This disco hit us faster than Rudolph when he overdosed on carrots, and that was pretty fast (Nick swears he could reach supersonic speeds given the chance). Of course, we knew it was going to happen, but the speed Friday arrived was shocking and, I have to admit, a tad alarming. Don't get me wrong, speed was something I knew a lot about and most things approached at a speed, but this was something I was not prepared for. My first ever school disco and Halloween adventure. First time for everything, but it was something I never thought I would live to see.

When Friday arrived, the teachers had a remarkably difficult time getting anyone to listen to anything they were saying. Even Mrs Reynolds, who could silence a room with a simple stare, had difficulty getting anyone to focus, even she was surprised by that. Everyone was either discussing who they were going as, what they were going to do afterwards and all of the other bits and pieces that came with a school disco. To be honest, I didn't know there would be such a hype over it, my general feeling was that people thought school discos were lame, at least that's what the films said.

As for me, well, I was trying not to tell Niska who I was going as, though she was determined to get it out of me, much to my own annoyance. It didn't matter how many times I told her to stop bugging me, she wouldn't. Not even Alya, a girl I had had two conversations with in the past, could get her to stop (she didn't try very hard). By the time our Maths lesson was finished, I wanted to slap her. Really hard.

"Please tell me! You know who I'm going as and who Joel's going as! I need to know!" Niska said, poking me in the arm fifty-five-thousand times. She seemed to think that repetitive poking was going to work, it wasn't, it just annoyed me.

"Nope. You'll find out later on, I'm not spoiling the surprise," I said, hoisting my bag further up my shoulder.

"I bet you're going as Elsa, what do you think Joel?" Niska asked, turning her head to Joel who had just joined us in the hallway. He had this way of just appearing out of nowhere and in complete silence, it was kind of creepy when you didn't know he was there and he suddenly spoke. I had been scared by him more times than I care to admit.

"There are more people with white-blonde hair she can go as, not just Elsa," Joel shrugged, blowing a bubble with his chewing gum.

"Like who?"

"Luna from Harry Potter is the first that comes to mind and the easiest to come up with at short notice."

"You are wrong, so very wrong," I replied, a grin spreading across my face.

Simple would have been a better idea, Luna would have been the easiest to create in the short amount of time I had, but where's the fun in that? Yeah, I would have completed the Harry Potter trio, but at the same time, it was also as easy to guess as Elsa. Although easy would be, well, easy, it was not the route I wanted to take. I enjoyed over-complicating everything and seeing as it was Granny who had to make the changes to my dress whilst I sat back and did nothing, I didn't see the problem. Besides, she could use a little Magic to speed the task up.

"Then tell us!" Niska demanded, dropping her notebook onto the desk in front of her, the bang echoing through the room as it began to fill up with other students.

"Never! You shall have to wait and see," I replied, smiling slightly to myself. Niska groaned and practically threw herself into her seat beside Joel and myself. I might have angered her slightly, but at least my costume remained a secret.

The last two lessons of the day dragged on more than any of us wanted. As the day progressed, students became more restless, so by last period, everyone was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement. It was rather funny to see but also scary. You should never get in the way over excited teenagers, it doesn't end well for anyone. Even the teachers gave up trying to control us and allowed the noise level to spill over into chaotic. Very little work was done in either of those lessons by anyone, myself included. We were all too excited for the disco and Halloween in general.

Niska hadn't mentioned a word of my costume since the gap between our lessons, though I don't know if she was mad at me for not telling her, or was set on the idea that I was going as Elsa. Whatever it may have been, she dropped it almost straight after the last bell had rung. Instead, her conversation turned to the disco and my Aunt Ivy who was coming all the way from London to help with makeup, mine more than anyone else's. When I phoned her to ask, she was ecstatic about the idea of putting makeup on me, though the excitement was not shared. I just hoped she didn't go overboard.

When I told Niska and Joel that Ivy was coming and had a few surprises her sleeve for the two of them, Niska almost blew my eardrum out. She was way too excited to meet my aunt and find out what she had planned. Seriously, the excitement wasn't necessary, albeit rather amusing. Joel, on the other hand, couldn't care less just as long as he wasn't going to wear eyeliner. Or guy-liner as he called it. Not that that is any different, it's still the same thing.

"Is your aunt nice?" Niska asked as we made our way through the maze of streets to my house. Niska swung her bag around by her feet, kicking it every so often, whilst Joel was texting his mum, something she made him do.

"She's a little eccentric at times, but she's nice," I reassured her, for the fifth time since I told her she was coming.

"Great," Niska smiled.

