Halloween Part 1

Mara:

"I still can't believe it actually happened," I said, shaking my head as Jerome and I walked over to school.

Jerome laughed gleefully. "I've got my polaroid and camera phone ready. This night will last forever, both on the Internet, and on my bulletin board."

I fought back a giggle. "Patricia Williamson. In a couples' costume. I think Eddie's made her go soft."

Jerome laughed again and I felt irrationally proud. He used to laugh all the time with Alfie, it had been all he ever seemed to do. But the custody battle between his parents was taking its toll and he'd been acting out more and more lately. He'd racked up ten different detentions in all of two weeks, and he hardly ever laughed anymore, unless he was either with me or screwing around. I felt a strange mixture of privilege and sadness at the fact.

I noticed Jerome was looking at me and I dragged my mind back to the conversation at hand. "So, what do you think they'll go as? They went shopping in town yesterday but refuse to tell anyone."

"Actually, I heard Fabian knows," corrected Jerome.

"Which means Nina will know too by now, of course," I laughed. "How did Fabian find out?"

"Well he's roommates with Eddie, isn't he? Suspect it's hard to keep secrets."

I shrugged. "Fair point."

"Speaking of costumes." Jerome stepped in front of the doors, blocking my path.

"Jerome, we have to get to class."

"Eventually yes, but Mara please, I'm dying here. When am I going to get to see your costume?" My boyfriend looked down at me with pleading eyes and I flashed him the evilest smile I could muster.

"I told you. You'll find out this evening when we head over to the party."

Jerome groaned and I laughed before stepping around him. Grabbing his hand in mine I linked our fingers together and tugged him through the doors into the hallway. We stopped by Jerome's locker to grab his books – I'd taken my science materials back to the house with me last night – and headed over to Sweetie's classroom.

I sighed as Jerome immediately went up to the chalk board and started writing out swear words in Latin. When Eddie came in and saw what he was doing, he chuckled and offered to be look out. Not much of the class understood the Latin but the few that did laughed, and when Eddie warned Jerome his dad was coming everyone hurried back to their seats. When Mr. Sweet entered we were all the perfect picture of innocence. Mr. Sweet didn't notice the chalkboard right away, he was reading something off a clipboard when he came in. I glanced over at Jerome nervously, only to see he looked entirely unperturbed. Shocking.

After our teacher took attendance he clapped his hands together. "Alright then. In honor of today's holiday of All Hallow's Eve, we are going to be doing lab work with this particular theme in mind." He picked up a piece of chalk and I held my breath. "There will be stations at most of the tables, a complete list of which can be found on the board." He turned around and froze. I seemed to have lost the ability to breathe. I didn't dare look at Jerome or Eddie. From where we were sitting I could see his eyes narrowing as they scanned the writing, before he sighed and turned around.

Sweetie laughed dully and turned around, idly scratching at his temples. "Very funny, very funny. However, tempus et locus, students. Time and place. I don't suppose anyone wants to tell me who did it?"

He looked around the classroom hopefully. Of course, everybody knew who did it, but nobody said anything. Mr. Sweet frowned and turned to me. "Miss Jaffray?"

My mouth suddenly turned very dry and I sat up straight. "Yes?"

"You're always in class early. Did you see it?"

I cleared my throat. Then I cleared it again, still not daring to look at either Sweetie's son or my boyfriend. "I-I think it was there when I came in sir, but I was reading so I'm not really sure. Sorry."

Mr. Sweet sighed, appearing resigned and picked up the eraser. "We'll call it the spirit of the holiday and, just let it slide, shall we?" he suggested, before clearing the board and lifting the chalk.

I quickly glanced to my right to see Jerome frowning. "Strange," he murmured. "I thought for sure that would have had him up in arms."

"Please don't tell me you wanted detention," I muttered just as quietly.

He snorted beneath his breath. "Course not. But some recognition would be nice."

I would've said more but Sweetie started talking and so I started paying attention. He listed out the stations as he wrote them out, and the materials on top of all the desks started making a lot more sense.

Jerome and I spent most of our time with Alfie and Amber at the slime table, using glue, borax powder and food coloring. Jerome and Alfie made gloves out of it and they were laughing together and goofing off and it felt like I had stepped into a time machine and been transported back to three years ago years ago.

