The Gods of Song and Poetry

Chapter 31 - Vixen

Chapter 31 - Vixen

"Trick or treat!" a small Dracula screamed way too excitedly.

"Okay! Okay! Here you go!" I pretended to be scared while dropping a fun-sized candy bar into his bag. After seeing my reaction, he decided to play it up. He raised both of his hands and roared at me. I squealed and threw my blanket over my head, then slowly peeked out from behind it. He was already running to the next vehicle.

"Nicely played, Babycakes," Timmy complimented me. "You just made his day."

"That's what we're here for, right? And call me Cuddles."

Our group had decided to dress up as our nicknames for Halloween. Since 'Cuddles' was the closest thing I had to a nickname, I was wearing adult-sized footie pajamas and carried a baby blanket. My hair was in two pigtails. Rizzy was wearing a poodle skirt outfit like a character out of Grease. Pixie had fairy wings, a minidress, wand, and glittery makeup. Shogun was dressed like a samurai. DJ wore an athletic suit, backwards cap, lots of necklaces, sunglasses, and headphones around her neck. Mey was dressed in pilgrim style clothing. Kristy bought into the idea, but since she didn't have a nickname, she wore all white and a blank, white mask. She called herself 'Nameless.'

Kelly looked amazing. Little by little her nickname, Renaissance, had been catching on. I didn't know if it would be a once in a while name, like Meyflower, or if it would take over her real name, as 'Pixie' had taken over 'Julie,' but everyone knew who you meant if you said 'Renaissance.' She was wearing a red and black Victorian era dress. It had large lacey cuffs and a choker-like collar with yet more ruffles of lace. It could pass for a Renaissance era dress if you didn't know much about period clothing.

Her hair was in two swooping braids, one on each side of her head. The end of each braid was tied to the beginning of the other braid with a black satin ribbon, so they formed two long hanging arcs behind her head. She looked so breathtaking I struggled to keep my eyes off of her. If someone painted her picture right now and hung it in a museum, everyone would ask who the stunning noble woman was.

Once again, I found myself wishing I looked prettier. I looked cute in my outfit, maybe, in a silly way. Kelly, however, was the embodiment of artistic beauty.

She and the other girls were acting as escorts, bringing groups of children inside to the small gym and leading them around a cardboard maze. It was a pretty standard haunted house for a K-5 event.

My Jeep was in the school parking lot. The back was open, and I had a black sheet draped over the back of the seats. A few spiders and a paper skeleton decorated the inside and the stereo was pumping out a spooky music playlist. We held a couple plastic pumpkins of candy we kept refilling out of bags in the front seat. Timmy, my scarecrow accomplice, tossed another candy bar in a bag, then took one for himself. With his mouth full he said, "You got the hots for her, eh?"

"Excuse me?"

"Kelly!" He looked pleased that he had caught me staring, and he wasn't about to let me deny it.

I rolled my eyes. "She's a very pretty girl. Yes, I noticed that. Happy?"

"Maybe you should go for it. She didn't want anything to do with me, maybe she's into girls. Plus, you guys looked like you were having fun at hoco. Maybe she wants something more."

"We're just friends, Timmy."

He shrugged his shoulders and grabbed another handful of candy bars as a group of kids approached. "That's not what it looked like at the dance. Some of us were wondering if you were already a thing."

"Who was?" I asked, a little panicky.

"Everyone who saw her sitting on your lap, you guys tickling each other, holding hands-"