Chapter 21: Calling All The Monsters
In which the Wildcats and the Lakeshore Turtles meet on Halloween. Hijinks ensue and EJ questions his sexuality yet again. Happy Halloween everyone.
Disclaimer: I do not own High School Musical: The Musical: The Series or my friend's Original Characters. Joshua, Vernon, Ten and Jeonghan belong to my friend @zealous_light. I only own my Original Characters. Enjoy.
Halloween 2019
There's this fundraising performance hosted by the Dance Studio that Ten and Jeonghan often frequented. As a result, EJ was dragged into the Halloween-Fest event held in town.
Ten had informed his two best friends that the theme for their Halloween dance fundraiser was apparently performing while in costume. Ten was assigned under the Disney costume dance segment, so EJ assumed Ten would probably be going as a character like Prince Charming or the Mad Hatter.
He's carpooling with his cousin Ashlyn, and Cress with her brother Phyrros to the Halloween-Fest.
"Come on, Eej, we're gonna be late!" Cress exclaimed, ushering him to hurry up. Cress was the best makeup artist Ten knew so he had recommended her as the team's makeup artist.
"I need to lock the car first," EJ rolled his eyes slightly, making sure his car was locked before following her. Cress's favorite holiday was Halloween, mostly because it's the one day she gets to wear convincingly terrifying Horror Movie-esque makeup.
"Hurry, Princey-Pants, let's go!" Phyrros dragged EJ by the arm through the throng of people.
Cress was dressed up as Sophie from 'Howl's Moving Castle', temporarily dyeing her hair silver to sell off the look. She went as the silver haired Sophie at the epilogue of the film, the skirt of her soft yellow gown swaying with each step she took.
EJ was dragged along because someone had to hold her back if anyone kept complaining to her that "Sophie isn't black".
"Gotta say, I forgot how cute you look in a dress." EJ commented. On the few times where he gets to see his friend in a dress, Cress can be demure and stunning when she wants to be.
"Aww thanks Eej!" Cress visibly brightened at his compliment.
"Why is their booth the furthest away from here?" EJ mused, they were gonna meet Jeonghan, Joshua and Vernon halfway.
"What up?" Joshua walked over to them dressed as Zuko. Vernon was dressed up as a Hogwarts student.
"Are you supposed to be Zuko from Season 3?" EJ gestured to Joshua's costume.
"Yes, and you're Prince Eric?" Joshua glanced at EJ's halloween costume.
"Hannie! You look gorgeous!" Cress squealed when she saw Jeonghan dressed up as the blond version of Howl from 'Howl's Moving Castle'.
"I can say the same thing about you." Jeonghan gushed over his friend's costume. "We would have won the couples costume contest!"
Cress pumped a fist into the air. "Let's win it next year!"
"The scar's on the wrong side." Kitt passed by Joshua, he was dressed up as Aang.
"The scar is NOT on the wrong side!" Joshua hissed, getting into character.
"Joshua Hong Jisoo, you're almost 18, you can't seriously be picking fights with a freshman." Vernon tried to haul some senses into his friend.
"I can and I will!" Joshua huffed, playing along to Kitt's games, "I spent years training…meditating…You're just a child."
"Well you're just a teenager." Kitt refuted playfully, blowing raspberries at the older teen.
"'Shua, it's not worth it!"
"I must capture the Avatar to restore my honor!" Joshua declared, attempting to follow after Kitt.
"'Shua, our performance is in an hour!" Vernon and EJ had to physically walk Joshua to their location.
"Alright, Jisoo, Phy and I are off, see you guys later." Ashlyn looped an arm around Phyrros as the two redheads wandered off to find their friends. After weeks, Phyrros had finally recovered from chickenpox.
Ashlyn was dressed up as Princess Merida from Pixar's 'Brave', and Phyrros went as Arrietty from Studio Ghibli's 'The Secret World of Arrietty'.
"Make sure not to stab anyone." Cress called out.
"Ah c'mon, you made sure this prop is barely lethal." Phyrros grinned.
"Have fun!" Cress hollered.
Meanwhile with the Siblings Squad
"Jisoo, you look amazing!" Phyrros squealed, rushing over to give Jisoo a hug.
"Thanks, and who are you supposed to be?" Jisoo hummed in acknowledgment, wearing a 'Greasers' inspired dress with a shiny black leather jacket.