The entire school seemed to be buzzing with excitement for the party tonight, with the notable exception of most of our housemates. "You'd think they'd cheer up a little," Jerome muttered. He was currently frowning at Eddie, Patricia, Nina and Fabian who were gathered around a locker having hushed discussion. "It's Halloween for god's sake. Even Joy's out of sorts, and she's normally up for a good time unlike Rutter the Wet Blanket."

I thought about mentioning how Joy had gotten a text this morning that had nearly made her throw up, but decided it was neither his nor my business and instead gently grabbed him by the arm. "Fabian is not a wet blanket Jerome."

He snorted. "Please. He makes used towels look like they just got out of the dryer."

I started to explain how I viewed him more as a straight edge than a wet blanket as the bell rang for fourth period, but Jerome got a phone call and when he checked the caller ID, his entire body changed to that of someone undergoing immense suffering. Jerome flipped the phone open and I put my hand in his, running my fingers across his knuckles the way I knew calmed him down as he listened to the man on the other end of the phone.

After a few minutes, the halls were mostly empty and on some level I recognized that we were going to be late to class if we didn't hurry but I stayed with Jerome until he hung up and leaned his head against the locker nearest to him. "Was it the lawyer?" I asked gently.

Jerome heaved a sigh as the second bell rang and turned around so that the locker was propping him up. If I didn't know any better I'd say that the metal against his back and my hand in his were the only things keeping him standing.

He dragged a hand down his face and I gave his other hand a squeeze. "They've set a court date."

To say he said it would be wrong. He didn't say anything, the words seemed to forcibly drag themselves out of him one by one, each taking a tiny piece of his soul as it went. There wasn't anything I could say to make it better so I simply stood up on my tip toes and draped my arms around him, pulling him as close to me as I could. I felt his arms wrap tightly around me, hands landing on the small of my back. When Jerome eventually drew away he had a deadened look in his eyes that I couldn't stand to see.

"You know," I teased, desperate to get him smiling. "It would be a lot easier to hug you if you weren't so tall."

He offered up a half-hearted smirk and I clung to it with all of my limited strength. "It'd also be a lot easier if you weren't so short. Dwarf."

"Giant."

"Flea."

"Flea?" He laughed and I scowled before a mental lightbulb ignited above my head. "What would you say if I told you I could fix it?"

I raised my eyebrows and bit my lip and he cocked his head. "What exactly did you have in mind Jaffray?"

I let a small smile bloom across my mouth, glancing to see if anyone was still in the hall before taking his hand again and tugging him over to the janitor's closet. We normally snuck in here between periods for a quick make-out session, but this time I had something a little extra in mind. We slipped in and I shut the door behind us, dropping my bag and turning to see him do the same.

"So, care to enlighten me on how you're going to, 'fix it'?"

I honestly had no idea if this was going to work but I couldn't stand to see him with that dead look in his eyes so I closed my eyes for a half second, sent up a brief prayer, and smiled. With no warning, I placed my hands on his shoulders and jumped, hooking my legs around him and crossing my ankles right above his waist. Good thing for me he had good reflexes and his hands immediately went under my thighs, causing my pulse to accelerate to unhealthy levels. I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "Mara," he said thickly, voice catching, but I didn't give him the chance to talk further before I brought our lips together.

Kissing Jerome was like I was tinder someone had suddenly set ablaze. Everything in me ached, my chest, my hands, my teeth with the inexplicable need to get him closer. I ran my hands through his gorgeous hair, feeling the strands pass between my fingers, opening my mouth and letting his tongue sweep in, the maple syrup taste he always seemed to have turning my brain to fog. I ran a hand along the back of his neck and pulled away from his mouth, angling my head so that I could place quick, hot kisses along his jaw, his cheekbones, the juncture where his neck met his shoulders. I became aware of him repeating a single word over and over and tried to simultaneously decipher what he was saying and drag my lips beneath his ear. When I realized what he was saying I nearly fell backwards out of his grip. Just my name. Mara. Again and again he whispered it, as though he was dying and it was a prayer to God. "Mara. Mara. Mara."

No one had ever said my name like that before. I ignored the sudden tightness in my throat and moved my mouth back to his, kissing him harder as his hand slid up, under my shirt, all the way up to brush over my shoulder blades and I smiled against his lips. "I don't quite think we have time for that," I breathed.

