Strange Terrain

"I don't understand why I have to drive to LA to look for costumes for a Halloween party I won't be in town for, let alone go to in the first place if I were in town," Naoki said from the driver's seat of his black 4Runner.

"You're going to LA because Alex and I are going and you need to spend time with us. You hardly get to spend time with us anymore because you're always busy working or practicing for dance competitions. I thought you'd enjoy a break from your busy life to hang out with your friends" Casadee explained from the backseat.

Naoki raised an eyebrow, temporarily looking away from the highway in front of him to look at me, "She's got no gas in her car for the drive, does she?" he asked knowingly.

"Yep, pretty much," I said with a smile, nodding my head in affirmation of his suspicions.

A week had passed since I recovered fully from my illness and life seemed a lot more comfortable and strange to me than before, both at home and at school. Malcolm was still busy with work but was also able to schedule a few dates with Anika as well, which meant he was finally getting himself back out in the dating world after an eleven year absence. Suzy and Brian Sr were spending quite a lot of time together since Brian Sr left for tour on Monday so I hadn't really talked to them much since they've been busy with organizing all his equipment and packing his things.

The weirdest thing was that Brian and I seemed like we formed some kind of quasi-friendship over the last week, mainly due to the increased amount of time we spent together while we were at home. I happened to edit one of his essays for English class, since there were so many mistakes that I couldn't help but correct them, which led to Suzy suggesting that I tutor Brian in English and Government, since those were his problem classes. Since we've been studying together, conversation between us has flowed easier and we found quite a lot of common ground. When we were at school, he still treated me like a social pariah but that was to be expected since it was a constant in my life. I just never thought that we'd reach a day where I could get along with Brian without feeling too uncomfortable.

Currently, I was on my way to Los Angeles with Casadee, Naoki, and Zacky to begin costume hunting for Halloween, which was only a few weeks away. Casadee had talked me into going to LA with her in hopes that she could persuade me into attending Henry Ash's infamous Halloween party. Surprisingly, even Zacky, someone that I didn't know very well, had also tried his hand at convincing me to go to the party. Since I helped him out a few weeks ago with his problems with Casadee, it seemed that he warmed to me a bit; holding short conversations in the hallways at school or flashing me a smile and a wave when he walked by. Ever since my first encounter with Brian, before we were forced into living together, my life has experienced a drastic social change. Sometimes it seemed too good to be true.

"C'mon! Naoki, you know I love you and that I'd never use you for something as silly as a ride to LA," Casadee said, feigning innocence as she spoke.

"Don't admit your love for me in front of your boyfriend. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate that," Naoki replied, briefly glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

"It's ok. He knows I hate him," she laughed.

"Oh is that so?" Zacky asked in amusement. "Then, I guess I'll take Whitney West to the party instead."

"Go ahead," Casadee laughed. "I'd love to watch you suffer greatly at her oh so riveting conversation you'd have with her about the nail she broke in homeroom or how her latest diet of cheese and water is going."

"You're so cruel," Zacky said after a moment, laughing at Casadee's explanation. "But I love your wicked ways."

I glanced over my shoulder into the backseat and found Zacky and Casadee currently occupied by a mini-make out session, making me shake my head at their actions. Naoki sighed, having caught glimpse of the couple in his rearview mirror and turned on the mixed CD in his stereo. I knew that Naoki wasn't too fond of Zacky, which was my main reason for joining them on the way to Los Angeles so Naoki had someone to talk to when Casadee was too preoccupied with her boyfriend to make conversation.

"So, I thought we could check out Otaku Haven while we're in LA," Naoki said, pulling my attention away from the slow rock ballad that had been playing softly through the speakers. "It's a little store I found last time we were in Los Angeles for competition last year. It carries all the latest imports of anime and manga."

"Seriously?" I asked with excitement. "I definitely want to go then. It's been a while since I've looked through a new manga series."

"I figured you'd appreciate the trip since you're so obsessed with the culture."

"I can't wait. I just hope they have 'Cowboy Bebop' there. I'd love to get that when I get some cash together. "I said with a sigh, pushing my glasses further up the bridge of my nose. "I really need a job."

"I told you to turn in the application for the theatre and you'd get an interview. We're always hiring there," Naoki said.

"I know. I just keep forgetting where I left it," I said with another sigh. "Well, I've got some money so maybe I'll pick up a few books if I see anything interesting in the shop."

"You most certainly will not!" Casadee interjected loudly, leaning between the two front seats. "You're going to buy a costume for Ash's party and that's that! I will not let you waste your precious funds on manga and anime when they defeat the entire purpose of this trip!"

"I never agreed to go to the party though so a costume would be wasted on me if I wound up at home or working at the restaurant with Malcolm that night," I said logically, trying to argue my way out of attending some party.

"I'm not allowing you to stay locked up in the house with your grandparents on Halloween when we could be having a good time at a party," Casadee said.

"Why are you so insistent on her going to this party?" Naoki asked curiously.

"That's what I want to know. I'm not a partying girl," I added, glancing back at her.

