THE GOLD | b. hargrove

chapter four

"Nance can you come help me?" Harriet called out from the bathroom of the Wheeler house. She was stood in the bath, wearing the white slip dress she'd managed to find in one the local thrift shops and bottle of fake blood in hand. She'd decided weeks ago that she'd be going as Carrie for Halloween, but hadn't actually thought of the logistics of how to cover herself in the fake blood without completely ruining her aunts pristine bathroom.

Nancy walked in and saw her cousin stood, ready to be doused with the cheap red liquid she'd bought from Melvald's, and she let out a small laugh at the sight of her. "Do you want it just pouring over your head?"

"No, no! This stuff would never wash out, I just want it to be like, from the neck down." Harriet couldn't bare to think about spending the rest of her weekend trying to scrub the thick red liquid from her blonde hair, a messy halloween dye job not on her agenda. "I just need your help to get it on my back, and to try and keep it off the porcelain as much as possible." She glanced around at the tub she was stood in, and Nancy nodded in agreement, not wanting to be her partner in crime if her mother walked in to a literal blood bath.

Harriet took the lid off the tube of fake blood, and began pouring it over her shoulders and chest allowing it to drip down the bright white of her dress. "Oh god this feels disgusting." She scrunched her nose up as the thick gloop stained her skin, moving slowly and dragging out the uncomfortable feeling. She handed the tube to her cousin and carefully turned around, not wanting to touch the tiles and spread the mess further. Nancy squeezed some of the blood onto her back, the sensation making her shiver. After a couple of minutes, giving the liquid enough time to settle on her skin, she turned back around to face her cousin. "Can you try and drip some on my face? Just a little bit. For the full effect y'know?" She lifted up her bangs and used her pointer finger to show Nancy the spot she wanted the blood on. Nancy leant forward to get better control of the liquids flow, cautiously squeezing the tube as lightly as she could so a small trail fell from the blonde girls forehead down onto her cheek.

"There you go. Picture perfect." Nancy stepped back and admired her careful application of the blood on her cousins face. Harriet stepped out the tub and looked in the mirror at her new look, shocked at how well it had actually come together.

"Oh thanks Nance it looks great!" She grinned at her own reflection, then turning back to her cousin. She went to hug her but stopped herself, not wanting to transfer the mess onto Nancy's crisp white shirt. The two girls quickly rinsed any spilled blood out of the bath and hurried back to their own rooms, putting the finish touches together for their costumes.

Harriet was fiddling with the cheap tiara she'd bought, trying to get the placement just right, when she heard a beep from outside. Nancy had already left with Steve so she knew that it was Dan coming to collect her. She quickly put on her heels, loosely buckling them so she could make it to the car without toppling over and hurried out, yelling a goodbye to her aunt and uncle as she left. She walked to her boyfriends car as quickly as her shoes would allow, getting in the passenger side and smiling at the driver. "So, what d'you think?"

"You look great babe, really gone all out." Dan pecked her cheek before beginning the drive to the party. He'd tried to convince Harriet to dress as Sandy from Grease so they could have a couples costume but she'd been stubborn about wanting to go as Carrie. He'd been annoyed at her decision at first, but now he'd seen her any annoyance had gone. The dress hugged her figure in all the right places, despite being covered in the garish red of cheap fake blood.

By the time the couple arrived, the party was already in full swing. Drunken teenagers already spilled out onto the front lawn of Tina's house, girls dressed in revealing pop culture references and the boys putting in as minimal effort as possible as to not look too invested. They walked in together, Harriet leading the way with her boyfriend in hand following behind. They made a B-line straight to the kitchen, knowing that'd be where the drinks were and they had no time to waste when it came to catching up to their peers.