Suddenly he froze. "Mara what time is it?"

I ignored him, planting more kisses. He withdrew his hand and glanced over my shoulder at his watch as I tried not to feel insulted. "Mara, we have government right now!"

"But this is so much more fun," I insisted, continuing to kiss him.

It seemed to physically pain him to do it, but he made to set me down and I reluctantly unwrapped my legs. "Mara Jaffray, you have a near perfect attendance record. You have never voluntarily missed a class in your life. We're going to government."

I raised my eyebrows. "When did we switch places," I teased, as I picked my bag up from the ground and fixed my hair.

Admittedly, we got to class ten minutes late, and, admittedly, Nina muttered to me out of the corner of her mouth that my lipstick was smeared, but for the next few hours Jerome seemed to forget about the upcoming court appointment. The deadened look had left his eyes, and after school was out as we were walking back home with the others, he even put some slime he'd saved from science down the back of Alfie's shirt, causing his friend to chase him all the way back, Jerome's laughter ringing out. And, admittedly, that was worth all the tardies in the world.

Eddie:

"I still can't believe you got Patricia to do a couples' costume."

I hid a smirk as I pulled a ripped and bloodstained tee shirt over my head. "It's all part of my charm."

Our backs were to each other as we changed but I could practically feel my roommate roll his eyes. "Is that the charm of the crumbs you leave all over our room that I have to clean up, or the charm where you take three days to do two loads of laundry?"

"All of the above," I replied breezily, now smearing fake blood on my hands. "But enough about me and Patricia," I teased. "What about you and Nina?"

'What about me and Nina?' I mouthed as Fabian immediately replied, "What about me and Nina?"

I shrugged. "Oh, I don't know. How are things between you two? You in synch? On the same page? Do you have matching Facebook statuses?"

"Yes, yes, and Nina doesn't have Facebook."

"Right, right. Forgot about that."

We continued changing – I was now putting on a pair of jeans that looked as though they'd been attacked by a pack of denim-eating wolves – and Fabian suddenly asked "Hey Eddie."

"Hey Fabian."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"No, your costume doesn't make you look fat."

His sigh was audible across the room. "Never mind."

I decided to take pity on him. "Hey come on man. Talk to me. What's up?"

He was silent for a few seconds before talking. "If a girl wants to… but you're not ready to…" At this point I was both hooked and a little bit apprehensive and so I waited for him to keep going. "What do you do if you're in a relationship and you want to slow things down?"

"Depends on how slow." I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying this the teensiest bit.

Fabian huffed out an exasperated breath. "If the girl wants to do, certain things. And, you aren't ready, for those, certain things. How do you tell the girl that you're still into her even if you don't want to do those things?"

"Ok first off can we just acknowledge that you is you and the girl is Nina? Awesome. Moving on, just tell Nina that however much you care about her, whatever she wants to do isn't something you're ready for. If she really wants to be with you she'll probably understand that."

"Probably?"

"I am by no means a relationship expert. Honestly dude, you'd probably be better off going to Amber."

"If I ask Amber about anything the entire house will know by Friday. I ask her about this and the entire school will know by tomorrow," he said flatly and I laughed.

"Fair point. Look man. I can't give you the greatest advice but so long as you're coming to me? Just be honest with her."

There was a few seconds of silence and then

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it." I rubbed dirt across my cheeks and tried to let it go but eventually my curiosity won out. "So. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly does Nina want to do?"

A brief pause ensued before he answered. "Well, I mean, she hasn't explicitly said anything. I just sort of get the feeling she's ready for… 'it' you know?"

"What you mean sex?"

"… Yes."

"Wait, you mean you two haven't…"

"No."

I gave a low whistle. "Why not? Bad experience?" I could relate.

He didn't answer and I jerked my head around to face him so fast I nearly got whiplash. "Wait. No experience?" He didn't answer again and my eyes widened. "You've got to be kidding me. A seventeen-year-old male virgin?"

"So what if I am?" Fabian still wasn't facing me so I couldn't see his expression but he sounded defensive and I immediately moved to placate him.

"So nothing. Good for you."

Now he turned to face me. "Good for me?"