She sighed, "Yeah, I know but don't you ever feel like doing something different sometimes? I mean Alex, seriously, you never branch out and do the things teenagers usually do because you're always studying and blocking everyone out of your world. If you allowed yourself to do something crazy for once, like go to this Halloween party with us, you might find that you'll have fun. I just don't want you to miss out on something that might be good for you," she explained.

"But Cas, I'm not you. People don't like that I'm smart and they make fun of me for it. Why would I willingly put myself in a situation where I would be ridiculed?" I asked seriously.

"No one would dare say anything about you if you stuck by us," Casadee said darkly, as if she were thinking about threatening people as she spoke.

"Yeah. Don't worry. We've got your back," Zacky added reassuringly.

"Well, we'll see what happens when we get there. I'm not making any promises unless I can find an acceptable costume to wear," I said, looking out the window at the traffic whizzing by.

"Don't worry about that! I'll find the perfect thing for you," Casadee said with gleeful determination.

The car seemed to fall into a silence after that as we entered the city. Zacky and Casadee were quietly talking amongst themselves in the backseat while I just looked out at the LA streets, thinking what Casadee said earlier. I knew she was right. I didn't go out and do the things that normal teenagers tended to do because I thought if I did, people would make fun of me. I've been a walking target for most of my life, because I was two years younger than everyone but ten times smarter than them. They hated me for something I couldn't really control so I was their favorite person to bully. I thought that by making myself as invisible as possible would draw attention away from me so I wouldn't be ridiculed for things that weren't very important to me. For the most part, it worked but it meant sacrificing any notion that I would attend any type of popular school function that teenagers did.

For years, I managed to seal myself off from my peers at school by holing up in library or just going home right after school. The first time I did something risky was the day I showed up to the Avenged Sevenfold band practice and that turned out to be one of the worst days of my life. I somehow managed to think that I wasn't supposed to have fun in high school. Casadee and Naoki didn't really understand because they had groups they fit in with while I didn't really fit anywhere. As lonely as it was to be alone for most of my high school life, I've been realizing now that maybe I can have fun from time to time. I wanted to break out of my quiet shell and do something different for a change.

Naoki pulled into a parking garage of Westside Pavilion in West Hollywood and parked the car. We all got out and started to head to the elevator that would lead us up into one of the department stores of the mall so we could begin our search for costumes. Casadee had already decided that she was going to dress as Nancy Spungen, meaning that Zacky would naturally dress as Sid Vicious so she knew exactly what she needed to get for both of their costumes. The main reason for coming to the mall was to find my costume, since I had no clue of what to go as. Considering I hadn't dressed up for Halloween in eight years, I was a little out of the loop in choosing appropriate attire.

Zacky's cell phone began chirping as we headed to our first store for the necessary stud belts and black leather accessories needed for Casadee's costume. He looked down at the screen, reading the text that was just sent to him before quickly typing his reply and tucking the phone back into the front pocket of his black pants. He wrapped an arm around Casadee as Naoki and I trailed behind the happy couple, following them to Hot Topic.

"So the guys are in the parking garage. They said they'd meet up with us at Hot Topic in a few," Zacky said to Casadee.

"Wait a minute, what guys?" I asked curiously, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Matt, Jimmy, Johnny, and Brian. They thought it would be fun to hang out in LA for a change so I said we should meet up," Zacky replied, glancing over his shoulder at me.

"Don't worry. If Brian starts giving you shit again, I swear to God and all that is holy that he will feel the wrath of my steel-toe boot when I kick him in the balls," Casadee said darkly, making both Naoki and Zacky wince at her threat.

"No man deserves that kind of punishment," Zacky said.

"Oh you think so? Hmm, well, if you remain the sweet, loveable boyfriend I know you are then you'll never have to experience such unpleasantness," Casadee said sweetly, kissing her boyfriend.

"Cas, you really don't have to go that far with hurting Brian. If I can't take it, I'll just leave. Naoki will keep me company," I said as I looked up to him with hopeful eyes masked behind my glasses.

"Of course. We can't have you wandering around LA like a lost puppy dog," Naoki replied with a smile, slinging his arm lazily around my shoulders.

"Aw, you two are just so adorable. Seriously, where's a camera when you need one?" Casadee whined, looking at the two of us through the square picture frame she made with her fingers.

I shook my head at her comment, glancing briefly at Naoki, who looked as if he were pondering something rather deep. I was slightly concerned, wondering how his mood could suddenly change so quickly but decided it was better not to question him about it. Naoki wasn't the type of person that easily shared his thoughts or feelings with others unless it was important. I was sure that if he had wanted to tell me what was on his mind, he would have.

We had reached Hot Topic, walking in only to be bombarded by the loud sounds of Rage Against the Machine that were pouring out of the sound system. Casadee immediately made a beeline for the leather studded accessories in the back, dragging Zacky along with her as she went while Naoki and I made our way to the wall that displayed all the different band shirts in the store. As I looked at the wall of new clothing, I realized that I desperately needed to find a job so I could get my own wardrobe.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of loud laughter, causing me to peer around Naoki at the source. Matt, Jimmy, Johnny, and Brian were all walking into the store, laughing at something Jimmy was saying. As they walked further into the store, I unconsciously hid myself behind Naoki, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Though I was a little more social with the guys, speaking to people like Jimmy or Johnny made me slightly intimidated since they were always so blunt. I also got the feeling that Brian didn't really like me getting too close to his friends since it could possibly expose our living arrangement to them so I did my best to stay away. Even if I was slowly breaking out of my anti-social shell, I wasn't completely confident in holding my own in conversations.

