Root looked at her butt in the mirror. "I wish I was curvy like you are."
"You look fine. If I wore that, the lines would get all messed up."
They were getting ready to go trick-or-treating with the gang. Root had coordinated with everyone to make sure they all had the best possible costumes. Root looked her costume over one more time and turned away from the mirror.
She was wearing a full bodysuit, covered in various landmarks and attractions found alone Route 66. She'd ordered her costume online. It was the best pun she could thing of for her name: Root 66. She had even bought hightop converse that looked like a roadmap. They'd inspired the rest of the outfit.
Root looked at Sameen who was laying spread eagle on the bed, trying to drink a glass of water without sitting up. "You're such an idiot."
Sameen finally gave up and pulled herself up, crossing her legs. "I've done it before."
"And not gotten soaked?"
"…No."
Root laughed and took the glass of water from her, drinking the last of it. She set it on the nightstand. "Come on, let's go make sure the boys are finished with their make-up."
"I cannot believe you convinced them to do this,' Sameen laughed, scooting off the bed. She looked down at her shirt. "I can't believe you convinced me."
Root looked at the image of a bowl of Cole Slaw she'd ironed onto Sameen's shirt. She'd tried to get Sameen to actually dress like Cole Slaw, in a big swampsuit, but she'd refused. They'd come to a compromise, Sameen would agree to be Cole Shaw for Halloween if Root let her just wear a T-Shirt.
"I think 'convinced' is a loose term," Root mused, scratching her head. "Are you wearing shorts?"
"What?" Sameen raised her eyebrows, "It's 70 degrees outside. This may be 'winter' in Texas, but for almost everyone else, it's warm."
Root held her hands out and started for the door. "Ok, fine. Sorry."
"I'm just saying," Sameen poked her in the back, "you're going to regret that thick suit."
They peered into the boys' room and started laughing. Root might not have convinced Sameen to dress up all the way, but one puppy face to the boys and they'd folded like a house of cards. John had asked Root to make his costume, which she did, of course, but Lionel had been surprisingly enthusiastic.
"Hey," Lionel stood up from his desk, holding his arms out, "What do you think?"
Root took in his whole outfit. He was dressed as The Cowardly Lionel. Root was proud of herself for the pun, but sad that it meant they wouldn't be able to do a team Wizard of Oz costume next year, she'd have to find another reason to paint Sameen green.
Lionel looked good, his suit furry and fluffy. He'd even done a good job on his face.
"You look adorable, Lionel, and I think your mane makes you taller than Sameen," Root joked, walking into the room and hopping on Lionel's bed.
The boys room was about the same size as Sameen's, but it felt smaller. The boys had filled every inch of wall space with posters of cop movies, kung-fu movies, and spy movies. Lionel's half of the room was hectic, clothes on the floor and on the desk. John's half was impeccable, perfectly made bed and recently vacuumed carpet.
"Hey, John!" Sameen called from her place against the door. "Show me what you got!"
"I can't go like this!" He called from the attached bathroom. "Zoe and Joss are going to be there!"
"Don't worry," Root joked, "I gave them assignments, too."
"You did?" John walked out of the bathroom, adjusting his headband.
"Holy shit," Sameen said, bursting into laughter. "You look like a dumbass."
John was wearing a giant deer onesie, his face painted to look like a doe. Root had made him John Doe. She wanted him to be taller before she had him dress as a pack of Reese's.
"You look great!" Root complimented, gesturing to his face.
"I did the make-up," Lionel bragged. "I think I got a gift."
"Congrats, Lionel," Sameen said, "I'll be your reference for beauty school."
Lionel scoffed and lunged for her, shoving her out of the room. Root watched them wrestle in the hall. Her phone buzzed.
"Hey, guys, Joss says she and Zoe are out front."
Sameen shoved Lionel off her towards the stairs and the group headed down.
Mrs. Reese caught them at the front door, waving a digital camera. "I want a picture of my kids!"
Root swallowed, feeling out of place. She pushed her way to the front of the group and stood next to Mrs. Reese. She smiled at her friends, ignoring the frown on Sameen's face.
