Initially, Talia suggested that she dress as a stereotypical nerd so she could study at the bar if she got bored. But that only resulted in Dez throwing one of Talia's dirty socks in her face.

"A Halloween costume should be a chance to dress up as something you're not," he retorted before he continued to look through Talia's closet.

"Then how come Trinh gets to be an astronaut?!"

"I already said I'm a Space Force guardian, not an astronaut!" Trinh yelled from the kitchen where she was pouring them another round of shots. "I'm an aerospace engineer, yeah, but I haven't actually gone to space. Not yet, at least."

"And I disapprove of her costume every year," Dez added.

Trinh joined them in Talia's bedroom and began handing out the glasses. "How about an escaped prisoner? That's fitting."

If it was anyone besides Trinh or Dez suggesting that, Talia would be more than pissed. But the three of them were close enough that it was more of an inside joke than an insult, and Talia found the difference comforting.

"I thought I had to be something I'm not?" Talia grinned.

They clinked their glasses before they tossed back their shots; Talia quickly grimaced when it immediately started to burn and Trinh sprinted for the kitchen. They were definitely getting too old for this.

"Both of you are no help," Dez said, ignoring the sound of Trinh gargling something in the kitchen. "And people say I'm not a team player."

"Maybe a hybrid costume like yours then," Talia suggested, her voice strained from the lingering burn in her throat. She grimaced and roughly cleared it before continuing. "I don't know, like... a zombie prisoner?"

Dez huffed in frustration. "That's just you with zombie makeup and an orange jumpsuit."

"How is that any different from your zombie doctor?!"

"It's completely different! I have a backstory! My patient was patient zero!"

"You want a backstory? One of the guards was infected and gave it to everybody else. There you go! Backstory!"

"Of course, that is so predictable. And how would you get an orange jumpsuit at this hour?!"

"What were you last year, Tal?" Trinh yelled from the kitchen, swiftly interrupting their argument. "You should combine that with a zombie."

"An assassin zombie then?" Talia shrugged, suddenly exhausted. "Whatever, that's fine with me. Of course, as long as Doctor Dez over here approves it, apparently."

"Or...!" Dez's face lit up like a Christmas tree — or rather, a Jack-o'-lantern, given the current holiday. "Or a prisoner assassin! How does that sound!"

"I must not be a very good assassin if I'm imprisoned," Talia grumbled

"You escaped, obviously," Dez said with an irate sigh. "How else would you be roaming the streets of an ordinary college town? Now where's your assassin costume?"

"Closet, back left," Talia replied. "So how did I escape, O wise one?"

"I can't write your backstory, Tal. That's not how this works."

It only took Dez half an hour to whip up the runaway assassin costume for Talia — the most time consuming step was drawing some realistic injuries to her face. But instead of using only dark red face paint like he did for his own fake injuries, he added some gray to imitate dust from her apparently very dramatic escape from prison.

"I must not be a very good assassin if I get hurt," Talia mumbled as Dez added the makeup.

"They're just small scratches; not all assassins are perfect," he replied. "Now shut up and don't move."

"And I thought you said you weren't going to write my backstory?"

"What the hell did I just say?"

Once Dez added the finishing touches on Talia's costume and the three of them were all sufficiently tipsy, they headed for United Notions on foot. As they walked, Talia couldn't help but admire her own costume.

She was initially skeptical of adding the "escaped prisoner" aspect to her costume. In reality, it wasn't much different from what she wore last year, and the biggest difference was the broken handcuffs around her wrists and separated shackles on her ankles. Still, the thought of willingly walking around with the label of "prisoner" or "runaway" had briefly worried her.

Talia knew most people knew her story, even if they didn't know her. Sure, when she would first meet people, they wouldn't realize that they had read about her childhood on the news, following her story like it was a viral serial publication. But when they finally did put her face to the horror story, they would look at her in shock, or worse, pity. And when they learned more about her as a person... well, "crazy" would be the nicest label they put on her.

So when she wore the broken plastic restraints in public, it was like voluntarily donning a neon sign about her own "tragic" history. But as she and her friends walked through the bustling streets filled with other young adults in vibrant costumes, no one paid her a second glance, and her uneasiness gradually lifted. At that moment, she wasn't a little girl with a traumatic past; she was just another college student enjoying a night out.

As expected, United Notions went all out for the holiday. The interior looked like it could've been a legitimate haunted house, and each member of the staff was in full costume, distinguishable from the crowd of patrons only by the black half aprons they wore.

After a short wait, a suave pilot greeted them and showed them to their table.

"Here are the menus," they said as they handed one to each of them. "Someone will come by and take your order in a few minutes. Can I start you off with some drinks?"