I shrugged, turning away again to tie my shoes. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not saying everyone should wait until marriage or whatever, but if we're being honest? I kind of wish I'd waited too."

"Bad experience?"

I fought against the rush of memories that welled up, forcing them into a thick steel chest and sending them far, far away. "You could say that."

"Well what would you say?"

I gave a bitter smile, grateful he couldn't see my face. "Bad experience." Before he could continue pressing I slapped my hands onto my knees. "Alrightie then. I have now reached my emotional conversational quotient for the day, if you would like to continue this discussion the earliest possible start time is 12:01 AM November first."

I stood up off the bed and turned to face Fabian and my entire face screwed up in confusion. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" I demanded. He was wearing a suit that looked like it belonged in America in the 1920s.

"I'm Edwin Hubble," he said, like it should be obvious. I simply stared at him. "Edwin Hubble," he repeated. "Famous American astrologer? Discoverer of Hubble's law?"

I walked over to clap a hand on his shoulder. "Just say you're a gangster. It'll get more laughs."

He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah? And what are you supposed to be?"

I gave a wolfish grin and spread my arms out so he could see my costume in all of its ripped up, bloody glory. "I'm a serial killer of course."

Fabian grabbed a pipe from his bed and we walked over to the living room where Joy, Alfie, and Jerome were already ready. Alfie had on a sort of brown jumpsuit thing that was decked out in some mossy substance, along with twigs taped to his shirt. If I remembered correctly, he was a forest troll and Amber was a forest fairy or something. I had no idea what Joy was going as, seeing how she was clad only in black leggings and a long-sleeved purple sweater, but when I saw Jerome I started laughing so hard I nearly fell over and had to grab the chair for support.

He'd apparently used massive amounts of hair gel to slick it back into something resembling Brad Pitt. He had a ruffled white shirt, crisp black pants, a black coat and a long blood-red cape. When he smiled smugly I saw that he had fake vampire's teeth. The other four watched as I laughed so hard I nearly cried. I didn't understand how I was the only one who could find this funny and I told them so. "How am I the only one who finds this funny?" I demanded, gasping for air.

"Well I think he looks handsome." We turned to see Mara and I nearly fell over again. I wasn't the only one. Fabian looked as though he'd had a heart attack. Jerome, on the other hand, looked as though Christmas had come early.

Mara was dressed in a short, pleated blue skirt, a matching blue crop top with a giant, sparkling, silver 'M' emblazoned on the front, carrying matching pom poms, and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and tied with a blue ribbon.

"Jesus Mara," Alfie said, sounding impressed. "You could've warned us you were hot."

Mara smiled shyly and walked over to sit with Jerome. The six of us chilled in the living room and ate candy from the bowl on the coffee table as Trudy took pictures and Joy obsessively checked her phone.

A couple minutes later Nina came in and I frowned in confusion. I wasn't the only one. She was wearing jeans, a gray tee shirt with the word 'REJECT' stamped across it in bright red, her hair had been teased to add more curl and her makeup was heavier than normal.

"I don't get it," Alfie complained.

Nina grinned and gestured to the tee shirt. "I'm an All-American Reject," she explained, sounding quite proud of herself.

I laughed and we high-fived before she walked over to Fabian.

"Go ahead Fabian, tell her what you are," I grinned.

"I'm Edwin Hubble," he said, sounding excited.

Nina's expression was momentarily blank and then her face lit up. "Oh, the guy who invented the Hubble telescope?"

Fabian beamed. "It was named after him, but he didn't invent it. He was an American astronomer from 1889 to 1953, and the Hubble telescope wasn't launched until 1990. Did you know that he —"

"Fabian," interrupted Alfie. "I'm going to save you the trouble. No one knows, and no one cares."

Nina dragged him over to the couch, assuring him that she cared, and to tell her more about Edwin Hubble, and other stuff that nearly gave me cavities. Patricia and Amber weren't down for another twenty minutes, but I passed the time by trying to see how many jolly ranchers I could fit in my mouth.

The last two members of our house entered the living room together, which was shocking in itself because Amber normally liked to make grand entrances. The blonde in question was dressed in a scarily short green dress with yellow flowers emphasizing her cleavage. Her hair was done into a thousand tiny curls and she had golden glitter artfully smeared all over her body, from her carefully arranged curls to her small brown wedges. Alfie looked thunderstruck.

