Little side note: every one of the costumes listed in this story was worn by one of my friends this past Halloween... I must say, I hang out with some pretty creative people! Just had to give credit where credit was due:)
Fifteen minutes later I walked out of the room putting the finishing touches on my tie. As Jarod rounded the corner, tugging vainly at his green tunic, he glanced up and whistled appreciatively.
"I'm going to have to beat the girls off of you with a stick," he commented, reaching up and tweaking my tie slightly to the left.
"Shut-up," I muttered, rolling my eyes.
"No! Seriously," he went on, "you may be a little short, but I don't think that's going to stop anyone." He paused, and stepped back, smiling a little. "It's missing something," he murmured, and reached deftly into his pocket, pulling out a small white mask that looked oddly familiar to me. He reached out and placed it gently over my eyes, then stepped back to admire his handiwork. "Not bad, and quite fitting for the occasion."
I blinked, and struggled to get used to seeing the world through these new eyes, but oddly enough it wasn't as difficult as I expected. I was just getting used to it, when Darien, Mal, Nate, and Zack stepped into view.
Nathan, in typical joker fashion, was wearing a wig cut into a terrible mullet over his brown hair, had painted a five o'clock shadow onto his chiseled jaw, and was wearing a worn jean-jacket with the arms torn off and horribly dirty jeans. To complete his white-trash ensemble, he had ruined a pair of Doc Marten's with paint and dirt, and stuck what looked to be fake beer cans into his belt. I guffawed as he grinned at me.
"Nice touch," I muttered, pointing towards the six-pack of Bud Lights. He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Novelty store. Couldn't resist… it truly does pull the look together," he said pointedly, and I heartily agreed. "Nice costume, Prince Charming," He retorted with a grin, and I laughed.
Zach had opted for the bloody doctor costume, which definitely did not meet his gentle eyes and smile, but he did look good in the scrubs and lab coat. Mal was, like me, wearing a tuxedo, but he had a long black cape draped over his shoulders, and around his neck hung a small stuffed white tiger.
"What are you supposed to be?" I asked, furrowing an eyebrow.
"Siegfried…" he replied with a grin. "Or Roy… I can't remember which!"
It took a moment for me to get it, but when I did, I began to laugh hysterically. Only one of these guys could turn a tiger attack into a Halloween costume and make it funny!
I turned my eyes to Darien, and inhaled sharply as I took in his costume. He was the Phantom of the Opera, complete with tuxedo, cape, and the mask that covered half of his face. His blue eyes burned into mine, but quickly turned genial as he smiled and swooped in, billowing his cape dramatically.
"Ready to go?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at us. We all nodded and started to follow him towards the gym, when Nathan suddenly stopped.
"Are we really going to go to the dance?" he asked.
"Why not?" Darien countered. "We always do!"
"What's the point? I'm not going to dance! Why don't we head down and get the bonfire started?" He asked.
"Well, I have to go," Jarod put in, although he looked pretty reluctant. "Raye will kill me if I don't, but I could meet you guys down there."
"It's not a bad idea," Mal murmured, and Darien nodded thoughtfully. "All right, sounds good," he decided. "You want to come with us Ren?" he asked.
In truth, for the first time in my life, I didn't really feel like dancing, and getting a bonfire together instead of going to a rowdy school dance did seem like a better way of keeping a low profile.
"Yeah," I answered.
"Cool," Nathan agreed. "You go grab some blankets," he ordered, "and I'll go grab some grub!"
As I headed off toward the linen closet at the end of the hall, I glanced back and waved to Jarod, who returned the gesture, and then reluctantly headed off in the direction of the gym to meet Raye--who I was sure was looking lovely as Tinkerbell. Ten minutes later, we all were clumping down the mahogany stairs, Nathan and Zach carrying various roasting materials, and Darien, Mal, and I each carrying a large stack of wool blankets.
We were silent as we headed down towards the lake. It was bitterly cold outside as we tromped through the snow, and when I raised my eyes, I could see much of the sky was swaddled in a deep gray-black color. I was beginning to wonder why I wasn't wearing boots and the heavy winter coat stored safely in my closet. I shivered slightly, and realized the bonfire was definitely going to be a good idea.
