Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
CARI
“Happy Halloween!” River answers the door dressed as Harley Quinn, complete with a red and black bodysuit and booty shorts. Her hair is up in pigtails, dyed on both sides, and she has thigh-high black boots that show off her model legs.
“Holy shit, look at you!” I praise my best friend.
“Wow, I love the throwback.” River looks over my costume. My blonde hair is also in pigtails, and my makeup is done to look like Chucky. I’m wearing a pair of jean overall shorts, a striped crop top that I cut to show off my tits, and lace over-the-knee stockings with my Converse.
“Come on in, a lot of people are still on the way, but drinks are in the kitchen. Aspen is the mixologist tonight.”
I raise an eyebrow, knowing Aspen doesn’t like to drink alcohol, so that was an interesting choice. I walk through the front of their apartment, and Halloween decorations are all over the foyer.
They moved into a brownstone in Midtown after getting married, which provided a living room large enough for their Halloween parties.
There are a bunch of people I recognize from last year, and some people I don’t.
River and Aspen have always been very social, so it doesn’t surprise me.
I wave to the familiar faces and excuse myself to the kitchen to grab a drink.
“Hey!” Aspen greets me with a hug, and her costume is just as amazing as River’s. A long red wig, a green bodysuit, and fake green vines going up one leg and down one arm.
“Drink?” She holds up an orange solo cup. Something I didn’t know they even made.
“I’d love one.” I take a sip and am surprised at how good it tastes. “Damn, when did you learn how to do this?”
“I’ve been practicing. It’s my way of being in control of it but not drinking.” Aspen smiles proudly.
“Uh, babe, can you help me?” River calls Aspen out of the room.
I check my phone for the fifteenth time today, but there is still no reply from Max.
Last week, she blew me off when I asked to go shopping together.
Then, when I asked to see her before the party, she said she was too busy with work.
I knew she was blowing me off, but I don’t know what I did to deserve that.
It wasn’t like I was the one who fell asleep or made a wedding registry for us or something.
She was clearly overreacting, but I don’t know how to tell her that if she isn’t talking to me.
Groaning, I down the rest of my drink and pick up a second cup.
The warm liquid runs down my throat, and I try to figure out what kind of liquor she used.
I head back into the living room, and Gus is standing off to the side alone.
I can’t tell what they’re dressed as, maybe some kind of Greek God?
They have on a blue cape and a brown toga-looking dress.
Their black hair is tousled back and they are nodding their head along to the music that’s playing in the background.
I take another sip of my drink and decide to try to make amends. This is my chance to say something, and then hopefully things won’t be so weird between us. I glide my way across the room, and Gus’s eyes widen when they see me, their body stiffening.
“Hey, I was hoping I could—” I start, but LULY—Emily—steps in between us. I glance down at her, Gus’s costume making sense now. They’re dressed as Meg and Hercules from the Hercules movie by Disney.
“No,” Emily says, handing Gus a drink and putting her free hand on her hip.
“I was just trying to apologize, I didn’t want to start anything,” I say, putting my hands up in surrender.
“We’re not interested,” Emily says, glaring at me.
She’s easily a handful of inches smaller than me, but she’s all muscle from dancing, and I’m worried she could take me.
I don’t blame her for being pissed. I’d kissed Gus when I thought it would help make Max jealous, knowing Gus was already with Emily.
“Gus?” I look at them, hoping they might call their girlfriend off, but they look down instead.
“Take a hint and leave us alone. Gus isn’t interested in an apology, and I’m sure as hell not either.” Emily scoffs. She turns her back to me, and I sigh, leaving them alone. So much for making amends with them.
I can’t help but check my phone again, still nothing from Max. My costume is blowing up on socials, but besides that, I don’t have any reason to keep checking my phone.
Everyone’s mingling, so I go as far from Gus and Emily as I can and have small talk with Isla and Rae from the tattoo shop.
Hazel is coming later with her girlfriend, and sure, there are a million people here, but all I am doing is looking out for Max.
I have my eyes on the door as I finish my second cup and decide to pee before I get a third.
River even has the bathroom decorated so it glows in the dark, and the mirror is bordered in fake blood. I take a few selfies and post them to my stories before heading back to the kitchen.
I have more weight on my body than my friends, so it usually takes a lot to feel the extent of my drinking. But whatever Aspen is putting in them, I’m already feeling a nice buzz. I grab a third and head back into the living room when I stop in my tracks.
Max is standing across the room, drink in hand, talking to a woman in a slutty Superwoman costume.
The woman’s whole ass is hanging out, and she’s laughing at whatever Max is saying.