However sexy Amber's fairy costume might be however, I preferred Patricia's. Dressed in her regular short skirt and tight shirt, the effect was enhanced by the blood stains covering most of her body, complemented by her messy hair. My favorite part was the bloody line across her neck.

"Patricia?" Fabian sounded cautious. "What exactly are you?"

Patricia grinned manically. "Eddie's a serial killer. I'm his victim." She gave a small bow before coming over to sit next to me as I finished cleaning out the jolly ranchers that hadn't dissolved.

"I tried to convince her to be my sexy parole officer but she wouldn't go for it," I added. Patricia smacked me on the arm before sitting down next to me, only to immediately rise back up as Trudy insisted on getting pictures of all the couples.

When I was ten I'd stopped dressing up for Halloween and my mom wasn't really one to take pictures, so for a while I enjoyed Trudy's fussing. But it got old pretty fast. First, she wanted individual photos, and then photos of everyone who was dating, and then photos of the individuals who were dating, and then friends, and then a whole group shot. We did smiling photos, serious photos, goofy photos, and every other kind of photo known to man. By the time she was done the sun was beginning to set and we were all practically fighting to get out the door. She might not have let us go at all if Victor hadn't intervened.

"What is this?" our housemaster demanded. None of us had heard him enter the living room, and so a fair amount of jumping ensued.

"Oh, Victor," Trudy beamed. "The kids are just about to head off, I was only getting some photographs."

"The party started half an hour ago, they are all supposed to be there by now." There was a brief silence as we all wondered what to do before Victor scowled and started making shooing motions. "Hurry up! Away with you!"

We all rushed for the door, struggling to get out, yelling in exultation as we ran across the lawn. The sun was just sinking beneath the horizon, setting everything on fire. Our feet sped across the lawn as we hurried to get to the party. Later. Later, we could worry about our dreams and the Book and Victor and my dad. But right now, we were running across the school grounds, Patricia next to me and the others surrounding me. Right now, we were young and triumphant and invincible. It was a feeling in the air that everyone felt but no one said, the feeling that you only have a couple of your highest points in life, those points where the world is yours for the taking.

Right now, we were kings.

Later tonight, wondering where it all went wrong, we'll realize we should have known it was the calm before the storm.

Nina:

When we got to the dance Ms. Abbott saw that we had no bags and impatiently waved us through. "You're late," she said, in the voice of the long-suffering.

"Our housemother wanted to take pictures," Mara explained.

Ms. Abbott made a face that indicated she didn't care and we all hurried into the room. The decorating committee had really done a number on the place. We'd decided that Joy should be the only one to help out, and since I hadn't had a chance to check up on the tiny girl I was anxious to find her.

Fabian seemed to anticipate this however and steered me straight onto the dance floor.

"Neither of us can dance," I reminded him, talking louder than normal to be heard over the music.

He raised his eyebrows in challenge and I half-smiled half-sighed, letting him take my hands. Obviously, the teachers had chosen the music, but my guess was they'd had some help from a couple of the students, because every so often songs like 'Monster Mash' were interrupted by 'Heads Will Roll', or Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'.

After about an hour of drinking and dancing though, I was determined to find Joy and get the book safely back in my possession and I told Fabian this.

Fabian gripped my hands tighter. "One more song?"

I laughed. "I'll be back as soon as I find her. Help me look?"

Fabian sighed, but nodded, and headed off one way while I went the other. I ducked past people, catching glimpses of my friends as I made it to the edge of the dance floor. Mara and Jerome were dancing so exuberantly that the other students had cleared a space around them. Amber was doing something sexy that made her short dress rise dangerously high, while Alfie just sort of moved his feet back and forth and glared at any guy that got within ten feet of her. Grim-faced teachers were patrolling the crowd with flashlights, interrupting couples who were too close together.

I finally made it to the edge and saw Patricia and Eddie taking refuge by the punch bowl. From the looks of it he was trying to convince her to dance. She seemed like she was having too much fun refusing though, so I didn't think they'd reach an agreement anytime soon.

I headed over. "Have either of you seen Joy?"

Patricia frowned. "I think she's at one of the tables, she said she wasn't feeling that great."

"She looked it too," Eddie chimed in. "Hey, do either of you know what her costume is?"

