song is 'snap out of it' by arctic monkeys!

chapter three, halloween craze
season one, episode three.
'esqueleto.'

The day of the Halloween dance arrived rather fast. Unfortunately, the group still had to complete their daily dosage of school classes but it was a tad fortunate for Francisca. Except, everyone else, they would rather have their organs eaten than go to school.

Francisca walked out of the history class and bid farewell to Demetri, who was walking in the opposite direction. She needed to grab a notebook for her next class and at the moment she currently wished she contained about three other arms. Originally, Francisca headed for her locker until she bumped into Miguel in the hallway.

She stumbled back but managed to stay put, slightly relieved that it was Miguel who she'd walked into and not a stranger. "Sorry, I should have checked where I was walking," Francisca shared a nervous smile. Miguel nodded eagerly. "It's okay," He responded in understanding and pulled Francisca back once she was about to walk away.

"Uh, wait, do you know what your costume is yet?" He asked. Francisca shook his head. "Ali hasn't even given me a speck of information and if I'm entirely honest, it's terrifying." An awkward chuckle escaped her lips. She seriously had no clue if Alison would bother listening to the ground rules she set. The idea of going to the Halloween dance with a revealing costume was scary, especially when she's never been to one or has worn a costume of that nature.

"What about you?"

Miguel grinned. "Well, I settled on a Deadpool costume, my grandma's helping me make it. Also, don't worry about Ali, being mysterious is kind of her thing. I'm sure you'll look amazing in whatever she picks," His declaration practically arose as a compliment, and Francisca, for once, was speechless. Nobody had ever complimented her before— Well, her friends and family had but no one else.

Meanwhile, Miguel didn't plan on doing so. Honestly, he didn't realize that he was complimenting her until the words unexpectedly came out of his mouth. Although he was embarrassed, his compliment was truthful. She would look beautiful in nearly everything. For example, she could wear an outfit extremely terrible and still be the prettiest in the room.

Or the entire world.

Francisca could very much see the rosy color dotted onto his face. She thought it was cute; Cute to see him so awkward after complimenting her which he may or may not have noticed he was going to do.

"I, I, uh, I should probably get to class. I'll see you later?" Miguel asked in the hope he didn't just jeopardize a friendship or potential future relationship. "Yeah, I should probably head to class as well." The brunette smiled before she and the other departed.

Afterward, she headed to her locker thinking about what had just occurred. Part of her hoped it would happen again but another desperately wished she could get rid of the feelings stirring inside. Unfortunately, you can't control feelings.

"You picked Velma?" Francisca declared exaggeratedly as loud music sounded in her ears once she reached the location where Alison stood. She had told her to be at the school minutes before the others would arrive so she could fit into her costume. Luckily, Alison knew her exact size so that wasn't much of an issue. But she refused to wear the wig her best friend bought alongside the costume. It was too uncomfortable for her liking.

Although, the larger issue was that she was currently wearing Velma's outfit from Scooby Doo; A movie she's never seen before might I add.

Alison shrugged. "It's not that bad. So you've never seen the movie, would you have rather I picked out a costume that's like Yasmines?" She gestured towards the blonde individual gossiping with her little crew. Francisca eyed her outfit and suddenly her costume wasn't as bad as she originally thought.

"Okay, you're right, maybe mine isn't that bad," She shivered at the idea and looked up at her best friend. She nodded. "I'm always right," She stated in a diva-like manner. Francisca squinted. She may have been dramatic but not nearly enough as Alison was. Not that it was necessarily a bad trait. That's what made her best friend, her best friend.

She was handed a cup by the blonde. "That's a bit of a reach." The Scott adolescent was about to respond when her attention shifted to a familiar voice behind the shorter adolescent. "What's a bit of a reach?" Asked Demetri whose costume had been nowhere near familiar to either of them. Next to him was Eli, his costume was a bit more noticeable than Demetri's.

