"What are you planning to wear for the Halloween party?" Savannah asks when we finally get a break for lunch.
Shoot. I completely forgot about it, and the party's tonight. Why did no one bother to remind me?
"Um... I kinda sorta forgot about it," I tell her. She looks at me with a shocked expression and I give her a half-hearted shrug.
"Whoa, why does Sav look like she's seen a ghost?" I hear Owen say as he comes over to where we stand.
"I just told her I forgot about the Halloween party," I explain.
He puts his hand over his mouth. "Oh, Jenny, you didn't," he says, and then his facial expression starts to match Savannah's.
"It's fine," I say. "I'll figure something out."
This entire week has been dedicated to working on All Eyes on Me and Perfect Harmony. I've been switching between the two every day- making sure I have time to work with Dirty Candy (and Owen) and also have time to walk Madison and Charlie through their parts. They haven't danced together yet, we've been trying to teach them both their parts before they try it together. They're both getting the hang of it and should be ready to start practicing with each other next week.
I'm so lucky to be working with this crew. Dancing for hours on end is not fun at all, no matter how much I love to dance. At least the people I work with make it worth it.
I've been working so much this week, I've barely had any time to do anything other than dance and sleep. I haven't had another nightmare since Owen started sleeping in my bed, which means I'm finally getting caught up on all the sleep I've lost within the past few weeks. I don't like being so reliant on him to sleep, but he keeps the nightmares away.
The most likely reason why I forgot about the party is probably the fact that I've been working my butt off this week. While we eat lunch, everyone talks about the costumes that they've decided on. I, however, am just going to have to throw something together once I get home.
I'm scrolling through Pinterest looking at Halloween costumes when I feel someone nudge me on the arm.
"You gonna eat?" Owen asks, looking down at my still-full plate.
"Sorry," I sigh as I put my phone face down on the table. "Just getting a little worried about the fact that everyone seems to have a costume planned except me."
"Jenny, you could pull anything off. Don't stress yourself out, you already have enough on your plate," he says, as I look down at my actual plate. He laughs. "Your emotional plate. Though your physical one is pretty full too."
I try to take Owen's advice and not worry about my costume as I eat. Though it's a bit hard when everyone around you is still talking about the party.
Once our lunch break is over, I say bye to everyone except Charlie. We're supposed to be working through Perfect Harmony some more today to make sure that he's ready to practice with Mads next week.
Charlie is much better at dancing than I expected him to be. I don't know why I thought it'd be hard to teach him the dance, because he already has it down. Once he puts his mind to something, he can do it. That's just how he is. I kind of envy him for it.
Luckily, we get out of the studio earlier than usual because Kenny is letting us all have extra time to get ready for the party tonight. Thank goodness, because I still have to figure out what to wear.
"Are you driving us home?" I ask Charlie once he gathers his stuff.
"Unless you wanna walk," he replies. "We can go ahead and go to the car if you want. Owen and Sav should be done any minute, I can just text them and tell them to meet us there." I nod, and we walk out to the car together.
I climb in the backseat even though no one else is in the passenger seat. I feel like it's just expected at this point- Sav always gets the passenger seat and Owen and I always get the back.
"What are you planning on wearing for the party tonight?" Charlie asks. "You didn't say much during lunch today."
I sigh. "Yeah, it's because I kinda forgot about it until today. I have no idea what to wear, or who to dress up as. I've been too busy to even think about it."
"What if you dressed up as one of those characters from the kids show you and Owen love so much?" I open my mouth in shock because I didn't know Owen told anyone about watching Miraculous. He looks back at me in the rearview mirror and laughs. "What? Owen tells me stuff."
"I see that. You know, Charlie... that's actually not a bad idea. I might have some stuff in my closet that could work as a Marinette costume. And I could put my hair up in pigtails!" I say, a little too enthusiastically.
"I do have some pretty great ideas," Charlie smirks. "And I'm sure Owen would like it too. He seems to be rather fond of that show. And you," he adds. Suddenly, the floorboard becomes ever so interesting.
"We're just friends. Who happen to really like watching a kid's show together," I say.
"Yeah, okay. And that's why he hasn't been sleeping in his own bed for the past week," he says as he looks back at me.
"That's... different," I respond, not daring to meet his eyes.
"So tell me, Jenny, how is that 'different?'"
I hesitate before I say anything. Technically, no one other than Owen knows about my nightmares. I feel bad keeping secrets from the others considering everything they helped me through with my parents, but it's still hard to open up sometimes.
"I've been having nightmares ever since that phone call with my mom, and they've just gotten worse and worse. It got to the point where I was running on about three to four hours of sleep every day because I just didn't want to sleep and endure more nightmares. Owen found out by accident, really. We were watching Miraculous and he asked about the dark circles under my eyes. He told me he'd stay the night so that I wouldn't have to wake up alone if I had another nightmare. And I didn't have a nightmare that night, and haven't had one since."
Charlie kind of sat in shock for a minute as he processed my words. It was a lot to lay on him all at once, I'll admit. "I'm so sorry, Jenny."
I could tell he didn't know what else to say. "It's okay," I try to reassure him. "Plus, I like having you all assume stuff about me and Owen. It's kind of funny," I say, trying to lighten up the mood.
"Oh, Jenny, don't pretend that you both aren't completely in love with each other," he smiles back at me.
"Charlie! Just friends," I objected.
"Keep telling yourself that, Jenny. One of these days one of you will fess up and confess your undying love. And I'll be there to say 'I told you so.'"
And with those words, the car doors open, revealing both Owen and Savannah.
"What have you both been talking about? Jenny looks about as red as a fire hydrant," Savannah says. She doesn't realize that she's not helping my case at all. But luckily, Charlie just shrugs and starts to drive without saying a word.
"Did you ever figure out a costume idea?" Owen asks me.
"I actually did, thanks to Charlie here. Looks like he's useful for something after all," I respond, and he gives me a fake offended look.
"What did Charlie come up with?" Sav asks.
"I think I'll keep it between me and him for right now," I smile. "It'll be a surprise."
"It better be good, because I hate surprises. And you've already gotten me excited," Owen says.
"Don't worry, it'll be worth the wait," I promise him.