Once they ordered drinks and browsed the menu for appetizers, Dez and Trinh began conversing in sign language — it was a lot easier than trying to yell over the noise — while Talia's eyes absentmindedly wandered around the room. Her gaze eventually settled on a particular sight, but she wasn't really thinking about where she was looking until Dez jabbed her lightly with his sharp elbow.

"I know you're a little out of practice, but could you be a little more subtle at least?" he warned with a knowing smirk.

"What are you talking about?" Talia said, turning back at where she had been staring and...

Oh, no.

Talia had been staring at one of the waitresses, a woman dressed as a police officer, and her very revealing outfit for a good couple of minutes. But what was worse was that one of the waitress's coworkers, a guy dressed like a firefighter, seemed to have noticed, based on the fact that he was now staring at Talia with narrowed eyes.

Mortified, Talia quickly looked away from both employees and towards her friends instead.

"Do you think she noticed?" Talia asked desperately, making small signs as she spoke.

Who? Trinh asked through signing. Firefighter or Police Officer?

"Police Officer definitely did not notice," Dez said and signed confidently. "Pretty sure Firefighter did though."

"Oh, my god," Talia groaned as she hung her head in embarrassment. She didn't bother signing her exclamation since she mostly said it for her own sake, but she did sign her following question. "Is Firefighter still looking at me?"

"Yup."

"Is he mad?"

"I..." Dez paused for a bit. "Actually, he looks furious. Just keep your head down for a bit, okay?"

Talia did as she was told, but after a couple minutes of silence, she snuck a peak at Dez and Trinh, more out of anxiety than curiosity. Each of them had wide grins on their faces, and they seemed to be mouthing words to someone across the room... then pointing in their direction... then at Talia.

Bewildered, Talia lifted her head to see who her friends were talking to.

Across the room, Firefighter waiter was returning their grins with one of his own, along with a nod and two thumbs up. Then he started walking up to the police waitress.

"What the hell did you guys tell him?!" Talia exclaimed a little louder than she intended.

Thankfully, everyone else at United Notions was even louder and she didn't draw extra unwanted attention to herself.

Oh, come on, Tal, just go with it, Trinh signed as she smirked mischievously.

"Senior year, remember?" Dez added, equally amused.

But before Talia could retort, Police waitress stepped up to their table with the drinks they had ordered earlier. And before Talia could get a good look at her face, she quickly and forcefully focused her attention on the tabletop.

"Welcome to United Notions, I'm Misa — Officer Misaki," she greeted, emphasizing the title with subtle bitterness. "Would you like to order anything else?"

Earlier, Dez had memorized everyone's order beforehand to expedite their ordering process; Talia was extremely thankful for that now since she didn't think she was able to remember what she wanted, much less be able to say it to "Officer Misaki". But after Dez ordered for himself and Trinh, he paused and turned to Talia with a look of feigned innocence.

"Sorry, Tal, but what did you want again?"

Talia felt herself freeze for a second as she stared at Dez in shock. Eventually, she regained her bearings enough to glare at him, and then turned to Officer Misaki, ready to look her right in the eye and hell, maybe flirt with her a bit. Her friends were right: this was their senior year, and she might as well do what she never would've done as a freshman.

But as soon as she made eye contact with Officer Misaki, Talia was a goner. Even with the dim bar lighting and her slightly blurred vision, Talia could tell that the woman's brilliant brown eyes were... well, brilliant. She had amazing cheekbones that made her look like something straight out of an art museum and a strong jawline that was highlighted by her radiantly tanned skin. A cropped leather jacket was tightly fitted against her toned arms, and its standing collar perfectly framed her slender neck. And don't even get her started about that police hat, along with the tight dark bun that poked out from beneath it...

Talia felt her lips twitch as she stared, and there was nothing she could do to stop herself.

Thankfully, she had Trinh to kick her shin and snap her out of it.

"Ow! I mean... uh... chicken."

Officer Misaki frowned in confusion. "Sorry, which... um... chicken exactly?"

Smooth, Talia.

"Oh, right, the uh..." Talia glanced quickly at the menu but was suddenly having trouble reading the words. "I think it was, like... wings?"

"The spicy ones? Or maybe the barbeque ones...?"

"Spicy," Talia said a little too quickly. "Yeah, spicy. I like spicy. Food, I mean."

"Sure." Officer Misaki scribbled in her notebook before looking back at Talia. "I'll be back with your order in a sex — sec. Second. I mean — I'll be back... soon."

Officer Misaki hurriedly turned her back on them as if she couldn't get out of there faster. While Talia felt horrified about acting so strangely, the waitress's exit and the alternative view of her outfit only made Talia's shift uncomfortably in her seat.

"Well, it could've been worse," Dez added cheerfully. "Imagine if she didn't have that apron blocking the front view."

At the mental imagery, Talia groaned and buried her head in her arms. She wasn't drunk enough for this.