The conversation continued until we arrived at my house, where Niska and Joel's costumes had been kept for the entire day having been collected by Grandpa at the school gates that morning. Whilst I had been out, the living room had been transformed into a miniature camp site for the three of us. The sofas had been pushed back, and on the floor laid three blow up mattresses with duvets, blankets and pillows thrown on them in a mismatched manner. Clearly Granny and Grandpa had been busy whilst I was at school.

Despite there being a few hours before the disco, almost the moment we had stepped through the door, Niska had dumped her bag and produced a pair of hair crimpers from her costume back and begun to heat them. Joel and I watched with amusement as she started to sort her hair out, even though we still had a few hours to go. I suppose if she was determined to look like Bellatrix, she needed to have the crazy hair that she was famous for, but it was still funny to see. Especially since neither Joel nor I had to do anything until Ivy turned up.

Watching Niska crimp small sections of her hair over a long period of time was rather mesmerising. The methodical way she took to doing it, not to mention the patience needed was really interesting and simultaneously amusing. Joel, who had stopped watching her within seconds, was sprawled out on the mattresses watching Four in a Bed on the TV, he had made himself right at home just seconds after we stepped in the door. It was weird to see, but in a way, somewhat refreshing.

We were just three kids in the same room, none of us feeling the need to talk or interact with each other, none of us talking. It was as though we didn't need words to know what each other was thinking. The fact that we could sit in the same room without any sort of interaction and be completely fine with that fact was bemusing, to say the least. I suppose that was what real friendship was. Being able to sit in a room with one another and not feel the need to talk, not feel the desire to utter a single word.

Being in the North Pole with no one but my brother meant I was cut off from real life experiences, Halloween, a normal Christmas, friends. Being in that room with Niska and Joel reminded me of the things I missed whilst I was left alone with no one but Nick for company. It was so isolating and, in a way, shocking. I missed so much being cooped up, it's a wonder I never exploded at Papa and decided to leave before hand. But, when I was a child, the snow and the ever-lasting Christmas was worth it. After a while, it wasn't. I had no idea what I was missing until I was exposed to it.

The sound of the doorbell pulled me from my thoughts and back into reality. Niska had progressed rapidly with her hair crimping, whilst Joel was in a state of falling asleep. Seeing as they were preoccupied, I pushed myself off the mattress I had been laying on and went to the door, shaking my thoughts from my mind. "Kenzie!" Aunt Ivy shrieked, practically jumping on me the moment I opened the door.

"Ear drums, please don't damage them," I laughed as she pulled me into a tight hug, crushing my ribs in the process.

"Sorry," Ivy said, side stepping past me and into the house. Shutting the door behind her, I turned to Niska who was in the process of crimping a small portion of her hair, and Joel who looked as though he had been electrocuted.

"Ivy, this is Niska and Joel, humans I call friends, this is my aunt," I said, throwing myself back onto the air mattress. I could have sworn I heard some air escape, but that could have been my imagination, either that or the mattress magically inflated itself afterwards because Magic.

"Ah, my niece's infamous friends! The two going as Harry Potter characters, correct?" Ivy said, placing her makeup kit by the door, her eyes flicking between the two of them.

"Yeah," Niska replied.

"Interesting hair look, but it should go fabulously with the dark mark tattoo I brought for you to try. As for you, Joel, a little birdy told me you were going as Fred after he died, so how about a skull face paint? Add to the effect?"

"You can do that?" Joel asked, pushing himself up into a sitting position and raising an eyebrow. Also surprised was Joel, never paid any attention to much and was surprised when someone said they could do something.

"Yeah, I'm a bit special. You should see what I have planned for Kenz."

"I don't like the sound of that," I laughed.

"I'll have to do yours last, though Ken, it'll take a while. Since Niska's distracted, I'll do her second, Joel, to the kitchen!" Without even waiting for a response, Ivy snatched up her makeup bag and headed to the kitchen. Almost instantly, the sound of banging and moving objects travelled from the kitchen and into the living room. "Come on Joel!"

"Your aunt's mental," Joel muttered as he gathered himself up into a standing position and shaking his head as he trudged to the kitchen, muttering to himself.

"Well, that was a quick meeting," Niska laughed, "does she really have a dark mark tattoo?"

"Probably. You'd be surprised at what she can fit in that makeup kit of hers," I replied, rolling over on the mattress and landing right on top of the TV remote.

As Ivy attacked Joel, or at least that's why it sounded like, Niska and I reverted back to the silence we had fallen into. Niska continued to crimp her hair in the corner, occasionally glancing up to look at the TV, whilst I lay sprawled out on the mattress watching TV. Not that there was anything interesting on, just re-runs of Four in a Bed that I'd already seen. To be honest, I wish there was something decent on, but there never was in the afternoon, not as far as I knew anyway.

