It took maybe ten minutes to get to the party, and by then, Beau's hair was a fluffy mess from the wind. I resisted the temptation to run my fingers through it as he slowed down and parked a few houses down, between a busted pickup and a matte black convertible. The music was loud, and I could almost feel it thrumming under my feet.

Climbing off the motorcycle, I pulled off the helmet and dragged my hand through my twists. Beau followed, grinning at me as he plucked the helmet from my hands. "Ready to go?"

"Hell yeah," I said, turning to him. "How are you feeling?"

He seemed to catch my meaning if his grin was anything to go by. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine. Used to it, anyway."

I decided against asking questions, just watched as Beau strapped the helmet to the bike and turned back to me with that lopsided smile of his. We walked down the block together, up to the open door, and inside the house.

It was loud and bright, the entire place covered in caution tape and fake blood. Trashy, fake spiderwebs dripped from the ceiling, with red solo cups already tangled in them. The costumes varied from slutty cats to full, japanese-looking cosplays to bedsheet ghosts, but everyone seemed to be dressed up. The music shook the floor, so loud you had to yell to be heard.

Before I could even find the drinks, I was sucked into the group of athletes, losing Beau to the sea of costumed bodies.

"Luke! My man!" Hector was the first to greet me, clapping a hand on my back before leaning on my shoulder. He was dressed like a red pirate with a plastic hook on one hand. "Glad you made it!"

There was a girl hanging off his arm. She was pretty, with long, blond braids thrown into a bun and a sharp, dark face with thin eyeliner. Her costume was a green dress with tiny fairy wings and pom-poms glued to the tips of her shoes.

"Sorry," she said, "he lost beer pong."

I smiled at her. "I'm used to it. You're the girlfriend, I'm assuming? I don't think we've met."

She laughed, holding out a dainty, manicured hand. I shook it lightly. "Yeah, I'm Charlotte, but basically everyone calls me Lottie. I go to East Waters, downtown."

"It's a pleasure, Lottie."

Someone tackled me from the back, nearly knocking me into her, and I turned to see Adam hanging off my shoulders with a red solo cup of clear liquid in his hand. He wore a head mirror and a doctor's coat, open to reveal his toned chest, and his smile was sharp despite the sweet vodka in his breath. "Luke! Hey, how are you! Not good, I see? You're look pretty sick, actually."

Confusion smacked me like a truck. "What?"

Adam nodded, still grinning. "But I have just the cure!" He pulled a plastic syringe from his jacket pocket, filled with a clear liquid. "The shot doctor says to open up!"

The pun finally registered, and with a laugh, I let him squirt what turned out to be vodka into my mouth. It burned all the way down. With a firm pat to my back, he tucked the syringe back into his costume. "Now that you're feeling a little better, come with me. The rest of your hockey boy friends are out back with a bong, they were looking for you."

With a hasty goodbye to Lottie and Hector, I was dragged outside to see Jason, Thomas, and Simon sitting on the porch steps, passing around a blue-tinted bong. A couple of football guys sat with them, and I recognized Teddy Mason, the kicker, among them, with Jeremy hitting a vape with his head resting on Ted's shoulder. Their costumes had little sailor's caps with anchors and matching suspenders.

Jason was the first to notice us, waving me over. He was dressed in what I noticed to be a very well-made costume of a Greek god, fit with an iridescent toga, embroidered sandals, and a crown of leaves. "Luke! How are you?"

I grinned, easing down next to him and taking the bong from his hands. The rest of the guys had noticed me and watched as I held up the light. "I love your costume, Jase. And I'm better now that I have some of this."

He laughed and thanked me while I inhaled, feeling the weed curl in my lungs. I tipped my head back and blew out a fuzzy smoke ring, letting the rest of it trickle from my nose. I looked back down and cocked a brow at Thomas. "What happened to being my ride?"

"Couldn't find you," he said with a shrug, licking his fake vampire teeth. I narrowed my eyes, and the porch grew tense.

"Seems like you didn't try very hard, seeing as you didn't even call me."

"Neither did you, since you weren't there when I left."

"Calm it, boys," Simon snapped from the other side of the porch, reaching his plastic sword over to whack Thomas over the head and earning a shouted protest. "Shut the Hell up, Tom. Whose fucking bong are you smoking, again? No fighting, it's Halloween."

Jeremy looked over at me with a wave, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Hey, Luke! Good game, congrats."

"Thanks," I said, watching minty smoke curl from his lips. "Hey, Ted."

Teddy waved, tucking Jeremy further into his side. His eyes were red-rimmed and his smile was easy. He looked cross-faded. "What's up?"

Feeling someone come up behind me, I turned to see Adam with more syringes between his fingers and a pearly smile. "Who wants shots?"

Shouts erupted, and some of the football players lined up for Adam's vodka gimmick. Jason took the bong back and took a hit before turning to me. "How'd you get here since Tom left you, anyway?"

"Carrie's cousin brought me," I said with a shrug to try and hide the flush in my cheeks. "He's the guy from the night I drove you home."

"Beau, right?" Jason mused.

"That fairy?" Adam called from behind me, sharp and loud. Everyone stilled.

The tension returned, headier than before. Simon shifted uncomfortably, now fidgeting with his sword, and Jason choked quietly on his lungful of smoke. Ted shot Adam a nasty glare.

"Watch your mouth, fucktard," he grumbled lowly.

Adam shrugged. "What? He's my brother's girlfriend's cousin, I know a thing or two. I'm friends with his aunt, she told me his parents kicked him out 'cause of it."

I felt my breath catch.

"Adam," Ted warned. If looks could kill, Adam would be in the seventh ring of Hell.

