We were already at my locker now. “Yeah, of course.”
“Then, let’s do it.”
When Kendra saidAce had a fabulous car, she wasn’t kidding. It was a shiny red vintage Mustang in mint condition. I thought of my dad, and how he would go crazy for this car.
Ace was leaning back on the passenger side, a serious expression on his face, and one hand propped under his chin–his standard pose. He wore his hair slicked back, and was dressed to the nines again; pressed pants and a slim fit cardigan over a white t-shirt. Anyone else would have looked super nerdy in that kind of outfit, but of course, he managed to pull it off. The whole scene was like stepping back in time…to the 1950s.
I looked over at Alicia whose jaw was hanging–she was absolutely done for. I’d invited her because I knew she had a little crush on Ace, but now I was having second thoughts. The boy was nothing but trouble, as far as I was concerned.
“So what year is this?” I asked him.
“1967.” He beamed. “I’m not particularly fond of the new Mustangs… rather ghastly, in my opinion.”
I wanted to laugh but I didn’t. We all hopped in; Kendra at the front with Ace, and Alicia and I at the back. Alicia mouthed the word ‘wow’–she was having a blast. She already had her costume; black cat ears, a tail, black yoga wear, and eyeliner, but I think she was even more excited than I was to shop for mine.
The top was down, and I closed my eyes, wrapped my fuzzy grey sweater tighter around myself, and breathed in the cool crisp autumn air.
The ride was too short.
As soon as we stepped into the store, I was overwhelmed by all the choices. The place was huge; a Halloween specialty store, and apparently it popped up every October, for just one month.
The sign at the front read:Enter at Your Own Risk.
Oooohhh.
Superhero costumes, vampires, skeletons, and witches. I thought it would be rather fitting if Alicia dressed up as a witch. That’s kind of what she is, with all her potions and healing spells.
We studied my options as we walked slowly, behind Ace and Kendra, like obedient giddy children.
“Aaaah!” Alicia squealed when a haunted tree leaned into her, and roared. We all cracked up but she didn’t think it was too funny.
“These zombie babies are freaking me out,” she whispered in my ear. Who knew she was such as scaredy-cat.
“Well, we better get out of here fast then, before they eat you alive,” I teased.
We found ourselves in the ‘naughty’ section, where we were surrounded by smutty costumes; sexy nurse, sexy cowgirl, sexy pirate and the list went on. I was mildly appalled.
“You’d look fabulous in that one,” Ace said with a wink in Kendra’s direction.
What a flirt.
“Not in a million years,” she scoffed. “In your dreams.”
“Yes, in my dreams, love.”
Oh please.Alicia and I looked at each other, mildly disgusted.
“Oh, look at this,” Kendra cheered as she bounced to the corner. “I just love that movie.”
I did, too.There was a wholeWizard of Ozsection; Dorothy, a scarecrow costume, tin man, the cowardly lion, the wicked witch, and even a flying monkey costume. I couldn’t help thinking about my mom and how she would love this.
“We did the whole Wizard of Oz thing a few years back,” I told them. “My mom was the cowardly lion, and my dad was the tin man. My little sis was Dorothy, and I was the scarecrow,” I told them, “but I secretly wanted to be Dorothy,” I added with a sigh.
Alicia pulled a pouty face and turned towards the whimsical costumes. We all contemplated the eclectic mix of colors and fabrics, and the price tags, too.
“Let’s do it,” Kendra exclaimed. “Let’s do Oz.”
We all just stood there and stared at her for what seemed like a month, digesting her words. Did she really want us to dress up as the cast from Wizard of Oz? Could be fun…