Matt seemed to have caught my eye, walking towards us as the rest of the guys joined Casadee near the back of the store. Naoki also noticed Matt approaching, eyeing him with an unreadable expression. Naoki and Matt had spoken a few times before, mostly when Matt would speak to me so I knew that they got along fine. Matt seemed to be one of those guys that didn't care who he talked to since he frequently spoke with a whole array of people. He didn't judge people based on their appearances the way some other people did, which made me happy since I enjoyed our brief conversations together. I didn't want to get too ahead of myself but I thought we had become as close to being friends without labeling myself as such.

"Hey guys," Matt said with a smile, stopping in front of us.

"Hey Matt," I smiled. "So, you decided to look for a costume too?"

"I'm just here to supervise them," Matt said, nodding his head towards the rest of the group. By now, Jimmy had seized a pair of hot pink girl's underwear and wore them on his head like a hat, making me laugh at his antics. "I haven't really put too much thought into Halloween costumes yet. I don't really see the fuss in getting dressed up for only one night."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said with a nod.

"Though Casadee is definitely determined to find you some kind of costume before the day is over," Naoki said.

"I heard from a little birdie that there might be a possibility that you'll join us for Ash's Halloween party. Is there any truth to that rumor?" Matt asked with a smirk, obviously teasing me.

"I doubt I'll go. I don't see the point in going to a party where I'm probably not welcome," I replied honestly, looking down at my ratty shoes as I fidgeted. "Besides, I doubt she'll find a costume I'd be willing to wear out in public. That's the only real leverage she has on coaxing me into going to the party."

"Oh I'm gonna find you something to wear, even if we have to stay in LA through the night. I'm making you go to that party for your own good," Casadee said with determination as she walked past us with a smile.

"She really wants me to go to that party," I mumbled more to myself than to anyone else.

"You know Casadee. Once she's set her mind to something, nothing can break her determination. The things that drive her truly amaze me," Naoki replied, shaking his head.

"Well, I for one, hope that you do go to the party. It would be fun," Matt said, still smirking at me.

"We'll see," I said quietly, hoping that everyone would just drop the subject so I didn't have to think about going. "Do you think we'll be able to go to Otaku Haven soon? I really wanna look through their stuff and see if they have anything worthwhile there," I said to Naoki, trying to change the conversation topic.

"Whenever Casadee finishes with whatever she's looking for," Naoki said, rolling his eyes. "God knows how long that'll take."

"Otaku Haven? What the hell is that?" Matt asked with a laugh.

"It's an anime/manga store Naoki found out here. Anime and manga are the reasons I started drawing," I explained with a small smile.

"You mean stuff like that show Pokémon and whatnot, right?" he asked.

"That's one anime but I'm not too big on Pokémon. I like stuff like 'Cowboy Bebop' and 'Sailor Moon'," I said, laughing as I mimicked the famous Sailor Moon pose she did. "Sailor Moon was always my favorite as a kid."

"I've heard of Sailor Moon but never actually saw it," Matt said.

"Well, if we go to Otaku Haven and they have some stuff, I'll show you what it is," I replied.

"I get the feeling with the way Casadee is leisurely shopping around, though, that we're not gonna be leaving the mall any time soon," Naoki commented, looking towards the back of the store where she was looking through skirts.

I sighed heavily, shaking my head, "I bet you're wishing you went to practice now rather than make this shopping pilgrimage."

"No, its better I take a break from the dancing for a bit. Besides, the girls need to work on their routine so it's perfect for the competition," Naoki said.

"When's the next competition?" Matt asked.

"Halloween weekend," he replied. "If we beat out the competition that weekend, we'll head up to San Francisco for the State finals so there's a lot of pressure."

"I would love to see you guys perform soon. You're always so secretive about your dance routines," I said with a small pout.

"I told you, if we get through this competition and move onto State, I'll arrange a sneak preview of our routine," he smiled, lightly nudging me with his elbow.

I just smiled at him, tucking a loose strand of hair behind my ear and looking at Matt, who seemed to be slightly amused at the exchange between Naoki and me. I felt a little confused, since it seemed perfectly normal for us but decided it was better to just disregard his amusement. Matt was a strange person with very strange ideas about things, especially when it came down to assessing other people's personalities so I usually tried to just ignore what he said. It was just an aspect about Matt that I wasn't completely sure about.

"Dude, check out this coat!" Jimmy said loudly, slipping on a long, full-length, black coat onto his skinny frame as Matt, Naoki, and I joined the group. "This is totally bad ass. It's just like the coat Kiefer wore in 'The Lost Boys'," he said, holding his arms out to look at it.

"Maybe you should dress like that then since you don't have a costume yet. That would be cool," Casadee commented.

"I would look so bad ass as a Lost Boy. Shit, my clothes are already dirty enough to pass as part of the costume," Jimmy smiled.

