A.N. - I should have addressed this in other chapters (and I possibly did, but I can't recall), but I am trying to come up with a plausible timeline of events. The school year (and start of Chapter 1) begins on August 29 (Monday). For the story, even though I did not want to initially conform to a year, I will follow the calendar year of 2005. Not everything that occurs in the story (movies, music, and clothing) will be from 2005. I chose that year randomly and I will try to keep the movies and music at least as close to the things from 2005 as possible. Since this story isn't exactly canon and takes place in a sort of alternate universe, I don't think the year and events of said year really matter, but I am really obsessive about stories having a timeline that can be followed. If that is confusing, just let me know, and I will try to figure out a way to make it sound better.
Also, this chapter (and the following), feature some bad language, mentions of underage drinking, and sex so I will cautiously leave the rating as "T" (unless many readers feel I should bump it up to "M"). I think the rating system should be updated because M is too strong for this fic, but I'm afraid T may be to light. I digress. If any of this is not your cup of tea, I am sorry. Please feel free to stop reading this fic. None of the things mentioned are in too much detail or in huge quantities, but I understand if it turns you off to reading this.
Regardless, please enjoy the chapter!
Chapter Thirteen- Tricks and Treats
Kelsey stared outside of her bedroom window, watching the small groups of children go door to door as twilight started to take over the chilly October evening. Earlier that morning, she had gone to the doctor for another check-up and was surprised to learn that her cast would finally be coming off. She was required to wear a black brace during sleep and when involving her arm in strenuous physical activities for the next three weeks, but it was a major upgrade from the bulky plaster that had been keeping her healing arm safe for the last nine weeks. As she watched the excited children darting everywhere on the street below, she marveled at how light her arm felt now that the cast was gone. Since the Halloween party would not involve carrying books or any major physical activity, Kelsey had decided to only wear it while driving her new car to the party.
"I am so glad that you are driving us to the party instead of us having to ride the bus." Connie said as she carefully curled Julie's hair.
Since they would be getting a ride to the party, they had decided to bring their costumes and make-up over to Kelsey's apartment to get ready. Luckily, as soon as the pair arrived, Caleb and Rosa left to go to dinner. It was also very lucky in Kelsey's opinion because she knew her dad would freak out when he saw her costume. It was not a very revealing costume, but Kelsey knew her father would disapprove greatly. The woodland fairy costume had necessitated the addition of a pair of nude spandex shorts to make Kelsey feel appropriately covered. And though the corset top of the short dress covered her adequately and fit well, she still was not a fan of going without a bra. She was really starting to regret letting Connie talk her into getting the costume. Even though the light green and blue went well with her skin tone, hair, and eyes, she did not like that she felt pretty much naked in it.
"You look great, so stop worrying." Connie admonished as she dusted glitter all over Julie's pinned up curly hair.
All three were wearing some variation of a fairy costume, with Julie having the most conservative. No matter how hard Connie had tried to convince the curvaceous blonde to buy a more revealing fairy costume, it was not going to make Julie budge. She instead selected a long purple goddess style dress and added black fairy wings and a black belt to the ensemble. And while Kelsey felt much unclothed in her own costume, Connie was wearing a far more revealing pink fairy costume, complete with stockings and very high heels.
As soon as Julie was finished and up from the vanity seat, Kelsey was rushed into it by the eager Connie. After twenty minutes of curling, hair spray, pins, and glitter, Connie finally clipped in the blue flower piece close to Kelsey's right ear. Her flaxen locks were curled and pulled into a messy bun, showing off even more of her pale skin.
Before she could protest, Connie began applying the outlandish make-up, which consisted of more glitter, bold eyeliner, false eyelashes, and pink lipstained lips. Though Kelsey thought she looked really pretty, she also felt like she looked a little trashy.
"Is it ok if I get something to drink?" Julie asked as Connie replaced Kelsey in the vanity chair.
"Sure, I'll take you to the kitchen." Kelsey grabbed her green sparkly angel wings and bag and followed her pal downstairs.
She dropped her belongings onto the sofa as they walked into the kitchen.
"She is insane." Julie breathed as she opened the soda. "Why did we agree to this?"
"Because we lost our minds due to the jerks we hang around?" Kelsey mumbled as she took a sip of her own soda.
Julie was the sole person who knew about the Charlie and Portman fiascos. Likewise, Kelsey was the only person who knew that Scooter had broken up with Julie to date college girls. Everyone else on the team thought the two goalies were still together.
