I nodded as a wave of relief washed over me. Stupidly, I glanced at the people around me and much to my demise, everyone was watching with amusement. By everyone I meant the guests in line and the staff members. I knew this wasn't the first time an actor had chased a guest in an attempt to scare them because we had seen it multiple times while we waited in line. However, I had never seen the clown before, and I wasn't aware that they were allowed to haverealchainsaws. That was the only reason that I was as scared as I was.
Other people were laughing so I forced myself to laugh too. It was better to laugh with them so that I wouldn't feel like they were laughing at me. I don’t think that my laugh was convincing, though. It sounded forced because it was.
"Who's the one that was running scared?" Justin asked arrogantly.
Great, now I had to hear Justin run his mouth. It was bad enough constantly losing to Javi, but now I was losing to Justin too? The universe had a grudge against me.
I had no response to Justin, so I instead started walking toward the parking lot not bothering to make sure my friends followed. They did, but they were trailing behind because of how quickly I was walking. I wanted to get as far away from the haunted mansion as fast as I possibly could. Ricky jogged to catch up with me.
"Dude." Ricky slung his arm around my shoulder. "Are you gonna explain that?"
"Explain what?" I grumbled.
He gave me a knowing look, but when I still had the 'what are you even talking about' look on my face, he explained. "Youinvited Javier to be with us, and you and him were never more than an inch apart all night.”
"You're crazy."
"You know he has a girlfriend, right?" my best friend asked cautiously.
“Quit being so loud,” I scolded in a whisper. “Of course I know that. I’m not trying to do anything bad here.”
Ricky nodded. “I know, I know. It’s just…you’ve been acting differently with him.”
“Nope,” I said, popping the ‘p.’ “I have not been.”
Ricky let out a sigh as he put his arm by his side again. He looked over his shoulder with a slight smirk. “Okay, we’ll talk about it later then.”
“Nope,” I repeated.
“Whatever, man. We’ll see what happens at Poppy's party tomorrow night. Let’s hope you don’t do something stupid because I’m not looking forward to cleaning up the mess.”
When had I ever done anything stupid at a party?
Eighteen
Eli
The stuffy, musty smell that always seemed to accompany these parties was definitely a stench that I could go without.
Everyone was in their costumes. I saw angels, devils, policemen, firemen, ghosts, doctors, and all of the other popular costumes. Some were dressed more revealing than others, it varied. I also saw a few people in inflatable costumes which was pretty fun.
Ricky was dressed up as an inmate, Bella was a zombie princess, and Kailey was a Christmas tree. I wasn’t as confident about my costume as I was when we bought it. Imagining myself in it and wearing it were two different things.
I was wearing a white tuxedo shirt with a tuxedo jacket over it. I left the top few buttons on the shirt unbuttoned and folded the collar. The suit was very cheaply made, as expected since it was a costume from a costume store. I had on the black slacks that came with the outfit and black sneakers that I found in the back of my closet. The sneakers were too small because they were a few years old, but they were the only ones that matched so I had no other options. That part of the outfit was fine, it was the accessories that made me question it all.
I had black gloves on my hands and tall black bunny ears on my head. The headband was squeezing my head so hard that I could already feel a headache brewing. I had a bushy bunny tail stuck on my ass, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if it fell off in the middle of the night because it was barely staying on to begin with. If it did, however, I wouldn’t have complained. The one part of the costume that I did like was the cute little bowtie I got to put on. It made me feel spiffy.
Kailey put pink blush on my cheeks and nose. It wasn’t a lot. She told me it was just enough to give off the, in her words, ‘very sophisticated and important bunny’ look that I was apparently going for.
My friends had told me that they liked what I was wearing and that I did not look as ridiculous as I felt. I thought I looked good at first but the more I thought about it the less confident I became.
But I ignored my self-conscious thoughts and walked in with my head held high. It wasn’t like anyone in the party would be sober enough to give a shit what I was wearing.
Kailey and Ricky were acting strange, the uncomfortable tension between them palpable. They wouldn’t stand beside each other and would share intense looks with each other when they thought Bella and I weren't looking. I chalked it up to a normal couple’s fight. All couples went through tough times, and they were no exception.
I followed everyone else. I didn’t know where we were going but I assumed it was to the kitchen. As we were walking, I noticed Javier and Diane in the corner by the couches. Diane and Javier were an angel and the devil. It was a classic costume, but they could have put more thought into it.
They looked to be having an extremely heated conversation. Diane was pointing her finger at him in an accusatory way, andhe had his hands held up in defense. His mouth was agape as he watched her mouth move swiftly as she spoke to him.