"Didn't he have a blonde mullet in that movie?" Zacky asked curiously.

"Yeah but I'll be my own version. I don't need to be blonde to be a Lost Boy," Jimmy shrugged, looking over the price of the coat. "Shit, its way too expensive. I still need to pay for food this week," he commented.

"Dude, I think I've got something like this that you can borrow. Don't worry," Matt said as Jimmy slipped the coat off.

"Awesome," Jimmy smiled.

"Well, that's one costume down and four to go," Casadee said with a smile. "What about you Matt? Do you know what you're gonna be yet?"

Matt shook his head, "No clue. I haven't really thought of an idea I like."

"Tsk, tsk," Casadee said, waving her finger in a motherly-like manner. "Halloween's only weeks away. You need to come up with something soon."

"Fuck it. I'll just be one of the Lost Boys like Jimmy. That seems easy enough," Johnny said.

"You're too short to be a Lost Boy," Brian laughed.

"Yeah, I don't think a scrawny ass little shrimp like you could ever roll with the Lost Boys," Jimmy said, shaking his head.

"Whatever," Johnny replied, rolling his eyes.

"So are you finally done in here? We should be exploring other places if you're so determined to find Alex some kind of costume," Naoki said, more to get us going rather than to encourage Casadee's need to find a costume for me.

Jimmy stepped forward, suspiciously eyeing Naoki and me before asking, "Who're they?"

Nearly everyone gave a collective sigh of frustration, with the exception of Naoki, me, and Jimmy. Jimmy was looking around at everyone, still rather confused and waiting for an answer to the question when Brian laughed at him, shaking his head and smacking Jimmy upside the back of his head. That caused everyone else to laugh, except Naoki, who seemed rather indifferent to the whole situation.

"Leave it to Jimmy to have the brain capacity of a walnut," Zacky said, also shaking his head at the drummer.

"Seriously, I want to know," Jimmy said seriously.

"Those are Casadee's friends, Alex and Naoki you retard," Brian said, pointing to each one of us as he said our names. "You've met Alex twice before at band practice."

"Like I'm supposed to remember that! I hardly remember what happened in homeroom today," Jimmy replied in his defense.

"Whatever. Let's just forget Jimmy's idiocy and continue with our mission: to find costumes for everyone," Casadee said dismissively, looking directly at me when she emphasized the word, 'everyone'.

Zacky and Casadee strolled past us, hand-in-hand to the check-out counter while Naoki and I decided to head out to the front of the shop. I glanced at Brian quickly, noticing he had been staring at me since we walked over to join the group. I couldn't quite read his expression, since he was so good at masking his emotions with a look of intimidation and coldness but I just decided that it was because I was hanging around his friends again, something he really didn't like too much. I averted my gaze quickly, following Naoki out of the loud, crowded store to a bench in the center of the walkway.

"Matt, we're gonna head over to Record Junkie to check out some of the new music," Jimmy said as the group of boys also walked out of Hot Topic.

"You guys go ahead. I'll meet you there," Matt replied, stopping in front of Naoki and me.

"Whatever man," Johnny shrugged, heading in the wrong direction of the store.

"Johnny you dipshit! You're walking the wrong way!" Jimmy laughed, calling after him loudly.

"Fuck, I knew that," Johnny replied, trying to play off his mistake as intentional.

"You're so directionally challenged," Jimmy commented.

"Yeah well at least I can remember the names of people I've met before unlike some people," Johnny said.

"Oh that's it. You're looking to get your ass kicked aren't you?" Jimmy said threateningly, chasing after the young freshman as Brian just shook his head, trailing behind the screaming boys.

Naoki curiously watched them as they continued running down the walkway of the mall, attracting all kinds of attention from the other shoppers nearby as I ran a hand through my hair. I looked up and noticed that Matt was looking at me with a suspicious glance, making me wonder what he was thinking about. Matt always had some kind of crafty plan brewing, which just made me wonder what he was planning now. Deciding to disregard Matt's weird expression of curiosity, I just looked away in time to see Casadee and Zacky walking out of the store.

"Where'd the other idiots get to?" Zacky asked curiously, looking around.

"They said they wanted to head to Record Junkie to look at music," Matt replied with a shrug.

"We're not here to look at music! I'm here to find a costume for Alex so she will finally agree to some teenage normalcy and go to the party!" Casadee huffed, leaning against her boyfriend.

"Calm down Cas. We've still got plenty of time to look around," Zacky said reassuringly.

"Yeah Cas, besides, who said I was agreeing to this so-called 'normalcy' you keep trying to shove down my throat?" I laughed, shaking my head.

"You'll either agree peacefully or come Halloween, I'll head over to your grandparents' house, kidnap your cute ass, and force you to go to the party in the very revealing black angel costume I wore last year for Halloween," she said in a threatening voice.

"You mean that one that had the very short, sheer skirt that barely covered the top of your thighs?" Zacky asked, seeming reminiscent he looked his girlfriend up and down with lust-filled eyes.

"The very one," Casadee said, still looking straight at me.

"I loved that costume. Though you looked hot in that, you looked better later that night when I took it off you," Zacky murmured into Casadee's ear, causing her to giggle a bit.

