XXVIII. Tarzan, October 23

It was almost eleven by the time Tarzan awoke on Saturday. He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He couldn't remember a time in his past eleven years of schooling that he had woken up on a weekend and dreaded the idea of not getting up and going to school. But today, there was nowhere else he could think of that he'd like to be. Sure, most of the day was still miserable and dull as always, but now there was a single shining light at the end of every day. Tarzan reached over to his nightstand and took the thick sheet of sketching paper that he had left there since he'd brought it home. The portrait he'd drawn of Jane was subpar at best, and he knew it. The drawing was not at all representative of Jane's true beauty, but it was the closest thing Tarzan had. Of course, he had gotten an A for it—after all, low-level art classes were always graded based on effort more than anything else, and Tarzan had never tried so hard on a school assignment in his life. Not only did he want to create an accurate likeness of his partner, but he wanted to impress her as well, especially after she had met up with him to give him extra help. He was afraid that he had failed in both those respects.

Putting the portrait down, he reached for his cell phone. Nothing new there. He opened the texting application and selected Jane's name. He hesitated for a moment, then decided it couldn't possibly hurt.

What are you up to today?

He put the phone down and mere seconds later, the text alert sounded. He thought it must be some coincidence, it couldn't possibly be Jane responding so quickly—but it was. He opened the text.

I don't know. I was thinking I might go look for a Halloween costume.

He responded almost as quickly as she had, though he figured her typing skills were probably slightly better than his own.

Mind if I join you? I could drive.

He paused for a moment with his finger over the send button, then tapped it.

I would like that. :)

Tarzan smiled and sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He glanced at the alarm clock.

Can I pick you up at noon? Or maybe 12:30?

After they had hung out at Carioca's a few weeks ago, Tarzan had driven Jane home, so he already knew where she lived. As soon as she texted him back saying noon would be just fine, Tarzan quickly searched his room for something appropriate to wear. He wanted to impress Jane, but he didn't want to look like he was trying too hard, of course. After all, all they were doing was costume shopping. That was a friend thing, not really a date thing. But just because they were friends didn't mean they couldn't be more, right? Tarzan didn't really have much experience in this department.

In fact, he had no experience. He had always thought that those sought-after romantic feelings were just things for movies and stories and dreams. But then Jane had come along. He had been surprised to find out that she was only a freshman, because she seemed so knowledgeable and wise. Being around her made him want to learn more, to better himself so that she wouldn't catch on to how uneducated he really was. It wasn't that he didn't have the capacity for knowledge and intelligence; it was just that he hadn't really been exposed to any means of acquiring such things. He suspected Jane had had plenty of exposure to that growing up, with her father being a teacher, and she certainly had the thirst for knowledge that allowed her to lap it all up. She wasn't shy about her enthusiasm for learning, either, something that Tarzan found incredibly endearing when the "cool" thing was to act like school and learning were below oneself. Tarzan himself had even fallen into that trap in the past, but he swore now that he wouldn't allow himself to act like that anymore.

He couldn't deny that he had feelings for Jane. Strong feelings. Strong, romantic feelings. Feelings like he'd never felt before, though he didn't like to think about them in those terms because it just seemed so cliché. But that was the only way to really say it. He felt as though he always wanted to be around her. He saw her once a day Monday through Friday, yes, but that wasn't enough. He wanted to be around her as much as possible. He wanted to listen to all the little things she had to say and watch her draw and witness her enthusiasm for life. He wanted her to teach him things about art and science and the world. He wanted to go with her wherever it was that she wanted to go and he hoped that she would want him to go those places with her. But there was no chance of that, because there was no way that she felt the same feelings he felt for her. How could someone as intelligent and creative and as beautiful as her see anyone like him as anything more than a friend?

When he picked her up, Jane had on a white tank-top and a simple coppery-red knee-length skirt. Pretty, but casual, and typical of Jane. She usually wore skirts, but not for the purpose of showing off her legs or being provocative. Tarzan doubted she even cared about what anyone else thought of the way she dressed, she simply wore what she wore because it was comfortable. Anyway, she didn't have to try at all to be beautiful, Tarzan thought. She was always beautiful. Tarzan had gone for a simple brown t-shirt—one he made sure was not wrinkled—and some of his newer jeans.

"So where are we going, exactly?" Tarzan asked once Jane had climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

"There's a temporary costume shop in downtown Buena Vista," Jane said. "That's probably the closest one, so I thought we could go there."

"Fine with me," Tarzan said, pulling out of Jane's driveway and heading down the road. "So, uh… what are you doing on Halloween?"

"I don't know, I was thinking I might go to that girl Jasmine's party," Jane said.

"You know Jasmine?" Tarzan asked, looking over at Jane, surprised.

"Would that really be such a shock?" Jane asked.

"Well… yeah," Tarzan shrugged. "Jasmine is… hard to describe. But I wouldn't think she'd be the kind of girl you'd hang out with. At least not now. Maybe a few years ago. She's changed a lot."

"Well, I don't actually know her, so maybe you're right," Jane said. "I just heard that pretty much anyone can show up to her parties and it's kind of a free-for-all."

"Yeah, I guess that's pretty much how it is," Tarzan said. "Especially with the big event parties—her Halloween party last year was huge."

"I haven't been to any parties yet, so I thought it might be fun," Jane said. "But I'm not sure if I'm doing that yet—what are your plans?"

"Don't have any," Tarzan said. "But I was thinking I might go to Jasmine's party, too. She always invites the whole football team. I guess because most of us are on the same level as she is, popularity-wise… Well, not me so much, but, you know."

"You shouldn't care about what anyone else thinks," Jane said.

"I don't," Tarzan said. "Well, I mean, I care what you think, but… I mean…"

He quickly tried to think of a way to backtrack, afraid of how that came out.

