Chapter Twenty Four

"I am not putting that ugly thing on!" I exclaimed, taking a step away from my step-mother. She was standing in my room holding up a dark green, thick fabric frock. It made me want to gag.

"Come on, Aidan!" Lily took another step forward so I immediately took one back. "It's vintage? Doesn't that make it cute?"

It had been a few weeks after the mishap by the Garage, and all of us had been true to our words about curfews and public areas. The people who watched us were actually pretty cool. I met a guy named Joesph at a street festival and he was so nice- he even bought me a bagel. This was a big event being held at the university a few miles out of town to celebrate Halloween, Harlow told me they did it every year. You weren't supposed to dress up, but you had to look fancy. And Lily was going to force me into this ugly, 100-year-old frock. Not on my watch.

"If I find something else," I said, backing into the corner beside my bed to hide from her. "Can I wear it?"

She crossed her arms and flung the dress on the bed. "If you find something else and pay for it, and it's fancy enough. You can wear it."

I squealed and leaped across the bed towards her, my feet landing on the frock which made her snort angrily.

I shot her a cheeky grin, my nose crinkling, then I pulled out my phone and hurried down the stairs. After some struggle, I pulled my boots on and grabbed my coat.

"And where do you think you're going?" My father said suspiciously from the doorway to his study. His misty gaze was annoyed.

"Out to find myself another drew for the Halloween Party." I said snippily, grabbing my purse and shoving a set of keys in my pocket. "I'll be back by 6." I slammed the front door after me.

I knew just the place to go.

***

Scarlett aggressively pulled the mantel of dresses to the side, muttering to herself as she pushed each one to the side. I smiled meekly and swung my legs over the side.

"Sorry to bother you." I repeated, scratching the back of my neck. I felt out of place in Scarlett's bedroom. It was like a room of a five star hotel, with a velvety, giant master bed, big airy windows. It had warm pink and soft orange flower wallpaper, not to mention another room that was completely dedicated to her excessive amount of clothing.

"It's nothing, honey." She said, her voice still slightly muffled from the other room. She had pulled out a dress for herself that I admired as I waited. It was a shocking black with orange accessories, such as a broach and a strap. It was extra, but if anyone could pull it off it was Scarlett. "That frock sounded ugly - and no friend of mine if going to the Party in a hideous, old fashioned frock- besides. We're the same size in dress."

I felt my heart warm slightly. It seemed that Scarlett no longer was hostile towards me, and the fact that she actually saw me as a friend made me want to run the whole town in circles!

I opened my mouth to say something more, when I heard Scarlett's triumphant screech from the cupboard. I got up to see if she... you know- didn't die, when she appeared at the door way holding a stunning dress. It was a deep lilac colour, it was off the shoulders, and it slimmed down to what seemed just below the ribs then cascaded to the ground in a fabric waterfall. It took my breath away.

"Why-" I breathed, teaching out to touch it. "It's beautiful." I liked back up at Scarlett, into her cobalt eyes to try and express my gratitude.

For the first time in the almost month that I had met her, she blushed. She twiddled a strand of her titanium blond hair and looked down. For once she looked flustered. "It's nothing." She mumbled, then corrected her posture. She checked her watch.

"Party starts at 7. We have 3 hours. Let's go!"

So I moisturised, conditioned and shampooed my hair. I then, with Scarlett's advice, straightened it then curled it lightly for what she called 'beach waves'. I almost felt sorry to my hair for frying it. It looked nice though, it caught in the light in interesting waves and I thought about doing it like this more often, you know, when I could actually put the effort in.

I then let Scarlett paint my nails a deep green colour. She rambled on about staining and base coats, but that wasn't my area of expertise. I even offered to do Scarlett's nails but she turned me down when it turned out she was ambidextrous. Figures.

After our nails had dried, whilst she was, quote-unquote 'baking', she did my make up. I insisted she keep it light, and it was nice. I wasn't sure what she did, but she seemed to make me bold and edgy with a dark smokey eye and I felt powerful in a weird way.

I'd spent this process all in a robe, so after covering my body in vanilla essence - which Scarlett insisted was Gabriel's favourite scent, I put on the dress. It fit me snuggly, exaggerating my figure until it fanned our under my torso. It was safe to say even I thought I looked good.

"I look great." I said softly, standing in the closet with a full height mirror. The dress was a perfect fit, as me and Scarlett were both around 5'8.

"You do," Scarlett said, stepping into the closet with her dress on. She looked so beautiful, that my bisexual heart was pumping fast. The dress had little straps, a torso then fanned out to stop just above the knees. It was badass. Or maybe just Scarlett made it look badass. She was really good in the skills of badassery.

"You look so beautiful." I said, my eyes still wide with awe. She grinned sheepishly, then flicked her hair over one shoulder.

"I know."