"Boys." Julie sighed venomously.
Kelsey nodded in agreement. They continued to talk about their boy troubles for another half hour, until Connie came into the kitchen. Her normally long, straight hair was loosely curled and flowing down her back. Of the three, she looked the most confident in her costume, which made her all the more enchanting, in Kelsey's opinion.
"My dad and aunt will be back any time, now, so we should get going." Kelsey said as she looked at the kitchen clock.
The party wasn't going to start until 8:30, but Kelsey would rather be there slightly early than to get caught by her father. After grabbing their bags (each girl had a change of clothes to put on before re-entering the Paris abode after the party), the trio headed out to the garage to begin their long journey of the night.
Even though they had arrived to the party early, the McKinley mansion was already crowded with a mixture of students from the local high schools, Eden Hall, and the college. When they had first arrived at the party, the trio of female Ducks were greeted by their various teammates, all receiving compliments for their costumes and glamorous appearances. Kelsey had a lot of fun at first, dancing with Dwayne, Kenny, and even Goldberg in between breaks spent talking and eating the candy and Halloween treats prepared by the personal chef that Tessa's parents employed. The party was full of happy people who were nice to meet and spend a few brief minutes talking to. Kelsey was even beginning to feel slightly more confident in her costume after having so many of her female peers comment on how cute she looked.
However, the party began to take a nosedive by 9:30, when Tessa's older brother and his friends showed up with enough alcohol to supply a small bar. By ten o'clock, Kelsey could bet with certainty that at least 80% of the attendees were inebriated, Connie included. Unlike her more conservative friends, Connie was apparently a party girl.
"I really thought she was exaggerating about her summer exploits." Julie said as she joined Kelsey in the library.
Aside from the two, no one else was in the sanctuary.
"I honestly don't see the point in it. I made the mistake of getting drunk last summer, and I will never repeat that experience." Kelsey said as she sighed. "I can't believe I thought this party might actually be worth it."
"It isn't."
"I know that, now. I've had so many creeps hit on me." Kelsey said as she removed the fake fairy wings, tossing them onto a leather loveseat. "I even had to dodge Charlie, again."
Julie cringed. "Has he not gotten the hint?"
"I try to tell him I'm not interested. But, he keeps insisting that I should give him a chance." Kelsey replied as she slumped onto the comfortable seat.
The immaculate library was as big as the top floor of the apartment she was living in. All of the walls were lined with expensive looking bookshelves and a huge, and antique looking, globe was positioned in the middle of the richly decorated room. It was the perfect hide out from the trashed party-goers, since no one would be interested in entering through a door that had "Library" engraved into the plaque on the door.
"He gets arrogant sometimes." Julie admitted, bringing Kelsey from her musings. "I think being team captain goes to his head, a lot."
"Well, he is going to really ruin the team dynamic when I have to beat some sense into him. I hate being violent, but I really don't think he'll ever get the hint."
Julie smirked. "I knew there was a reason for why we get along so well."
Both laughed as the library door opened again.
"Oh, hey, Fulton, what's going on?" Julie asked as the sullen teenager entered the room.
He insisted he was dressed as a biker when they first ran into him at the party, but both girls thought he looked like he usually did.
"Why don't chicks like me?" he abruptly questioned as he sat on the top of desk that was close by.
"What do you mean?" Julie asked bewilderedly.
She was not aware that Fulton was having female problems, considering all of the female attention the Bash Brothers received at school.
"Is it that Bridgette chick?" Kelsey asked with a hint of anger in her normally calm voice.
"No. It's just any girl. I've tried to talk to at least five, and every single one just laughs at me and walks off."
Kelsey got up from her comfortable chair and hugged the saddened teen. "I think you're just going after the wrong girls, Fulton."
"Yeah, maybe you're right." he said as they broke the brief hug. "Am I really that bad of a person, though?"
"No!" Julie exclaimed passionately as she stood up from her chair. "Fulton, you're such a cool dude. You deserve someone other than one of those prissy rich chicks. You are way too good for them."
Kelsey nodded in agreement. "We're still in high school, so don't even worry about these girls."
"Thanks, ladies." Fulton said as he got up. "I'm going to go back to the party. Wanna join?"
"Sure." the girls replied in unison as the three walked towards the closed library door.
The three teenagers were walking down the empty hallway when they were met by a rather harassed looking Portman. Kelsey would have laughed at his out of character doctor costume, but she could feel that this wasn't the appropriate time.
"Dude, we need to talk." he aimed at Fulton.