Matt, Naoki, and I all looked away uncomfortably as the happy couple shared a PDA moment together. I was nervous though, since Casadee mentioned going to my "grandparents' house" to kidnap me. I had forgotten when agreeing to this trip that Naoki would insist on driving me home, which would mean trouble if anyone found out that I was really living with Brian rather than my grandparents. Surely if Casadee was this determined to get me to join everyone for the Halloween party, she would call the restaurant and find out that we weren't' really staying with my grandparents but with the Haners. It seemed now that things were getting a little more complicated than I initially thought they would be.

"If you two are done being disgusting," Matt said loudly, interrupting the lovey-dovey couple and gaining their attention, "we can head over to Record Junkie and meet up with the rest of the guys."

"Yeah, I guess that's alright," Casadee sighed, entiwining her fingers with Zacky's. "Let's get going then."

"It's about damn time," Matt said playfully, falling into step with the happy couple.

Naoki and I just trailed behind them silently, looking around at the other shoppers and stores that we passed. Since my epiphany about everyone finding out Brian's and my secret, I had been trying to think of a way to get out of anyone finding out the truth about where I was residing. Tonight when Naoki would drop me off, I figured that he could just take me to the restaurant, most likely to buy my lie of going there to help since they were short-staffed for the dinner service but when it came to trying to get Casadee off my back, I couldn't really think of anything to do to throw her determination off. I realized that the only viable option available to me now was to agree to go with everyone to the Halloween party so I could just change at her place.

We walked into Record Junkie, hearing some popular rap music playing over the speaker system as we entered the store and immediately spotted the guys near the back of the place. Jimmy had a pair of headphones on, frantically banging his head to whatever music he was listening to while Brian flipped through a guitar magazine. Johnny was on the other side of the store, chatting with a group of girls. I shook my head, knowing well enough that he was probably making a fool of himself in front of them.

Zacky headed to the back where Brian was while Matt decided to rescue the girls from Johnny's embarrassing attempts to flirt. Casadee, Naoki, and I just started wandering the aisles of the store, each of us going to different sections. Casadee wound up browsing through the punk artists while Naoki looked through the hip-hop CDs available. I found myself looking at the imports section, looking for anything that caught my interest.

"So seriously Alex, why don't you wanna go to the party?" Casadee asked, looking up from the racks she was flipping through.

"Cas, I've never been to a party before. Why would I want go to one now?" I asked seriously.

"Cuz they're fun, especially the Halloween party! Everyone looks ridiculous in their costumes, dancing to the crappy playlist the jocks made while getting drunk on beer. It's just something that every teenager should experience, especially you, who has never allowed yourself to bust loose and do something out of left-field before," Casadee explained.

"Oh yeah, being surrounded by drunken idiots in costumes sounds like loads of fun," Naoki said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"You know you'd be going with us too if you weren't at competition. I'm sure Vivie Chang would've asked you to be her date since she's always batting her lashes at you during Math class," Casadee smirked, talking about the girl on the dance team who always paired with Naoki.

"Yeah, whatever," Naoki mumbled dismissively before returning his gaze to the CDs in the racks.

"But anyway, back to the conversation at hand," Casadee said, looking back at me intently, "are you nervous because you don't know how to dance?"

"What? Alex doesn't know how to dance?" Johnny asked in astonishment as he and Matt walked by.

I blushed profusely at everyone's reaction, mentally wishing Casadee great harm for loudly revealing the embarrassing fact to practically the whole store. I could hear Johnny laughing a bit as Matt smacked him in the arm to quiet him down. Naoki was staring at me curiously while I tried my best to keep my gaze lowered to the Rolling Stones' Greatest Hits album that was in my hands.

"I've never danced before so I'm not really sure how to," I admitted quietly, feeling more like a dork than usual.

"Dancing's easy though. Even I can just move along to the beat," Matt said with a smile.

"Yeah but I don't want to look ridiculous and have people make fun of me even more than they do," I replied honestly, catching Brian's eye from across the store.

He was staring at me with sympathetic eyes, looking as if he wanted to step away from the magazine he and Zacky were browsing through and walk over here. I knew he wouldn't though, since he wanted to maintain his cool persona in front of his friends so I just looked away from him, trying my best to ignore the embarrassment I felt at the moment.

"I could always show you to dance," Naoki offered with a smile.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. You should learn from the master!" Casadee replied.

"No way. I couldn't possibly dance with you. You're so much better than I am," I said, shaking my head at Naoki.

"Yeah but we're not seriously dancing. Most of the time, dancing at parties only requires your body to move along with the beat. If you can detect the beat, then you can move your body accordingly. Here, I'll show you," he said, holding his hand out to me.

Reluctantly, I took his hand as a new fast paced hip-hop song came on over the speaker system. Naoki pulled me closer to him, making me laugh nervously as he placed his hands on my hips. My cheeks turned red again as I realized that this was the first time that Naoki had really touched me like this but tried to disregard my embarrassment, knowing that he was just a friend who thought nothing more of this situation.

"Alright, first you need to find the beat. Try nodding your head along with it to start," Naoki suggested.

