves of her gothic dress, until she recognized a familiar voice speaking to her.
"So I see you came..." Tim stated as he walked up to her in the corner.
"Oh, yeah... well I figured it could be fun..." he answered him shyly.
"Well you figured wrong!" he replied with a cool smile, she grinned back slightly.
He looked her over closely, her long medieval style dress was made entirely out of black velvet with a sheer red satin-laced bodice.
"Oh, don't ask..." she muttered, referring to the way he was looking at her dress. "Sam made me wear it..."
"Why?" he asked a bit confused.
"She gave it to me awhile back because she never wore it anywhere... then she got kinda mad because I never wore it anywhere... so here I am... wearing it..." she explained with a hint of embarrassment to her voice.
"I see..." he said with a slight nod, continuing to look her over closely. "You wanna go upstairs?" he then asked her suddenly.
"Uh... sure..." she stated a bit unsurely, becoming a bit more nervous at the eager look he now gave her.
"Okay..." he answered back, lightly taking her by the hand and leading her towards the stairs, ignoring the others around them.
*
*
*
Samantha walked along drearily, not knowing anyone or wanting to talk to anyone she saw around her. It was then that she felt a slight tap on the shoulder, causing her to spin around curiously.
"Hey..." Simon acknowledged as he stood behind her, smiling shyly, like he always did around girls.
"Oh hi!" Sam answered, a bit too upbeat for her taste, she looked away from him suddenly once she realized she was blushing.
"So what are you supposed to be this Hollow's Eve?" he asked in a medieval manner.
"Oh..." she quickly remembered her costume.
She held up the white mask, covering her face with it, Simon then noticed her white poet's shirt and long black velvet skirt.
"You're the Phantom of the Opera?" he asked, giving her a wild guess.
"You actually knew that!" she replied, removing the mask from in front of her face, which now wore a shocked expression.
"Oh, yeah... well it is the greatest!" he responded in an obvious tone, she just gawked at him as if he were a beautiful vision.
*
*
*
Sara stood in the corner, giving the popular kids from her school the evil eye as they walked past her fearfully.
"I thought they only looked that way at me..." Jake commented as he walked over to the blonde who was slumped in the corner.
"They're sheep!" she stated proudly as she glanced over the crowd, then at him.
"Sounds like something I would say..." he noted while leaning against the wall casually, he then began to look her over curiously.
"What?" she questioned his stares.
"What are you supposed to be anyway?" he asked skeptically with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh... I'm the power guy..." she answered, holding up her flashlight.
He looked at the orange jumpsuit she wore, then his eyes landed on the nametag pinned to the front pocket of the suit, it had the picture of someone in a pair of black-framed glasses, he then noticed she was wearing the exact same kind of glasses on her face.
"So I see..." he responded blankly, shrugging away the questions that were soaring through his mind.
*
*
*
"So did you always want to play the violin?" Samantha asked as she stood by the doorway with him.
"Not really, it was just sorta something that was handed to me when I was little and I was told 'here, play this'..." Simon explained unenthusiastically.
"I can relate..." Sam agreed with a faint smile of understanding.
"Its like the piano... I think I was able to play it before I could walk!" he joked seriously.
"It can't be that bad..." she assured him, he just flashed her unassuming look.
"We have eight pianos..." he told her sadly.
"What!?!" she said in disbelief. "How can somebody have that many pianos!?!"
"I don't know we just do... eight pianos and one pipe organ..." he sighed, Samantha's eyes widened at the mention of the instrument.
"You have an organ?" she asked eagerly, he nodded. "Show me!" she insisted, he only shrugged and began to lead the way.
*
*
*
They entered the large room that was lined in marble, there were books everywhere.
"So this is the library?" Jenna questioned as she slowly looked around.
"Uh, pretty much..." Tim said as he followed her closely into the room, shutting the door behind them.
She made her way over to the corner of the library, where a large leather- bound book rested in a glass case.
"You didn't tell me you had your own Arcanum!" she announced happily.
"What?" he asked in a very lost tone.
"Nevermind..." she laughed his question away. "Maleficio" she then read the title to herself out loud as he came up behind, looking over her shoulder at the book.
"Oh, yeah... I think its Italian or something..." he responded.
"No, I think its Latin..." Jenna mumbled back with distraction. "It means 'Magick'..." she then looked over her shoulder at him, he was looking her over with curiosity in his teal eyes.
"How do you know Latin?" he asked her while looking deep into her eyes.
"Oh... I picked some of it up during my Thir13en Ghosts phase..." she muttered back faintly, looking away from his stare shyly.
He noticed her apprehension and slowly brushed her hair away from her neck, lightly stroking her skin with his fingers as he did so.