"Arrietty from 'The Secret World of Arrietty'." Phyrros gestures to his red sweater dress with a prop fencing foil (that Cress had made herself). He wore his favorite auburn long haired wig tied in Arrietty's signature ponytail.
"Hey guys, I'm here." Mark approached them.
"Why are you two wearing the same costume?" Ashlyn mused, knowing that those two probably didn't even plan to show up wearing similar themed outfits.
"Jisoo, you look–," Mark spoke up, realizing he and Jisoo were wearing rather matching Grease themed costumes.
"No." Jisoo instantly backed away when she realized she and Mark were matching.
"But we matc–" Mark kept following Jisoo like a lost puppy, much to Ashlyn's and Phyrros' amusement.
"Not anymore." Jisoo immediately went over to Ashlyn's side.
"C'mon, let's go check out the pumpkin carving contest. My sister Tara is joining it, and she's been practicing for months!" Phyrros started leading the way to the pumpkin carving contest.
"Don't you know who I be?" Kourtney was dressed very glamorously. A leopard print pantsuit, white faux fur jacket accompanied with a long blonde wig and big sunglasses.
"Do you listen to Music?" Nini was wearing an auburn bob wig, with a matching pair of sunglasses.
"Sunglasses, faux fur jacket, blonde hair…I'm gonna say Hannah Montana?" One of the Wildcats ensemble, Addie took a guess.
"Close guess but no." Kourtney shook her head.
"Do you watch tv?" Nini chimed in.
"DO YOU CARRY A LUNCHBOX?!" Phyrros immediately caught onto the reference. "Liz Anya, That's So Raven."
"See? She gets it!" Kourtney returned the Senior with a nod of approval.
Now Phyrros doesn't mind it when people think he's a girl because he's a wholesome crossdresser.
"That's So Raven! Should have guessed!" Ashlyn snapped her fingers.
"Iconic show, timeless classic, and impeccable style," Phyrros agreed, pointing out a few reasons why Kourtney and Nini went as the iconic disney show characters.
Meanwhile at the Pumpkin Carving Contest…
"I will never eat pumpkins again!!" Ricky Bowen came running out of the pumpkin carving contest after seeing what one of the Kormos family members had made.
"Ah c'mon those were fake blood!" Tara (the eldest of the 10 Kormos children) hissed defensively. She held up her rather convincingly realistic horror movie-esque carved pumpkin, decorated with fake blood. "Psh, wimps…"
"They look real enough…" Big Red mumbled, earning a nod from some of the other Wildcats.
Eventually, Cress and EJ made it to the area where the Dance Studio was having their performance at…And frankly speaking, EJ was not prepared for the chaos that unfolds.
"I can show you the world~" One of the Lakeshore students (Lucas) was dressed up as Elsa and singing his lines.
"I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!!" Another guy from Lakeshore named Hendery shouted, marching over to his friends dressed in a purple gown. He was shouting the lyrics to 'A Whole New World' like it's a death metal concert, "I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!"
"Have you guys seen Ten?" EJ looked around.
"He's getting into costume." Hendery replied, before mildly grumbling, "this wig is heavy."
"Woah, you all look great!" Cress complimented, recognizing a few of Ten's friends from the dance studio.
"Thanks. I look so cute." One of the other Lakeshore kids who was dressed as Snow White preened at the complement.
"Wait, where's Joshua?" EJ realized one of their friends was missing.
"He went back out to fight Kitt again." Cress replied, not looking up from putting on makeup on one of the Lakeshore performers.
"I'll go get him." Vernon sighed, heading out with Jeonghan to find Joshua.
"Who is that lovely lady?" EJ's gaze was fixed onto a beautiful girl with long brown hair dressed up as Alice from 'Alice in Wonderland'.
'Alice' looked over at Cress and EJ before 'she' gave them a wave and a bright smile.
EJ simply waved back with a blush on his face.
"I didn't know Ten had a cousin visiting..." EJ commented out loud. He recalled Ten has a rather big family back in Thailand, and this girl is definitely a relative.
"I can't believe you almost went to bob apples with that freshman just because he was messing with you!" Vernon groaned, handing a towel for Joshua to dry his hair.
"Hey, I do not step away from a dare." Joshua rebutted.
"Cress, I think I've met The One." EJ spun Cress around after she was finished with makeup.
"You say the same to every girl you had a crush on." Cress deadpanned. EJ was a bit of a hopeless romantic (emphasis on Hopeless).