As I listened to the song, I found myself nodding along to the catchy bass of the drum beat, smiling a bit to myself. Naoki also smiled with approval, nodding along with me as he started moving my hips from side to side along with the beat. He was also moving his body along with the beat, shuffling his feet back and forth. It wasn't long before Casadee started dancing as well, grabbing Matt to dance with as Johnny just watched, clapping along with the beat.

"See? It's easy once you figure out the beat," Naoki said with a smile. "This method pretty much works for any song and you can also decide how close you want to be with the person you're dancing with. You can stay the way we are now or," he began before spinning me around so that he was behind me as we danced, "we can be closer this way," he added, filling the space between us.

"I think you're the only one I trust being this close to me," I laughed, trying to distract myself from the fact that I could feel his body heat radiating against my back.

"Well that's good to know. I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel with you dancing this closely with the jerks at our school," he replied lowly so only I would hear him.

Glancing around the store, I noticed that everyone was staring at us and whispering. Some of the girls that were close by seemed to be checking Naoki out, which made me laugh a bit since he always seemed oblivious to the attention he got from the ladies. I looked back at Brian, who seemed a little annoyed with the scene we had caused. For a brief second, I could've sworn that he was glaring at me but I disregarded it, looking away from him. I couldn't understand why he seemed so peeved since it had nothing to do with him but I figured that he was just pissed because we were causing a scene in such a public place.

"Partner switch," Casadee said suddenly, cutting between me and Naoki.

Matt pulled me closer to him, still leaving a little room between us as we danced together. The more we danced, the more I could feel myself letting go of my worries and anxieties. I felt good getting lost in the beat of the music, even if it wasn't my style. I could definitely see why Casadee enjoyed going to the parties if all she did was dance the entire time. It was fun to just sway around to the beat with friends because everyone looked foolish. If this was the basics of dancing then I could see why Naoki enjoyed learning to do more types of dancing. For one of the first times in my life, I felt almost normal; like I was doing something that no one else could really make fun of me for.

The song ended soon after that and we stopped our dancing, earning a loud applause from the other customers in the store. I sheepishly tried to hide my face in Matt's arm as he chuckled at my reaction, shaking his head. I felt him place a hand on the top of my head and ruffle my hair a bit, making me look up at his grinning face. I just laughed, unable to really do anything else to convey my feelings at the moment as Naoki stepped closer towards me.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Casadee asked.

"No it wasn't," I replied.

"That's just because you had a master teaching you the basic techniques," Naoki said cockily, slinging his arm over my shoulders and pulling me closer to his side.

"Oh whatever," I laughed, pushing him lightly only to find out he wouldn't budge.

Zacky had walked over with Jimmy and Brian, kissing his girlfriend and commending her dancing. Jimmy was asking Johnny what he had missed, since he was so immersed in head banging along with whatever he was listening to in his headphones while Brian stood close by, silently staring in my direction with a penetrating gaze. His arms were crossed over his chest, eyes transfixed on Naoki's arm dangling around my shoulders. For some reason, it looked like he was annoyed with Naoki though I couldn't understand why. He and I were always close like this so I didn't really see the big deal.

"So, now that we've gotten that out of our systems, we are going back to the mall to look for Alex's costume so she can dance like that at the Halloween party," Casadee declared with a knowing smirk.

I groaned loudly in protest, burying my face in my hands as Naoki sighed. Matt and Johnny were chuckling at my expense while Jimmy remained ignorant to the situation completely. Zacky was telling Casadee to calm down before kissing her neck as she began giggling again. Brian was the only one that seemed to remain silent throughout the past five minutes, making me feel slightly nervous since he would normally say something, even if it was rude. It just seemed like Brian was having an off day, which made me a little concerned about him. I wanted to know why he was so bothered.

We all headed out of the store after the employees asked us to leave; laughing a bit since we were kicked out of a music store for dancing, and decided to continue our costume search. We wound up being dragged from store to store throughout the mall, with Casadee rifling through the different racks of available costumes while the majority of the guys tried to kill their boredom by playing with the fake swords and plastic guns to the police and Roman soldier costumes. At one point, Jimmy had dressed himself up in a red, glittery 1930's flapper dress, black feather boa, and an army helmet, chasing Johnny around with his fake plastic sword.

Jimmy's bizarre antics with the costumes combined with Johnny's propensity to provoke Jimmy's outlandish behavior to the point of a long chase throughout the stores resulted in employees kicking us out of their stores rather quickly. Casadee was not amused with having to find new stores to search through while Jimmy and Johnny seemed rather pleased that they had found ways to entertain themselves.

Throughout the search, everyone had put their two cents in with costume suggestions for me. Jimmy rallied for the pirate wench costume because it came with a sword while Johnny was partial to whatever costume that was more revealing, sticking mainly to the pixie and fairy costumes. Zacky liked the slutty version of Dorothy from 'The Wizard of Oz' but I passed, since the dress was way too short. Casadee and I agreed that none of the costumes available seemed to fit my style, since I would look awkward in most of the suggestions.