His costume seemed to look like a doctor or a surgeon at the least. "Ali being right," Francisca answered before taking a sip of her drink, hoping it wasn't terrible. If it was, she'd been a step ahead because she brought a water bottle in case it was needed, but the punch wasn't half bad. "Oh yeah, that's a huge reach."

She rolled her eyes jokingly. "I hate you guys." Demetri chuckled and made his way to the punch stand, grabbing a drink for him and Eli. Francisca noticed the anxiety coming off of Eli and shot him a glance and smile. "Don't worry, this isn't my scene either." Eli nodded as he took a cup from Demetri.

The group approached the room's entrance so Tessa and Miguel could find them easily once they arrived. "Okay, I know I dragged you guys here and you were probably planning to waste the night standing here alone, but I have a list of prospects for two to dance with," Alison took out a piece of paper from her pocket and uncrumpled it.

Demetri and Francisca shared a look as if to say 'Classic Alison', not in a poor style of course. They thought her techniques were amusing to see. Beginning to discuss, Alison spoke of how they needed to step out of their comfort zone and go with the flow. Her ramble continued as the list was given to Demetr. He skimmed it immediately.

Distracting her, another student waved at Alison, it was Violet. Violet and Alison had been having a brief fling after the girl ended her previous relationship. Francisca couldn't bother to remember his name but she knew it was someone popular. Most likely from Kyler's group of friends. Essentially, the two girls were supposed to have broken their fling off.

"Well, that's my cue. I'll see you all later, and stick to my list! I'll be expecting hourly updates," She shouted and then wandered off into the crowd. The Cervantes girl turned to Demetri. "So, are you two genuinely going to follow her list?" Her head tilted narrowly. Demetri shook his head. "Oh, no. No no no." His eyes widened whilst he shoved the paper into his pocket.

She chuckled. "Hey guys!" Miguel and Tessa emerged into their eyeline. The trio looked at them and Demetri nodded approvingly at their costumes. Miguel dressed up as a skeleton, clearly the opposite of what they conversed about earlier. And Tessa's costume was a vampire. Both looked great.

"Oh, skeleton and vampire. Classic. Nice." Tessa nodded her head to say 'Thank you'. Miguel smiled at Demetri's compliment though it was a bit difficult to notice due to the paint. "Thanks. I like your sorcerer costume." Demetri furrowed his eyebrows. He looked astonished to find out the boy in front of him was uneducated about his costume. "Sorcerer? Please, I'm a necromancer." He scoffed.

Raising an eyebrow, Francisca caught a glimpse of Tessa's also perplexed expression. Neither of them had a clue about what he spoke of. "What?" Miguel questioned. "What the hell is that?" Tessa asked. "Didn't you guys see the amulet?" He emphasized as if that were going to help the situation.

Tessa crossed her arms. "I don't think that's helping at all." Demetri's jaw dropped. "Seriously? None of you know what a necromancer is?" All of them, aside from Eli, shook their heads in unison. He scoffed once more as the Latino turned to Eli. "So, are you a regular doctor or—" His voice was cut off by Eli's.

"Plastic surgeon. I fix lips." He blurted out. Miguel nodded. "Nice." He caught a glimpse of Francisca's costume, which he recognized unlike the others. "And you're Velma right?" Francisca smiled. "Yeah. I thought your costume was going to be Deadpool-related?" Her eyebrow raised at the sight of the costume that was clearly not from Deadpool.

The Diaz boy shook his head. "Oh, nah. It's this whole thing but uh it was just a last-minute change," He laughed nervously. "I noticed." Francisca smiled, eyeing his costume. She noticed a specific part of his outfit that was slightly out of place and needed to be repaired.

"Do you mind if I?—" She began as Miguel gaped at her with confusion. "Sorry, there's a part that needs to be pulled out a little more from the top." Miguel's lips parted into an o shape. "Oh, uh, no, yeah, go ahead." He leaned down allowing the girl to fix his costume. 'Oh shit, oh shit.' Miguel repeated internally in a frantic manner. The girl he was crushing on was directly in front of him!