"Honey," Mrs. Reese pushed Root back towards the others, "Get in there!"
Root blinked back tears, trying to subtly wipe her face. She hadn't expected Mrs. Reese to want her in the pictures. She wasn't related to them. She felt Sameen grab her shoulders.
"You ok?" Sameen asked, her eyes looking over Root's face.
Root nodded, smiling. She felt really dumb, being overwhelmed at something like this.
"Hey, look at me," Sameen demanded, shaking her slightly.
Root looked at her, surprised to see her smiling. Root couldn't help but smile back. She laughed. "I'm ok, I promise. I just got…something in my eye."
Sameen didn't look like she believed her, but she nodded and dropped her hands. She glanced over at Mrs. Reese and rolled her eyes.
Mrs. Reese was filming them, the blinking light at the front of her camera giving her away. Sameen crossed her arms, but stood next to Root for the picture. The four of them stood facing Mrs. Reese.
"Oh, come on, guys! Look alive!" Mrs. Reese demanded. "Do something fun!"
Sameen took a step forward and slid into a split. Root stared down at her. She hadn't expected Sameen to be so…flexible. Root swallowed, thoroughly impressed. Maybe Sameen could teach her how to do that.
"I'm gonna pick you up, Princess," Lionel said, before sticking an arm under Root's knees and sweeping her off her feet, making her squeak.
"Adorable! John, do something!"
John just shook his head and stood still, his arms hanging at his sides. Root wrapped her arms around Lionel's neck and laughed. This was a good start to the evening.
"Alright, go ahead," Mrs. Reese laughed, moving out of the way. She picked up their pillowcases and held them out.
Root hopped out of Lionel's arms and ran out the door, knowing Sameen would get hers for her, and looked around for Joss and Zoe. She spotted them waving their arms across the street.
The streets were bustling with kids and parents all dressed up for Trick-or-Treating. Root loved Halloween. There was something about putting on costumes and pretending to be something else to get candy that made Root feel warm inside. Once she worked for NASA, she could be like a spy or something fun. Sameen would be good at being a spy.
"Hey, girl! You look so good!" Joss adjusted the string on her shoulder. "This was a great idea!"
Joss was dressed like a mummy, but wrapped in dental floss instead of muslin. She'd agreed to be Dental Joss for Halloween. Root had expected her to say no, she and Root were hardly close, but she'd said yes and even volunteered to make her own costume.
"Thanks for dressing up! You went above and beyond! Sameen's just wearing a stupid T-Shirt."
"Hey," Sameen spoke up from behind Root, holding a pillowcase out for her to take. "I'm wearing the shirt."
Zoe leaned forward to look at the image. "Cole Slaw? Oh, I get it! Clever, Root!"
Sameen rolled her eyes. "What are you supposed to be? A drunk pirate?"
Zoe lifted her bottle of rum. "I'm Captain Morgan, dumbass. It's very convenient, too, because I can bring this to the party later."
"Where'd you get that?" John asked, confused. "Your brother isn't 21 for another month, right?"
Zoe pressed her hand to her chest and turned to Joss. "He really does listen."
"That's so sweet," Joss bat her eyes at John before bursting into laughter. She and Zoe high-fived.
"Bro, I think your girlfriends are going to start dating each other," Sameen said, smiling.
"Great."
Zoe held up the bottle again. "I got it from that kid Elias that graduated a few years ago, but still hangs around the school like a weirdo. His brother, Anthony, is 21."
"Huh," John's face scrunched. "That's illegal."
"Yikes," Joss said, stepping off the sidewalk and leading the group into the flow of trick-or-treaters, "Loosen up."
The friends started down the street heading to their first house. Root watched Sameen walk on the edge of the sidewalk, arms raised to keep her balance.
When Root had decided she and Sameen were going to be friends, she wasn't sure what to expect. Honestly, she'd thought it would fizzle out once they got any deeper than space, but she and Sameen had a lot in common. They both liked learning and having fun. Sameen was always down for adventure, but she was also cool with just hanging out.
