Chapter Nineteen
Aliannah was woken violently from her sleep. She screamed. Something had landed on her. Had the ceiling caved in? No, not something, someone! There was a human on top of her, now beating her with a pillow and laughing. It was Michelle!
“Rise and shine, sleepy head. It is already past 2 p.m. Get up!!” Michelle chimed as she continued her attack. Aliannah groaned.
“How is this classed as an emergency, Mich? Being a key holder does not entitle you to wake me violently!” Aliannah’s voice was hoarse after just waking up. She pushed Michelle off her. Michelle landed with a thud on the ground. She could hear a man laughing and clapping. Aliannah's eyes flew to the door, and she relaxed; it was just Gavin. He was nearly bent double laughing. Aliannah rolled her eyes and threw her pillow at him. He faked being mortally wounded by the pillow and staged a dramatic death in her doorway. All three of them were laughing hysterically.
“Ladies, let's go eat! I am famished, and lunch is getting cold!” Gavin got up, marched to the kitchen, and began laying out the food they had brought over. Michelle and Aliannah followed him in. They had brought the entire menu from McDonalds. There was enough to feed at least five full-grown men. Aliannah’s stomach growled loudly.
“Oh my god, you guys, what the hell? Did you leave anything for the other customers?!” Aliannah laughed as she prepared the coffee for everyone. The smell of the food was mouth-watering. Gavin moaned and thanked the food gods as he tucked in. Michelle put on a high-energy playlist to fill the silence while they ate.
After cleaning up the rubbish from the food, Aliannah announced she was going for a shower. Michelle and Gavin were too full to move, so they remained at the kitchen table, scrolling on their phones. Aliannah popped into her room to check her phone before she went for her shower. There were only missed calls and texts from Michelle and Gavin. She had slept through it all since her phone was on silent. There was nothing from Jasper and, thankfully, nothing from Ivan. She stepped into the piping-hot shower and began her preparations for the night. Every inch of her body was scrubbed and preened. She returned to her room in just a towel and found Michelle putting on her makeup.
“Gavin is watching some soccer game, so I came in here, I cannot deal with his play-by-play commentary for the entire game.” She rolled her eyes at the thought of it. Just then, Gavin let a roar from the sitting room. His team must be doing well. The girls turned up the music, and Aliannah began her makeup. She decided to go for a dramatic smokey eye look to tie in with her devil costume; Michelle opted for a silver eye for her angel costume.
Beyoncé's "Love on Top" came on over the speaker, and the girls started to dance around the room, singing loudly.
“Is this why we had to come over so early?” Gavin laughed as he walked into the room “I can hardly hear the TV between the music and you two ‘singing’,” The girls screamed, having been so deep into their Oscar-worthy performance they hadn’t noticed him coming in. Aliannah almost dropped her towel. They burst out laughing.
“Gaavvviinnnn welcome to the party! This is how the better half lives! You better get used to it. We haven’t even started pre-gaming,” Aliannah teased. Gavin rolled his eyes and returned to his soccer game.
Michelle plopped on the bed. “Ugh, boys! They just don’t get it, do they? We need our prep and hype time.”
Aliannah flopped down beside her. “Indeed we do! I have missed this, Mich. It has been too quiet around here without you!” She reached across and hugged her friend. The two girls lay there for a few minutes.
“Right, let’s get back to it!” Michelle jumped up and went back to finishing her make-up. Aliannah applied her lipstick and then moved on to drying her hair.
“Here we go, ladies. It's halftime in the game, so I thought I would whip up some cheeky Pina Coladas.” Gavin handed them each a glass of his concoction. They cheered the night together before each taking a sip of their glasses. They all grimaced.
“Jeez, babe, you could dissolve a body with this shit.” Michelle was choking on the strength of the mixture. Gavin raised a brow.
“There is nothing wrong with my bartending skills! I just succeed better doing security.” Gavin tried to pout to show his hurt feelings but couldn’t keep up the facade before smiling at Michelle.
Aliannah had downed hers in one. She needed liquid courage. She dug out the black box from her wardrobe and opened it. The red dress from Wilamena’s was inside. The one Ivan had sent her. She took a deep breath and lifted the dress. It was just as beautiful now as it had been that day in the store. Gavin whistled, impressed at the dress. Michelle elbowed him in the ribs.
“Right, go back to your game. We need to change,” Michelle ordered. Gavin saluted them with his drink and went back to the TV.
