Chapter 28
“Welcome, welcome! Oh, hi, Barbie! Hi, Ken!”
I grin widely, recognizing the hostesses’ costumes right away. “Ooh, Glinda and Elphaba! Y’all look amazing!”
“Thank you!” Elphaba replies, slightly bowing her head. “I’m Grace, Theo’s older sister.”
“And I’m Chloe,” the girl in the Glinda costume says.
“Nice to meet you! I’m Jude, this is Nikki, and this is Celeste.”
“Jude and Celeste, you’re friends with Theo’s roommate Max, right?” Grace asks, consulting a clipboard that matches her painted green skin.
“Yes, and Nikki is my girlfriend,” I clarify.
“Great!” Grace checks something on her clipboard, then stows it on a nearby table.
“Sorry to be so formal—just trying to be responsible with all the underagers here. I promised my little brother a safe place for him and his friends to get shit-faced, and that’s what I intend to do, no matter how cringe it is for everyone else. ”
“We appreciate it,” I answer honestly. “We’ll follow any and all house rules.”
“Good to hear. Well, come on in!”
The three of us step through the door and are instantly immersed in the Halloween spirit.
The chorus of “Monster Mash” rises over the low hum of party guests chatting.
Purple, green, and orange lights illuminate every room, and skeletons, bats, ghosts, and spiders decorate every surface.
The sweet scent of pumpkin spice and caramel fills the air, beckoning us deeper into the house.
“I love your outfit,” Chloe says to Celeste. “I know I recognize it, but it’s not coming to me yet.”
“Ooh, I have a guess!” Grace interjects, grabbing hold of Chloe’s forearm. “Can I guess?”
Celeste smiles. “Go for it.”
“Are you from Sinners?” Grace guesses. “The woman with either Smoke or Stack—dammit, I can’t remember her name. Clearly, I need to rewatch it.”
Celeste nods. “Annie.”
“Yes!” Chloe and Grace shout simultaneously.
“Ah, you fucking nailed her look,” Chloe adds. “Gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” Celeste replies in character, southern accent and all.
As we round the corner of the entryway, the space opens into a living room where about a dozen partygoers are mingling in small groups of two or three.
A long table is decked out with snacks, candy, and more spooky decor.
Bottles of liquor and beer, along with a large punch bowl, sit on a separate table by the kitchen entrance.
“Are Theo and Oliver here?” I ask, glancing around for a familiar face, but seeing none I recognize.
“I think Wren is putting the final touches on Oliver’s makeup,” Grace replies with a smirk. “They should be out soon, though. Feel free to make a drink or have a snack!”
“Thank you both,” Nikki says, then takes my hand and leads me to the snack table.
It’s immaculate—every dish is thematically named and labeled.
Mummy pigs-in-a-blanket, graveyard cupcakes, spider and pumpkin cookies, vampire donuts, candy corn popcorn, bone-shaped breadsticks, and an entire charcuterie board arranged in the shape of a skeleton.
The punchbowl is filled with a neon-green, foamy concoction labeled “Witch’s Rum Punch. ”
“Wow,” Nikki breathes. “This is quite a spread.”
“Right?” I agree. “I kind of want to drink first, though. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do?”
“Carefully,” Nikki warns. “Stay hydrated, stick to one type of liquor, and eat enough carbs, and you should be fine.”
I stare at the bottles of liquor and mixers anxiously. “Which liquor goes well with what?”
Nikki rolls her eyes. “Do you not have a go-to cocktail?”
“I’ve never had a legit cocktail,” I mutter. “Only wine and beer. And a couple of ciders.”
“Shit,” she hisses. “Well, I’m making a rum and Coke for myself, so try that and see if you like it.”
I watch Nikki pour a sizable splash of rum into a plastic cup half full of ice, then top it with about half a can of Coke. She stirs it briefly with a straw, takes a sip, then passes it to me.
Well, here goes nothing.
The familiar taste of Coke goes down easily enough, but what I assume must be the rum adds a strong, bittersweet flavor that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “Oh, wow,” I sputter, trying not to cough. “That’s—that’s not bad.”
Nikki smiles. “Good. That’s your first drink of the night, then. Sip it slowly.”
I nod and take another sip, warmth blooming around my sternum. With each swig, the rum becomes less jarring. I can see why this is Nikki’s go-to cocktail.
“Ayyy, there’s Jude and Nikki!”
I turn to find the source of the voice and almost drop my drink.
Before me stands a hideous, ghoulish creature that only vaguely resembles Oliver.
His mostly bald head is discolored, decaying in some places, with a disgusting mustache over his lips.
Only his height and dark brown eyes give him away.