"no I mean it," EJ insisted.
"Ok who's the lucky one?" Jeonghan asked. While it's not uncommon for EJ to develop crushes instantly, they're usually still supportive of him unless the date is a bad person (like Tatiana Martinez).
"That girl over there, dressed as Alice." EJ sighed softly, looking like a lovesick puppy.
It took the Lakeshore students all their might not to laugh.
"Eej, that's our Tenny!" Joshua deadpanned, breaking EJ from his daze.
And just like that, all the color instantly drained from EJ's face.
"Ah man, my brain just went through a K-drama falling in love montage!" EJ buried his face into his hands as he groaned in embarrassment.
He technically went through the same lovestruck montage scene with Cress a few years back.
"And I'm sure TenAlice would appreciate it." Cress nodded her head. "Face it, guys are hot. Girls are hot. Everyone's hot."
"Must be global warming." Jeonghan quipped.
"You had the same reaction when you thought Jeonghan with long hair was a Yoon cousin visiting." Joshua snorted, "face it, you have hot friends that make you question things."
"Hey," Ten finally approached his friends once he was done adjusting his wig into a ponytail. "What's going on?"
"nowhere doing nothing with nobody." EJ rambled. He was visibly flustered and embarrassed he briefly found his best friend in drag as attractive.
Cress playfully placed a hand over her chest and at Ten's chest. A few seconds later, she jokingly protested, "Bruh, HOW?!"
"This is not fair, Ten has a better chest than me!" Cress feigned an insulated expression, "Seriously, come feel it, it feels so real!"
"I'm good, no thanks." EJ shook his head, still somewhat mortified he briefly mistook Ten as a girl.
"Oh yeah? You should see Xiaojun. He has way too much foam padding than the rest of us." Ten snorted, trying not to laugh.
"Eric, I knew you'd come back for me!" Here comes YangYang dressed as Princess Ariel.
"Oh gods, when I said I was hoping to score a date this Halloween, this wasn't what I had in mind." EJ muttered under his breath.
"No regrets." Cress snickered, holding up her phone.
"Still a better love story than Twilight." Vernon commented, taking a sip of fruit punch.
Short to say, this Halloween event ended up more than EJ had bargained for. Mostly because once the performance was over, he couldn't look Ten in the eye without imagining the failed romance montage going on earlier.
That and Cress and Jeonghan went on a petty prank spree against Ricky Bowen.
This chapter is rather short and slightly incomplete but it's safe to say whatever happens after the pre-performance is gonna be so chaotic.
(1.) You have two types of Yoon siblings when a friend dresses up the same theme as you on Halloween: Jeonghan who is totally a hypeman. And Jisoo who just dips out.
(2.) Earlier on I had debated on letting Cress go as Raven Baxter, but decided Kourtney may be a better fit since both Raven and Kourtney are both fashion designers with impeccable style. Nini is the 'Chelsea' to Kourtney's 'Raven' of course.
(3.) I accidentally gave Joshua and Kitt a petty/playful rivalry dynamic, mostly because after the jab if Joshua was IRL Joshua.
(4.) The rest of the NCT/Seventeen variants are mentioned in passing, since it's established that most of the K-pop variants exist as students at Lakeshore Academy.
(5.) Also here is the final list of the characters mentioned and their Halloween costumes: -
Cress – Sophie from Studio Ghibli's 'Howl's Moving Castle' (silver haired version at the ending)
Ten – Alice from Disney's 'Alice in Wonderland'. AKA the Bad Alive Disney version.
Jeonghan – Howl from Studio Ghibli's 'Howl's Moving Castle' (blonde version)
Vernon – Hogwarts student
Joshua – Prince Zuko from 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' (season 3 version)
Kitt Hudson (the Freshman who was cast as Coach Bolton) – Aang from 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'
EJ – Prince Eric from Disney's 'The Little Mermaid'
Ashlyn – Merida from Pixar's 'Brave'
Ricky – Captain Hook
Big Red – Smee
Phyrros – Arrietty from Studio Ghibli's 'The Secret World of Arrietty'
Kourtney – Raven Baxter from 'That's So Raven'
Nini – Chelsea Daniels from 'That's So Raven'
(6.) The only reason EJ could ever discover he's bi is because of his very attractive friends. In his defence, Ten looks amazing as Alice.
That's all for now. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading and have a happy Halloween.