Chapter 13 Pandora
PANDORA
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Carly says from my bed.
I twirl around in my desk chair. “Why wouldn’t it be a good idea?”
I catch a glimpse of myself in the large mirror, and I have to admit, I look damn good.
I’d brought my costume from last year along, but I’ve added extra accessories since then.
The long, flowy, ancient Greece-inspired black dress now sports a belt with a snake buckle, and I’ve upgraded my snake earrings to be even more dangly.
The full face makeup isn’t quite done, but I’ve got snake scales started.
I’ve tied my hair into separate braids and added little snake clips at the bottom.
The crowning piece is a literal crown with snakes extending in all directions. It also covers the top half of my face. It’s heavy but worth it for the effect.
My phone buzzes with a text.
Anastasia
We’re still doing that thing tonight?
Pandora
Duh. But shh, somebody might hear you.
Anastasia
***
I stuff the phone into my pocket. The dress hadn’t originally come with any pockets, so I’d had to add them.
Rachel had helped me with that. She’d liked sewing more than I did.
“You know you aren’t invited to that party,” Carly says, pulling me out of my thoughts. “There’s no point in antagonizing anyone.”
I grin widely. “There’s always a point in antagonizing. Anyway, you talk big for somebody wearing a whole skeleton-witch costume.”
Carly blushes. Or, I assume she’s blushing, since her face is painted white and black like a skeleton. She’s got a wig and a big hat and a pretty fancy witch’s dress. She’s even wearing thin black gloves with hand and arm bones printed on them to complete the skeleton look.
“Okay, I like Halloween a tiny bit,” Carly says. “But when you said we were going to a party, I didn’t think it would be that one!”
I pull the flyer for the Halloween party hosted by the Nyxies off my desk and resist the urge to crumple it up again.
It’s a fundraiser to help poor Kappa Anus Orifice rebuild their burned down frat house. Like they even need any help gathering funds. They could email all their alums and have the funds to rebuild within two weeks.
“It says everyone is invited,” I point out. “We’re everyone.”
“We are not…” Carly sighs. “Fine. But please, if things get weird, let’s just leave, okay?”
“I promise, I will leave as soon as things get weird,” I say, holding up my hand. Carly doesn’t look like she believes me.
I wouldn’t believe me either.
I finish my makeup and pull my crown on. I adjust my dress one last time—my breasts look amazing in this—and extend a hand to Carly. “It’s a Nyxie party! We can enjoy ourselves with all the people who aren’t frat douches. If you’re really worried, call up Reaper.”
“No, he hates Halloween,” Carly says. “I’ll have candy with him later.”
We head out—past the dried up flowers—and walk toward the NYX sorority house. It’s got Halloween decorations all across the front facade and front lawn: spiderwebs, bats, skeletons. Kind of cheap and tacky if you ask me, but I guess nobody did.
The party is already in full swing, with plenty of students in costumes milling around, drinks in hand.
I immediately spot somebody I recognize. Blaze is standing near the front door with a woman dressed as a sexy pirate and a guy in a Roman gladiator costume.
Blaze himself is dressed as a firefighter. My eyes narrow, and I wonder if that’s supposed to be a reference to something.
I start to beeline in their direction, when Carly grabs my wrist. “Don’t,” she says. “Pandora, you said you wanted to party.”
I pout at her, which probably looks hilarious with my Medusa get-up. “Oh, come on. We say trick-or-treat for a reason, right? Besides, if we want to grab drinks, we have to walk past them.”
Now Carly scowls. “I don’t know that I want drinks here, no.”
Shit.
Way to be insensitive, Pandora.
“I’ll be your taste tester,” I promise. “And we’re pretty well disguised. Nobody’s going to recognize us.”
Carly looks doubtful, but I confidently walk up to the front door.
The sexy pirate beams at me. “I love your costume!”
“Thanks!” I answer, making sure to look at her and not Blaze.
“It’s a twenty dollar entrance fee. That gets you your cup for drinks and access to the rest of the party,” the pirate says. I hand her the cash to cover both myself and Carly, and we get our cups.
“That’s Medusa, right?” Blaze says from behind me. “You like snakes, then?”
I turn around and grin widely. “Nah, I just love getting guys rock hard.”
Carly groans, but Blaze laughs.
“You’re a funny one, huh.” Blaze gives me a dark smile, and I know he recognizes me. Nice of him to pretend otherwise, though.
“You’re a firefighter and…” I glance at his friend, who’s been watching silently. “Some sort of Roman legionnaire?”
The guy shakes his head. “No. I was going for Perseus.” He holds up his shield, with its shiny foil. “But I did think I’d already cut Medusa’s head off.”
