Birds Of a Feather

9. This is Halloween! [part 1]

When Sara set foot in the loft, the fragrance of ginger and vanilla immediately hit her.
"I notice a party atmosphere: is W.C. Boyfriend dead?"
"... it's Halloween" her friend pointed out, pretending not to hear her.
"Oh, it seemed too good to be true... anyway, thank you so much for attacking my weight!" she added, trying to steal a biscuit, but Layla slapped her hand.
"Don't thank me: they aren't just for you"
"Oh, aren't they? And with whom did you cheat on your model husband? It was the plumber, am I right?"
"I baked some pastries for Eddie and Jeff as well, that's all"
"WHAT THE FUC-"
"These are the rules of good neighborhood, Sara"
"Well, El, good neighborhood's rules can clearly suck my dick!"
"C'mon, don't act like a baby"
"I'm not acting like a baby, it's just-" she paused and let out a long sigh "Those are my biscuits, it's not fair that Ament can touch them with his dirty hands, sigh" she complained, almost whining.
"I'm afraid that wasn't the only news: now I'm going to bring them to the guys, and you will come with me"
"WHAAAAAT?"
"You clearly heard what I said: c'mon, let's go!"
"No fucking way!"
"You promised you'd visit the Penguin the day you got out."
Sara showed a tiny smile thanks to the quote, but she stood unmoving: "You'll never be able to corrupt me with your stupid movie quotes!"
"I remind you that you're the one who eats up a lot of films"
"Futile detail in such a tragic moment like this"
"Don't make me be harsh with you, Sara..."
"I said 'no fucking way' and 'no fucking way' it will be!"

After the ring of the doorbell, Eddie went to the front door: when he opened it, he came face-to-face with Layla, a huge basket full of delicacies and a not-so-happy Sara.
"Suuuurpriiiiseeee! We were baking Halloween sweets, so we thought of bringing some to you" Layla smiled and Eddie did the same.
"That's really sweet, thank you... But come on in!" he moved aside and let them go into the loft, while Sara pointed out: "Let's clarify one thing: she did all by herself, I have nothing to do with this brilliant idea"
Eddie deliberately ignored her comment and, smiling again, made way for the living room.
"Jeeeeeff! We've got visitors!" he shouted, and his friend shouted back.
"Reallyyy? Is that hot chick from the strip club?"
"Yeah, I'll strip your mind soooo bad, Mr. Montana!" Sara made her entrance in the living room, scaring the bass player.
"This guest sucks, Vedder!" he added, sitting on the sofa.
"Look who's talking!" the girl harshly replied, when Eddie decided to stop that little squabble.
"They brought some sweets for us!" he explained, pointing out Layla and her basket.
"Woah, Four Eyes! This really surprises me!" Jeff stood up, going near her to study all the pastries "I know you did it by yourself, your crazy friend isn't even able to make water boil..."
"But I'm able to smash your ugly face: wanna try?" she growled, making him grin.
"Uhm, okay... Let's eat some of them together!" Eddie proposed, taking the basket and putting it on the table.
"But they're for you, we already got ours at home and-" Layla tried to protest, but he immediately interrupted her.
"And we want to share them with you... Don't you agree, Jeff?"
"Yeah, boss: do whatever you like"
"For once, I totally agree with them!" Sara enthusiastically exclaimed, already foretasting the sweet taste of recapture.
Layla rolled her eyes but finally agreed to do that: they chose their pastries and sat on the sofa and the chairs.
"Yesss, they're great!" Jeff exclaimed, finishing to eat a brownie "Let's face the truth: if they had been prepared by Sara, I wouldn't have tried 'em"
"Don't worry, food poisoning isn't my favorite technique: I'd surely prefer to kill you in a slyest, slowest and most painful way"
"Well, that's nice to hear that from you, but this doesn't mean I'm totally reassured about the fact that you didn't put any laxative into 'em, maybe while Layla wasn't attentive..."
"You'll soon find out, Ament" she grinned, then bit a piece of chocolate cupcake.
"Sooo, which plans have you got for tonight?" Eddie asked Layla, trying to stop again those incessant skirmishes.
"Well, nothing special... I think we'll stay at home and watch Rocky Horror Picture Show or something like that... What about you guys?"
"We'll probably go to a party... I don't know: I'm the new kid, Jeff's the expert in Seattle's parties" the guy laughed, making Layla smile.
"Oh, I just noticed that Ament has already dressed up as a dickhead... no, wait: this is your normal appearance" Sara intervened, while Jeff gently told her to fuck off.
"Oook, I guess it's late and we have bothered you guys enough" Layla stood up and waited for her friend to do the same thing.
"What a shame, only now that I was having fun..." the other girl sneered.
"Yeah, we all noticed that" the bass player rolled his eyes and quickly said goodbye, then went into his room.
"That didn't bother me at all... Well, uhm, I mean 'us', yeah... Us" Eddie added, accompanying the girls at the front door.
"Yeah... Bye, Mr. California!" Sara waved at him and ran into her loft, while her friend stood still face-to-face with the guy.
"Thanks for the company, it was a nice afternoon"
"Yeah, especially for those two..." he grinned, making her laugh "But I'm the one who should thank you: the sweets were delicious and your company was pleasant too... Thank you very much, Layla"
"You're-you're welcome" the girl blushed a little bit, trying to formulate an answer with a logical sense.
"EEEEEEEEEL! DID THE ALIENS KIDNAP YOUUU?" Sara shouted from their apartment, so her friend blushed even more, quickly said goodbye to Eddie and ran away.

