Homecoming

Chapter 6: Secrets

It was the day before Halloween. I was in the confines of Brad and Erin's apartment, almost drowning in racks of absurd and over-the-top costumes. Erin decided that it was a good idea to reopen Redmond's on Halloween because of the buzz it would make.

She wasn't very keen on informing me that it was a costume party. She had dozens of costumes in her living room that she rented for the party, and I feared that I would be in one of those soon.

"I don't even know why you don't have a costume," Erin said as she moved around the tiny living room space. A tape measure hung around her neck while she perused the rack of costumes, which was in total disarray. "Did you forget that I told you that the opening is going to be on Halloween?"

"I didn't forget," I growled. "I just didn't know that it's going to be a costume party."

"I mean, who goes to a Halloween party not wearing a costume?"

"I don't know. Adults, maybe?"

"You're hopeless."

Saying that Halloween was a tradition between Erin and me was an understatement.

It started when we were kids and up until I left for New York. We dressed up as cartoon characters, and we never failed to match our costumes. We remained partners in crime while we raided the neighborhood for all the candy our little bodies could ever have.

When we were teenagers, Erin developed a fascination for horror films. She always dressed some slutty version of a horror character from a slasher film.

For the first Halloween that we weren't together, Erin had to force me to send pictures of my costume. Much to her delight, even if we didn't plan it, our costumes still matched. I dressed up as Sonny Bono while Erin interpreted a slutty looking Cher from the eighties. She even got the wig right.

When she turned her back on me to look for more costumes on the other rack of clothes, her apartment door opened. Brad walked in, holding a takeout tray of coffees. Upon seeing him, Erin pounced on Brad, giving him a filthy kiss. She tiptoed, wrapping her hands around his neck. When satisfied, she grabbed her coffee from him and resumed her mission.

"You two are gross," I joked. Erin scoffed and surprised me that she wasn't able to say a sarcastic comment. Brad handed me a coffee and a bagel from a separate paper bag. The smell of sour cream invaded my senses.

"What's going on here?" Brad asked, motioning towards the pile of clothes.

I stood still in the middle of their living room, eyeing the mess that would be a pain in the ass to clean up.

"Mr. Grumpy Face over there doesn't have a costume for tomorrow's party," Erin said.

"Oh no, what are we going to do?" Brad mocked, sitting down on the sofa. He hid his smirk behind his coffee cup, acting all smug. I sent him a glare, hoping that he understood it as don't poke the bear or I swear, I will smother you in your sleep.

"This is getting frustrating," Erin said, dumping a pile of costumes on the floor. There was a pink bikini on top of the pile, and my eyebrows shot up. She put her hands on her hips after. "What did you wear at Halloween last year? Maybe we can start with that."

"I didn't wear anything," I supplied.

"Kinky."

"God, Erin. It's nothing like that," I said, my expression pinching. "I meant, I didn't wear anything on Halloween because I didn't go out."

"You're so fucking hopeless," Erin waved her hand.

"Is a costume really necessary? I can just wear a white shirt and pretend to be a ghost or something," I said, contemplating that attending a costume party would be a huge mistake.