Be My Addiction

32 • Dracula

Eugene

Fall was finally here. The time for costumes and candy. The time for playing ‘Ghosts in the Graveyard’ and the time for the Halloween party one of my football members throw every year. It’s iconic and usually everyone hears about it, including the teachers.
 
I planned on taking Ethan with me. 
 
We’ve been doing a lot of stuff together, especially after we started dating. Now, we spend most of our hours together, be it at the movies, the park or one of our houses. I didn’t think doing anything without him was fun anymore.
 
I know he used to go to parties all the time but since the accident, getting drunk at a party was the least of his worries. When I asked him to go with me, I was sure he was going to say no, but to my surprise, he seemed eager. 
 
We planned on going to homemade costumes. We’ve agreed not to tell each other what we were, though. It was supposed to be a surprise, and to help with the surprise, we would go there separately. Ethan planned on getting a ride with someone he used to go to parties with and I was going to drive. We agreed to meet by the sink in the kitchen. Considering we’ve both been to parties in that house, we knew where that would be. 
 
I’d be lying if I told you I wasn’t excited for this to come together. For weeks, we’ve been planning our costumes. I’ve tried to pry out hints about Ethan’s costume but the guy was just as stubborn as me, if not more, when it came to something he put his mind to. 
 
While I was trying to coach him into talking - be it tickling, pleading, teasing or pouting - he was dodging my questions and using his sneaky defense tactics. 
 
I’m talking about him completely redirecting the subject or finding ways to completely get around my interrogation. And as far as I know, the things he did with his lips should not be allowed! How am I supposed to get details when I’m too distracted by his little neck kisses? It’s probably illegal to be that skilled with such little kisses.
Needless to say, I have no idea what he is wearing. As for me, I am wearing a vampire costume. I bought thermoplastic beads and found a way to design them to specifically fit my teeth. So now I have these cool custom designed fangs. Mom agreed to let me use some of her light makeup to make my face a little paler. I know I could have gone with the simple paste white paint from Walmart but I wanted the look to appear more natural. I have tan skin, so realistically, I wouldn’t be paste white. I also bought myself a leather jacket and a dark red shirt. I originally wanted to buy a cape to go for the classic Dracula look, but I figured there would be a lot of Draculas and I wanted to stand out. So instead, I went for a greaser-vampire look. 
 
If you don’t know what a greaser is, I highly recommend you read The Outsiders. Thinking about the guys wearing leather, with their hair slicked back, I thought they were the coolest. 
 
Now that I think about it, my gay revolution probably started a long time ago.
 
Now, getting back on track. 
 
It’s Friday and tonight is the party. Everyone at school was bouncing and talking excitedly. Some of the teachers, one being Mr. Grenell, advertised their haunted house to any students who were interested in either getting a lot of candy or watching little kids scream. I don’t know about you, but advertising in a way that appealed to all students was very clever. 
 
The day flew by fast and in a few hours, everyone was heading home to get ready for whatever they planned to do that Halloween. I dropped Ethan off at his place before heading to mine to get ready. Anna was going as a fairy princess. She was running around the house in her pink and purple dress with her plastic wand. If Ethan saw her like this, he would probably melt. 
 
He seemed to be the type of guy who enjoyed spending time with kids.
 
Mom drew my attention in her direction when I saw what seemed to be a bright flash. She chuckled softly and put away her phone. She thought the scene was cute too because she just took a picture of Anna.
 
Walking over, I stood by the kitchen bar. Mom turned to me with a smile. She wore her short hair in a half-up style. I imagine it was difficult to get all of her bob into one hair tie. Taking a closer look, I could see the silver strands in her hair. Those were probably from raising two kids on her own. Being a single parent seemed to do that to a lot of people. Mom had smile wrinkles on the corner of her eyes. Her chestnut brown eyes were still bright with life. That was relieving. At least I know she has plenty of smiles every day. 
 
Mom cleared her throat. Blinking, I realized I was probably staring at her. She chuckled and shook her head, “Gene” Thanks to Ethan, everyone’s sorta picked up the nickname, “I know I’m fabulous but you don’t have to stare.”
 
I snorted at her remark. How could I forget? This woman had enough sass to make any drag queen bow in appreciation. “Yeah, yeah.” We both chuckled. With a grin, I asked, “ready to help me get ready for the party?”