(I Just) Died In Your Arms ~ Stanley Uris

023~ Trick Or Treat, Freak.

Julia's POV

Halloween. Maybe when I was a kid I never got the chance to go trick or treating, but I still took the opportunity to dress up in the safety of my home. This was finally going to be the year I actually went around begging for candy, the losers all deciding to make their final year of it worth it. So yeah, it's going to be my final and first year of Trick Or Treating. All the years before I went outside to enjoy the well decorated attractions and all the children dressed up, but was too afraid to attempt to knock on the front doors of strangers' houses.

The streets were poorly lit as the sun was setting, still too early for the street lights to come on. The unspoken rule in Derry was that you would not trick or treat until those came on, because parents would lose sight of their kids so easily. So, the streets were completely empty of anyone. My house was the only one in the entirety of Derry undecorated, even though here Halloween was such a big deal that every house and apartment had some form of it.

Stanley and I talked it over a while ago, and we decided to be vampires, since we were both pasty white kids who barely even needed much face paint to look bone white. I stole one of my mom's old dresses because I did not own any black ones, and I wanted an excuse to go through her stuff again. Just touching the clothes brought back wonderful memories. The dress was tight fitting and the neckline was deeply cut, emphasizing the curves of my body. I hated them to be on display, but I had no other choice then to wear it. My dad was away again, so I didn't have to worry about him taking notice of it.

Last night, Stan generously purchased face paint, fake teeth, and fake blood, even when I begged to buy them myself. I worried that soon enough if I didn't do stuff on my own he wouldn't love me as much, even though I knew that was totally unreasonable.

I adjusted my dress in the mirror, trying my hardest to pull the neckline up to cover up, but it still plunged all the way down to the center of my sternum no matter how much I did. I already knew that the other teenagers would make so many jokes and comments about it, but I didn't have anything else, and I wasn't going to ruin this for Stan. I didn't do anything with my hair, the darkness would probably make it seem spooky anyways. I put on raven colored high heeled boots, which went all the way up to my knees.

I actually attempted to do makeup, which I only did at home when nobody was there. It was mostly natural, leaving my lips empty of color so I could put fake blood around my mouth.

After grabbing a pillowcase for candy I left the house, locking the door behind me carefully, making sure I didn't slam it too hard. I was paranoid that my dad was just around the corner, waiting to jump on me and make me feel less of a person.

It was cold outside, which made me realize what a mistake it was to wear a sleeveless dress. My hands held my shoulders for warmth, which thankfully covered my exposed chest from the cold as well. The area around by chest was abnormally sensitive, never really seeing the light of day unless I was swimming, which was rare. As my dad once said to me grotesquely, "You're becoming a women, especially by your looks," so ever since then I covered up more and more.

My dress was too short to climb up the tree with ease, so I mostly scooted my way up the tree, making sure my knees were closed together so no one could see up my skirt. It took much longer than usual to climb all the way up the tree, my feet already aching from it. I reached outwards to knock his window, but I was stopped at the sight of Stan inside. He had black dress pants on and a white button down long sleeve, but he hadn't buttoned the button down yet, searching for something in his room.

I couldn't help but stare by habit, a deep dark blush erupting on my cheeks. He wasn't ripped or anything, but his stomach was completely flat, and you could almost see a subtle outline of his abs. His hair was all messy, probably had slept all day so we could stay up late, hanging over his eyes. I bit my lip trying to hide away my blush as I knocked hurriedly on the chilled glass of his windows, stopping my mind from fantasizing anything. He turned, his face also turning scarlet and buttoning up his shirt before opening his window.