"You shouldn't care about what I think, either," Jane said. "Not really. First and foremost, you should be who you are and who you want to be. And I'm sure I'll like that person. I think I already do."

Tarzan's mind went into overdrive trying to interpret that last statement. Did it mean what he thought it did? Did she like him just as a friend, or in the same way that he liked her? He suddenly understood why everyone stressed out so much about dating and crushes and the like.

"Thanks," he finally said after a few moments' pause.

"So, did you go to Jasmine's Halloween party last year?" Jane asked.

"Sure," Tarzan said. "Practically everyone did."

"Was it fun?" Jane asked.

"Depends on your definition of fun, I guess," Tarzan said. "I think it's something you should probably experience at least once, though."

Tarzan parked in front of the costume store and the pair went into the shop and started to look around.

"Do you have a costume yet?" Jane asked.

"No," Tarzan said.

"Any ideas?" she asked.

"Nope," Tarzan said. "You?"

"Not really," Jane said. "I figured I could find some inspiration here—it's pretty late though. I think next year I'll start planning early. I had a lot on my mind so I wasn't really thinking about Halloween. Here's an idea—how about we each grab a few costumes to try on and then we can try them on together and surprise each other?"

"Sounds like fun," Tarzan smiled.

The two split up and Tarzan searched the racks for interesting costumes. The selection was pretty picked over, but he was able to find three costumes to try on. He met back up with Jane by the two fitting rooms. They took stalls next to one another and shouted to each other when they were finished putting on their respective costumes. First, Jane came out wearing a black skirted costume with a high collared cape, while Tarzan came out dressed as "the Scream."

Jane laughed, "Is that even you in there?"

"And what are you supposed to be?" Tarzan laughed.

"A vampire, I guess," Jane said. "The teeth really make the costume, but I figured I shouldn't try those on. I don't know about this one, though. I don't know if I could stand wearing those teeth all night long."

"I don't think I could stand wearing this mask all night long," Tarzan said, pulling the mask off. "I'd probably suffocate or something."

"Next costumes, then," Jane said.

Tarzan agreed and they went back into the fitting rooms. Next, Tarzan came out in a black-and-white striped inmate costume with a silly hat and a ball and chain around his ankle. Jane was dressed as a police officer, complete with a dark blue hat and a gun holster. She laughed immediately when she saw Tarzan's costume.

"That's interesting, isn't it?" she said.

Tarzan smiled and nodded. Jane walked over to the mirror and looked at her costume in it, pulling at the skirt.

"It's shorter than I'd prefer," Jane said. "And I don't really fancy myself as a police officer. Let's try the next ones."

Tarzan's next and final costume was the most complex of the three, but also his favorite. It comprised a number of pieces, including a shirt, a vest, a belt, pants, boots, a hat, and a sword. When Jane came out wearing a matching pirate costume, Tarzan couldn't help but let a big, goofy grin spread across his face.

"We match!" Jane said, clapping her hands together in delight. "Oh, and this is your best one so far."

"Good, because it's the last one I picked out," Tarzan said. "I think yours is best, too. It suits you."

"It's settled then," Jane said, smiling and nodding firmly.

"Would you like to go to Jasmine's party together?" Tarzan blurted suddenly, his costume making him feel braver somehow.

Jane's face reddened and for a moment Tarzan thought she was going to say no.

"Sure!" she said. "Yes, that sounds very nice. Especially if we're to be wearing matching costumes. Yes."

Tarzan smiled and the two walked to the counter to check out. The clerk walked up and took Jane's costume first. As he rang it up, he looked up at her, and then at Tarzan.

"Hey—don't you two go to Walt Disney?"

"We do," Jane said, nodding. "I'm Jane, and this is Tarzan."

"Phillip," he responded, putting the costume in a bag and taking Jane's cash while he spoke. "I'm a senior this year, but my family just moved to Marceline so I don't know a lot of people."

"Tarzan's a senior too, but I'm a freshman," Jane said. "So I'm kind of new, too."

"Ah," Phillip nodded. "Are you two going to Jasmine's party?"

"Yes—we just decided, actually," Jane said. "You?"

"Sure am," Phillip said, handing Jane her change and her bag. "I'm taking my girlfriend, Wendy."

"Oh, I know Wendy—Wendy Darling?" Jane said.

"That's the one," Phillip smiled.

"Yes, we sit together at lunch," Jane said.

"That must be where I've seen you," Phillip nodded, then reached for Tarzan's costume, eying it. "So then, are you two…?"

"No, no," Tarzan said. "Just friends."

"That's cool, too," Phillip said, although Tarzan could tell that he didn't believe what Tarzan had just said. "Wendy and I decided not to do the couples costume thing this year… We both had ideas about what we wanted to be already, and we haven't been dating very long. But these costumes are really cute together, I'm sure they'll be a hit at the party."

Tarzan thought about reinforcing the fact that he and Jane were not a couple, but he figured that would only make Phillip believe it was true more. And anyway, it wasn't like he didn't want it to be true. And Jane wasn't contradicting it. Maybe that was a good sign. Tarzan was no expert, though.

He brought Jane home right after that, and they sat in the driveway and made concrete plans for the 31st. Too soon, there was no more excuse to keep Jane in the car, to continue the conversation.

"I guess I'll see you on Monday, then," Jane said, opening the car door.

"Yeah, see you then," Tarzan said.

Before he even knew what was going on, Jane leaned over and gave him a quick, sudden kiss on the cheek. She was out the door and into her house so quickly that for a moment Tarzan was hardly sure it had even happened. But no, he couldn't have imagined it, because he could practically still feel it on his cheek. He didn't want to get too far ahead of himself, but he was quite sure this could only mean good things.