Once there, we set out to start collecting wood for the fire. It was a little strange tromping around in the forest again, every twig breaking terrified me, but it wasn't long before I held an ample amount of dry wood in my arms. After depositing it in the pit, Mal set to lighting it while the rest of us each grabbed a blanket and huddled beneath it. Before long, the fire began to crack cheerily, and we all leaned forward into its warmth.
"So, now what?" Darien asked, rubbing his hands together and turning them towards the growing blaze.
"We wait," Zach answered simply, puffing out a large breath that rose like a small cloud into the frigid night. Darien rolled his eyes.
"Boring!" he complained. "Look at all this snow!" He exclaimed, gesturing at the white mass surrounding us. "We've got a couple of hours, let's tear it up! We could go for a hike or something."
Mal rolled his eyes, but I grinned. "That could be fun," I agreed.
"It's freezing!" Zach pointed out. "I'm staying here."
"Way to be a bummer!" Darien accused, but Zach only chuckled and leaned towards the warmth the fire was emanating in gentle waves. "You coming Nate? Mal?"
"Sure," Nathan replied with a shrug. "I'm game."
"I think I'll stick here with Zach," Malcolm answered with a slight yawn. "Someone's got to keep the fire going, and if I leave Zach, the wild animals might get him," he added with a snicker.
Zach tossed a heavy folded blanket at him and was rewarded by a surprised cry from Mal. "Go ahead," he assured us with a small wave. "We'll be fine."
We nodded and rose to our feet. After casting one last look backward at the two boys, I followed Darien's lead, and began to head down the path that winded through the woods.
"Bring us some more firewood while you're at it!" Mal shouted from behind us, and Darien chuckled ahead of me in response.
The woods were sort of creepy in the dark, but they were undeniably beautiful. The boys were silent in front of me, giving me a chance to look around. Everything around me was covered with snow that looked almost blue in color thanks to the surrounding shadows, and just beyond Darien's shoulder I could see the entire path completely void of any footprints. I shivered, realizing we were probably the first people to intrude upon the forest since the first snow. It was sort of exciting.
"Are we really going to look for firewood?" Nathan asked.
"Mal can shove it," Darien said genially. "This is purely a pleasure cruise," he informed us, and from the tone of his voice, I could tell he was smiling.
"This pleasure cruise is causing my fingers to go numb," Nathan replied, and Darien laughed.
"Aw Nathan," I cooed with mock sympathy. "Are your wittle fingers cold? You can borrow my mittens if you want…"
He laughed and shook his head. "Shut up."
"It's really nice in here, isn't it?" Darien suddenly said, and Nathan and I looked around.
"Yeah," Nathan replied. "Kind of quiet though."
"I like it," I said softly, and Darien turned to look at me, a soft smile pulling at his full lips.
We were silent for a minute, but the short moment was broken when something cold and icy suddenly exploded in my face. I released a strangled cry and staggered backward, struggling to shake the icy substance away, as well as the harsh sting that followed. Once my vision was clear, Nathan came into focus, looking sheepish, but grinning slyly. I turned to look at Darien and noticed he too was trying to free packed snow from his eye sockets.
"Oh, you're done! You're done!" I assured him, and with that, began scrambling to collect the freezing snow around me.
Nathan began to run away, but I was already up on my feet, pelting him with my hastily made snowballs. Now, winter is my favorite season, so consequently my aim is absolutely infallible. My first hit him squarely in the back of the head, knocking his mullet wig to the ground. My second hit the back of his now-exposed neck, and his surprised scream assured me snow was now sliding slowly down the back of his jacket and soaking his stupid cut-off jean jacket. My third and final snowball hit his left butt-cheek and I laughed as he let out a surprised yelp.
It wasn't over though. Right behind me was Darien, who had taken the extra free time to make much better snowballs. Just as my last snowball connected, he began firing his own, and much to Nathan's dismay, his aim was as good as my own. Before Nathan knew it, he had snow in his hair, ear, eye, and all over his front. Darien and I were laughing hysterically as he trudged back towards the fire muttering terrible things under his breath.
"Aw Nate!" Darien shouted between his laughter. "No more? But we were having so much fun!"
He shot us a not-so-nice gesture in response, but we only laughed harder, leaning against one another for support.
"That was awesome!" I finally managed weakly, standing up straight.
