Hi, this is sort of a Halloween special; this is supposed to be in the Proposal chapter, when Brielle was just retelling what happened during the tour, and before Nate found her secret.

Don’t be confused because in the present time, it’s already a few days after Thanksgiving (this is like a flashback).

Song: The Academy Is…: Summer Hair = Forever Young

Hope you’ll like it :) don’t forget to leave a comment. Thank you so much for reading my story <3

*****

“Closer.”

He grins. “You really can’t get enough of me.”

I bite my lip to stop the smile forming on my mouth.

How can I stay focus if he keeps on distracting me? I can’t even work properly. Not that I’m complaining.

He leans slowly towards my face. I automatically close my eyes, anticipating the moment his lips—

“A woooh.”

Slowly, everything gets blurry.

I reach out to hold on to him, but I’m wiped out.

Suddenly, I can feel the warmth of the blanket over my face, and the mattress under me.

I roll over, and finally accept that it was just a dream. And now I can’t even remember half of it.

“A woooh.”

I frown.

What’s that sound?

Removing the blanket off me, I—

I scream with all my might. “Ahhhh! Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

 A faceless creature is creepily staring at me.

“I don’t want to die yet!”

The thing keeps on walking towards me, but I have nowhere else to go.

“A woooh.”

An awful sound comes out from his gaping mouth. It looks like a black hole. My skin’s having goose bumps.

Where are the guys? Am I alone in the bus? Can’t they see what’s happening?

My heart is thundering in my chest, while my knees are shaking underneath me.

The monster raises both of his hands, reaching out to kill me.

But before I can say my last prayer, I hear laughter from outside the sleeping quarters.

Is something funny?

Turning around, I find Lance clutching his stomach while he’s laughing.

“That was the best prank ever!” The thing speaks.

My eyes widen.

IT speaks.

The thing touches his face and I see human hands. The hands take off the mask from its face.

Wait.

Mask?

Zeke is grinning at me, his eyes lighting in amusement.

I blink, and then stare at him. Zeke, who I thought was a ghost. Or a killer. Or a monster.

My mouth is hanging open, so I close it. And then I blink some more.

“Hey, Brielle,” Lance says, putting his hands on my shoulder. “Are you still in shock?”

Zeke snickers, while Lance tries his hardest not to laugh.

“What was that?” I finally ask.

“Happy Halloween!” Zeke says, putting his mask back on.

 “I almost had a heart attack!” I punch them both on the arms. “It’s not healthy to wake up with a monster just a few inches from your face.”

“Aw, be a good sport,” Lance says amusedly. “We were just trying to have fun.”

“At my expense,” I scold.

“What’s going on here?” Nate asks, walking inside the sleeping quarters.

“Where were you, bro?” Lance inquires.

“Outside,” Nate says simply.

“You missed the greatest prank ever bestowed on planet earth,” Zeke says.

I roll my eyes. He’s exaggerating.

“Who was the—“ Nate pauses and sees the look on my face. “Ah, you finally executed your plan,” he tells Lance and Zeke, “How was it?”

“Grand,” Lance says proudly.

Sometimes living with a handful of guys is scary, especially when they’re unpredictable.

We go to the living room to eat our breakfast. Nate brought food from a diner.

Fortunately, there’s coffee.

“Are you ready though?” Nate asks us when we start eating. “We’re leaving in a few hours.”

“Where are we going?” I ask. It’s only eleven in the morning.

Yes, we have this messed up body clock. We sleep at dawn, and when we wake up before noon, it’s already considered early.

“Mr. Handsome invited us to his annual Halloween party,” Zeke says in a cheerful voice. “It’s a costume party for all the artists who signed in the Label.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” I ask while crossing my arms over my chest.

The guys smile sheepishly and look at one another.

Finally, Lance says, “We must have forgotten to mention it.”

“Forgotten what?” KY asks. He’s like a mushroom that shows up whenever he wants to.

I wonder where he went. He’s wearing a coat.

“We were just telling Brielle about the party later,” Lance says.

“I’m not coming,” I say.

“Why?” Nate asks.

