Every fall, it was as if the fabric of reality folded to find a new place for the Spirit of Halloween store in the Bourne Shopping Center. No one could ever remember what had been there before, but it was always in a different place from last year; a store full of decorations, costume pieces, and props, with big animatronic monsters and goblins that swung side-to-side or jumped out at you when you walked past, and hanging ghosts and ghouls that played scary movie cliches on a loop, like warning you of the horrors they'll inflict on you, or singing nursery rhymes.
Nami was crouched behind a display of fake fangs, trying to take a costume out of its bag. The costumes were all tagged, but the tag was in the packaging, not the costume itself, so all she had to do was leave the bag behind and stuff the costume pieces into her biggest purse.
Hopefully this doesn't get ruined, she thought as she popped her head over the display to look at the employees, who were all congregated around the register, talking among themselves.
"Man, if I see some guy in a clown costume coming up to me," one of the guys, a skinny guy with high cheekbones and a black beanie, said, miming a punch.
"Shut up, dude, this is serious," another guy, with curly red hair, said. "The police put out a statement saying if you see someone in a clown costume that's acting suspiciously, to report it immediately."
"It's probably just a Halloween prank," said a third employee, a big Hispanic guy. "Everyone's getting all worked up over nothing."
"The police said that it's some kind of gang thing," insisted the guy with the curly hair. "They said that a lot of the sightings have been connected to robberies and drug-"
"Help, 9-1-1!" laughed the guy with the beanie, as he swung around a mannequin in a monster clown costume. "There's a clown in my store!"
"Quick, I think it's a gang member!" said the Hispanic guy, laughing as well.
"You guys are assholes."
Her costume safely stashed in her bag, Nami stood up and walked out of the store, nodding to the employees, who waved back at her, completely unaware that they'd been swindled.
Halloween fell on a Friday that year, which meant that everyone was throwing wild costume parties. Nami had heard of at least three parties with open invitations, and had been handed two flyers for the same house party, but had decided against going to that one when she saw them deliberately-and obviously-skip over a long-nosed junior, seemingly because he "wasn't cool enough". So she gave both her flyers to him, and opted to go to a smaller party over by the shopping mall.
"Mom, I'm taking the car," Nami announced as she came down the stairs.
Her mother, a brown-haired woman who could have easily passed for thirty, was sitting at the dining room table, eating a tangerine over her laptop, but she quickly stood up when she heard Nami come down. "Wait a second," she called, coming into the hall. "Where are you going?" Even through the tangerine, her breath smelled faintly of cigarettes.
"A party, mom." Nami rolled her eyes.
"When'd you get this?" Nami's mom tugged on her costume. Nami had decided to go as a witch, with a wide black skirt that only went midway down her thighs, and white and green striped tights.
"I got it at the mall the other day," Nami said, exasperated. "Can I go?"
"Hold on," Nami's mother said dismissively. "Why are you in such a hurry? Do I know anyone at this party?"
Nami's mother had gotten absurdly overprotective since they moved to the area all those months ago, always insisting on knowing who Nami was hanging out with and where she was going. Nami made no attempt to hide her annoyance as she answered, "No, it's no one you know. Just a bunch of people from school."
"Will there be drinking?"
Nami shrugged dismissively. "I don't know. Probably." This was only mostly a lie. Nami was sure there would be drinking, as the guy who'd invited her had told her to bring whatever booze she could get her hands on, and she had already snagged a six-pack from the fridge in the garage and put it in the backseat of her mom's car.
"I don't want you drinking if you're going to be driving."
"C'mon, mom," Nami said irritably.
"What about a little 'puff-puff'? A little 'sniff-sniff'?"
"Mom! Jesus Christ, what do you take me for?"
Her mother gave her a look that seemed to imply something, but before Nami could properly take offense, she went into the kitchen and grabbed the key. "I want you home by 11," she said. "And if anything happens that you can't drive home-"
"Mom…"
"-then I want you to give me a call. I can call you a taxi, or have a neighbor pick you up." Nami was spared from having to protest anymore as her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Be safe, and have fun. I love you."
"Love you too, mom," Nami said, in spite of her irritation. She took the keys and drove to the house where the party was being thrown. It was a one-story tract house with a plastic gargoyle out front that Nami recognized from the Spirit of Halloween store. Beyond that there were a couple cobwebs on hedges, but there was nothing to really make the house stand out. Nami parked a couple houses past it, then walked up to the party. A dog I'm the neighbor's yard bounded up to the fence and started barking at her.
"Shh!" Nami hissed at the dog. "Go away!" The dog kept barking.
