A/N: It's time for a Halloween party! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 19

I stood in the hallway. I had been waiting for about five minutes already.

"It's really good of you to do this, Tammy - sorry, Kate."

I looked over at Mr. Sinclair. He was sitting in the living room and looking through the doorway at me. He looked comfortable and I couldn't blame him. Lucas had already taken off to meet up with his friends.

"It's no problem. Erica asked and I didn't have any plans. I'm happy to take her."

"No plans? At all? You're young, Kate, you should go out and have fun. Aren't there parties happening?"

I shrugged. "I got invited to one, not sure if I'll go. Figure I'll decide depending on how I feel when we get back."

"You should go," he said. "Enjoy life."

I was saved from a reply when I heard a voice call out from upstairs. "Prepare to be amazed!"

I turned to see Erica standing at the top of the stairs. She was dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit and her hair was let out of its braids and brushed out. Her afro was a glorious thing to behold.

"Oh my god!" My mouth dropped open and I grinned widely at her. As she came down I caught more details on the suit like the rainbow patch and Ripley's name. "You look amazing!"

"What are you?" Erica didn't look impressed as she looked me over. I twirled around. My hair was mostly pinned back with a headband and I wore a grey sweater over a white polo shirt with the collar popped and jeans.

"Can't you guess?" She raised an eyebrow at me and waited. "I'm Ali from The Karate Kid."

"It's okay...I guess. You don't really look like her though."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, we can't all be as badass at making costumes as you apparently are. Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" Her mother had her pose for a few minutes and even roped me into taking pictures with Erica before we were finally sent on our way.

"Come on, the faster we go, the more houses we can hit!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me down the street.

oOo

"So why did you pick the lame girl from the Karate Kid?"

I was chewed on a candy bar I had nicked from her bag after asking while we headed back to her house. "It was the easiest costume I could think of with my wardrobe."

"That's stupid."

"Alright, next time you can make my costume."

"Fine! But it's going to be something good! I can't have you embarrassing me again." I couldn't help but laugh.

"Alright, but you think you're going to want me to take you trick or treating?"

"Why not? You're cool and no one bothered us this whole time. If you go to Nashville, you'll just have to come back for Halloween. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." I grabbed her and pulled her into a side hug. She tried to shove me away. "Don't worry kid, I'll come back for you."

"You better."

oOo

I sat in my car staring at the house. God, I could see people already packed in. The party looked like it was in full swing. Why was I here when I could be at home? I knew why. Tammy's mother and father had gone out to their own party and if I went back to the house by myself, I'd wallow in my own thoughts. Last Halloween I was at a party at my friend's house. Now it was a stranger's.

I got out of the car before I could stop myself. The last thing I needed was to go back to do nothing. At least this would be a distraction.

The music was blasting as I walked in. I had to squeeze past a few people to get in the house. I headed for the kitchen first, waving to a couple of people who said hi to me. I didn't really recognize anyone but most people were dressed up. Some of the costumes were obvious, others not so. Made me wonder if it was an 80s thing or an American thing. Maybe I was just out of the loop.

I tested the punch that they had. It was too strong to be good and I tried not to make a face. I searched the fridge for something to cut it with but all that was available was a bottle of coke and some orange juice. There had to be beer or something else around. I turned back and found myself face to face with Ally.

"Hey," I said. I didn't want to start it off on a bad foot. I had to survive the rest of the year with her somehow if I was here that long.

"I'm surprised you're here," she said. She scooped up some more punch before turning back to me.

"I was invited."

"That's a surprise considering you're totally grotesque. Are you even dressed up?" She made a point of looking over my outfit.

"I am," I said. "It's okay if the subtle nuances of my costume eludes you." It was a bitchy thing to say and she knew it.

"You may think you're banging now, Tammy, but give it time. We'll see."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what you think it does. Don't forget, Tammy, I know you. You can play superstar best friend to everyone, but I know you." She walked away and I was left staring after her. What the hell did that mean?

"Gods, what a bitch." I jumped at the voice next to me and turned. Veronica was standing there drinking from a red cup. "I thought I was bad but I've never been a bitch for no reason." She tilted her head, "at least, not as far as I know." She smiled at me then. "Hi, Kate."

"Hey," I was still staring in the direction Ally disappeared. "Did you hear all that?"

"I heard enough." Veronica stepped closer. "I was hoping you'd be here. It's surprisingly hard to track you down at school, but I wanted to talk to you."

"What about?"

"I've been hearing things, and I don't know you well and all, but it's totally bogus. I've been hearing things that you've apparently said about people. Like calling Carl a total grody dweeb."

"What?" I looked at her in confusion. "Why on earth would I call him that and go to Homecoming with him?"