“I don’t have a costume,” I answer, and give them a pointed look.

 “It doesn’t matter,” Zeke says. “You can wear anything you want. It’s not mandatory to wear a costume.”

I sigh. I can’t believe they forgot to mention it to me. Why didn’t I even see them preparing their costume?

But then, we’re all so busy from their shows, and they’re too focused on them.

Lance leans over and shakes my arm. “Please, come with us. It’ll be fun.”

“I don’t have anything to wear,” I repeat.

And then I realize that they won’t get it. They’re guys. You can’t just tell a girl to wear anything! when it’s a themed party.

“We can dress up as Edward and Bella,” Nate offers, “I’ll put foundation and glitters all over my body.”

“Who are they?” I ask, confused.

“You don’t know them?” he asks, looking surprised. “They’re fictional characters from a movie based on a book.”

“Dude, I didn’t know you watch Twilight,” Lance says, a gooey grin plastered on his face. “The book was published way back twenty years ago.”

Nate rolls his eyes. “My sister forced me to watch it with her.”

“Don’t deny it, man,” Zeke says teasingly. “We won’t judge you. It’s alright to enjoy bloodsucking vampires.”

Nate grabs one of the pillow cushions and throws it at him.

Zeke easily dodges it as he laughs.

“Shut up!” Nate says, looking embarrassed.

What’s wrong with Twilight? Why are Lance and Zeke making fun of Nate by watching it?

“So, are you coming with us?” KY asks.

KY. ASKED. ME. A. QUESTION.

He’s speaking to me now? He’s not mad anymore?

And and and. . . How can I say no to him?

“Please,” Nate adds.

I pretend to be annoyed. “Okay, fine.”

Nate grins. “I know you can’t resist me.”

“But we can only stay until midnight,” Zeke reminds us.

“Because we’ll be pumpkin if we exceed the allotted time?” I say amusedly.

Zeke’s mouth twitches upward. “Funny, Cinderella. It’s because we still have a concert tomorrow.”

While the guys get ready, I rummage my clothes to look for something to wear. I don’t have an idea about what kind of party we’re going to. One thing I know is, it’ll be full of musicians.

I only brought jeans, shirts, and dresses.

I’m doomed.

It’s so hard when you can’t find the right clothes to wear for a specific event.

I lie on my bed and pull the covers over my head.

Should I tell them that I changed my mind?

I’m just going to rest, probably sleep the whole day. This red blanket is so soft, I just want to—

Red blanket!

Ah, I finally know what to do.

Fortunately, there’s a spare red blanket in the cabinet, so I stitch it until it sort of looks like the one I saw in the movie.

I’m going to be Red Riding Hood.

Two hours later, I’m ready to go.

Underneath my red hood, I’m wearing a white dress and my boots. I curl my hair, and the only make-up I wear is red lipstick.

While waiting for the guys in the living room, I decide to read a book to pass the time.

I wonder why they’re taking so long. And I’m kind of nervous because I don’t want to appear underdressed.

And so, I can’t focus on the novel I’m reading. I’m too bothered.

“Hey, Bri.”

I look up and see Nate approaching me. I tilt my head to the side and wonder who is he portraying?

When I can’t figure it out, I ask him. “Um, Nate, what are you trying to be?”

He’s wearing black shades, black open vest (he’s not wearing a shirt underneath!), black shorts, and this black see through thing that looks like the garment inside of a skirt or er, a curtain, and black combat boots.

Hmm he took the black in a completely different level.

“I’m me,” he says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

I’m about to ask what he meant by that when KY walks in.

He is dressed in casual clothing; black v-neck shirt, khaki pants, and like Nate, he’s wearing black combat boots. He’s holding a bear though.

I rummage my memory, trying to think of a character who owns a teddy bear.

But I can’t remember anything.

KY must have seen the confusion in my face because he rolls his eyes and then puts the bear in his head.

“Aah. Oh.”

Now, I get it.

He is the bear.

I didn’t notice the holes on the bear’s stomach before. The holes are for his eyes, obviously, so that even when he’s wearing the bear, he can still see.

But why would he be a bear is something I will never know.