"Heyyy," said the guy who had given Nami the invitation. He looked Hispanic, and was wearing blue flannel and jeans, but since he had a brown wig Nami suspected it was supposed to be a costume. "Thank you so much for coming!" he exclaimed, and actually stepped forward to give Nami a hug.
"No problem…" Nami said, leaning out of his reach as she set down the six-pack she'd taken from her mom's fridge.
It wouldn't matter that she didn't know anyone there. At her old school, Nami had been an old hat at parties, and she knew how to entertain herself among total strangers. Provided that the party was competently thrown, there would be plenty of dancing and drinking to do that wouldn't require her to stop to make much conversation. From the look of it, though, she hadn't picked a competent party. There were between a dozen and twenty people there, and though some music was playing, it wasn't loud enough to engage with. The party was mostly just kids in costumes standing around, holding beers and making awkward conversation.
"You remember me?" the guy pressed. "I'm Ukkari! We have drama together."
Nami didn't take drama. "Sure."
"We were just about to fire up some beer pong. You wanna be a team?"
Actually, Nami was quickly realizing that she'd rather be anywhere but here. "Actually, where's your bathroom?" she asked. "I've been holding it since I left my house."
The host made a face, like he didn't think girls should do things like use the bathroom. "It's upstairs." Then, after thinking for a second, he almost commanded, "Hurry back!"
The bathroom was at the top of the stairs, just off to the side. Nami opened the door and sat on the closed toilet seat, opening her phone. She scrolled through her text messages, looking for anyone in her contact list who might not have plans tonight, but being the new girl at school meant that she didn't really have a lot of friends. She came to the bottom of her inbox and saw an old message from last May that she hadn't deleted, from a number she'd never saved. "Mayb next time, then", it read. Nami shut her phone and dropped it back in her purse.
Maybe I should just go home, she thought, I could spend Halloween watching scary movies in my bedroom. Just the idea sounded immensely depressing. She hadn't spent a Halloween at home since she was nine years old, and even then she would usually go trick-or-treating. She thought bitterly about her friends back home, imagining what they'd think if they saw her, Party Girl Nami, locked in a bathroom at a boring party. No, she thought, I'm not going to let this get me down. I've been to way worse parties than this and managed to turn things around. She stood up off the toilet and stepped out of the bathroom.
"Dude…" said a guy who'd been waiting by the door, "you didn't even flush?"
"Eat me," Nami snapped, and headed back downstairs. She went into the dining room, where the host was setting up beer pong. His face lit up when he saw her.
"Nami!" he said. "I thought you might've left!"
You have no idea how close I came, she thought. "Why would I?" she asked, flashing her most charming smile. The host smiled back.
"Right," he said. "Okay, so, everyone, this is Nami, she's in my drama class…" He went around the room, reciting names that Nami immediately forgot. "Nami, you wanna be on my team?"
"Dude, we're always a team!" said another guy, a black guy wearing a fake mustache, a tie, and a white shirt with suspenders. Ukkari dismissed him.
Nami cracked open one of her mom's beers and took a swig. "Sure," she said with a shrug. "Who are we playing?"
"Us."
Nami turned to see two guys in the doorway, both of whom she recognized. It was the straw hat kid, wearing an red overcoat, a fake beard, baggy pants, and a striped T-shirt. He had on an eyepatch and was grasping a fake hook in his hand. For the first time ever, Nami saw that he wasn't wearing his stupid straw hat, but instead a pirate hat, with a typical skull-and-crossbones design on the front. Behind him, looking considerably less enthused, was the green-haired foreign exchange student, wearing a black hoodie and a T-shirt that read "Dark Tranquility", probably a reference to some band Nami didn't know.
"Who are you?" the host asked.
"I'm Luffy," the straw hat kid declared, "and this is my friend Zoro. He didn't think to wear a costume to this costume party." He glared at him.
"I don't do costumes," his friend muttered.
"I'm here to beat you at beer pong!" he declared, pointing to Nami and the host.
"Big talk for a junior," Nami said with a smirk. "You wanna put your money where your mouth is?"
"Wait, we have to pay?" Luffy asked, turning to his friend.
"It's a figure of speech."
"Oh." Luffy turned back to Nami and clenched his fist in her direction. "Then, sure!" He and Nami squared up in front of their cups. She won the "eyes" challenge, and got to go first. In the first round she managed to sink one ball in the center cup, which Zoro kindly removed, and then the front cup as well. She made to shoot a third time.
"When's it my turn?" Luffy interrupted, crossing his arms.
"When she misses," Zoro said, watching the game with an air of amusement.
"You're really good at this," the host whispered to Nami.
"Shh."