"Uh, she's a face-palm emoji? Duh," said Patricia.

I laughed, partly to hide how tense I was. "Well if you see Joy tell her I'm looking for her?" I turned before I thought better of that statement. "Actually, tell her Fabian's looking for her."

They laughed, only theirs were much more genuine, and I headed over to the tables. I finally managed to spot Joy in a heated looking conversation with Monsieur Duval. I was about to go over but I hesitated. He already had it in for me. Also Joy didn't seem to be enjoying herself, which was another reason not to interrupt.

I really did need to know where she'd hidden the Book though.

I sighed, mentally bracing myself, and walked over. When Joy saw me her entire face lit up and she waved at me. I frowned, thinking she must be looking at someone else. But when I checked behind me no one was there. When I arrived at the table I was just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation. "So you see Monsieur Duval, I am very sorry but I did promise Nina I'd hang out with her tonight, you understand of course."

Whether or not he understood I didn't find out because Joy promptly hooked her arm through mine and led me away to another table. She blew out a breath and seemed to shake an enormous weight off her shoulders. "Thanks for that Nina."

I blinked. Then I pinched myself. Hard. "Did you just thank me?"

She laughed breathlessly, glancing around. "We'll call it a fluke and move on. What's up?"

I shrugged off my confusion and refocused. "Right, sorry. Where'd you put the Book?"

Joy blinked. "The Book?"

I felt my fingers grow cold. "The Book, Joy," I tried to jog her memory. "The Book you were supposed to have hidden under a table or something. The Book Victor and Sally and possibly Mr. Sweet want, the Book I'm begging you to tell me you didn't leave at the house right now."

Joy swallowed. "Nina, I am so sorry —"

"Are you kidding me right now?" A laugh choked out of me in disbelief. "Tell me you're kidding me right now."

Joy opened her mouth as Fabian suddenly popped up next to us. "There you are Joy. Where'd you hide the Book?"

Joy opened and closed her mouth, looking petrified.

"I'll tell you where she put it," I said, my voice so scathing I almost didn't recognize it. "Nowhere. She hid it, nowhere, because she forgot it at the house, which means Victor is possibly finding it right at this moment."

"Nina I'll go and get it." Joy looked miserable but right now I didn't care. "I'll go get it right now."

"No, I'll go get it," I snapped. "I think you've done enough for one night." I was about to turn away when I sighed impatiently. "Joy, how could you forget this? The plan was your idea."

She gave a small nod, seeming to shrink into herself. "I got distracted this morning, and I just, I just forgot, Nina. I forgot, I'm sorry."

"Yeah sorry doesn't cut it this time." I blew out a breath and turned to Fabian. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

I started to walk towards the exit but Fabian grabbed my wrist.

"Nina, wait. Do you want me to come with you?"

I smiled tersely. "I think I can manage thanks."

"Ok wait, let's at least check with the others first? Make sure no one else brought it?"

"Joy was supposed to bring it," I snapped.

"Just in case," he said. "Nina please? For me?"

I scowled. "Fine. Go grab Alfie and Amber, Joy and I will go wait with Patricia and Eddie."

Fabian beamed at me and ducked back into the crowd. I glared at Joy before gesturing at her. "Come on Joy let's go."

We made our way over to a still arguing Patricia and Eddie who turned to us in surprise. "What's up guys? Where's the Book?"

Joy suddenly became very interested in the floor. "She forgot," I bit out.

Patricia's eyes widened. "Oh, shit," exclaimed Eddie. I felt that summed up the situation quite nicely. At that moment an irate looking Alfie and Amber joined us.

"Joy how could you forget?" demanded Amber. "We trusted you!"

Joy buried her face in her hands and a small part of me felt bad but I ignored it. She had screwed up. It was good that she recognized it. "So I take it no one else brought it?"

There was a general shaking of heads and a good deal of glares and exasperated looks thrown at Joy. "What do we do now?" asked Alfie.

"We," I answered, "are going to do nothing. I, on the other hand, am going back to the house. I'll tell Victor I ate a bad cupcake or something."

"Are you sure you don't want anyone to come with you?" checked Amber.

I flashed her a tight smile. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Fabian was frowning. "Nina, I don't like it."

I did my best to look reassuring. "No one likes it but that doesn't change the fact that it has to be done."

