Compelled (a Hat Films Fanfic)

The Event

"Ross Hornby you look ridiculous," Amanda gasped as she fell back onto the bed and hugged her stomach as she laughed. She had already been dressed in her costume hours before I had, since Amanda was actually cosplaying and didn't mean it as a joke, but the minute I stepped out of the bathroom with the wig on she had lost it.

I was actually very impressed with her outfit. She had enlisted the help of some (soon to be) fashion designers at the art school, and they had thrown together an accurate Yennefer of Vengerberg outfit in a remarkably short amount of time. Amanda's pale skin, dark curls, and sharp eyes seemed to fit the part perfectly, and the extra layers helped to mask just how thin she actually was.

"I hate to see how you'll react to Trott and Smith's outfits," I laughed, shoving at her knee playfully as I walked past and grabbed my phone off the pillow, "Mine's the normal one."

"You look like you're going to start singing Hey Jude," she laughed, continuing to mock me.

"Yeah," I sneered, ducking down to look in the mirror across the room so I could mat it down a bit, "I thought it looked Beatles-y too."

"Are you actually going to wear that the whole-" she started to ask, but a knock on our door interrupted her sentence. Rolling off the bed and landing on her feet, Amanda dashed over to the hallway and disappeared to open the door. The high-pitch laughter that came after told me that either Smith or Trott was the one knocking, already dressed and ready to go.

"That's a really impressive outfit," I heard Tom say, and then a similar compliment agreeing with him from Trott.

"Thanks guys," she smiled, outstretching her hands to show the full outfit as i walked over to join the conversation, "You don't look so bad yourself, Chris Trott." She motioned to his silver wig and started giggling as she wiggled her eyebrows at him. I could tell she was excited about this, since she was never usually this jovial and animated. I knew she had read all the Witcher comic books, and I was glad I had managed to get her a spot in the event. I had also happily noticed her eating half a power bar during lunch, which probably explained her extra energy.

Tom was already filming us, and we continued to chat about our outfits and the dinner when the door across the hallway swung open and a giant in a pink, frilly dress appeared in the doorway. "Can you zip me up?" he asked seriously, earning a laugh from all of us. I hadn't expected Smith to look as ridiculous as he did, and he wasn't even wearing the wig yet.

"I got it," Amanda called, tugging at his shoulder so he would turn around. A couple people passed us as my partner stood on her toes and reached up to close the dress as far as she could around his broad shoulders and chest, but most of them seemed to be going to the same event and appreciated our joke.

"Did I miss the memo?" I heard someone ask as they walked up to us and stood next to Trott. Nick took us all in, particularly smirking at me and lingering too long when he looked Amanda's costume up and down. I suddenly felt the joy and elation from the joking atmosphere being replaced by embarrassment and resentment in my heart; Nick looked impossibly cool in a tight, Witcher 2 tee shirt and black skinny jeans. Even the girl next to him seemed to fit him better than me; her dark, fitted costume acted like the perfect compliment to his demeanor.

"You look great," he said, grabbing her hand and raising it above her head to spin her. I could have sworn he flashed me a threatening look as he stopped her and wrapped a hand around her waist. Even Trott and Smith seemed to notice that one, but they quickly brushed it off as Nick continued without giving Amanda a chance to reply. "Is everyone ready?" he asked, "Shall we head down to the buses?"

"Let me go get my wig!" Smith shouted excitedly, turning and running into the open hotel room behind him only to appear moments later with a long, blonde wig haphazardly thrown onto his head. "Let's do this mates," he said, bearing his teeth in a disturbing grin as he sashayed down the hall. He didn't have to worry about tripping over his skirts, which ended high up off the floor; it was an extra large costume, but comically it still barely fit him.