♣♦♣

"Where the fuck are those little bastards?!" Jeff yelled from the living room.
"What?" Eddie asked distractedly, as he was focused on trying to make the knot of his tie at the mirror.
"My sunglasses! I took them five minutes ago and now I can't find 'em anymore!" the bassist whined, pacing the whole loft and looking into every corner, trying to remember where he had put them.
"Maybe you have them on" Eddie said with a smirk, still struggling with his black tie. He looked at the result for a while, then frowned since it was terrible and undid the knot to start it all over.
"Ha ha, I'm not that stupid. And, at least, I know how to make a fuckin' knot!" Jeff joked as he was throwing away all the pillows from the couch searching for the sunglasses.
"It's not my fault, I never did it by myself..." Eddie paused for a moment, thinking about the girl who last did it for him, then immediately resumed his battle against the tie.
"Spoiled child!"
"Anyway... I think we were rude"
"What? When?"
"With the girls... We should have asked them to come with us" the singer added, finally satisfied with how his tie looked.
"Uhm, I think you should loosen your tie knot a little bit, your brain is clearly not getting enough oxygen" Jeff snapped.
"Come on, why not?"
"Because partying with the Witches of Eastwick doesn't sound like a good idea, even though it's Halloween"
"The Witches of Eastwick were three" Eddie remarked reaching his friend in the kitchen, with his black hat in his hand.
"Wanna be the third? Oh god, that knot sucks!" Jeff undid the knot and perfectly did it all over for him in a minute "That's it, now you're my brother!"
"Thank you... but let me tell you, brother, your sight sucks too" Ed laughed, pointing his finger towards Jeff's head.
Jeff frowned and instantly touched his head, only to find his sunglasses.
"Ok, errr, let's go" he said, rolling his eyes.
"Right, let's move on. We're on a mission from God"

♣♦♣

"El, where did you put the videotape? I'm switching on the video recorder..."
"There's no videotape!" Layla shouted from the bathroom.
"What? Are you insane? And please, come out from that fuckin' bathroom: thirty minutes have passed and you're still there, I'm tired of talking to a door... People will think I'm a psychopath!"
"Yeah, gimme a minute" Layla replied, then finally came out.
"WHAT THE HELL"
"So, what do you think?" the girl turned on herself and the skirt of her dress lifted up.
"When did they put you in a sanitarium, El?"
"Look, tonight there's going to be a party at the Ballard Firehouse: why don't we go there?"
"Like, you seriously want to go there dressed as fuckin' Dorothy of fuckin' Wizard of Oz?"
"Yeah, why not? After all, it's a nice costume!"
"Yeeeeeaaaah, why not?" Sara parroted her, then threw herself on the sofa "You know that I hate going to parties: there are too many stupid people and I seriously can't stand 'em... The fuckin' record store's costumers are more than enough"
"But I'm sure that we're going to have fun! C'mon, try your costume!"
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN' ME"
"Yeah, there's a costume for you too! And don't complain: I've chosen one that you'll surely love!" Layla chirped and showed her the clothes.
"Please, tell me this is all a nightmare..."
"Welcome to the real world, darling! Now try it, I'm dying with curiosity!"
"Yeah, I'm dyin' too... period." Sara rolled her eyes, picking up her costume.
"Move, move! I also have to do your make up and your hair... I can't wait to see you wearing your hair down!"
"WHAT? NO FUCKIN' WAY, EL!"
"I seriously can't see the point of always tying 'em up in a ponytail or a bun... You have such beautiful waves, why should you have to hide 'em?"
"MIND YOUR FUCKIN' BUSINESS, OTHERWISE I'LL KICK YOUR BUN!" Sara shouted from the bathroom, then added in a low voice: "Holy James Dean, please, help me"

{ title credits: This Is Halloween by Danny Elfman }