"It was," he agreed. "Nice hits, by the way," he added, favoring me with a admiring grin. "Lot of practice?"
"You know it!" I replied. "You weren't so bad yourself though," I said, crouching towards the ground.
Darien turned his back, and with a sly grin, I reached for a handful of snow, packing it together silently with my cold fingers. "Eh," he said dismissively. "We make a good team."
I laughed wickedly and rose to my feet. "That won't save you though," I muttered.
"What?" he asked, and just as he turned, I let him have it.
My snowball exploded right in his face and I laughed as he cried out in surprise. He stood there for a moment, completely silent as he began to scrape snow from the middle of his face.
"Oh it's on," he said dangerously. "It's on like Donkey Kong!"
I screamed as he lunged for me, but I managed to dodge his grasp and took off running deeper into the woods. I could hear Darien pounding behind me, shouting threats at my retreating back, but I only laughed in response and put on more speed. To my surprise, however, he was closing in on me, and just as I broke into a large clearing, his efforts paid off.
I shouted as Darien tackled me face-first into the snow-covered earth. My face burned with the cold, but I laughed as I struggled vainly against his powerful arms, barely managing to twist myself into an upward-facing position. All I got for my efforts, however, was snow in my eyes as Darien continued to whitewash me.
"Do you give?" he shouted through his laughter, trying to throw another handful of snow onto my face and neck. I could feel the half melted snow already oozing into the thick material of my tux.
"Hell no!" I gasped in between giggles, failing to fend him off.
"Have it your way!" he laughed in response, and proceeded to dump more snow onto my upturned features, which I promptly protested against.
"Ow! That's freezing!" I shouted through chattering teeth.
"That's was you get for knocking me in the head with a snowball!" he retorted, but he finally relented, and pulled me into a sitting position.
I beamed at him, even though it hurt my face a little to do it, and at that moment, snow began to fall around us. I raised my head to stare at the pure white flakes descending through the dark night, and sighed wistfully in spite of myself. It was beautiful, and as I dropped my gaze back to Darien, my heard proceeded to skip a beat. He was kneeling before me, gazing up at the sky as the softly falling snow peppered his hair. His cape billowed around him in the gently blowing wind, and his smile lit up his blue eyes as he slowly reached up to catch the falling white pieces around him. In that moment he suddenly appeared to be some fairy-tale prince from a dream I had long ago, and in my mind's eye I could see him dancing with me in the snow, our footprints disappearing as we twirled through the blinding whiteness. My breath caught as he suddenly met my gaze with his smoldering blue eyes, and then I did something incredibly stupid.
Perhaps it was the beauty of this moment, or perhaps it was because Darien had suddenly become the perfect representation of one of my childhood fantasies… Maybe it was simply because the emotions that I had tried so hard to hide everyday since I reached Madison, couldn't remain locked within me any longer… Whatever it was, it was strong enough for me to throw caution to wind. Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward and pressed my cool lips to his warm ones.
The kiss was soft and chaste, but sweet, and although I knew it was wrong, I couldn't pull myself away from him. Darien's sharp intake of breath only added to my alarm, but to my surprise, he suddenly responded, leaning into me, and kissing me back for one furious moment. Suddenly, I wondered if he already knew who I was--that he had known all along, and was simply waiting for me to make the first move. Maybe, just maybe, everything was okay.
My hopes, however, were quickly extinguished as I was suddenly tossed roughly away. I pulled myself up, startled and trembling, only to see a look of horror filling Darien's face.
"I've gotta go," he whispered, backing away from me.
"Darien," I protested, rising to my feet, but he backed away quickly. "Please--"
"It's okay," he interrupted, raising his hands as if to protect himself from me. I felt tears fill my eyes at the strange sound of his voice.
"Wait," I pleaded, but he shook his head.
"I won't tell anyone," he assured me. "Just… just stay back."
"Please," I pleaded. "I-It's not what you--"
"I said it's all right!" He finally shouted, and I recoiled from him. "I have to go," he whispered, and before I could stop him, he was running back towards the path as if a thousand people were chasing after him.
I sat there in the snow for a long time, trembling as tears coursed down my cheeks in unstoppable salty twin rivers. After a while, however, the tears finally stopped, and I managed to rise to my feet, and enter the path again, this time on my own.
Uh oh... trouble is on the way!
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