"I know this, but rumours just go off on their own. You were chill with me and I know Carol wants your head on a spike so I figured I'd warn you." I thought about what Ally had said about knowing me, and how pleased she was. Christ. Tammy was a bitch, wasn't she? The sort of bitch that people were when they didn't expect to be noticed and said whatever they wanted between friends.

"Thank you for telling me, Veronica, I really appreciate it. I don't know what people are saying but if it's about things I said in the past, I'm totally trying to be a better…a better version of me."

Veronica nodded slowly. "Very flash."

"Thanks for the warning too."

"Course Kate, us girls need to stick together."

"Very true," I said to her. I looked around. "Know where I can grab a beer?"

oOo

Veronica told me there was a beer keg out back and warned me to bring an empty cup with me just in case. I had to fight my way through the people on the dance floor to get there. Even then I passed through some couples making out in the hallway. This felt like the house parties you'd see in movies. It was nothing like the ones I had been to. They hadn't been nearly as packed or rowdy. That included the house party I crashed after prom.

I had to shove someone out of my way at one point before I finally made it to the backyard. It felt like there were just as many people out here as there were inside. Some of them were cheering and I finally found the beer keg. Unfortunately standing next to it was Billy and Tommy. I sent a mental prayer above. I didn't want to deal with them, not after just having discovered that Ally might be spreading rumours. At the same time though, I needed a drink.

"Hey," I tapped someone I didn't know on the shoulder. "Is that the only beer keg?"

"Yeah," the guy said. "Better hurry. They just did a keg stand and I think they're planning another." Keg stands were an actual thing? I thought they were fake.

I moved forward and looked at the keg. I never had to use one before but I assumed they were fairly straightforward. They had to be if they wanted people to keep using them as they drank.

"You planning on challenging the new keg king?" said a voice in my ear. I turned to see Billy standing next to me.

"Is this your way of telling me you're the new keg king?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Ding ding ding, give the girl a prize!" he took an inhale of a cigarette. Was he ever not smoking? Gross.

"I'll refrain," I said, rolling my eyes. "Wouldn't want to strip you of your title minutes after you got it."

"You think you could Queenie?"

I stared at him as he smirked slowly. "I think I'm full of more surprises than you know." His eyes slowly dragged over my body.

"No doubt."

I turned away from him and went to grab the nozzle as someone finished pouring their drink. It was grabbed out of my hand before I could get it.

"Let me." Billy reached over and grabbed my cup. He poured the beer before handing it to me. "Didn't take you as a beer drinker."

"If I have to stay here any longer, I'll aim for harder stuff," I drawled.

His eyes lit up and just as he was about to say something, an arm wrapped around his neck. Tommy appeared at his side grinning.

"What's this? Do my eyes deceive me or is little Miss Thompson drinking?"

"Do you have a point?" I asked, "or are you just here for the simple joy of being an asshole?"

"Simple joy."

"You two know each other?" Billy asked, looking between us.

"Unfortunately."

"Kateycakes here is in my Shop class. Trying to be one of the boys," Tommy took a drink from his cup. "I offered to help her but she's totally stuck up."

"If that's what you call it," I said. "You hit on me and didn't take rejection well. From what I remember, it was your girlfriend who came to defend your honour. Didn't work out well for her either." I raised my eyebrows at him. All amusement dropped off his face.

"What?" Billy started laughing. "Your honour?"

"That's not what happened!" Tommy snapped.

"If you say so," I waved him off. "Who can really recall the details." I leaned in towards Tommy, acutely aware that I was getting closer to Billy as well. "By the way," I said soft but sternly, "don't call me Kateycakes. I don't like it." I moved back and looked at the cup Billy had poured for me before handing it back to him. "Thanks for the drink, but I decided I'm not thirsty."

I walked away, ignoring the sounds of Tommy arguing behind me. An arm wrapped around my shoulders.

"If you wanted to be alone, you could have just asked," Billy said from next to me. I looked at him.

"Remove your hand or lose it. Your choice."

"You really like to play hard to get, eh? We'd be good together, Cupcake."

"Sure, for the hour it would take for you to get yourself off while I fake it. I'm not interested. You have five seconds."

He looked at my face before he slowly removed his arm.

"Thank you. Now if you'll excuse me." I continued onwards. The girl I had seen Jonathan talking to near my locker stormed by, knocking me with her shoulder and I moved out of the way as Steve chased after her. That didn't look like it was ending well. I left the house. I had spent enough time here and I was already tired. At least it wasn't pointless. Ally was apparently spreading rumours. I needed to look through Tammy's diaries and see if they gave any hints as to what I could expect.

[tbc]