Trying to talk about any sort of emotion was like pulling teeth, but Root was starting to realize that that's just who Sameen was and Root could deal with it. Sameen was willing to listen, even if she wasn't willing to talk.
The next few hours passed quickly. The friends all got a decent amount of candy and somehow the girls had convinced Lionel and John to carry it all.
Root had a lot of fun. She'd lived in Bishop her whole life, but she was just starting to feel like she belonged. Joss and Zoe were very nice and Root was sad that they were Sophomores like John; she didn't want to think about them going to away to college.
The only trouble they encountered was Lambert and Hersch. They were dressed in SWAT uniforms, carrying large guns. Root had seen them stopping kids all night and taking their candy, but she hadn't really expected them to stop her and her friends.
The group was leaving Mr. Finch's house when Lambert and Hersch approached them, guns raised.
"Hold it right there," Lambert demanded. "Give us your candy."
Sameen stepped in front of Root, arms crossed. "Or what? There's six of us and two of you."
"Yeah, but we've got guns," Hersch smirked. "We're in control."
Sameen and Lionel looked at John, who nodded. The three siblings lunged forward. Lionel grabbed Hersch's gun and John grabbed Lambert's. Sameen high-kicked Lambert in the chin, knocking him out. She steadied herself has Hersch came at her and used his own momentum to throw him over her hip onto the ground. She stomped on his stomach.
"See you guys at the party," Sameen laughed, snatched their bags of candy off the ground. "Losers."
She hopped over Hersch and walked into the street. Root scrambled after her.
"That was amazing! You were so cool! You just kicked him in the face!" Root laughed and mimed throwing punches. "Seriously, you gotta teach me!"
Sameen stopped walking and looked at Root. "I did TaeKwonDo for like eight years and now I do MMA. It's not just learning punches."
Root tried to look serious. "I know. Inner Focus, totally."
"Shut up," Sameen said, scrunching her face. "Dork." She turned and dumped the bullies' bags of candy on the ground. "FREE CANDY!"
She and Root backed up as kids came running to the pile, reclaiming what was theirs. Root looked at Sameen, surprised.
"You didn't want it?"
Sameen just shrugged. "Wasn't mine."
"Hey, guys!" Joss called from the sidewalk, "We should head to Martine's."
"Hate that bitch," Sameen muttered, but led Root back to their group.
Martine lived half a mile away, in the new subdivision. Root looked up at her house. It wasn't right to call it a house. It was a mansion, looming and modern. Things like this always made Root grateful that no one really knew about her home. Everyone knew her mother was a drunk, but they didn't know about the peeling paint, the rusty water, and the rotting floorboards.
She sighed and followed her friends inside. Immediately, she felt overwhelmed. There must have been magic on the doorway because when John opened it, a wave of sound burst through, deafening Root. Sameen grabbed her hand and led her into the party. Almost everyone from school was there and even people Root didn't recognize. Leave it to Martine to find the only college kids in town to bring to her party.
Root and Sameen walked around for a while before grabbing a drink in the kitchen. There didn't seem to be anything non-alcoholic, so they grabbed a couple beers and headed back to the sitting room. Sameen plopped down on the couch and put her feet on the expensive looking table. Root sat down next to her.
"This is how kids our age have fun?" Root asked, looking around. "What are you supposed to do?"
"Get drunk and make-out," Sameen answered, taking a sip of her drink.
"Well," Root blushed, "I'm not going to make-out."
Sameen glanced around at the people in the party. "Yeah, there aren't even any cute boys here."
"Right," Root nodded sharply, "no cute boys."
They noticed Martine coming towards them, solo cup in her hand. Sameen leaned forward and put her beer down on the table. She stood up, looking down at Root.
"That's my cue for a bathroom break."
Root watched her walk passed Martine and smiled. Sameen and Martine were a lot alike, but Sameen made an effort to be civil, if not nice. Martine was content to be a bitch. Root had to admit that the long, blonde hair and skimpy clothing thing worked for her.
"Hey, Sam," Martine said, sitting delicately on the couch. She rested her elbow on the back. "How's it going?"