Aliannah put on the red dress and looked at herself in the mirror. It was perfect for her. It fit her like a second skin, clinging to all the right places and really accentuated her bust. The only thing tainting the dress was who purchased it. She put on her over-the-knee black boots and added the devil horns to her head. She had slicked back her hair into a high ponytail. This made her cheekbones stand out. She was ready.
“Whoa! Hottie! Girl, you look drop-dead gorgeous.” Michelle admired Aliannah's finished look. She really did look good. Michelle was struggling to put on the angel wings for her own ensemble.
“Here, I’ll help you. They can be a bit fiddly to get on without assistance,” Aliannah said, stepping forward to help. “You look absolutely amazing! Poor Gavin will need scaffolding to keep his jaw in place,” the two girls laughed hysterically. They moved to the kitchen to get another drink before parading in front of Gavin.
“Lay-deeeeees my, oh, my, I am going to be the luckiest man alive tonight with both of you on my arms!” He whistled dramatically at Michelle and winked. He picked up his bag and went to the bathroom to change into his costume.
“Thanks for letting me third wheel you guys,” Aliannah said quietly to Michelle.
“Don’t be silly! You are always welcome to hang with us, Ali!” She pulled her friend into another hug. They raised their glasses to each other for another toast.
“Ta-daaaah!!” Gavin announced as he emerged from the bathroom, arms out wide to show off his look. He had chosen to dress as Tarzan. The girls cheered him on.
“My man is looking FINE!” Michelle shouted as she jumped up on Gavin for a kiss. She wrapped her legs around his waist and squealed as he spun her around before putting her down.
“Me, Tarzan. You Michelle,” He chanted while beating his chest like a big silverback gorilla.
This was going to be a fun night. They started to take photos in their costumes and drink some more. Each pose became more ridiculous than the one before. Taylor Swift was blasting through the speakers now; they were all jumping around, dancing, and singing, completely hyped for the night ahead.
“I didn’t think you would be a Swiftie, Gavin,” Aliannah said shocked. Gavin was currently giving the performance of a lifetime in her kitchen.
“Well, when you live with Mich, you don’t get a choice on the matter now do you?” he joked. Aliannah nodded in agreement. Michelle was an absolute Super Swiftie.
The group was half drunk by the time it came to head out to Zino’s and ready for what was sure to be the best night of the year. They made their way down to the lobby, and Harry jumped out from behind his desk to scare them. The girls screamed, and Gavin laughed. Harry was dressed up as Frankenstein.
“You three look amazing! Have a good night and stay safe.” Harry waved them off as they left the building and hopped in a cab to go to Zino’s.
The line was crazy when they arrived, but the perks of working there and being regulars were that they got to skip the line and walk straight in. It was so busy. Zino’s was always busy since it was one of the top clubs in New York, but tonight it was extra busy. The costumes were breath-taking, and some were so realistic, it would genuinely make you question if that person was actually human after all. There was a mermaid that had such amazing makeup that her gills looked real. You name it; someone was dressed at it, from the super creepy to the super cheesy and everything in between.
They went straight to the dance floor and joined in the fun. There were Bottle Girls walking around with trays of shots. Aliannah and Michelle had one, and Gavin necked two; he let out a big cheer, sending the crowd into cheers and whoops. The atmosphere was electric.
Aliannah danced with a number of mystery creatures, a half-wolf, a devil, a bear and a clown. The bear had amazing dance moves and spun her around with such ease. She was twirling and giggling. The bear tapped the Bottle Girl on the shoulder and grabbed two more shots for them. Aliannah downed it in one and cheered. She felt exhilarated. She looked up at the lights above as she lost herself to the beat of the music while the bear spun her around again and again. She could see Michelle and Gavin dancing nearby. The love those two shared warmed her soul. The bear handed her another shot.
“Oof, this one is stronger than the others,” she grimaced; maybe this one was tequila, she thought. Aliannah felt the warmth spread from her chest out to the rest of her body. The bear guided her towards the edge of the dance floor, away from her friends. Her hands and feet began to feel tingly, she felt like she was floating. This wasn’t right. Her vision began to darken at the edges.
“I’m gonna go… back….to… my… frien…” Aliannah was slurring her words so much she couldn’t speak. She tried to walk back over to where she could see her friends on the far side of the club. Her legs felt weak. She looked down; the ground was moving, rippling.
“What is happening to me?” She looked at her hands. Her vision doubled. The darkness was becoming more apparent. The bear stood in front of her, blocking her way. She tried to walk around him. She couldn’t. The world started spinning and getting darker. She took another step forward and lost her footing. Down she went. The falling sensation never stopped as the darkness took over.