Our shopping trip seemed to be a bust, which was good for me since I didn't want to find a costume anyway. I was still on the fence about going to the party so I wanted to try and avoid that situation all together. If there was no costume, I didn't have to go to the party. It was the agreement Casadee and I had come up with so I was going to try my best to keep that deal intact. Though the shopping trip seemed wasted on my behalf, we were able to get costumes for Jimmy and Johnny all worked out. Matt showed little interest in finding anything, since he had already voiced his dislike to the holiday and I wasn't sure if Brian already had a costume or not.

Finally, after a good hour and a half of wandering in and out of the stores, Naoki had convinced Casadee to let us go to the anime store. Naoki and I cheerfully led the group out of the mall and towards the small shop a few blocks away, the two of us speculating about what the store may or may not have. Matt listened with some interest, unsure of most of what we were talking about while the others lagged behind us, arguing about where they were going to get food later before heading back to Huntington.

We finally arrived at Otaku Haven, a small corner shop filled wall-to-wall with manga, anime, and merchandise from different series. I immediately flocked to the manga books, looking through the different volumes for something that would catch my interest. I could hear the sarcasm in Casadee's voice as she explained my obsession to the rest of the guys, not a fan of my love for Japanese anime or manga but I didn't let it bother me. I was in heaven looking around at the different things.

Naoki had wandered away to look at the imported manga books, which were still in the original Japanese, while everyone else fanned out. The speaker system was playing familiar opening and closing theme songs from anime as I nodded along to the beat, browsing through a volume one of 'City Hunter'.

It wasn't long before I could feel a presence standing behind me, causing me to quickly spin around to see Brian standing behind me, nonchalantly flipping through one of the volumes of 'Samurai X'. I eagerly peeked at the manga he was browsing through, thinking about purchasing the first volume when I realized that I was a little too close to Brian, looking up to find him staring at me with amusement.

"Sorry," I said sheepishly, hiding behind the copy of 'City Hunter' in my hands.

"I'm surprised you're not looking through these picture books with Naoki. You two seemed attached at the hip for most of today," Brian said with an edge of bitterness when he mentioned Naoki's name.

"First of all, these are not picture books. If anything, they're comic books that artists have worked hard on so show a little more respect by calling them by their proper name instead of insulting their artistry," I said, a little offended that he would demean my passion. Brian seemed a little surprised by my outburst, as was I, so I continued to speak with a lowered tone, afraid of what he might say back to me, "And secondly, Naoki's just a friend. Why wouldn't I spend time with him?"

"It seems that he's interested in you more than a friend though with the way he was dancing with you earlier," Brian replied.

I laughed, shaking my head a bit, "That's ridiculous. Naoki and I are just friends. There's no way he's interested in me when he's got the pick of any other girl in school. It's like you said to me when we first met, who would ever want to date a loser dork like me in the first place?"

Brian opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it again, looking as if he didn't know what to say. Repeating the words he once said to me those few months ago still kind of hurt, especially since he was the one that said them to me, but I tried my best to suck it up. I didn't want him to know that his opinion still mattered to me since he made it absolutely clear that we wouldn't really be anything more than friends, if we were even that. In his opinion, we were only roommates bound together until the day my house was fixed. After that, we would go back to being nothing to each other.

With the way Brian seemed to start this conversation off, I could have sworn he was jealous of Naoki, though it didn't make sense why he would be. He was the one that made it clear to me over and over that we meant nothing to each other aside from the fact that we were roommates so why should he be so bothered with my friendship to Naoki? The only time we ever seemed friendly with one another was when we were in the privacy of our home, where no one else knew our relation to one another. I figured that if he wanted the privileges of friendship with me, he would just have to accept me as a person publicly the way Matt did.

Naoki seemed to sense the friction between Brian and me, quickly walking over with a copy of 'Hana Kimi' still in the original Japanese writing. He stared Brian down, looking almost like an attack dog waiting to pounce before smiling down at me, looking over my shoulder at the manga I was looking through.

"That's a good manga. I remember reading a few volumes of that a few years ago," he said to me. "It's just a shame that you can't read Japanese otherwise I think this manga would be right up your alley," he said, holding out 'Hana Kimi' to me.

"What's it about?" I asked curiously, looking at the cover art.

As Naoki began explaining the plot of the manga to me, I noticed Brian walking away from the corner of my eye. He headed towards Jimmy, who was messing with the figurines for 'Dragonball Z', with a pensive expression. I wasn't sure what he was thinking about but I had a feeling it had something to do with whatever it was that he held back in saying before Naoki came over. Brian was definitely the type of person that always held back their true feelings so I would probably never know what he was really thinking about unless he finally decided to tell me, which was highly unlikely given his track record.

"So, what'd Haner want?" Naoki asked, breaking my thoughts and forcing me to rejoin our conversation.

"Oh, nothing really," I said dismissively, flipping through the pages.

"I don't understand how you can still talk to him after he was such an asshole to you. He doesn't deserve your attention," Naoki said.

"He's not that bad. He's just... misunderstood," I replied after a moment's thought. "He's just one of the popular guys so he thinks he's a little superior to people but he's really a nice guy underneath all that ego and entitlement," I explained, thinking back to last week when he looked after me when I was sick.

"I don't care what he is. If he hassles you one more time, I'm gonna kick his ass," Naoki said, sounding more like a promise than a joke.

