TWENTY-TWO

★Kiara★

Lucille is helping me with my makeup. It's nothing crazy, just some lipstick, eyeliner, eye-shadow, and mascara. We're getting ready for that absolutely lovely Halloween party. Woohoo.

We decided to not only be unoriginal as hell (pun intended), but also cheap. I'm dressing as a demon (hence the shitty pun) and she's going as an angel.

We ordered a set with an angel halo and devil horns on headbands for 8 bucks, and that's all we actually spent money on. I'm wearing baggy black jeans with rips and a red crop top, as well as a black zip-up because it's cold out tonight. While I'm sure it'll be very hot inside, I intend on spending more time outside.

Lucille is wearing the halo with a gorgeous white dress. She always looks so much nicer than me. Not like I had anything fancy to wear. I don't have a single dress here, maybe one in my old room. I bet my mother has thrown all my old things away by now though.

"You look really good." Lucille says, taking a step back.

"Thanks. You look amazing too..." I'm tempted to go and ruffle her hair, but I refrain, remembering how she spent the last hour styling it.

"Are the others there yet? Do you know?" She asks, looking in the mirror again, making sure her makeup and all that looks good. It looks perfect to me.

"Deven and Lucas just left," I'm interrupted by a yawn. Why did Halloween have to be on a Friday? Why did the party have to be on a Friday? Why did I go to my classes today? I'm exhausted.

"Alright." She snorts, noticing my yawn. "We should probably head out now as well. They're much closer than us."

The party is at a sorority from Deven's college in Boston. It's interesting. You hear about "frat parties" but rarely sorority parties. I guess it doesn't roll off the tongue as easy. I'm just hoping it'll be better than that last party. At least in some ways.

★★★

When we get there, the first thing I notice is how the music isn't nearly as deafening. The pop songs are just as irritating as always, but it isn't awful.

Colored lighting still paints the inside of the house, but, again, it's not as bad as the last one.

That, however, does not mean that I'm not dissociating. Because I am.

Lucille's hand is laced in mine as we look around the house, trying to spot Deven and Lucas. Dakota and Brie—who were also invited—are already here somewhere as well.

Eventually, I pull out my phone to text Deven about where they're all at. They respond in a few seconds saying they're all in the front yard now. They must have slipped by us at some point. Ugh.

Weaving through the crowds of people, we make our way back outside. They're standing by a large maple tree in the yard.

"About time... Was beginning to worry y'all weren't coming." Dakota comments as we approach.

"Nah, we'd just been looking for you guys inside." Lucille explains.

I stand next to Deven. On their right. Lucas is on their left, leaning against them.

I'm still feeling dazed. It's such an awkward feeling. Everyone else is talking and fully immersed in the moment. I feel like I've got smudged glass walls all around me.

I start slightly as I feel Deven suddenly wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I know we are all so excited to party... but I think we should hang out here." They suggest. I'm pretty sure they're just doing it for me, likely having noticed my state. I'm grateful for that.

Brie shrugs, "Y'all can do whatever you want, I'm getting a drink."

Deven gasps sarcastically. "Oh my goodness... We should not be promoting underage drinking."

"Cope. You coming, D?" She asks Dakota.

"Nah, you can bring me a soda though." Dakota replies. Brie walks back inside, leaving the 5 of us out here.

Lucille is suggesting we have another movie night sometime, which we're all in agreement about. The last one—despite me falling asleep—was really fun.

Eventually, I'm re-entering reality. That dizzy, dazed feeling fading. Deven notices the way I become more engaged in conversation, removing their arm from my shoulders. I don't know how they got so good at reading me, but I really need to learn to do the same.

Brie returns with a red solo cup of whatever, plus a coke for Dakota. They both tap their drinks together before taking a sip.

"Wait, so—is this party lame 'cause we're hiding out here? Or is it just bad?" Dakota asks, mostly directed at Brie.

"Nah, it's wild in there. Two boys just got into a fist fight and some chick broke them apart, but then they both started yelling at her. Sounds like she cheated on one of them with the other. Some drama shit." She responds.

