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Chapter 48 *Party Crasher*

~Drake

A few days have passed since Pie kissed me on the lips. Until now I can taste her. It doesn’t want to vanish from my own lips. And until now I don’t have an idea why she did it. When I returned to my senses, I was shocked because she was already inside their house.

Is she starting to fall in love with me? The thought is appealing and scary at the same time. Should I tell her about the bet?

Of course.

She doesn’t need to know, I return. She’ll be hurt. And I already cancelled my deal with Andre a week ago. There’s no point.

Don’t you think its better when it comes out from your own mouth?

She’ll hate me, I think sadly.

You’re so pessimist.

We.

How can you start a relationship with lies?

I . . .

Does Pie want to be with me? What does it feel like to have your loved one to return your feelings? It’s hard to imagine, even when you are creative and have good imagination.

If you will not tell her, your conscience will eat you inside and out, my voice says. And you will not be completely happy because you’re hiding something from her.

I can’t live knowing that she will not want to see me again. Just thinking about it makes my chest constrict in pain. What more if it happens in real life?

If you don’t ask and tell her about it, you’ll always wonder. . .

I know, I snap.

And the answer will always be a No.

Can you shut up? I need to think, and you’re not helping at all! Just leave me alone!

As you wish. . .

And then I’m left alone in my head. I breathe a sigh of relief. I’m starting to get crazy talking with this voice.

When I’m hungry I can’t think straight. I have to eat first.

Walking inside the kitchen, my eyes involuntarily glance at the Calendar posted on the wall.

October 31.

Sunday.

Tomorrow is All Saints’ Day.

Today is the day for Trick or Treat.

But that doesn’t what pull me up short. I count the days and surprised when I realize that this is the twenty fifth day. But of course it’s not working anymore.

Maybe this is a sign. That I really should tell Pie.

 I almost jump from where I am when my phone rings. Getting it from my pocket, I answer, “Who’s this?”

“Me,” Andre says amusedly.

“What do you want?”

“Just to remind you about the party.”

Party? “I thought we’re trick or treating?” I ask incredulously.

“Change of plans. Party is much more fun.”

“What party?!”

“A Halloween party,” he says, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “No costume, no entry.”

“What?” I almost shout at him.

“That hurts,” he mutters. And I can imagine him shaking his head.

“Where in the world is the venue of your party?”

“My place.”

“What about Auntie?” I ask doubtfully,

“She’s fine with it,” he answers bemusedly. “Besides, she has a business meeting out of town.”

I groan. Ever since I became friends with Pie, I’ve never been to parties anymore.

“Can you come by and help me with the preparation?” he asks.

“Preparation?”

“Yeah. You know,“ he says exasperatedly, “you can’t really call it a party without decorations because it will be boring and plain.”

“And when did you get those?” I inquire, raising my eyebrow even though he can’t see me.

“A few days ago.”

“Why are you just telling me now?”

“It slipped from my mind,” he says sheepishly.

Andre! “What about the food?”

“I hired a catering service,” he says proudly. “And alcohol is forbidden. I don’t want the house to smell of vomit.”

 “When do you need me?”

“Now.”

Sighing, I say, “Okay. See you in a few.”

“Thanks bro!”

“Yeah, yeah.” And then I hung up, planning to get ready.

What am I going to wear?

An idea suddenly pops into my head. Why didn’t I think of that earlier?

After searching for my costume and putting all the necessary things in my bag, I head downstairs to find my mom. She’s in the kitchen, cooking what I smell like beef steak. My stomach grumbles at the sight of food.

“Mom,” I say, “I’m going out.”

“Where?” she inquires, looking up from chopping onions.

“At Andre’s. He needs help.”

She smiles affectionately and says, “You’re a good friend.”

“I try to be,” I murmur, too low for her to hear.

“Are you sleeping here tonight?”

“I’m not sure,” I answer. “I’ll just call you.”

“Okay,” she replies, concern written all over her face.

“Goodbye Mom.”

“Take care!”

“Thanks!”

Then I walk outside the house and get inside my car. After a few minutes, I arrive at Andre’s.

Without bothering to knock, I enter the open doorway. I find him sitting on the couch, arranging things.

“Hey,” I greet.

“Thanks for coming,” Andre says gratefully.

There are fake spider cob webs, crazy pumpkins, creepy insects, and other Halloween paraphernalia on the floor.

“Where are the other helpers?” I ask, looking around the house.

“What helpers?” he asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“You don’t mean. . .”

“Of course it’s just us!”

I groan. Andre is stupid sometimes. “What time is the party again?”

“Eight,” he answers, a silly smile forming on his mouth.

“But it’s already two! I don’t have a costume yet.” Well, I have, but I don’t really like it that much.

Andre rolls his eyes. “If you stop complaining and start working, we’ll finish early. And about the costume, why waste money when you can make one?”

“Says the one who spent his money with Halloween things,” I say dryly.

He grins sheepishly. “But I already said that—“

“Yeah, they are needed to make your party more fun and exciting,” I interject.