He could feel the same fierce heat rising to his cheeks as it did before. He was surely blushing but fortunately for him, the black paint would disguise it. Francisca took a small step back while Miguel lifted his body upwards back to its original place. He grinned. "Thanks."

Francisca made eye contact. "No problem," She whispered, audible enough for him to hear. Miguel swallowed as their eyes dug into one another. Both of them desperately needed to look away yet neither of them could bring themselves to do so.

Tessa glared at the duo in front of her and bit her lip. She studied their faces and noticed the two of them blushing out of their minds. Well, Miguel's was a bit difficult to notice due to the darkness but she knew otherwise. Their faces said it all. If anyone were to approach them, they would be able to see the tension as well.

Well, to be fully truthful, anybody could from a mile away.

She took note of the shocked expression on Eli's face. Demetri was being his usual self and inspecting the girls in the room, Yasmine included. She nudged Eli in his side to catch his attention. "Please tell me I'm not the only one who's seeing that?" Tessa asked. Eli shook his head. "Definitely not." He whispered.

Her eyes widened at the response. She expected him to merely shake his head but was glad to hear his voice. She hardly received the chance to hear it, especially during their time together with the others. "You know, I've noticed you don't talk much, even when we hang out. You're usually so quiet," Eli shrugged.

"You should talk more often. I like your voice," Eli sent her an imperceptible smile but Tessa could tell by his eyes that he was grinning.

Alison approached the group cheerily. "You guys are finally here! Love the costumes by the way," Tessa walked up to the two, walking past Miguel as he backed up to talk to Demetri and Eli. This was noticed by Francisca who immediately knew they'd be discussing their little moment. Hopefully, their conversation wouldn't take a negative toll.

"Let me guess, you were with Violet again?" pointed out Tessa. She knew her friends a bit too well. Alison nodded, earning a sigh from the brunette. "I thought you two broke things off a while ago," She crossed her arms. Both of her friends knew how overprotective she could be; Tessa was practically the 'mom' friend. She hated it but at the same time, she couldn't help it.

The blonde put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, we did. She just called me over to tell me about her new girlfriend and that I shouldn't expect to see her anymore. Completely platonic, I promise." Her answer slightly released the tension in her shoulders. "Well good."

Earning a smile from the blonde, Tessa piped up. "Oh! Speaking of, Frankie and Miguel just had a little moment that was totally unplatonic." She set her hands on the sides of Francisca's arms from behind, giving her a knowing look. The other girl tilted her head and raised her brows. "Oh really?"

The two were given an eye roll. "It was nothing. Tess is exaggerating," She answered and Miguel's voice was heard from behind causing them to turn around and see Demetri and Eli already walking near the entrance. "Sorry to interrupt but we're just going to check out my sensei's flyer if that's okay?"

He was sent a nod from Francisca. "Yeah, that's fine. We'll see you in a few alright?" Miguel nodded and pursued the boys in front of him shortly after as the trio's previous conversation continued. Honestly, Francisca was entirely unfocused during the chat. She couldn't think straight until she switched the topic.

But little did she know that she would not ever meet back up with Miguel in a few minutes..

— EVIES NOTES !

I hate this chapter so much I don't even know why but Cerdiaz is my life so it's okay

Just to clear things up, Miguel does not date Sam in this fanfic, only Tory. And I know you think I'm already planning to get them together but trust me, yall have got a long road ahead (also, please remember that in tv shows there's huge time jumps between them, like one episode could be halloween and the next it's christmas)

Also.. should Eli date Moon in this fic or not?? Srsly has been on my mind since a couple nights ago

Guys I beg you not to be a ghost reader, I really want you to comment 😭 But I do appreciate you all for voting and even reading this, and the comments on my tiktok posts. Love you all!

Have a great day!

Not you Sam, I'm watching you 👀 I know where you live.