"I'm with Fabian on this one," interjected Eddie. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

I rolled my eyes. "Guys. Come on. It's not like Sally's about to jump out at me from inside a locker. I'll be fine. Back before you know it."

I started walking over and Fabian followed. "Nina, wait. Just…" he sighed and leaned forward to give me a quick kiss. "Just be careful, ok?"

I smiled and leaned forward to give him a slightly longer kiss. He tasted like the frosting from the cupcakes we'd eaten. I drew back and brought my finger up to gently trace his lips. "I'm always careful," I teased, before stepping around him.

I headed as quickly as I could over to where Mr. Taylor was standing guard at one of the doors. I tried to just open one but he blocked me. "I'm sorry Miss Martin, but the doors remain locked until midnight, you know the rules."

I gave him my best uncomfortably apologetic face. "Right, I know, and I'll be right back, I promise, I just have to take care of something."

He seemed unmoved. "May I ask what?"

I gave what I hoped was a convincing sigh and glanced around. "I have to go to the bathroom and change real fast. It's that time of the month."

Mr. Taylor promptly did a very remarkable imitation of a statue as he stood there staring at me with his mouth slightly open. I waited a few seconds before gesturing to the door. "Ok so I'm just gonna go then." He made no move to stop me and so I shoved open the door and ducked into the hallway, feeling smug. I'd become much better at lying over the years. Whether or not that was something to be proud of was another matter. The hallway quickly sent chills down my body and I wrapped my arms around myself. Why hadn't I thought to bring a jacket? Quickest way to the house was through the door next to the science classroom, on the other side of school, so that was where I headed.

Alfie:

"Joy really screwed up this time huh baby?" Amber, who was currently checking her hair in the reflection of a spoon, didn't seem to hear me at first. "Ambs?"

"Yes, Alfie, I heard you. Joy screwed up, and now Nina's panicking, Fabian's worried about Nina, and I'm worried Nina panics too much. Do you think I should've gone for the blue eyeshadow instead of the gold?"

My girlfriend turned to me and blinked her gorgeous eyes very slowly and I stuttered. She laughed before pulling me in for a quick kiss, touching our foreheads together. I wished this night could last forever. I didn't care what my parents said, I was never willingly leaving this girl.

Amber:

I let Alfie go and turned back to my reflection, before casting a regretful glance at the snacks table. Trudy had helped out with some of the cupcakes and so I knew the chocolate ones were bound to be amazing. On top of that they were so pretty, frosted over in bright orange and doused in edible sparkles. Alfie noticed my staring and beamed at me. "I'll go get you one Ambs."

I should've stopped him. No. No, I reminded myself. I should not have stopped him. This was perfectly all right. I hadn't eaten much since lunchtime, I reminded myself. I'd had a small supper. I was allowed a cupcake. What my mother may or may not have thought about it didn't matter. I kept repeating it to myself like my therapist had taught me and by the time Alfie returned I was almost convinced it was true. When I bit into the delicious chocolate cupcake, I didn't feel any guilt at all.

Joy:

I dared a small glance up from my seat of shame, to the rest of the table that Sibuna minus Nina had commandeered. No one was glaring at me and I felt my muscles relax the tiniest bit. I buried my fingers in my hair. Just that text. It had driven everything completely out of my mind. I checked my phone again for the hundredth time, no matter the text was engraved into my eyelids.

Now that I know the taste of your lips, how much longer must I wait to taste the rest of you? Perhaps some pictures of what is to come would tide me over.

Xoxo

Your secret admirer

I choked back a bitter laugh. Secret admirer. As if I didn't know exactly who he was. I'd managed to avoid him all throughout class, and I hadn't replied to the text. I just didn't know how much longer I could hold out.

I folded my arms on top of the table and buried my head in them. I just wanted this night to end.

Patricia:

I glanced at a miserable looking Joy and sighed before placing a hand on her back. The effect was instantaneous. She jumped like she'd been electrocuted, jerking her head up at a speed that probably gave her whiplash.

"Down girl," I said cautiously. "Joy it's just me."

Joy exhaled a shaky breath before resuming her earlier position. Tentatively, I placed a hand on her back again. When she didn't freak out I rubbed soothing circles on her back, marveling at how quickly this night had gone off the rails.

