LOVEHATE

19

I loved Halloween. When I was a kid, my parents went all out. Our front yard was always fully decorated with a graveyard scene complete with tombstones and bodies that appeared to be coming out of the ground. We'd have fake spiderwebs strung all over the trees and bushes. My dad would set up a fog machine and played eerie music to make it extra creepy. Tony and I had amazing costumes every year, and my parents dressed up, too. It was a big deal in my family and remained so to me as I got older.

This was why I couldn't turn down going to a Halloween party at Owen's house even though I'd been fairly reclusive so far this semester. I wasn't just staying in to avoid someone specific; my engineering classes were kicking my ass. I spent way too many Saturday nights doing work.

Owen and three friends were renting a house instead of an apartment for their senior year. They'd decided to throw a big Halloween bash the weekend before the actual holiday and had enlisted Lillian and me to help with the planning. It had been so fun transforming their cute bungalow-style house so that each room had a different theme. The dining room was full of skeletons; the kitchen had bats hanging from the ceiling; the living room had ghosts floating from hidden wires; and finally, the deck was covered in spiders and webs. We'd also used lots of black lights to enhance the spooky mood.

The night of the party arrived and I was excited, though also somewhat nervous. This was the first time I was putting myself in a situation where I might see him. Owen told me that Shawn had another party to go to, so he might not even show up. That meant there was a possibility he could. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

The guys decided that everyone had to wear a costume and that it had to fit around a theme. The theme was 'Let your inner _______ out!' In other words, you had to dress up in a way that represented something within you. The idea was suggested by Owen's cute philosophy major roommate, Mark, and everyone agreed it was pretty clever.

Lillian was dressed as a cheerleader, which was definitely a fair representation of her inner personality. Owen was a dog, which suited him since he was loyal and affectionate. Kyrie was a werewolf because as she explained it, once a month she went a little crazy. Another person was dressed as a child, and two people were dressed as infants. Of course there were quite a few girls who wore sexy costumes to fit the theme. It's funny how many women had an inner naughty nurse and or scantily-clad devil. A lot of the guys were superheroes, which I felt was low-key egotistical.

I'd given my costume a lot of thought. In the end I decided to dress up as a chili pepper since I was often told I had a spicy or fiery personality. Yup, I was actually admitting I could be difficult at times. I wore skin tight red jeans and a snug red long sleeved shirt. I put a green hat I'd crafted from cardboard and felt on my head as my stem and wore green eye make-up to go with it. I was pleased with the end result.

Owen was the master of coming up with cocktails. For this party he made a huge bucket of sangria and labeled it 'bucket of blood.' Next to it he scattered printed screenshots from the movie Carrie, showcasing the scene when the bucket of pig's blood had been dumped on her. I happened to love sangria, so I was putting a pretty big dent in that bucket all on my own.

The more I drank, the less anxious I felt about the possibility of running into Shawn. By midnight, I was fairly certain he wasn't going to show, and I was totally enjoying myself. The dining room had been cleared of all furniture to make a dance floor. I'd been dancing energetically to House of Pain, and when the song ended, I stepped out on the deck to cool off. The crisp fall air felt wonderful on my overheated skin as I stood at the deck rail.

"That may be the most fitting costume at this party," a voice behind me said.

I turned and saw Shawn smirking at me. Fuck he looked good, though he didn't appear to be wearing a costume.