“A bit?” She looked to Deacon for assistance.
He enjoyed teasing her too much to answer honestly, so he asked Ethan if he knew Nicola’s exact height—in meters.
“Never mind,” Vivienne muttered, rolling her eyes. “I’ll find a costume somewhere. Can Emily and Max come?”
Yes. It was a yes.
Deacon threw the rubbish bag over his shoulder and told her, “The more the merrier.”
He didn’t care who else she invited as long as she showed up.
“Of course I’ll come with you!” Emily gushed, jumping up and down in the kitchen.
“Do you know where to get costumes this late? Ethan offered to let me borrow one of Nicola’s but—”
“But you would need to stand on stilts to wear her stuff?” Emily finished with a shake of her head.
“Thank you!” Vivienne gave her roommate a high five. Apparently, height was an insignificant detail to guys like Ethan and Deacon. Were they really that oblivious?
“I know just the place.” Emily grabbed her backpack from beside the door. “Let’s go today after class.”
That afternoon, they went to the closest pop-up Halloween store in Worcester. Emily chose a flowy princess costume with an elaborate blue ball gown and glistening tiara; the flouncy outfit suited her love of frills. After a lot of deliberation, Vivienne settled on a witch costume from the children’s section. Although she wasn’t thrilled with it, there hadn’t been many choices in women’s costumes unless she wanted to be a sexy nurse or sexy bunny. She sprung a bit of extra cash for the high-quality green face paint and broom to accompany her black dress and trademark pointed hat.
Max was thrilled with the invitation and asked if he could bring his friend from extraction. Deacon texted to let her know they would be meeting outside the school gates at six thirty the following evening. She wanted to text him back something funny, but ended up sending a thumbs-up instead.
Before leaving the apartment on Halloween night, Vivienne found two envelopes sticking out of their letterbox. She brought both of them to Emily’s room where she was getting ready.
“Loving the green face,” Emily said, loosening the curler from her spiraled lock. She nodded to the envelope. “What’s that?”
“I’m not sure.” Vivienne turned the letters over in her hand. “But there’s one for you too.”
“Gimme.” Emily took it, and they opened them simultaneously. “It’s a letter about self-defense classes.”
“Mine too.” Vivienne scanned the official document. They had been booked for self-defense classes at the Aviary gym three days a week. She couldn’t help her suspicions that their outing at the bowling alley had something to do with the addition.
“I thought those classes weren’t until after we finished high school.” Emily tucked the envelope beneath her makeup bag and touched up her sparkly blue eyeshadow.
“They must’ve changed the requirements.” Or someone with green eyes had pulled some strings.
“As exciting as this is, I must finish preparing to meet my royal subjects. Please, excuse me.” Emily swirled her taffeta skirts toward her bathroom.
Vivienne went to her own closet, dragged out her Chucks, slipped them over her red-and-white striped socks, and checked her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t look half bad, and the hat was actually kind of cute.
When they arrived at the gates, Max and his friend in a lifelike SWAT uniform were already there. Max was dressed like a pirate, with a painted stubble beard, a red velvet coat, and a black tricorn hat. The leather eyepatch he wore had a skull and crossbones printed on it.
“Where’d you get the costume on such short notice?” she asked him, taking a turn with his realistic-looking sword. She stabbed him with it, and he pretended to collapse.
“Ethan let me borrow it.” His beard smudged when he rubbed his chin. “Where’s everyone else?”
“I’m not sure.” They were really late. She hadn’t brought her phone, so she hoped Deacon hadn’t changed their plans or canceled.
A red car rounded the corner from the road to Worcester, its headlights flashing like a searchlight over them before coming to a stop in front of the gates. Deacon, Nicola, and Ethan climbed out; the driver did a U-turn and sped off toward Worcester.
Nicola was dressed as a black cat, complete with fierce fangs and contact lenses, giving her yellow eyes elongated pupils. The tight-fitting bodysuit accentuated her athletic curves, and left Vivienne feeling self-conscious in her kid-sized costume.
Deacon’s Peter Pan costume was straight out of a movie. He even wore the tights, which should have looked ridiculous. But didn’t. Ethan—at least she assumed it was Ethan—wore a black morph suit.
Emily pulled at the stretchy fabric on his arms. “What in the world are you supposed to be?”
“Peter’s Shadow.” It was strange hearing Ethan’s voice but not being able to see his face.
“I’m surprised you and Ethan didn’t coordinate costumes,” Vivienne whispered to Nicola. Maybe next year she and Emily could come up with something together.
Nicola rolled her hypnotic eyes. “Dash and Ethan have a thing about dressing up together. It’s weird, but I’m used to it. Last year was worse.”
Vivienne watched the pair stretching in tandem, fighting a smile. Everything Deacon did, Ethan mimicked behind him. “What were they last year?”
“Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.”
“Tell me you have pictures.”
“No photos, I’m afraid,” she said, adjusting her pointed ears. “It’s one of the few PAN policies the guys follow.”
That was too bad. She would have paid good money to see it. “Which one was Mrs. Potato Head?”
“They took turns switching parts. By the end of the night, there was only one pair of eyes and a single ear between them.”
Emily tapped her scepter against her palm and asked if they were waiting for anyone else.
Ethan flew above the group with his hands curved around where his eyes should be, like a pair of binoculars. “I don’t see anyone else coming.”
“Ethan Bates!” Nicola hissed, grabbing his ankle and yanking him back. “We’re on a public road, you idiot. Don’t you dare start this shit. I’m not dealing with it tonight.”
“Retract those claws, pretty kitty.” Ethan laughed and tried to pet her head, but she swatted him away. “Nice kitty.”
“I’m going to make you hurt in ways you can’t even imagine if you don’t stop calling me kitty.”
Deacon called for Max and waved him over, saying he had a proposition for him. Whatever that meant.
Vivienne tried not to be hurt that he hadn’t even tried to talk to her yet. He seemed different when his friends were around. Not as attentive. But why would he be attentive to her? She was nothing to him. Another girl to flirt with.
After some whispering, Max nodded emphatically. Ethan laid out the route for the occasion and led everyone to the right. Vivienne ended up at the back of the procession, trying to avoid stepping on Emily’s glittering blue skirt.
“I like your costume,” Deacon said, falling in line beside her. “Are you feeling wicked tonight?”