Eddie:

"So Patricia."

She turned from staring at Joy in concern to staring at me in apprehension and I inwardly smirked at the change. "What?"

"How about when Nina gets back, you give me one dance."

Patricia smirked. "I'm sorry, how many times have we been over this?"

I gave her my best pleading face. "Come on Patricia, please? Just one dance."

I saw her hide a smile before she shook her head. "I'm not dancing with you."

I puffed up my cheeks and blew out a long stream of air. "Well that's a crying shame. I was looking forward to trying out my robot. However I guess if I can't dance with you all night."

She waited for me to finish and when I didn't she hit me. "What?"

I leaned forward and raised my eyebrows in challenge. "Well I guess I'll just have to kiss you all night."

Patricia laughed. "Yeah ok, good luck with that."

"Oh, I don't know. I rather fancy my chances." And I promptly leaned in to capture her lips with my own.

Jerome:

"Yes Mara!" I raised my arm and she spun underneath it as I laughed. Right now, here, with her, it was easy to forget all the shit going on. I still couldn't believe she'd actually dressed up as a cheerleader. I tore my eyes away from her and glanced around the room. I saw the Scooby gang sitting at a table. I frowned. Something was off. I did a brief head count and saw that Nina was missing. I sighed. That girl attracted trouble the way Amber attracted boys – in droves, all of it begging for her attention.

Right now, however, they weren't my problem. Smiling I resolved to later convince Alfie to dump salt in the punch bowl, before turning back to Mara as she pressed her body up close to mine, warm and soft under my touch. I closed my eyes, wanting to savor this moment. Ever since I'd got together with Mara I'd been waiting for the karmic other shoe to drop. I just prayed I got to hold onto her for a little while longer. Maybe if she knew how much she meant to me.

Mara:

The DJ had shifted moods and turned on a creepy, drawling mix. It wasn't very much fun to dance to, but it sure made for a good excuse to cozy up to Jerome without the teachers running over screaming 'make room for Jesus!' To be fair not all of the teachers did that, but the ones that participated did so with vigor and zest they seemed far too old for.

I twisted my fingers into his cape and tugged his head down so that his ear was level with my mouth. "You want some punch?" I asked.

Jerome nodded, seeming strangely amused by that request, and we headed over to the table. He poured two cups, one for him and one for me. I laughed as we clinked them together. "Here's to us Mara." I drank but when I put my now empty cup down I saw he hadn't touched his.

"I thought you wanted punch," I laughed. Jerome gave a small smile and I suddenly felt as though something was about to happen. Slowly, keeping eye contact with me the whole time, Jerome refilled my cup. He took my hand in his, opened the fingers and placed the cup into it. We clinked our glasses again and this time I held my breath when he raised his drink in toast. "Here's to being young and in love."

Fabian:

I kept glancing at the door Nina's curly head had disappeared through. She'd barely been gone five minutes and I was already jumping to worst case scenarios. She'll be fine. She'll be fine. Yeah right. Maybe if you say it enough times it'll be true. She'll. Be. FINE.

At this point I decided to stop having a conversation with myself and turned to see the music stop as Mr. Sweet draw the attention of the room.

"Attention everyone! I am pleased to announce the judges have finished their deliberations for the winners of the costume contest. When I call your name, please join me on stage. Now, let's get started!" He clapped his hands together.

Everyone froze and sat up straight. But not because Mr. Sweet's hand clapping had suddenly earned our undying attention. Instead because it hadn't sound like he'd clapped his hands together at all, and everyone knew it.

It had sounded like a gunshot.

And a second.

And a third.

AN: gasp! Am I really evil enough to leave you on a cliffhanger like that? Did someone really bring a gun to school? Did I really update twice in less than five days?

Answers yes, wait and see, and yes again. I'm updating so quickly because in less than two hours I'm leaving for Los Angeles, because I'm starting college on the 29th and tomorrow is move-in day. Also big shout out to my two UK readers who shall remain anonymous who are helping me out with UK stuff. I'll update as soon as I can with Halloween Part 2! Also quick request? I'm currently at 141 reviews, which makes me so happy I love you all. Let's see if I can't get to 150 by the time part 2 is ready? Thanks!

Favorite, follow and review please. Let me know whose POVs you'd like to see.