The sound of Ivy talking to Joel and the low hum of the TV were the only sounds in the entire house, Granny and Grandpa were nowhere to be found and neither Niska nor I said a word until Joel and Ivy returned from the kitchen, Joel fully made up like a skull. It was strange seeing him like that, black patches for face paint, the white drawing of a skull making him look like a stranger. The only thing that remotely resembled him was the light hair. The dirty blonde that sat atop his head in small curls. Why my mind went to that, I don't know.

"Right, that's Joel done. At least makeup wise. I have the perfect ginger wig for you in my bag, but that'll be easier for you to put on at the end, once you're wearing your full costume. Niska, Joel can help you with your tattoo, it's a normal temporary tattoo so it's easy to put on. I need to get started with Kenzie, she's going to take a while. You can find the extra bits and pieces in my other bag. Kenzie, with me," Ivy said.

Standing up, I turned to Niska and Joel and muttered a silent 'help me' to them, knowing this was going to be the worst few minutes of my life. I had absolutely no idea what Ivy had planned and I wasn't exactly looking forward to it. Not knowing what she had planned was a terrifying prospect, especially since she was completely insane when it came to makeup. Utterly and completely insane.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I followed Ivy up and into my room, where she had dumped her makeup bag on my desk and was beginning to pull out all sorts of bits and pieces. Brushes, glitter pots, lipsticks, even jewellery, specifically a hair piece. The amount of stuff she had pulled out reminded me of a dentist, r the surgical equipment you see in TV hospital dramas. It was all a little frightening. "Take a seat at your desk and spin yourself around so you're facing me."

"Right," I replied, taking a seat at my desk chair and swivelling it around so I was facing her. I wished I had a mirror in my room. Or at least one I could see in from my chair and one that wasn't tucked away inside my wardrobe.

"Now, no talking until I'm finished, I don't want to mess up."

"That I can manage."

Ivy, with her tools spread around her, knelt down in front of me and began to attack my face with the brushes and various other pieces of equipment in her power. And when I say attacked, I mean attacked. She poked and prodded my face with brushes until I was certain I had bruises. She dipped a small brush into a pot of blue glitter and began to paint over my eyelids with the colour, the feeling rare and unfamiliar. I thought I had seen enough of glitter after my art work, I didn't think I would be wearing it as part of my costume.

She attacked my cheeks with a bigger brush and some strange sort of powder that puffed and formed a cloud of pink dust around me. She used a small bottle and a different brush on my eyelashes which made them feel sticky and I kept having to blink when she did it. Finally, she used a very thin brush, that looked like a paintbrush, and a tube of pale pink lipstick to paint my lips. I imaged it as being a painting of a person, following the lines on their face until it was completely filled in. To be honest, my portrait work wasn't good, but it was a good way to think about it.

Once she was finished painting my face, she spun my chair back around and began to remove the French plaits in my hair, the ones I had put in the night before. Her fingers tugged and pulled at the strands of hair as she unravelled them, leaving the small tendrils to fall in ringlets down my back and face. Once the second one had been undone, she ran her fingers through my hair, pulling the tendrils apart until the curls looked natural. Since I couldn't see her, all I heard was the jangling of metal as she picked up the hair piece and placed it gently on top of my head, a small jewel falling beyond my hair line and onto my forehead.

"Okay, you need to get changed and then I'll have a look at you," Ivy said, spinning my chair back around and handing me the dress that Granny had finished the previous day.

"Alright," I replied, taking the dress and slipping from the room and into the bathroom so I could change from my outfit.

Once in the bathroom, I pulled the dress from the hook and gently stepped into it, pulling the straps up and around my shoulders so it would stay up. Using a little extra assistance, I managed to pull my zip on the back of my dress up so that it wouldn't fall down at any point during the night. Most people would ask a female member to zip it up, but I was lazy so I went for the shorter technique.

With the dress zipped up, I ran my hands over the fabric, feeling the sequins that Granny had added up the bodice and along the bottom. The white fur that had been added to the bottom of the dress and, most importantly, the fur around the middle, that wrapped around my waist. Granny had also managed to fade the blue of the dress in patches, like frost spreading over a car in Winter. The dress was exactly what I wanted it to be.

Fully dressed, I left the bathroom and returned to my room, mental slapping myself after not looking in the mirror before I left. Stupidity at its finest. "Eek! You look fabulous! Come here a second, you're missing something," Ivy said as I entered the room.

I stood in the doorway as she approached me, spinning me around and spraying something on the back of my head, it was cold and wet, and I had no idea what it was, which unnerved me a little more than I realised. There is nothing worse than having something sprayed on your if you don't know what it is. Honestly, it could have been anything and I wouldn't have known, though I really wanted to know. "Right, take a look," Ivy said, handing me a mirror.