"What are you..." she began to ask, she then felt his lips against her neck, kissing her gently and she stopped speaking.
She closed her eyes as his hands grasped her waist firmly while he continued to kiss her neck. She then felt his hands move to the back of her dress, his fingers pulling at the buttons, trying to unfasten them.
"I can't..." she told him certainly, turning around to face him.
"Why?" he asked innocently, lifting his hand to her face, lightly brushing it against her cheek, it was very clear he knew what he was doing.
"I..." she tried to say, just then he pulled her closer to him with his other hand, which was pressed against her back. "We shouldn't..." she whispered as he leaned his head down to hers, their lips were only centimeters apart.
Just as his lips touched hers they heard a loud sound which caused both of them to pull apart and look towards the closed door to the room.
*
*
*
"So how come you aren't in a costume?" Sara asked Jake, as they stood together, sending others around them menacing looks.
"Do I look like someone who would wear a costume?" he asked her seriously, she looked him over closely.
"Yeah, you're right... you're scary enough as it is!" she joked in a serious manner, then they heard the loud sound of someone playing a pipe organ... the theme to the Phantom of the Opera to be exact.
"God! I can't work with this racket!" the blonde woman shouted angrily, her hands pressed to her ears as she walked up to them in a hurry.
Her glasses where falling off of her face as she shook her head at the annoying sound which thundered throughout the large house.
"We're having a party and you're just now noticing it's noisy?" Jake asked his mother skeptically.
"Well it wasn't a problem then... just a little noise from you all, but this is ridiculous!" Sukie declared, continuing to shake her head at the music.
"How's the newspaper Ms. Ridgemont?" Sara asked her in an overly innocent way.
"Oh its fine... boring as usual..." she replied, Jake only rolled his eyes at her for no reason.
*
*
*
Jenna walked down the stairs in a hurry, lifting her long skirt as she did, trying her best not to trip as Tim followed closely after her. She quickly found who she was looking for and made her way towards Sara, Tim noticed her destination and turned to his right, walking away from her and out of the room... he definitely didn't want to be near Sara once she told her what he had tried to do in the library.
"Hey..." Jenna muttered to the blonde in orange and her two companions.
"This is Jake..." Sara acknowledge, motioning towards the boy at her side. "And his mother..." she then nodded towards the blonde woman in front of them.
"Oh, hi..." the brunette said, looking at both of them, not sure which one she was talking to.
"Hello, I'm Sukie Ridgemont... you must be the daughter of the man Alex sold her sculptors to?" she asked in a friendly manner, smiling brightly as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
"Oh, yeah... I'm Jenna." She explained, Jake only waved slightly at her, not saying a word.
It was then that they heard the sound of the pipe organ being played again, all four of them looked around in curiosity.
"Looks like Samantha found a piano..." Jenna stated, referring to the Phantom-esque theme to the loud music.
"Oh well in this house there are many to choose from..." Sukie joked with another smile.
"I should get her before she breaks the windows or something..." Jenna then implied.
"Oh, I'll show you where it is..." Sukie then gestured for her to follow as she led the way, walking away from Sara and her son.
Once his mother and Jenna were visibly gone from his site, Jake turned to the blonde at his side.
"So..." he muttered to her with boredom.
"So..." she answered in the same dull tone.
He sighed before looking back at her, an eyebrow raised as a thought occurred to him.
"I'll give you ten bucks if you jump in the pool..." he said suddenly, Sara looked over at him curiously, she then thought twice about it.
"Twenty..." she replied coolly.
"Okay... but you have to take the jumpsuit off!" he threatened, she looked at him a bit insulted, then her expression turned happy again.
"Deal!" she agreed.
Sara handed him her flashlight, she then removed her black-framed glasses and nametag, handing them both to him before unzipping the orange jumpsuit she wore. He threw her a look of disbelief as she stepped out of the suit, she was now wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of black pants.
"You're really going to do this?" he asked with doubt.
"Of course... why wouldn't I?" she asked as she kicked off her shoes. "Wish me luck!" she then announced before taking off in a run towards the open doorway that led into the room which housed the large indoor pool.
Jake watched her with fascination as she ran towards the pool fearlessly, everyone else looking at her as if she were insane.
"Jesus stole my tennis shoes!!!" Sara shouted frantically as she leapt into the air, diving into the pool, sending a tidal wave of water splashing onto the others who stood nearby.
"Gotta love crazy people..." Jake sighed with satisfaction as he joyfully watched the guests cry and complain about being soaked and their costumes ruined by the insane girl who now casually did the backstroke in the middle of the swimming pool.