“Oh, my god,” I exclaim. “Oliver, is that you in there?”
The baldish ghoul wheezes. “I am an appetite,” he rasps hoarsely with a strange accent. “Nothing more.”
I scrunch my nose. “Wow. I mean, you guys really nailed the look, but it’s kind of hard to look at you for too long.”
Standing beside Oliver is a crazed-looking older woman with a tacky red wig, enormous, thick-plastic-rimmed glasses that take up most of their face, and a bright pink and red outfit.
“Oh! You’re Gladys from Weapons, right?” Nikki asks the wig-wearing elder beside us.
The person’s drawn-on eyebrows waggle. “Sure am!”
“Damn, y’all look nasty,” Celeste interjects. “So, you must be the infamous Wren, right?”
I do a double-take. Oliver’s Wren?
“In the monstrous flesh,” Wren says with a wink.
“Wren, this is Celeste, Jude, and Nikki,” monster-Oliver says in his normal voice, which sounds absolutely ridiculous coming from his current disguise. “Everyone, this is Wren.”
“I’ve heard so much about all of you,” Wren says in a lower, more natural voice that I can only assume is their own. “I love that we’re meeting for the first time like this. It’ll be so funny to see what you all look like in real life.”
“Agreed,” I say with a nervous laugh. It’s impossible even to discern Wren under all the makeup, but Oliver said they were staying until tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we’ll have time to interact out of costume.
“And look at you two!” Oliver remarks, eyeing Nikki and me up and down. “Are you a specific Barbie from the movie?”
Nikki shakes her head and holds out her arms to show off her vast array of tattoos. “I’m Tattoo Barbie, which doesn’t exist, but it should, right?”
“Definitely!” Oliver replies with a grin. “Looks badass. And Jude, your Ken is superb.”
I flash a suave smile and strike a pose from the film, prompting the tassels from my fringed leather vest to swing gloriously. “Thank you, thank you.”
Soon, Celeste and Wren start discussing Celeste’s costume and makeup, and I keep nursing my drink. I’ve already grown accustomed to the taste of the rum, but I’m not sure whether that’s a good or a bad sign.
“What’s that?” Oliver asks me, pointing to my plastic cup.
“Rum and Coke,” I reply, going to take another small sip. “It’s not too bad.”
“Can I try some?”
I hesitate. “Are you sure it won’t mess up all of that?” I ask, gesturing widely to his face.
Oliver chuckles. “That’s what straws are for.”
I pass my cup to him, watching with amusement as he maneuvers the straw past his revolting facial hair. He promptly recoils and sputters, shaking his head as he hands it back to me. “Oh, god, that’s really heavy on the rum, dude. Blech!”
“That’s how the drink is made, Mustache,” Nikki interjects. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it when you grow up.”
Oliver’s expression is unreadable under all the prosthetics and makeup, but I can sense his discomfort. I shoot Nikki a look and shake my head, hoping to signal that she should cool it. She downs a huge gulp of her drink without another word.
“Hey, there’s Caleb and Theo!” Wren exclaims, pointing past us into the living room.
I follow where they’re pointing and nearly swoon.
Theo and Caleb are both in British boys’ school uniforms, and Caleb’s usually curly copper locks are straightened and parted to the side.
To any queer with Netflix access, their costumes are instantly recognizable.
“Oh, my God. Heartstopper!? I’m going to scream! ”
Nikki and Celeste gush over them, too, and the boys can’t stop smiling and thanking us.
“It was really a no-brainer,” Caleb replies. “I’m honestly shocked we haven’t done it already.”
“Well, we haven’t really done much for Halloween the past couple of years,” Theo explains. “The only couple costume we did before this was Ed and Stede from Our Flag Means Death last year.”
A loud gasp escapes my lungs, and all eyes turn to me. “I’m—I’m sorry, I just adore that show, and I meet so few other people in real life that do! I need to see pictures right this second.”
Theo grins excitedly. “Hell yeah! We love it too! I’ll pull them up right now.”
As Theo scrolls through his phone, Nikki places a hand on my waist. “I need a refill. Do you want anything?”
I shake my head. “Nope, I’m sipping slowly like you told me.”
“Good gi—I mean, good…Jude.” She makes a face, shakes her head, then walks away without another word.
Before I have time to process whatever that was, Oliver reappears by my side, orange cup in hand. “So, you’re familiar with Our Flag?”
“Extremely,” I answer emphatically. “You haven’t seen my bedroom, but I have several framed pieces of fan art on my wall. Jim was everything to me. They still are, really.”
“Theo, do you have pictures of my costume, then?” Oliver asks.
“Of course, I have everyone,” Theo replies, then turns his phone around to show me a group photo.