"Oh, no," Fulton raised his hands, "I'm not in this one. You need to find someone else."
Julie quickly followed behind Fulton, leaving Kelsey alone with the tall, dark, and handsome teenager.
"I guess I should be going, too…" Kelsey trailed off as she saw the look in his eyes.
"No, I need someone to talk to." he insisted as he pulled her back to the library.
"Dean," Kelsey began as he closed the door behind him, "I am really the last person that you want to talk to about your relationship issues. Especially with everything that happened last month."
Kelsey was torn between crying and being angry. On one hand, she wanted to cry over the fact that he pretty much was toying with her emotions like she was another disposable girl. On the other, she wanted to pick up the biggest book in the library and bash his head in for completely ignoring her until he got with Tessa.
"Can we just forget about all of that for a second? Tessa wants to go all-"
"No, I am not listening to this," she emphasized by furiously covering her ears with her hands. "I am not giving you advice. Do what you want, Dean Portman. I could really care less!"
With that, she stormed out of the room, before she committed herself to committing assault with a deadly dictionary. She ran down the stairs and immediately found Julie, who had been happily dancing with Fulton and Kenny.
"We are leaving. Now!" she nearly hissed as the other blonde strained to hear her.
"What's going on?" Julie asked with concern.
"I want to go home." Kelsey said, trying very hard to not sound like a petulant child.
"Okay, let's find Connie."
Before the two could begin their search, Fulton stopped them.
"I really wouldn't do that if I were you. She disappeared with Guy, like, at least twenty minutes before I went to find you guys."
"Gross." Julie said as she rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. She can find her own way back to the dorm. I'm not in the mood to deal with any of this."
Kelsey stormed out into the main hall. After grabbing her long winter peacoat and buttoning it, she stalked out of the beautiful mansion and out to the street. Her car was parked two blocks away, since there were so many people at the party.
"Kels, wait up!" Julie yelled as she came jogging up behind the furious girl. "What's going on?"
"Guys are such dumbasses." she spat as she continued to walk quickly to her car. "Portman wanted my opinion on whether or not he should sleep with Tessa. He's such a jerk. Why would he even bother asking me that, when he knows that I like him?"
Julie stared blankly as Kelsey unlocked the car doors. "I really have no idea."
"I reiterate: guys are such dumbasses." she slammed the car door before placing the key into the ignition.
After they had both buckled their seatbelts, she started the car and carefully drove home. No matter how angry she was, she wasn't going to risk either Julie or her lives. With the streets busy due to the party revelers, it took an excruciating hour to get back to her home, when it had taken just twenty minutes earlier. After getting out of the car, the girls turned their backs towards each other as Kelsey changed into a more conservative dress. It wasn't exactly a costume, but with her fairy wings, it would look nice enough. Since Julie's costume wasn't that revealing to begin with, she decided to stay in it until getting into the warm apartment.
"Could you get those blasted wings from the car?" Kelsey asked as she stuffed the flimsy costume pieces into her bag.
"Sure." Julie opened the passenger door, leaning in to look for them. "Um, they aren't in here. You must've left them."
"Forget it, then. He'll never know the difference."
Kelsey really didn't care at this point if her dad scolded her or not. Her night was already ruined, so it wasn't like he could do anything to make it worse.
"Hello, girls." Caleb greeted from the living room sofa as they came in from the kitchen. "Where's Connie?"
"She decided she wanted to go back to the dorm with some of the other girls we know." Julie effortlessly lied. "I really need a break from that place, though."
She and Kelsey both laughed, trying to keep the rouse going.
"I can't say I don't blame you. I hated living in the dorms when I was in college." Caleb said as he gingerly got up from the couch. "Well, since I see that you are safely back, I'm going to bed, girls. Goodnight."
He kissed Kelsey on the top of her head before going down the short hallway behind the stairs to the guest room.
"That was close." Julie muttered as she shut Kelsey's bedroom door behind her.
"I'm so glad you can lie." Kelsey admitted as she closed the blinds and curtains on her two bedroom windows. "I would have been toast."
"It's what happens when you have two lawyers for your parents." she shrugged casually. "I'm so tired."
"Me, too." Kelsey yawned. "I'll get the air mattress pumped up while you change into your pjs."
"Good deal."
Twenty minutes later, Kelsey lay awake as Julie drifted off into a deep sleep. No matter how hard she tried, she really couldn't get the offending exchange out of her head. After nearly an hour of struggling to go to sleep, she finally drifted off into a restless slumber.