“I’m done!” Lance says.

I study his costume, or lack thereof. He’s only wearing an orange shirt.

“I’m a pumpkin,” he says, grabbing a box from under the table and getting a large pumpkin.

“Ah,” I say, nodding.

Lance wears it and it goes all the way from his neck to his stomach. “What do you think?” he asks excitedly.

I smile and give him two thumbs up.

Zeke is going in as Joker, he watched tutorials way too many times on how to get the perfect look. I have to give it to him, he totally nailed it; from the make-up, creepy mouth, and clothes.

The guys’ costumes are ridiculously funny.

If I say so myself, they suit their personality.

~*~*~*~

When we arrive, the party is already in full blown.

I can’t see much because of the strobe lights that blinds my vision.

Mr. Handsome greets us, wearing a cape and fake fangs. Juliane is standing beside her in a Betty Boop costume.

He thanks us for coming, and promises that it’ll be a night to remember.

I wish.

A waiter ushers us to our table.

I didn’t even notice that it’s just KY, Nate, and me.

Lance already left us, in search of girls company. He told us before we got here that he would get laid.

I shake my head to remove that thought from my head.

I look around the place and notice people in glamourous outfits. There are zombies lurking around, and your normal horror story characters.

It’s stupid, but they’re realistically scary, I have to remind myself that they’re only wearing make-up.

And then there are Disney characters, and Marvel heroes.

There are some who are only wearing casual clothes. I should have believed the guys when they said it was okay.

But it was fun dressing up.

What’s good with Halloween party is that you can pretend to be another person. You can forget who you are. For a night, you can be whoever you want to be, because everyone is wearing a mask.

And now I finally understood why for some people, it’s their favorite holiday.

“What do you want to drink?” Nate asks, interrupting my reverie.

“What do they have?”

“Anything,” he says giving me a wink.

“Um, juice.”

He smiles amusedly and turns to the waiter and gives our orders.

“I’m not much of a drinker,” I explain.

“I don’t drink during tour season,” he says, smiling.

I glance at KY’s place and get a bit disappointed when I didn’t see him. I didn’t even realize he’s gone.

People have been approaching our table, and some stay for a small chat with Nate. He introduces me to them as their band manager.

Some of the bands I like are here as well. I force myself not to fangirl in front of Nate. But it’s so difficult, I want to come up to the bands and ask for a picture.

If I’d known I’d see them here, I would have brought their albums.

Naomi will surely be jealous when she finds out about this. I can’t wait to tell her all the details; from the theme of the party, the songs that are playing, and the guests and their costumes.

“Nate, you can go and find your friends,” I tell him.

It feels like he makes it a point to be with me because he thinks I’m not comfortable being alone. I don’t want him to miss this chance to be with his friends.

“Nah, I’m fine here,” he says.

After a while, he says something I didn’t catch because of the loud music.

“What?” I ask, indicating that I didn’t hear him.

“Let’s dance!” he shouts over the noise.

“But I don’t know how to dance!”

He grins. “Me neither. But this seldom happens, so let’s grab this opportunity.”

Stay here and be a wallflower, or take courage and do something you’ve never done before?

The answer is easy if you really think about it.

“Okay,” I relent.

The guys promised it’ll be a fun night, but if I’ll just sit all night and not interact with people, I will only regret that I came to this party.

And I don’t want to do that.

Nate grabs my arm and I follow him to the dance floor. We both decide it’s better to be on the edge.

I catch Lance dancing with two girls. Zeke is over at the DJ booth. I don’t know where KY is. The last time I saw him, he was on our table.

“I really don’t know how to dance,” I tell Nate.

“What?” he asks, frowning.

Because of the loud song, it’s hard to have a conversation.

I step towards him and whisper in his ear, “I’m not a good dancer!”

“That’s not a problem,” he whispers back. “Just feel the music, and sway to its beat.”

I close my eyes and follow Nate’s lead.

It’s true; it’s easy when you’re not scared to make a fool out of yourself, especially when you’re having fun.

You can be happy if you allow yourself to be. And now, I choose to enjoy this moment.

I choose to be happy.