One glance in the mirror was enough to show me that I no longer looked like myself. My eyes were covered in blue glitter, every time I blinked my eyes shined like a coin. My cheeks had a light pink tint to them, the same colour as my lips. The only thing that reminded me of me was my hair, though the way that fell in ringlets around my face was slightly foreign. The liquid Ivy had sprayed turned out to be hair glitter, giving my hair a sheen, like ice. The spray even had a blue-ish tint to it which added to the effect I was aiming for.

"Wow," was all I could say, though I don't know if it was awe or shock I was reacting to.

"I know, right?" Ivy said, clapping her hands together and jumping up and down with excitement, I hadn't seen her this excited since, well, ever. Ivy was always excitable, but never like this. It was nice to see her so happy over something, even if it was something so small.

"Thank you, Aunt Ivy," I smiled, handing her the mirror.

"It's what I do, now, frosty, let's go show the others. I'm sure they are dying to know who you're dressed as."

"Yeah, Niska will explode if she doesn't find out."

"You know, Kenz, you've got some great friends downstairs and it's nice to see you so happy. I don't think I've ever seen you like this before, especially not whilst you were staying with your father. I don't like to say anything bad about my brother, but I think you made the right choice in leaving."

"You really think so?"

"Yes. It was the best decision I ever made so you use it wisely. Don't take it for granted."

"I won't trust me."

"Good, let's go!"

Ivy quickly stuffed her makeup and brushes back into her bag before leading me out of the room, getting me to stop at the top of the stairs so she could help me make a dramatic entrance. Why I needed a dramatic entrance, I don't know. Surely, it would make more sense for me to walk straight into the living room and announce myself that way, though Ivy had watched enough films to know that it didn't have the desired effect.

Instead, I had to wait at the top of the stairs until she called me down so I could make the dramatic entrance I needed, well, she thought I needed. When my name was called, I descended the stairs, shoeless, and fully dressed in my outfit. At the bottom of the stairs, stood Joel, Niska, Ivy, Granny and Grandpa, who had appeared out of nowhere. My lips were pressed into a thin line, albeit turned up at the corners in a sort of smile.

"Okay, I give up, I have no idea who you are supposed to be," Niska sighed, lifting her arms up in mock surrender and then slapping them against her legs.

"I'm Jack Frost, well, the female equivalent anyway," I shrugged, finishing my decent with a small hop off the bottom step.

"Never would have guessed," Niska laughed. Her hair had been pinned up in an assortment of different ways, making it look wild and unkempt, the same way Bellatrix kept hers in the films. She had changed into a long black dress with floaty sleeves that exposed the dark mark tattoo, coupled with high-heeled boots and a wand. She looked the part.

"That was probably the point, Nisk," Joel said, his eyes remaining focused on me. He had changed into a worn out jacket, dark shirt and jeans. His dirty-blond hair had been replaced with a flaming orange wig. The face-paint added to the eeriness of the costume. Both Niska and Joel looked as though they had stepped straight out of the books and into the real world.

"I need a picture to send to your father, Kenzie. Get down here, put your shoes on and stand with Niska and Joel," Granny said fiddling with the camera in her hand. Ivy rushed over to me with a pair of small, white heels and she stood beside me whilst I put them on. I hated walking in heels.

"Do we have to?" I groaned, stumbling over to Niska who caught me seconds before I fell onto my face. She was a good friend to have around in a crisis like that.

"Yes, I want to capture your first ever Halloween disco and costume. That and I promised your mum I would send a photo," Granny said, using her hands to gesture us closer together.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"Smile!"

With the biggest, cheesiest grin I could muster I smiled whilst Granny took the picture, gushing over how the three of us looked stood next to each other in our costumes. For me, that was the greatest part of the night. Being surrounded by my family and my friends, just having a laugh like a normal teenager. I hoped the disco itself would be the same, but as we all know, fate tends to have other plans. And this plan involved me, Mrs Reynolds and some strange weather. 

 ~~~

A/N - And we are back! Sorry, it has taken so long to update, I've been having some laptop issues and it's not too fun when the only place you can write is the living room xD. Anyway, I've been working on a schedule so Last Christmas will not be updated every TWO WEEKS! That way we get consistent updates. 

Back to the chapter! I was going to focus more on the disco itself, but that didn't seem to happen, oops... Anyway, there are some subtle things in this chapter between Kenzie and Joel, anyone pick up on them? Ehehehehe

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed! Also, add Last Christmas to your reading list so you never miss an update from me!

Dedication - The dedication goes to commediadellarte who is writing an AMAZING story called Founding Day. Seriously, it is so good!

First Published - August 3rd, 2017