Now and Then 2: Before and After

Chapter 5 – The Halloween Dance

The walk to Teeny's house was not long, after a few minutes of walking around and hiding behind bushes everytime Samantha's mom drove by, Raphael and Samantha stood outside Teeny's house, they threw a couple of stones to her window until she opened.

- "What are you guys doing here?" – Teeny asked looking down at both of them.

- "I got in a huge fight with my mom and I'm looking for a place to stay, can I please stay with you?" – Samantha asked Teeny.

Teeny just stood there for a moment and looked around to see if her parents had got up, when she saw that no one came to check on her, she threw some keys to Raphael.

- "Those are the keys for the garden door, get the ladder Raphael for Samantha" – Teeny said.

Raphael took the keys and opened the garden door, he picked up the ladder which was pressed against the wall with the lawnmower on its side, he carefully moved the lawnmower and took the ladder out to the front of the house, he pressed it against the wall and set it to reach Teeny's window.

- "There it is, go Sam, I have to get home too" – Raphael said.

Samantha looked at him, clearly her eyes were watery, she had been crying all the way to Teeny's house.

- "Thank you Raphael, and I'm sorry" – Samantha said.

Raphael just took her hand and looked her in the eyes.

- "Don't worry about anything ok? I'll see you tomorrow" – Raphael said.

She kissed him and went up the stairs, when she went inside she saw Raphael take the ladder back to the garden and then he closed the garden door and threw the keys back at Teeny, they waved him goodbye and he walked away until he was out of sight.

- "What happened Sam?" – Teeny asked looking at Samantha who had just walked to the bed and hugged a pillow.

- "My mom again, she totally freaked out when she saw Raphael, why does she do this to me, why can't she just be happy for me?" – Samantha asked holding her pressing need to burst into tears, this time for anger.

- "Parents mess up always Samantha, you know it, that's the way things are" – Teeny said as she gave her friend a hug.

- "I know it's normal for things to be shitty" – Samantha said.

- "But you can change that" – Teeny said.

- "I don't know how Teeny" – Samantha replied.

- "Well I can't tell you how Sam, you are just gonna have to figure it out" – Teeny said.

Samantha didn't think Teeny's last comment was very helpful, but at least it calmed her down a little. She found it hard to sleep that night, she kept reviving the scene with her mother in her head, and it made her even more angry, but then it felt like sadness, she was sad for her mother's reaction, and now that her mother knew the boy imagine what grandma had to say about the whole thing; she was actually a lot more open to new things than her mother, it was only her addiction to playing bingo with her friends that really annoyed Samantha a little.

Samantha had trouble getting over last night, everytime she was with Raphael she couldn't help to get embarrassed, and even though Raphael constantly comforted her she still felt bad for everything. The recess came and Teeny, Roberta, Scott, Chrissy, Samantha and Raphael were sitting on a table near the left window from the entrance of the lunch room, they were eating lunch very quietly until Samantha looked up and saw the poster for the Halloween dance.

- "Oh my god, I completely forgot" – Samantha said.

- "What about it?" – Chrissy asked looking at Samantha.

Samantha looked around the table as if she couldn't spot Roberta, when she did she looked at her.

- "What?" – Roberta asked.

- "Did you finish with your dress?" – Samantha asked, Chrissy and Teeny almost lept off their seats when they heard this.

- "You are going to the dance in a dress?" – Teeny asked, Chrissy was almost choking for she had just taken a sip of her coke when she heard this.

- "Y-Yeah so!" – Roberta asked in a menacing tone.

- "Oh my god...our little Tomboy is turning into a lady" – Chrissy said.

Roberta started to get all red in the face.

- "Shut up!" – Roberta commanded, the others just burst into laughter.

- "Yeah, laugh all you want you weasels" – Roberta said and she crossed her arms and looked out the window pretending not to hear them anymore.

Samantha left the subject, later that afternoon she kissed Raphael goodbye and went to her grandmother's house, fortunately she was home, she told Samantha that her bingo party was cancelled because one of her friends had a car accident and they did not wan to continue until she was fully recovered. Samantha told her grandmother about the dance, and when she was through there was a look of surprise on her grandmother's face, Samantha never had the idea of going to a dance before, and when Sam told her of the dress and the help she needed for her costume, her grandmother took her to the attic to see some of the stuff, her husband kept there, and they found a witch hat that had been used by her grandmother in a party with her bingo friends, it was a perfect fit, and also her grandmother took out some jewellery she hadn't used for a while and gave it to Samantha in a jewellery box, it contained a necklace with a little pumpkin, a few thin bracelets that Samantha thought they were very nice, and a little pin in the shape of a broom. Sure enough the outfit was simple, but for Samantha having all that stuff was a relief.