"That's actually hilarious." Deven chuckles quietly.

Conversation is entertaining out here. Until it isn't. Lucille, Brie, Dakota, and Deven decide to head inside and actually face the party experience. I would've forced myself to go in too, but Lucas wanted to stay outside as well, so I now have a buddy out here.

"I don't even know why I decided to come..." Lucas lets out a sigh-esque laugh. "For Deven, probably."

"Me too..." I admit. "I guess I mostly just wanted to be here for Lucille. Also, what are you dressed as..? If anything?"

"It's really stupid..."

"Well now you have to share."

He laughs quietly. "Uh... Well, you know Ride the Cyclone, right..?"

That's it. "No fucking way—I thought it was familiar!"

"Yeah, Noel." He specifies.

"Well from one theater nerd to another, you've got some great—maybe unoriginal, but still great—taste."

"I wanted to go as Melchior Gabor from Spring Awakening, but that felt too formal." He says.

"That might be fair... And, again, great taste." I lean back against the rough bark of the maple tree, as does he.

We end up talking about theater and musicals for quite a bit. It's nice having someone to fangirl with. Deven was never big on theater (despite the numerous local plays I forced them to) and Lucille doesn't seem to be either.

Lucas mentions at some point that he's from New Hampshire, which doesn't have many quality theaters, and how he dreams of seeing literally anything on Broadway. Me, being the New Yorker, have to bring up my home state, yet, the tragedy that is the lack of seeing any shows on Broadway. We get to sympathize with each other over this.

And then suddenly it's midnight. And it's freezing like it has been all night. And I want to go home. The others, thankfully, get bored around the same time, leaving the house at last.

The first thing I notice when they come out to the lawn is that Lucille is a little tipsy. Definitely not drunk, but tipsy. I don't exactly approve of this, but Brie is absolutely hammered so it's not bad in comparison.

Dakota, who doesn't drink and being Brie's ride here, handles getting her home. I send them both luck on the journey home.

Before Lucille and I go, I make sure to exchange numbers with Lucas. Somehow, we never got around to it before now.

I like him a lot. In a platonic way, obviously, but I also one hundred percent support Deven's relationship with him. I shouldn't doubt my closest friend when it comes to their feelings and attraction, but they've dated some shitty guys in the past. I doubt Lucas will break their heart. Even if they do split up at some point.

I'm walking with Lucille back to the car. I have a hand on her back in case she stumbles in her heels. Maybe she's more drunk than I'd anticipated. I seriously don't get why people drink.

She also keeps barking out a laugh randomly, and when I ask what's funny she just tells me not to worry about it. Again, I seriously do not understand why people drink. Though, I guess she probably feels pretty fantastic right now.

Around ten minutes into the drive home, I notice she's fallen asleep. She looks so peaceful.

She hasn't had all that much stress in her life lately—as far as I'm aware anyway—but it's rare to see her so calm and at ease. It makes me happy.

★★★

It's almost 1:00 AM when I pull into the dorm's parking lot. Lucille is still out cold, so I decide to be heroic and carry her inside.

I am not the strongest person, so it's a slight challenge, but I manage to get her up to the third storey of the dormitory, and to our actual dorm room.

I realize my mistake in not waking her up now though. I could just put her in her bed, but then she'd end up sleeping in her makeup, which is just wrong of me to allow...

It's a hard decision, but I end up putting her in bed, taking off her heels and the cheap halo from her head. I'm too tired to do any more.

I get myself ready for bed, washing the minor amount of makeup from my own face and changing into pajamas.

I still feel guilty letting Lucille sleep like this, but then I see her calm, peaceful expression and I just can't disturb that.

I climb into bed, laying on my side and facing Lucille. She's rolled onto her side as well. Part of me wishes we were side by side in the same bed, and for me to see her face up close as I'm falling asleep, but this'll do. This is just fine for right now.

A/N: 3 chapters and the epilogue remaining... Also I stayed up late so this could come out at midnight. This releases in an hour. Appreciate me PLEASE I'M DYING. I AM DYING.

A/N2: reuploaded to fix some minor errors