Judith's sitting in a chair by the pool with two blonde women she doesn't recognize. The night air brushes against her skin, and as it irritates her breasts, she suddenly wishes she'd worn a bra with her costume.

"So, who're you supposed to be?" She looks behind her, and towering over her is Derek Oliver. His hair is slicked back, and he's wearing jeans and a black leather jacket over a white shirt.

"Let's get out of here," one of the girls mumbles, and Judith and Derek watch them hurry into the frat house.

"Take a guess." The light breeze ruffles her skirt, and as he takes a seat beside her, she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Pink heels, pink skirt, pink shirt," he says under his breath, looking at her from her toes to her head. "You got me stumped."

"I'm Mercy from that movie called The Warriors. It was a big thing around February and March," she explains, and with his lip pouting, he shrugs his shoulders.

"Sorry, I've never heard of that." She looks at the blue water and squints her eyes as the light reflecting from the moon reaches her face. "By the way, have I seen you around campus before?"

"Yeah," she drones questioningly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. "I used to kick it with Mary around the time you two had it out for each other."

He rolls his eyes onto the building when Judith mentions Mary.

"Speak of the devil," he mumbles, and Judy follows his gaze. She's standing under the archway between the kitchen and the backyard with sorrow painted on her face.

David steps behind her, and as he draws his hands around her waist, Judith turns around and sighs. He walks her into the house, and Derek returns his face to her.

"That slut has the attention span of a goldfish and the decency of a prostitute," he says as he lifts the left side of his jacket off his chest.

Judith doesn't respond, but her stomach tightens with discomfort by his statement. He takes a thin white marijuana cigarette from his pocket and leans on the edge of the chair, pressing his elbows against his knees.

"Do you wanna hit," he asks, holding it between his right hand's middle and ring finger. She glances at him, then at it, and shakes her head.

"I don't smoke," Judith tells him, then peeks behind them at the sliding door. He snickers, and she looks at him.

"You're yanking my chain." She knits her brows. "I thought all black girls smoked."

Judith rolls her eyes and stands to her feet, sending the smile off his face. He watches her walk toward the door, and he sits the cigarette between his lips as she steps into the kitchen.

Mary's sitting on the island with her back to Judith and her legs and arms wrapped around David. Though his hands travel to her backside, that doesn't disgust Judith, the way they hungrily kiss each other does.

He's wearing a matching creme tuxedo and fedora with black suede shoes, and Mary's donning a black full-body suit that clings to her slim frame like latex.

She strolls past them and into the foyer just as Cyrus and La'Shawna step through the doors with their elbows interlocked. Her long hair is loosely curled and pinned to appear short, and his dreads are pulled into a bun.

"Hey," Judith cheerfully greets them with a toothy grin, but La'Shawna turns her head to the living room. "Listen, Juniper told me you're upset with me, and I didn't mean to cause such a big – thing. I just wanted to try to fix this campus, but I'm sorry for involving him and almost having him expelled."

"I'm not her little boy, Judith. Your apologies can go to me," he says with furrowed brows and a smile.

"Okay, well, I'm sorry to you too, Cyrus." She grins, and he nods. They look at each other's costumes.

She's modeling a form-fitting red dress of silk that matches her long gloves and a white fox scarf draped around her from back to front. Her style, though contrary to his, compliments his black and copper brown robe suit.

"You two look amazing," Judith fawns and La'Shawna cracks a smile.

"Thank you. I wanted to be Cochise from The Warriors, but I figured Cyrus would fit better," he explains, then scans her backless halter top and skirt.

"Great minds! I'm Mercy." Judith gazes upward at La'Shawna, who's towering over them. "And you're Marilyn Monroe?"

"Babe, this party is dead," she mumbles to him, ignoring her question. He looks at her. "Let's just go to the one near your house."

"I told you my brother is there, and I don't want him around you." She rolls her eyes, and he looks at Judith. "See you around."

She nods and watches them stroll to the kitchen.

Maybe I should leave. Where are Ronnie and Jennifer?

"Well, don't you look pretty in pink," David says when she steps toward the living room. She turns to him and stares blankly into his eyes as he slowly approaches her.

"Why do you look like a corpse?" He chuckles at her sarcastic question and folds his arms in front of her.

He should've chosen Blacula since he's just as soul-sucking.

"I'll forgive you for that comment. I know you haven't seen me look so formal," he says, and she glances behind him. Mary's standing at the sliding door, talking to La'Shawna. "I'm Dolemite."

"Who?" His smile falls, and with his eyes on the top of the arch, he clears his throat. Mary approaches them, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Way down in the jungle deep," he begins, and his girlfriend stands to his left.

"Don't start that shit again, Davie." Judith clenches her fists and grinds her teeth, her jaw visibly shifting. Mary shifts her focus to Judith just when he looks at her. "You know, I wanted him to be Danny Zuko since I'm Sandy Olson, but no. He just had to be some crass Doctor Seuss pimp."

"Well, it wouldn't have worked anyway because Derek is Danny," Judith says, and Mary's happy mood shifts to discomfort. "I'll see y'all around."

She turns away from them and steps over the threshold into the living room. David yanks Mary's arm, and she gasps. With his teeth gritted, he asks, "Didn't I tell you to keep your slick comments to yourself?"