“We really are best friends. We can finish each other’s sentences.”

Rolling my eyes, I say, “I couldn’t agree more.”

*-*-*-*-*

~Sophia~

Fantastic, who ever designed this place. There’s a feeling of being haunted, even though the decorations are quite simple: tombstones on the front yard, cobwebs on every corner, glowing pumpkins in the hallway, bats on the ceiling, and skeletons that greet you in the doorway. The music is kind of creepy; it’s like crawling into your skin. The lights are darker, making the house look like a gothic mansion. I have to give Andre thumbs up for preparing something like this. He should be an event organizer!

This is like a costume party. I notice that when people enter the house, they arrive with groups. They wear different types of clothes. Some even dyed their hair, while others use what I think is wig. They are really into this party. It’s entertaining to watch them. Not everyday of your life you can see something like this.

There are fairies with colorful wings. Some are shaped like butterflies while others are more complicated than that. They even get tangled with other people as they walk. They sprinkled glitters in their body so they sparkle when they move.

Some are vampires that wear cape and have real white face. I wonder how many foundations they used. Their lips are blood red, and there are bite marks on their necks. Others are even wearing fake plastic fangs. They look uncomfortable.

I feel not properly dressed in this Halloween party. Like, I don’t belong. I don’t even know why I agreed to come.

“Sophia!”

Turning around, I see my friend walking towards me. “Driana,” I greet her excitedly.

“Hey, cowgirl,” she says, a huge smile on her face.

“Where’s Hercules?” I tease.

Driana is Megara – the love interest of Hercules. She’s wearing a purple dress that hugs her body. Her hair is even up like Meg’s. It really suits her, especially her personality.

She ignores my question and says, “You should wear that outfit more often. You’re glamorous!”

My dress is perfectly normal. It falls just below my thighs. I wear knee length boots and a cowboy hat. At the last second, my mom decided to curl my hair.

Weird, I know. A cowgirl wearing a glittery dress. But I like it and I’m comfortable with it.

“Look who’s talking,” I say, “You’re the pretty one here.”

“Meh.” She rolls her eyes and says, “I like your sparkly dress! Makes me remember of Taylor Swift.” She wiggles her eyebrows teasingly.

“Ha ha,” I say wryly.

“Look at these people and their weird costumes,” she says, looking around with a silly grin on her face.

I’m about to reply when someone interrupts us. “Driana!”

“Hey!”

It’s someone from our Arts class.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asks.

Driana looks at me questioningly.

I give her a nod. “I’ll go get a drink.”

“Okay.”

And then I walk around the house, occasionally bumping someone in the way.

“Sophia!”

Whipping around, I find Andre gliding towards me.

“Hi Hercules,” I say meaningfully.

“Hey cowgirl, where’s your horse?” he says, not affected by the tone of my voice.

A smile forms on my lips as I survey Andre’s costume. He is wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and a kilt with a belt. He has gold bands on his wrists. There’s a blue cape on his back. Even his blonde hair is styled as Hercules.

I won’t let him off the hook easily. “I left my horse on the stable,” I say. “Where’s Megara?”

“Meg? I . . . I don’t know,” he mumbles. The blush on his cheeks confirmed what I’m thinking.

“Why so speechless?” I tease.

“I-I’m n-not,” he stutters, looking anywhere but me.

Not everyday you’ll hear Andre stuttering.

Grinning from ear to ear, I tap his shoulder and say, “You know, sometime later, people will notice too.”

And then I leave him staring blankly after me. I want to go out and breathe some fresh air. More than that, I want to gaze at the stars in the sky.

There are a lot of people in the back porch. Some are lying on the chairs while others are on the pool- their costumes on the tables.

I decide not to continue because someone might accidentally push me and I might end up falling on the pool. And with my luck, that’s not impossible. I’m about to go to Aunt V’s garden when I see that there’s an intense making out session going on. I don’t want to interfere with that.

The only choice I have is to go back inside. Besides, Driana is probably looking for me.

In my peripheral vision, I see Draky (in his basketball jersey) talking to a skeleton, a wolf, an elf, a princess, a cheerleader, and a witch. I almost forgot that he’s popular.

It makes me remember the first day I laid my eyes on him. It feels like déjà vu, watching him like this. Like what I did years ago. He’s used to interacting with different kinds of people. He is boosting with self confidence. He enjoys parties. And I’m the opposite of that.

Before he can catch me staring at him, I turn my back to him. My eyes almost pop out of their sockets when I see Skye lounging on one of the chairs.

Skye!

I blink my eyes repeatedly. Maybe my vision is just doing a trick on me. But really, it’s him.

My feet automatically walk inside the house. I can’t believe he’s here! What in the world is he doing?! Isn’t he studying to another place? Or maybe no other school accepted him? How did he even know about the party?

It makes me frustrated that I have a lot of question but I don’t have a single answer!

For sure Draky has not seen him yet because if he does, he’ll make him leave. Of course Draky has not noticed him yet. He’s surrounded with people. Tons of them.