"Did you, like, learn from your boyfriend, or…do you not have a boyfriend, or…?"
"I'm concentrating." Nami threw the ball for the third time, bounced it off the table, then again off the rim of one of the cups. The other partygoers let out a groan, and Luffy stepped up to throw his ball.
"Try bouncing it off the middle of the table," Zoro advised, and Luffy nodded. He spiked it right into the table, and it bounced once before landing in the front-most cup on Nami's side, eliciting a cheer from the other kids at the party. Luffy made to go a second time, but once it bounced off the table, Nami swatted it out of the air.
"Hey!" Luffy said. "No fair!"
"Actually, that's in the rules," Zoro admitted, clearly impressed. He handed Luffy a beer. "Here," he said, "you're supposed to drink when you miss."
"But I'm underage," Luffy pointed out.
"Dude, it's light beer."
Nami's team was up. "Move," she commanded as she stepped in front of the host.
"But-it's my turn-" he began, but Nami was already throwing the ball. She and the boys alternated turns until Luffy's last ball swirled around Nami's last cup. The other kids at the party cheered and Nami chugged her light beer in frustration.
"Good game!" Luffy said, following Nami into the kitchen.
"Thanks," Nami muttered, opening a second beer.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" he asked.
"We've run into each other a couple times," Nami replied, looking up as the host walked over to them.
"Hey, do you want to dance? I'm about to put some music on in the living room."
"Maybe later," Nami said, leaning against the wall and hoping that her body language would communicate that she was wholly uninterested.
"C'mon, I'll let you pick the first song," he said. "Or if you wanna go somewhere more private…" he reached for her hand, which Nami pulled out of the way.
"She already said no," Luffy said. The host looked from him, to Nami, then nodded.
"Alright, well...if you need me…" He trailed off and walked out of the room.
"Thanks for that," Nami said. "That dude's been hounding me all day."
"No problem," Luffy said. "I hate guys that can't take a hint." Nami offered him a beer, but Luffy shook his head. "Only burnouts drink beer," he said. Nami raised her eyebrow as she sipped her own beer, but he didn't seem to know he'd insulted her, so she let it slide. "Hey, do you wanna join my soccer team?" Luffy asked out of nowhere.
Nami was taken aback, and couldn't help but laugh. "What? No. I don't play soccer." Luffy frowned, less like he was disappointed and more like he saw this as an unfortunate complication. "What's this business about the soccer team, anyway? I heard that's why you and the foreign exchange student started hanging out."
Luffy's face split into a huge grin. "There's nothing so important as a good team! A soccer team shares a bond," he said. "They work together toward a single purpose, through victory or defeat, to play the most popular sport in the world!" He pumped his fists in the air, looking off to the distance. "One day, I will make it to the World Cup and be the King of Soccer!"
"Doesn't the idea of being 'the King of Soccer' undercut what you just said about teamwork?" Nami asked, deadpan.
Luffy just smiled. "A captain is nothing without his team," he assured her. "The only way to become King of Soccer is with the support of the strongest team in the world!"
Nami sighed, barely keeping herself from rolling her eyes. "Sure," she said.
"I'm glad you agree..." Luffy clapped his hand on Nami's shoulder. "...Goalie!"
Nami smacked his hand away. "I'm not your goalie!"
"You're right, you'd probably be better as defensive midfield."
"No, I'm not joining the soccer team! I'm only at that school for another few months anyway…" Nami trailed off, catching sight of a suspicious-looking guy with dreadlocks.
"What? You're leaving?" Luffy exclaimed. "But we just met!"
"I'm gonna graduate, Luffy. I'm a senior."
"Hey." Zoro was walking up to them. "Sorry, is he bothering you?" he asked Nami.
"Not sure yet," Nami admitted.
"Zoro, meet our new midfielder!" Luffy announced. Nami opened her mouth to protest, but Zoro indicated that she was fine.
"Apparently I'm the second striker," he told her.
"And I'm center forward!" Luffy added.
"We've never played a match."
"We're going to win the entire season!"
"You're the only one on the school team!" Zoro exclaimed, and Nami felt an intense familiarity with him. At least she wasn't the only one who felt exasperated by this guy. Nami chuckled to herself, and when the boys decided to go out onto the porch, she opted to follow them. The three of them chatted for a solid hour, about school and movies and all sorts of things, and Nami found herself having an all around good time. Pretty soon, she'd almost completely forgotten about her phone and the baggage it connected her to. It was almost like she had friends again.
Of course, it was right around then that trouble reared its inevitable head.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: In no way do I encourage underage drinking. Tell your parents before experimenting with alcohol.