It was common knowledge that Ted had gotten kicked out by his bible-thumper parents when they discovered he was gay. The found out through some rumor that slid its way into a school board meeting, and they apparently just locked him out on the front porch that night without even letting him pack his things. He ended up living with his aunt for two months before he was allowed back home, but his parents had dropped out of the school board and hadn't gone to any of his games since. Everyone knew about it, and Ted knew that everyone knew about it, but nobody ever said anything to his face.

Adam's palms flew up and open by his head upon seeing everyone's contempt. "Sorry, sorry, guys. Not my business to tell, I guess. But I've gotta' go, I promised Leah I'd dance with her."

With a last flourish, Adam was gone, whisked away by the promise of pretty girls and more alcohol, and the tension lifted like an overdue breath. Jase took a long hit of the bong, watching me sideways with a what the fuck look in his eyes.

Jeremy pressed his thumb between Ted's crinkled brow, smoothing it down and kissing his lips shortly. "It's fine, babe. He's just an ass."

Adam was an ass, I realized. A charismatic, talented, attractive ass.

But as much of an ass as he was, I couldn't help but want to know the rest of his story about Beau.

That's when I noticed Tom was nowhere to be seen.

*+*❅*+*

The night continued as a blur of music and lights. Occasionally, I'd spot a head of familiar, blond hair dancing across the room before vanishing in the sea of teenagers again.

It had to be around midnight when I saw Iza stumbling towards me with a drunken smile and her arms open to hug me. I laughed at her horrible alien costume, fit with a pair of eyes bouncing on springs on her head and thick, green boots, before scooping her into a hug.

"Iza!" I greeted her, and as the force of her body pushed me back, the world spun a little. "How are you?"

She giggled, poking my chest. "Drunk. Kinda' wanna throw up. And loving your costume." She pulled my arm. "Let's go outside, it's loud in here."

"Yeah, sure. And about my costume, Jase—"

From my right, I heard a wolf whistle, and turned to see Jason with one hand on a girl's ass and his other with his thumb and index finger pressed into his lips. He moved his fingers to lay flat on either side of his mouth and made a cruder gesture with his tongue while the girl kissed up his neck. I flipped him off.

"—is a dick," I finished. Iza glanced at Jason as we made our way through the throngs of people, frowning.

"What's with the catcalling?" she asked as he disappeared. I sighed, feeling heat crawl up my neck.

"My friends think we're hooking up."

"They what?!" Her eyes bugged as she whipped around to face me. "Luke!"

"I'm sorry!" I stammered, "I told them we weren't, I swear!"

With some incomprehensible Spanish cursing, she led us outside. "Hell, Luke. I'm in Hell."

We wandered out to the pool chairs, past where Simon was sitting with his bong calling someone oh his phone. He waved as we passed, passing me a sharp grin and a similarly crude gesture to Jason's. With the wrap-around porch, we were in our own little, secluded part of the house, leaving the music as only a thrum in the air and the people beyond the borders of our realities.

"It's not my fault," I argued.

Iza watched me, narrowing her gaze. She licked her lips as she sunk to the grass, tense. "Do you want to hook up?"

"No," I returned, horrified, before I realized how bad that must have sounded and backtracked. "Wait, no, not like you're not pretty, because you're very pretty, but like, you're my sister, you know? Not actually, right, but if we hooked up that's kinda' incest-y, and—"

"Luke," Iza interrupted, with a hand poorly concealing her smile. "I don't want to either."

I deflated, joining her on the grass. "Thank God," I muttered. Iza laughed, shoving my shoulder.

"Amen, bro." She laughed quietly to herself before looking sideways at me. "But what gave your friends that idea?"

Avoiding eye contact by gripping the grass under my fingers and ripping it from the root, I shrugged. "They knew I hooked up with someone and thought it was you, I guess. Since we're friends."

"You're hooking up with someone? Like, presently?" Iza prodded, a twinkle in her eye. "Who?"

"I've only seen them once," I muttered, then thought. "Twice."

"Luke! Tell me!"

"You haven't met them."

Iza pouted. "But—"

"How's your sex life, Iza," I retorted. She grinned, a little plastic.

"I don't—"

"Nope, no fair," I interrupted. "You asked me."

Iza looked at me for a minute, a little unsure. Her mouth was set in a deep line and her eyes were stony. "I'm only telling you this because I'm drunk and you're, like, my childhood best friend, so you cannot tell a single fucking soul."

"Okay," I replied, tipping forward on my toes.

"I don't do sex," she finally murmured, her ears glowing red.

I tucked my knees farther into my chest. "Like, you're waiting to get married?"

"No, I don't do sex. Period." She fiddled with the laces on her boot, took a deep breath. A drop of water fell and landed on her nose, then another on her shoulder, then my arm. "Do you know what being asexual means?"

At that moment, a lot of things clicked into place.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, I do," I replied, a little dumbly.

She sighed. "I'm that."

I looked at her, feeling the rain pick up, and leaned in to wrap my arms around her shoulders. "I still love you."

Her laugh was a little wet as her hands reached to grab at my biceps. "Thank you."

I held her for a moment. "I think I'm gay."

Her arms squeezed around me as the rain began to bleed through our clothes, sticking them together, skin against cotton against skin. "Your hookup's..?"

"...yeah."

Iza tipped her head back onto my shoulder. "I still love you, too."

The rain got heavier, but we stayed there talking about anything and everything until the sun shone through the fence boards.

[a/n] helloooo people!!

sorry this chapter took so long. i've been super super busy recently applying to uni. i have my oxford entrance exam next week that i'm cramming for, but i wanted a break and figured finally finishing this would be a nice way to take it.

i hope you all are having a wonderful spooky season! i'll try to push out another update this month :)

if you're liking the story, please consider leaving a vote! love you guys!! <33