He’s got dark hair and a slightly crooked nose. I don’t recognize him at all, and I thought I knew all the Kappa Omega Shitheads by now. I’d scoured the current membership list and tracked down pics of them.
I scoff at him. “Perseus was Greek, not Roman. If you want an accurate costume, you need to strip naked. Those ancient Greek heroes battled in the nude.”
Blaze starts laughing, but he catches himself and shakes his head. “Fuck, you’re… Yeah. Get in there, have your drink, and then get out. We don’t really need snakes at this party.”
“Blaze!” the Nyxie woman scolds. “She paid. Let her enjoy herself.”
“Yeah, Blaze,” I mock. I take Carly’s hand—and I notice she’s trying very hard to pull away from the front door—and walk us both inside.
“He did recognize you,” Carly says. “Pandora, please. Let’s just get out of here.”
“You can go if you want,” I say. I’m disappointed, but I’m not going to force her to stay. My hand goes into my dress pocket, where I’ve got my charm, my knife, and a few fun party favors.
Carly looks torn, but in the end she sighs and follows me over to where the drinks are. I carefully check the can of IPA before handing it to Carly. I don’t think these people are resourceful enough to drug canned drinks.
I turn around right as someone approaches, and I grin when I see that it’s Asch. His costume is simple, with a doctor’s coat over a pair of scrubs.
“Subtle, Pandora,” he says, giving me a once-over.
I smile at him. “You’re getting your Greek myths mixed up. I’m Medusa, obviously. Pandora was the one with the box.”
“Uh-huh,” Asch says, not sounding impressed. He glances at Carly, nodding to her, but I recognize his abrupt caution when he realizes who she is. “Hey, Carly.”
Carly tenses and steps closer to me. “Hi. Asch, right?”
I put myself between Carly and Asch. “Are you here to refill your drink?” I ask, holding up my own beer. “Make sure not to take your eyes off it. You never know which best friend might drug you and fondle you in the night.”
Asch grips his red plastic cup tightly enough to bend it inward, but he forces a grin. “I’m sure no one here would do something like that. Perfectly safe.”
Carly scowls though. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s really not,” I agree, still smiling. “It’s okay, Asch doesn’t think I’m funny anyway. Not like Blaze. Do you think Blaze was laughing after the last time?”
“No,” he snaps.
I wonder who he’s more upset at, me or himself.
“What are you doing here?” Asch asks after a pause, gathering himself.
“To fundraise! I heard what happened to your frat house, and it was just awful,” I say with mock sincerity.
“Yeah, it was,” Asch replies. “Some of us lost everything.” His eyes narrow at me, but he glances at Carly instead of continuing.
Carly pulls on my arm. “Come on, Medusa. Let’s go.”
I blow a kiss at Asch. “Looks like I gotta go, Doctor. Maybe you can give River a full body check up next time. He was feeling under the weather last I saw him.”
“Can’t wait,” he deadpans before turning back to the table. I notice that he only pours soda into a cup, not adding any of the readily available booze nearby.
I follow Carly away, and she stops to glare at me when we’re far enough away from Asch.
“Seriously? What’s going on? Why are we here?” Carly demands. “If you’ve got a problem with these guys, there’s no need to torture ourselves like this.”
“Torture ourselves?” I giggle. “Carly, I’m torturing them. I mean, not tonight. I promise I’ve got no intention of doing anything to Blaze, Asch, or River.”
Even if they deserve it.
Even if they hate me.
They aren’t allowed to hate me.
They’re supposed to love me.
I look around the room until I spot a Nyxie I recognize from my Intro to Biochemistry class. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to some people. You need to get out more anyway, Carly.”
Carly grumbles but she follows me, and I hook her up with Tanya, who is a total nerd about esoteric stuff. I was right that she and Carly would hit it off, because they’re soon talking about the latest indie movie they watched at a recent showing on campus.
While they’re chatting, I glance around the room. I’m looking for one specific person.
I don’t spot my target, but I do see somebody dressed up in boxing gear. River.
I smile and wave at him.
His eyes flick up and down over me, and I can practically see it even from across the room when he recognizes me. He doesn’t quite turn his back on me — he’s smart that way — but he does turn so he’s not looking directly at me.
Guess he’s still salty about the sauna thing.
I could have done so much worse to him.
I reach into my pocket and curl my hand around one of the “party favors” I’d brought. It’d be hilarious to see him take one, but my anger at him has mellowed a bit.
Besides, I have other plans.
After half an hour, I finally spot the person I’ve been looking for.
Tate.
He’s talking to a woman dressed as an angel. It’s a very basic costume, which kind of matches Tate’s equally basic “basketball player” outfit.