I don’t know when she got here, but Max is wearing black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a tie hanging around the side, with a Superman shirt under and a pair of black glasses.
A simple costume that this chick is obviously eating up.
Max leans in and whispers something to her and the girl puts her hand on Max’s arm. That’s when I chug the rest of my drink and crumple the cup before I toss it in the garbage next to me.
What the hell is going on? Is she here with this woman?
Is that why she didn’t want to see me this week?
Did she think she’d show up with someone else and I wouldn’t notice?
Sure, we aren’t together, like romantically, but don’t I deserve some sort of heads up?
If I had a date with someone else I would’ve given her a heads up.
And to show up in a matching costume with someone?
That isn’t something you do with someone you just met or even on a first date. What the hell is going on?
I storm across the living room, my anger getting the better of me, and the third drink hits faster than the first two. Max’s eyes go wide, I guess my face isn’t hiding how angry I am. I stop just before Max and her friend.
“Hi Max, aren’t you going to introduce me?” I glare at the woman before looking back at Max. “Cute costume,” I scoff.
“Cari, this isn’t what it looks like.” Max sighs, rolling her eyes.
“It looks like you blew me off to wear a matching costume with someone else.” I cross my arms. I was a little loud, but I wanted to be sure she heard me over the music.
“We didn’t—” the woman starts to say but I cut her off.
“This isn’t about you.” Then I look at Max. “Yes?”
“Cari, can we please not do this?” Max sighs again.
“Do what? I think I deserve an explanation here,” I say angrily.
“I’m out.” The woman picks up her drink and walks away from Max and I.
“Are you happy now? Am I not even allowed to talk to another woman?” Max asks angrily.
“You’re seriously turning this on me? You’ve been blowing me off all week.”
“For good reason,” Max mutters under her breath.
“Excuse me?” I take a step back. What the fuck does that mean?
“This is why! This is literally why I was blowing you off, Cari! I can’t handle this shit right now! It’s always drama with you. You know what this was between us and I don’t know why you’re acting like I’m not allowed to be with anyone else! I’m not your fucking girlfriend,” Max yells.
It’s the first time she’s ever yelled at me and I feel like she’s stabbed me in the heart.
I’m frozen as I realize everyone else has gone quiet and is staring at us.
I even catch a look of pity from Gus, and it’s a slap in the face.
I knew Max wasn’t mine, but I thought we had something special.
The tears start to well in my eyes, and I beg myself not to let them fall.
“This…” Max points between us. “Is over,” she adds before walking away, shaking her head.
My stomach feels like it’s going to come out of my throat if I try to speak. I can’t move. You know in movies when people are frozen, but everything around them starts moving at hyper speed? That’s what the next few minutes feel like for me.
When I finally manage to hide out in the kitchen,the tears threaten to fall again. Instead of letting them, I grab another drink and chug it down.
I’d usually hit my weed pen or grab a gummy, but I didn’t love being cross-faded. I knew I’d be drinking tonight so I didn’t bother bringing it. What a stupid idea that was.
“Hey, are you okay?” River finds me sitting on the floor in her kitchen, sipping on my fifth or sixth drink.
“Super,” I lie with a smile.
“Can you tell me what happened? Aspen and I heard you and Max got into a fight,” River explains.
“No biggie.” I gulp down the rest of my drink and try to stand. River grabs my arm as I stumble a bit when I stand. Shit, everything is blurry and the room is spinning, but I regain my balance quickly.
“Cari, talk to me,” River pleads.
“It’s a party, Riv. Let’s party.” I wink, or I try to wink, but in reality, I think I just blinked.
I head into the next room, planning to grab the face of the next person I see and kiss them.
But instead, I see Gus and Emily dancing across the room.
It’s an upbeat Sabrina Carpenter song, but they’re slow dancing, Emily’s head on Gus’s chest, and my heart breaks again.
How the hell did I manage to fuck up so bad with two people?
Gus won’t even look at me, and Max wants nothing to do with me.
Wanting to feel anything but this, I start dancing, but my balance is completely off. So, as I try to grab the edge of the table, I accidentally pull the tablecloth off, and all the snacks, drinks, and decorations go crashing to the floor with me.
My ass thuds on the floor, and I’m in a fit of laughter as I look at the mess on and around me.
So much for not bringing anymore attention to myself.
I’m laughing so hard that my stomach starts to hurt, and I have to get up and run to the bathroom.
I barely make it, throwing up all over River and Aspen’s rug in the bathroom and all down the front of my costume.
The last thing I remember is puking into the toilet while crying and trying to hold my head up. The room was spinning, and all I wanted to do was forget.