Hazel's Flashback

WEDNESDAY

Frank, being the sweet boyfriend he was, was walking Hazel home.

We need to draw something new today.

Why?

Because I need to make a halloween special upd... drawning.

Oh, okay.

And if your boyfriend could be so sweet and come over tomorrow to help you with the printer...

"Frank? Do you think you could come over tomorrow and help us with the printer so Hannah can put a halloween drawning on her account?"

You didn't need to give him all the details at once...

"Sure. Felix is asking what are you two drawning"

What are we drawning?

Hum... surprise.

How can I draw if I don't know what it is?

No, you tell them it's a surprise.

"It's a surprise"

So, what are we drawning?

No idea.

What?

I have no idea.

How can we draw nothing?

I'm just hoping the muses will smile to me.

So... we're depending on minor goddesses that doesn't exist in your reality, just in mine.

Kinda.

"Hazel?"

"Hum?"

"You were distracted, did you hear anything I said?"

"No, sorry. What did you say?"

"I asked if you have any more plans for Halloween, a party or something"

"Do you?"

"Not officially. I heard the 3J talking about, but nothing official yet. Maybe you could go with us"

I don't know about you... but I wouldn't feel comfortable. Too many strangers.

I know, I don't feel good in large groups of people either. Took me a while to trust and feel comfortable among the Seven.

"I don't know, Frank. I'm not comfortable with large groups of people. And they're your friends, not mine"

"What if it was just you and me?"

"I don't want to ruin your party with your friends"

"I rather go with you. We can go to a party, and if you don't like it, we leave"

"I'm not very fond of parties..."

"I know, I'm not either. Let's just try it. It's going to be good to go out without monsters tracking us"

What do you say? It's your body, after all.

I don't know... what should we wear as costume?

I don't know, it's my first time. Maybe Piper can help.

Can he promise that we'll leave as soon as we want?

Of course, Frank always want me to feel comfortable.

Then I want to go. It's my first time too, let's enjoy it!

"I accept!"

***

SATURDAY

Frank was with Hazel when they met Piper, who was excited, almost jumpingin the same place.

What happened to her?

Maybe she won the lottery?

She's rich, she doesn't need it. And Piper is not the kind of girl to be happy for something like that.

"Why are you so happy?"

"I have no idea. Trish, Halloween, Jason, costumes, Claire, everything combined somehow made me excited to go shopping"

Frank was surprised.

"Really?"

Piper nodded and started to tick her fingers out.

"Yes, and I need to buy my costume, Jason's, Claire's and choose something for you two. So, couple costume?"

Hazel just blinked.

"What?"

Piper started to explain.

"Couple costume. Like you dress as Beauty and Frank as Beast, or Batman and Batgirl or... gods, that's digusting!!!"

Frank was startled by Piper.

"What is digusting?"

Piper just waved a hand, dismissing it.

"Sorry, Trish telling some weird couple costume. Anyway, couple costume is when you have the same theme. Any idea what do you want as costume?"

Frank and Hazel looked at each other before shaking their heads.

"No... that's wh..."

Piper interrupted with a excited voice.

"Good thing that I have! I was thinking about it yesterday after you called, and I think I found the perfect theme! We won't go to costume stores for it, but I think where to start looking. Come, we need to go!"

She took off without looking back, and Hazel just stared.

"Someone is really excited..."

Frank pulled her by the hand.

"Let's go, before we lose sight of her"

***

MONDAY- morning

When Hazel entered the classroom, she saw Lucy right away.

Should we talk to her or not?

I want to know why she's befriending my brother.

Jealous?

No, just concerned. It was too sudden.

Hazel sat beside Lucy, and smiled at her. Lucy smiled back with a little wave.

"Hi there. Hannah, right?"

"Yes"

"So, what are you doing for Halloween?"

"I'm going out with my bo... my friend"

Lucy smirked.

"Was it a boyfriend you almost let slip?"

Hazel blushed. Lucy just laughed.

"No worries, your secret is safe with me. Wait. Is it Nanni?"

"What!? No, of course not!"

Lucy scowled.

"No need to sound so horrified, he's not that bad"

Did she just defended him?

I think so.

What's their background?

"No, he's not that bad, I just think of him like a brother. And I'm sure he feels the same way"

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know"

"That's fine"

The teacher started class and they stopped talking.

***

When the class ended, Hazel hurried to walk beside Lucy.

"Hi again, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure"

"Why are you friends with Nanni? I'm not complaining, it's just... I can't see someone like you wanting to be friends with him"

Have you thought about easing your way to such a personal and possible offensive question?

What did I do wrong?

You were too blunt!

Hum, sorry. I'm used in being a demigod, we don't have much time to ease our way to question. If we wait too much, we probably get eaten.

In the human world, if you don't get careful about what you ask and to who you ask, you might get chewed.

Lucy looked at the distance, not saying anything, for almost a minute.

"It started as a favor to a friend, you wouldn't know who. Anyway, the idea was just to keep an eye on him, to see if he was cutting himself or something like this. But now..."

What? Why did she stop?

Hazel pushed.

"Now..."

"I don't know, it was easier to not worry about him while keeping distance. I went to his house last week. It's so cold, gloomy and lonely. I felt like I was surrounded my death, pain and misery. It was horrible. If he lives in that house, I'm surprised he's still alive, it had such a suicidal vibe in those walls"

We wouldn't know, he never let us go there.

"Since I went there, it's not so easy to turn a blind eye to his emotional state. So I decided to keep an eye on him, doesn't matter if he wants it or not"

Lucy turned to Hazel with a hard face, daring the other to say something. Hazel just smiled.

"Thank you. And you can count on me, I worry about him too"

Lucy smiled back.

"Good. I knew we could be friends when I first saw you Friday!"

Flashback over, back to present

Hazel opened Hannah's wardrobe and looked herself in the mirror attached to the door. Her dress, purple with pink little flowers, had a free-flowing skirt attached to a form-fitting bodice with sweetheart neckline and roomy sleeves. She wore black slippers in her feet, necklace and earrings of fake pearls, her hair in a ponytail with a pink bow and light pink lace gloves. She smiled happy, doing a twirl in front of the mirror and watching her skirt opening.

Piper is a genious.

It's perfect! We're so pretty!

Yes, we are!

The bell rang. Grabbing her black purse, Hazel ran to open the door. Frank was there, dressed in dark green suit trousers, a white collared dress shirt, and brown suspenders matching the Fedora hat and the lace up oxford. The last touch was a necktie, purple with elephants. He smiled and tipped his hat to her. She giggled when he offered her his arm and accepted. They left the building smiling, like a sweet and perfect couple from the 40's.

(A/N: Honestly, this was my favorite costume. I totally see Hazel happy for wearing something from her time and Frank matching just to make her happy. Their ship is not the most exciting one to write, but they're sooooo adorable)