***

"So you can clean yourself up for the proper occasion." I teased Gabriel as we stood outside the hall. "I'd have bet you'd be wearing jeans and a grey tee tonight."

Nope. His expressive black suit and topcoat looked posh and sophisticated. His hair was as wild and sexy as ever - I wasn't embarrassed to admit.

Gabriel grinned and meandered over to me and gave me the biggest hug I had had in a long time. Then, he pulled back and planted a sweet peck on my lips. "You look so beautiful, Aidan." He said whilst we were still embracing and I blushed dark. I was glad Scarlett had already gone inside whilst I waited for Gabriel- this was one of our special moments.

"Same to you, Gabe." I replied, and he pulled back. I felt the heel of my shoe wobble and I fell forward slightly.

"Woah?" Gabriel pushed me upright. "Are you okay?" He laughed.

"I'm wearing heels." I breathed. "And I'm going to fall on my face if I walk any faster than a stroll." I said it seriously, because it was serious. I didn't want to break my nose and make myself look like an idiot at the same time.

He chuckled, and then encompassed my frigid hand in his warm palm. "Well, we better get in before you cause some sort of accident," he lead me to the venue. "You've has the worst luck lately."

As he pulled me forward, the thoughts of Nana P and mythical beasts filled my mind. They had found my grandma after a few days of searching. They held her somewhere in England now, and I hoped the Brits had tighter security. I wished nothing interrupted today. I just wanted to have some fun with my friends.

"I hope nothing interrupts us tonight." Gabriel started our conversation as if he had read my mind.

"We deserve a break." I agreed as we walked up the steps.

We arrived at the doorway promptly. Harlow had told me that the concert hall was called Anderson Hall, after James Anderson, some dude who had left all of the money in his will to the university in the late 19th century.

We were greeted by a security attendant who just patted us down. I was put more at ease by the right security.

The guest list topped out at two hundred locals attending, so it might be a task to scope out my friends among the crowd. I skimmed the people with my eyes until they landed on Ducky and Lee standing by what looked to be the food table.

I smiled and rolled my eyes. Of course they would be by the food. I turned back to Gabriel. "I'm gonna go talk to Lee and Ducky by the the food."

He smiled and gave me a small squeeze with his hand. I danced around the people milling about, until I smelt the mixed scent of punch and cheese-puffs hit my nose.

"Hey guys!" I said as I approached, reaching out to a cup and pouring in some punch. It was tart, and I'm pretty sure had an aftertaste of cherry, which was a little gross.

"You need some lemonade in that?" Ducky Asked, sneering at the face that I pulled.

I shrugged. "Um- okay." I went to grab one of the bottles of cloudy lemonade, but Ducky was already way ahead of me.

He grabbed one of the bottles and I watched as he opened the lid, before lifting some of the water out with his power. It floated in the air for a second like a bubble, and I bit my lip as he poured the lemonade into the punch.

"Did you really have to do that?" Lee glanced around anxiously. "What if someone saw you?"

"They wont." Ducky said dismissively, but held the bottle now close to his chest. "Anyway - I Told you." Ducky crossed his arms and I frowned. Lee rolled his eyes and smiled at me.

"Ducky just recently got into tarot cards and palm reading." He snorted and brushed the hair from his unusual violet eyes. "He 'predicted'," He used air quotes. "That we would have trouble with a blond female. And here you are."

I smirked and raised my eyebrows, looking into Ducky's amused golden eyes. "Well I hope I wasn't interrupting something." I took a sip of the fruity punch. "Besides, you do know tarot cards are a bunch of bull, right?"

He grinned and stuffed another cheese-it in his mouth. "I know." He said between mouthfuls. "I think it's funny though. I like to think of myself as a gypsy."

I felt affection throb in my heart at his quirky antics. Lee, however, straightened the navy topcoat of his suit and glared at Ducky.

"Yeah. Aidan, I think we need to get ourselves another Saint. This one's an idiot." He said, glancing at me. Ducky went red and flared up.

"Hey!" He protested, swallowing the lump of orange cheese-it's as his Adam's Apple bobbed. "Don't be mean!" He licked his lips to get the crumbs off. "Besides. I'm not an idiot - I'm iconic. Get it right."

"There is certainly a line," I said, amused at their little squabble, as if I was an adult watching two five year olds argue. "Whether you've crossed Said line into idiot territory is... debatable."

Ducky shrunk back as if he had been shot. "How dare you! I can feel it now - sweet, sweet betrayal."

I giggled and leant forward, mussing up his hair. He squealed and glared at me. "Now it's betrayal."

I shrugged. "Being in world war three. I'll be ready." I then glanced around casually as if I hadn't just threatened him with death. "Where's Harlow? I gotta go say hi to everyone before I go and hide in the bathrooms with my social anxiety."

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