Skye is here to ruin Andre’s party! Isn’t he ashamed to be seen by students in his previous school?

The hairs on my arms are rising—

“Watch it!”

I see a girl wearing a queen of heart’s costume, glaring at me. “I’m sorry?” Glancing down, I realize that because of not looking where I’m going, I bump into her, making the coke in her hand splashed to her costume. “Sorry,” I say sincerely.

Fuming with rage, she stalks out of my sight.

Oh, well. That went well.

The loud music is blasting from the stereos. When before it was creepy and haunted, now it’s irritating to the ears. I’m not used to it. And there are a lot of weird costumes wherever I look. If I enjoyed looking at them earlier, now it makes my head throb. The house is almost packed! It’s hard to breathe. I need to get out of here.

Trying to dodge people and their silly costumes, I make my way to the library.

When I twist the doorknob, it just clicked. I try it a couple of times more. Of course it’s locked.

That’s good because when careless people go here, the precious books of Auntie will be ruined. Good job, Andre. You don’t fail to amaze me with your forward thinking.

What now?

Game room?

No.

Entertainment room?

No.

Family Room?

No.

That leaves me with. . .

Right.

To my surprise, there’s a stop sign on the way to the stairs, saying that no one is allowed upstairs. There’s even a caution tape – the one the police use in the scene of a crime or accident. This gets me thinking. Maybe I shouldn’t continue because I’m not living here anymore. What I’m planning to do is trespassing.

But I have this urge inside me, telling me to go on. Besides, I used to live here and I really miss my room. The comfort it gave me when I stayed here was relaxing. And I need that.

Looking behind me and deciding that the coast is clear, I duck under the yellow tape and make my way upstairs. My heart drums loudly in my chest, probably anticipating that someone might see me and follow me. I’m afraid someone will hear the beat of my heart. But the music is louder than that.

When my feet lands on the second floor landing, I breathe a sigh of relief. Phew! I made it! Easier than I thought.

It’s quiet here, unlike the rest of the house and I realize that I’m the only one who doesn’t follow Andre’s rules. A smile slowly forms on my lips as I think, some rules are meant to be broken.

Fortunately, my room is not locked. Opening it, I enter and look around. Nothing’s changed. The walls, the bed, and the cabinet are still the same.

I didn’t know I’ll miss this place. This room has a special place in my heart.

Walking near the window, I watch the party outside. I can’t see Skye anymore. Good. Maybe he decided to go home.

To my horror, I can feel a presence behind me. Before I can turn around and find out who it is, he wraps his arms around me. My first impulse is to scream but when I get to my senses, I realize who is hugging me.

Draky.

How do I know?

Instinct, maybe. But I know it’s more than that.

Ever since I kissed him, I don’t want to be alone in a room with him. I feel shy for kissing him like that! And thankfully, for the past few days, we were never alone again. We’re always with Andre, or Driana. And when there’s a chance for us to be alone, I’ll grab someone in the hallway just to not be left alone with him.

I’m being a coward, I know. But I don’t know what to say to him when he asks me about the kiss. Because even I don’t know why I did it; I just followed my . . . heart? And yeah, our relationship became more complicated after that.

Now, we’re finally alone.

My thoughts are swirling. It’s hard to focus on what is real from fake. I don’t want to fall in his trap!

Knees shaking, I turn around slowly to face him. “What are you doing?” I whisper.

Draky puts both of his hands on either side of my waist. “Hugging you,” he murmurs, tucking my loose hair behind my ear.

A shiver runs down my spine involuntarily. “Why?”

His eyes are twinkling like the stars outside as he stares at me. “You can kiss me without my permission,” he says. And at his words, my cheeks start to turn scarlet. “So I think I can hug you.”

I find myself tongue-tied. I can’t contradict him because what he said is true.

“What are you doing here? The party’s downstairs,” he says.

“I. . . uh. . .”

Should I say that Skye is here and I’m hiding from him? No. I can’t ruin Draky’s night. I can see that he’s having fun. Mentioning Skye will remove the happiness from his eyes.

“I’m not really comfortable with parties,” I say instead, which is true. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw you earlier so I followed you.” He pauses to look at me up and down. “What are you trying to be?” he asks amusedly.

Rolling my eyes, I answer, “I’m a cowgirl.”

“A beautiful cowgirl,” he says, twirling his fingers on my curly hair. “Nice boots by the way.”

“Creative costume,” I say slyly.

“Thanks.”

“It fits you.”

He grins. “I missed wearing this.”

“Why aren’t you playing basketball again?” I blurt out.

He stays silent and I know I hit a nerve.

I continue, “Why did you even quit in the first place? You were the captain and all your team mates look inspiration to you.”

“It’s a long story,” he replies after what feels like hours.

“I have time,” I say, smiling.

He sighs. “I guess I can’t keep this forever.”

“What?” I ask curiously.

“Are you ready to listen to my story?” he says, ignoring my question. “I have to warn you, it’s pretty gruesome.”