Roberta on the other hand had gone out to buy something to complete her dress, she had no idea what she was going to buy, so he had to go to her last resort, Teeny. She called Teeny and they both went out to buy things for her dress. Roberta's dress was white, Teeny thought it great if she could disguise Roberta as a princess, with a crown and everything, but obviously Roberta hated the idea, then Teeny said something that changed Roberta's view of it all.

She said: "Don't you think your mother would have loved to see you all dressed up? As a princess?".

Roberta took the tiara that Teeny was holding and without saying anything else she bought everything for her princess outfit, Teeny couldn't believe it, but Roberta was actually smiling, and when Teeny noticed, she smiled too.

The night for the Halloween dance was beginning, Samantha and Roberta were very nervous, but both of them looked amazing in their dresses, when Scott saw Roberta come down the stairs of Teeny's house, his jaw dropped, Roberta just smiled and Scott smiled back, but Roberta just whispered.

"Don't get used to it".

Samantha came down the stairs too and Raphael welcomed her with a kiss, he was dressed up as the great and fearsome Zorro, quite convenient, Scott was dressed as Dracula, Teeny was dressed as Marilyn Monroe, and Chrissy was just dressed in a pink dress and had a little gold mask.

- "This isn't a masquerade Chrissy, couldn't you find something more halloween-like?" – Teeny said.

- "Well I was gonna go as a witch but Sam beat me to the idea" – Chrissy said.

They all went out and they walked together to the school, they entered the gym. The whole gym was decorated with pumpkins with candles inside them, bats hanging from the ceiling, the usual disco balls, and other Halloween stuff, the room was full, it was hard to go around without bumping into someone.

Upon their arrival they started dancing, it didn't take Teeny more than five minutes to be surrounded by guys that wanted to dance with her, Samantha was just happy she had one, Raphael. Roberta was stared at by most of the girls, with looks of envy, but guys were staring too, nobody ever knew that Roberta was actually a beautiful girl. Chrissy was just sitting on a corner watching her friends dancing and she was eating a piece of chocolate cake, then a boy by the name of Jerry Watson, who was one of the brightest kids in the school and also labelled the top geek of all, came to ask Chrissy to dance, and surprisingly enough she agreed.

The four girls were having fun until Samantha's mother came through the gym door, she walked towards Samantha and Raphael, she took Samantha by the arm and pulled her out of the dancing crowd.

- "You are coming home with me right now, young lady" – Sam's mom said.

Samantha struggled to get her mother's grip on her arm loose, but her mother had held on to her so tight, Sam felt like she was cutting her circulation.

Raphael came out of the crowd and approached Sam and her mom, he stood by Samantha and took her by the arm and pulled her near him which caused Sam's mother to loose her grip on Sam's arm.

- "You! You stay away from my daughter!" – Samantha's mom shouted, the whole room stared at them, Roberta, Chrissy and Teeny moved in to try and smooth things up but this made it even worse.

- "You are in on this too? Shame on you, I thought you were real friends to my daughter but you are a bunch of troublemakers, you put my daughter up to this" – Samantha's mother said.

Roberta looked at Teeny, she was clearly shocked by the woman's behaviour, Samantha was about to cry, but she finally snapped.

- "I'm tired of you mom, I hate you, I don't wanna see you again, leave me alone, I love Raphael and I love my friends and nothing you say or do can change that! Come on Raphael let's go" – Samantha shouted and took Raphael by the hand and ran out with him, Samantha's mother stood there for a while and then left the gym, got inside her car and drove away.

Roberta, Scott, Teeny and Chrissy ran out to find Samantha and Raphael, they walked around the school and found them sitting on a bench, Samantha was crying and Raphael was holding her. Everyone was at a loss for words, no one spoke for a while, until Chrissy finally suggested to go to the tree house, and they all walked there, to spend the night of that Friday all together in neutral ground.

TO BE CONTINUED...