"Um," Root tried to smile, "Good?"
"Is that a question?" Martine laughed.
"No, uh, No. I'm good."
"That's good." Martine ran her eyes over Root. "What are you?"
"Root 66. Because of my nickname, you know." Root nervously picked at the label on her bottle. "Like the road."
"I get it!" Martine laughed, lightly hitting Root's arm. "That's clever. So…" she pointed to a picture on Root's leg. "what's this?"
Root swallowed, suddenly aware of how close Martine was sitting to her. "Um, That's the Wigwam Motel. The rooms are shaped like tepees."
"Wow," Martine said, dragging her figure up Root's leg to another picture, "That's really cool. Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did," Root joked, cursing the waver in her voice. She couldn't tell if Martine was flirting with her or just trying to make her nervous. Root hoped this wasn't some sort of plan to embarrass her at the party.
"Clever, but you know what I mean."
"Yeah, um, sure. Ask away." Root took a sip of her beer, wincing at the bitter taste.
"Well," Martine started, casually glancing around the party, "A few of us have noticed you spending a lot of time with Sameen lately. We were wondering if you two were dating."
Root swallowed, feeling her face turn red. Of course she'd imagined dating Sameen before, but they were just friends. She wasn't even sure she liked girls like that. She was probably too young to know for sure, right? Hanna had kissed her once a couple of years ago and Root could swear her lips had literally tingled, but that was just because of nerves, right?
"We're not judging, if you are," Martine clarified, reaching up to twirl a finger in Root's hair. "We're just…I'm just wondering."
"We're not," Root said and took another gulp of beer. "We're just friends."
"Oh," Martine pouted, "I'm sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm glad that you're not dating."
Root licked her lips. "You, you are?"
Martine nodded, leaning closer. "Mm-Hmm."
Root wasn't sure what was happening, but she felt like she was on fire. "Wh-Uh, Why?"
Martine was really close to her now and Root could feel her breath on her face. Martine pushed Root's hair back and leaned in brushing their lips together. Root felt her heart stop as Martine's hand moved to the back of Root's head pushing them closer. Root let her eyes flutter shut.
She didn't like Martine that much as a person, but she couldn't help the feeling in her stomach. Her lips were soft and sweet and Root reached a hand out to grasp Martine's shirt. When Martine pulled away, Root had to stop herself from following her. Movement behind Martine caught Root's eye.
Sameen was standing at the entrance to the sitting room, a red cup crushed in her hands. She didn't seem to notice the liquid dripping to the floor. Her eyes were focused on Root's face. She looked shocked.
Root watched her face smooth into a blank expression and stood up, Martine forgotten. Sameen threw her cup to the floor and turned on the spot, disappearing into the crowd.
"Oh, no…Do you think she saw?" Martine asked from the couch, her hand coming up to play with Root's.
Root snatched her hand out of Martine's grasp, her face twisted with rage. She turned to tower over Martine.
"How fucking dare you," she swore, her hands clenching. "I will end you."
"Big words from a skinny bitch."
Root was going to wipe the smug look from Martine's face. She lunged forward, but felt strong arms wrap around her. Someone was pulling her away and moving her towards the door.
"Put me down!" she demanded, beating her fists against the arms, her legs kicking in the air. "I'm going to kill her!"
"Enough," John's voice came from above her. "We're getting you out of here."
Root struggled all the way outside, cursing at all the kids staring at her, cursing at John, cursing at Martine. John carried her all the way across the street and dropped her to the grass. Root stared at the ground in front of her, seething.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry," Joss said, sitting next to her. "We'll get her back, I promise."
Root took a deep breath, hot tears streaming down her face. "Sameen is never going to talk to me again."
"Why do you say that?" Zoe questioned, pulling a handkerchief from somewhere. "Are you girlfriends?"
"No," Root said, letting Zoe wipe her face, "but her face…I haven't even told her I like girls. I don't even know if I like girls, but Martine is her enemy and I kissed her and Sameen hates me now."
Lionel looked around. "Where'd she even go?"
"She disappeared," John answered. "I don't know."