"And I told you I don't know what that means," she breathlessly reminds him, her gaze darting from his left eye to his right. Judith looks around the room of white women and men dancing to the music.

Here we go again. Why am I here?

"Keep running off at the mouth, and I'll show you better than I can tell you what'll happen." Mary snatches her arm away and storms up the stairs with him not far behind her.

"Judy?" She veers around, expecting to see Jennifer when she hears someone call her in a mezzo-soprano voice, but instead it's Juniper.

Who's she supposed to be?

Her hair, though loosely curled, remains in its round shape, and the faded pink floral dress she's wearing completes the childish look. Three white buttons run from her collar to the bottom of her pleated chest, and as Judith stares at her, the confused expression doesn't leave her face.

"I'm sorry if I'm late," she loudly says to speak over the music, her tap shoes clicking as she approaches Judith. "Sneaking past Jenny was harder than I thought."

"So where's she," Judith asks, and Juniper shrugs. When the song ends, Monster Mash begins.

"Probably studying. She didn't really wanna go, and Ronnie's with her boyfriend," she explains, then peeks over her shoulder through the foyer. "Where's everyone?"

"If by everyone you mean Cyrus and La'Shawna, they were in the kitchen last I checked, but if you're feeling what I'm feeling about being the only Black woman over here, then that's just how it is." Juniper looks at her as she speaks. "This is my second time at one of these, and again, I feel out of place."

"Well, now you got me," she says with a smile. "Wanna get high?"

"I don't smoke." Juniper crosses her arms. "What? Derek asked me a while ago, and I said no. It's just not my thing."

"You ever hear of shotgunning?" Judith draws her brows together and shakes her head. "Where is he?"

"By the pool, I think." Juniper takes her hand and guides her out of the back door, where sure enough, Derek is sitting where Judith left him. With his face aimed at the sky, he blows a cloud of smoke at the stars.

"Derek!" He straightens his posture and averts his eyes to them as they rush toward him. When they reach him, Judith's right foot folds over, and she curses under her breath.

Juniper releases her, smiles at her boyfriend and he grins at her.

She's worse than Vera and Stevie combined.

Derek pulls her onto his left leg, and Judith sits in the lounge chair beside them. She places her hands on her right foot's ankles and winces when her fingers touch the growing bruise.

"What're you doing out in this," he asks, tugging at the hems in a feeble attempt to bring the dress below her knees. "You'll catch a cold."

"I'm fine." Derek sits the cigarette between his lips and shrugs. "Judy and I were thinking about getting high."

"And you want to hit off mine?" She nods, and he glances between them, then lets out a short obnoxious laugh. "Not a chance. You're not even eighteen yet."

Wait, what?

"You're the one with the stuff I trust," she whines, and he rolls his eyes. "Please, Derek, I just wanna have fun before Jenny hauls ass after me."

"If your sister's gonna be looking for you, then you need to leave," he sternly tells her. "That paranoid bitch will have me expelled."

Judith blinks with surprise, and she looks at Juniper, waiting for a response. Her shoulders are curved forward as if she's trying to hide inside herself and her lips are agape.

She picks at the crocheted hem of her dress like a guilty child and mumbles, "I won't tell her or anyone anything."

"Who's to say your friend won't go running off at the mouth to her or, I don't know, starting another riot," he sarcastically asks, and Juniper draws in a breath to answer, but Judith interrupts.

"Her friend can speak for herself," she says, and they look at her. "I didn't know she was a kid, but she's not my responsibility, so she can do what she pleases, and I didn't riot, I protested. Get it right or shut the fuck up."

"Well, aren't you a bold-faced one?" When he inhales, the end of the cigarette lights dark orange. Juniper watches his mouth push out the smoke when he speaks, "I can see why you and Mary were friends."

He blows the rest toward Judith, and as she fans it away, she says, "She and I were never friends. Like I said before, we used to kick it, but that's it."

"Okay, we see she's cool, now can you let me hit?" Derek looks at Juniper and brings the butt of his cigarette to his mouth.

He inhales as much as his lungs can hold, and his shoulders dramatically draw back. Judith watches them lean in as if to kiss, only to stop with their lips centimeters away. She parts them, and he slowly blows the grey cloud into her mouth.

Juniper blows it out as they turn to the frantic screams and voices behind them. They watch the crowd rush in, and they scan the backyard for the source of their turmoil, but they don't see anything.

Though the couple shrugs it off, Judith's heart begins to race, and she feels a sting in her stomach – a gut feeling that something's wrong.

They repeat the action, but she stands up and says, "I'm gonna head inside. I'll see y'all around."

She walks away when they don't respond and limps toward the sliding door. With each step, she feels like there are ten more until eventually, she reaches the kitchen of people cheering.

"Kick his ass," one girl screams. Judith squeezes between two men as she fights her way to the front.

"Mary, I'll give you five seconds to let me go before I beat the fuck out of you, and I ain't jiving." Finally, she reaches the front lines, and her eyes grow wide when she sees Mary straddling David on the floor with a bread knife to his neck.

Judith looks up and locks eyes with Kacey, who shares a similar fearful and confused expression.