"Look, Root," Joss said, pulling Root's face up and smoothing her hair, "Shaw is your best friend and she'll forgive you if you apologize."
"I have to go apologize!" Root climbed to her feet and looked around. "Where would she go?"
"Home?" John guessed, shrugging his shoulder.
"She's probably already there," Zoe said. "Girl is fast."
"Ok, I'm going to find her." Root looked at all of them. "Stay here. Enjoy Halloween. I'll talk to Sameen."
"Are you sure?" Zoe asked, running her hand down Root's arm.
Root nodded, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. It's fine. I just have to explain."
"Ok, text me when you're all good," Joss said.
"I will."
Root headed for Sameen's house.
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Root stared up at Sameen's window, watching her pace back and forth. She didn't know what she was going to say because she didn't know why Sameen was so mad. Was it because Root hadn't told her she liked girls? Was it because it was Martine?
Maybe Root could start by apologizing for not coming out and then apologize for Martine and then apologize for something else, just cover all of her bases. She could promise never to kiss anyone ever again.
Root sighed and rubbed her face. She didn't know what to do. She looked back up at the window and froze. Sameen was staring at her.
Sameen disappeared from the window and Root sighed again, looking down at the ground. Great. Now Sameen thought Root was stalking her or something. Maybe Root wasn't destined to have friends. Root was probably going to be alone forever.
"Hey."
Root looked up. Sameen had come outside and was standing across the lawn from her.
"Hey!" Root smiled, but faltered when Sameen's face didn't change. "Um, I…"
Sameen crossed her arms. "What?"
"Um, I'm sorry," Root said, awkwardly, "For, um, whatever you're mad at me for."
Sameen rolled her eyes. "I'm not mad at you."
"You're not?" Root asked, not believing her. "Then why did you leave?"
Sameen looked down, digging her toes into the grass. "I…" She scowled and dropped her arms. "Why did you kiss Martine? Are you gay?"
"Um," Root looked away, trying to form a coherent thought, "I…don't know." She peeked at Sameen, who looked blank. Root cursed herself again for her inability to read her. She felt her hands shaking and clasped them together. "That's the truth. I don't know. I…like looking at girls and I, um, I guess I can see myself being with a girl when I'm older, but I…don't know. I just…I don't know."
Sameen looked at her for a moment before sighing. She ran a hand over her ponytail, thinking everything over. Finally, she nodded and closed the distance between them.
"It's ok, Root," she said, giving her a half smile. "I'm sorry I ran away. I'm not mad at you and I don't care if you're gay."
Root smiled, and unclasped her hands, her whole body shaking with nerves. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," Sameen rolled her eyes. "Just…Don't kiss my rival next time, ok?"
Root grinned, laughing with relief. She held her hand out for Sameen to shake. "Deal!"
Sameen hit her hand away and hugged Root. Root tensed. Sameen had never hugged her once in their three months of friendship. Before Root could get herself together to hug her back, Sameen stepped away, coughing into her fist.
"Let's get you inside," Sameen said, nodding to her front door. "You're shaking like a leaf."
"Sorry," Root apologized, following her into the house.
"Don't apologize, Dummy." Sameen punched Root on the arm. "We really need to work on your nerves."
"Only if you teach me that high kick thing, too!"
Sameen pulled the door shut behind them and scoffed. "I can't give away all of my tricks."
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Root flipped the light off on her way into the room. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail, kneeling onto the bed. Sameen pulled back the comforter so she could climb in.
"Thanks," Root said, tucking her legs under the quilt and pulling it up.
"No problem," Sameen mumbled, already falling asleep. "You ok?"
Root nodded and adjusted herself. Her arm accidentally brushed against Sameen's stomach and Root realized Sameen wasn't wearing a shirt. She was wearing her usual sleepwear of a sports bra and work out shorts. She hadn't changed at all after Root came out to her.
Root smiled at the warm feeling in her chest. "Yeah. I'm ok."
"Great. Then I'm going to sleep." Sameen started snoring immediately.
Root laughed softly and turned over. She was ok.