"Don't worry Naoki. You can keep your ass kicking skills to yourself. I doubt anything else will happen since he doesn't want anything to do with me," I said with a smile.

"Just remember, the offer's always there. I couldn't stand it if he hurt you again," Naoki said, looking at me with soft eyes and a speaking in a low, sensitive tone.

I felt a little vulnerable under his gaze, wondering why he seemed different compared to how he usually was. Naoki was like Brian in the fact that he didn't express his emotions often. Naoki was the type of person that liked to listen rather than speak, especially around strangers, so when he finally did open up and show some emotion, it was a pretty big deal. Right now, I couldn't really tell what he was thinking but his beautiful dark brown eyes staring into my plain ones made butterflies flap wildly in my stomach.

"What're you kids up to?" Matt asked loudly, breaking our intense staring competition. "Find anything interesting to look at?"

I looked away, blushing like made for some reason and nodded my head, "Uh, yeah. Naoki found a manga he thought I would like, except it's not translated into English," I said, clearing my throat and holding out the book in my hand.

"Looks interesting. Unfortunately for me, I'm not really getting a lot out of this place since I'm not a fan of anime but it seems Jimmy really likes to play with the figurines that are over there," Matt said, eyeing me with a knowing smirk.

"Alex! Get your ass over here now and look at what I found!" Casadee called from the other side of the store, causing the other customers to glare at her for disturbing them.

"God, she really needs to learn to stop yelling for us in public. She always makes such a scene," Naoki chuckled.

"Yeah I know," I agreed, placing the volumes of manga back in their respectful places.

The three of us walked across the store to where Casadee, Zacky, and Johnny were. I noticed that they were looking through racks of cosplay costumes, making me feel a little uneasy since I knew she was about to suggest more options for Halloween costumes to me. Zacky was looking at the different 'Dragonball Z' costumes while Johnny laughed at the 'Pokémon' ones, paying particular attention to the Charmander costume. Casadee was rifling through the racks, smiling as she seemed to find what she was looking for.

"Alex, I think I found the perfect costume for you," she declared confidently, pulling it off the rack and holding it in front of her.

My eyes lit up the moment I saw the costume I had most wished to have in my childhood right before my eyes, looking exactly the way it was supposed to look. Casadee had found an authentic looking Sailor Moon costume with the big red bow in the front, blue skirt, white and red gloves, and the matching necklace and headband. I was astounded to see it, especially since I had always wanted to be Sailor Moon. I looked up at Casadee who wore an expression of satisfaction, knowing that she had hooked me with the right costume as I realized that now I would have to go to that stupid Halloween party. I cursed myself for getting excited over the costume I would now be forced to wear to the party I didn't want to go to.

"What the hell is that?" Jimmy asked, walking over with Brian as we stood near the costumes.

"It's Sailor Moon," Casadee said.

"Sailor who?" Jimmy asked in confusion.

"She's a character from an anime that Alex used to like when she was little," Casadee explained. She looked around for a moment, finding a cardboard cut-out and pulled it over to her so the guys could see, "that's what she looks like."

"Who's the dude in the top hat and cape?" Jimmy asked, pointing to the other person pictured in the cut-out.

"That's Tuxedo Mask," I replied with a sigh when Casadee looked to me to help explain. "He's dating Sailor Moon but also fights the forces of evil with her."

"Oh," Jimmy replied, looking uninterested.

"It's too bad that Naoki won't be in town for the party or else he could go as Tuxedo Mask. They have that costume here too," Casadee smirked, pulling out the matching Tuxedo Mask costume.

"Maybe I'll go as that guy. I don't have a costume yet and I wouldn't mind being Alex's date to the party," Matt said, also smirking.

Naoki seemed glare at Matt for a moment before looking away from the group, irritation written all over his face as I nervously fidgeted with my hands, avoiding their playful stares. My gaze met with Brian, who also held a similar expression of irritation on his face. I couldn't figure out why Naoki or Brian seemed so bothered by Matt's joke, especially since I knew he wasn't being serious. Today seemed to be a weird day for everyone, though I couldn't really figure out why.

"So, what do you say Alex? Would you go to the party as Sailor Moon?" Casadee asked, dangling the costume out towards me.

"How much is it?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have enough to pay for it.

"Everything together is about forty bucks but if we just get the outfit, it's closer to thirty, which isn't bad for a costume," Casadee replied. "And I know that Malcolm gave you enough cash to afford something as awesome as this."

"But what about the boots? I don't have red boots that go with that costume," I said, trying all my best options to talk my way out of this costume.

"I have red boots that will work from my Wonder Woman costume a few years ago. They should fit you just fine," she replied, staring at me with a look that said 'I-am-able-to-one-up-what-ever-you-say-to-try-to-get-out-of-going-to-this-party'.

"But Alex isn't blonde like the girl is," Zacky said, pointing towards the cut-out.

"Thank you Zacky for giving me another reason to avoid going to this party. I love you so much right now," I thought gleefully to myself.

"So what? She doesn't need to be the blonde Sailor Moon and besides, if she really wants to go all out, she can just get the Sailor Moon style wig they have available over there on the back wall," Casadee replied smugly, gesturing towards the wall behind her.

Sighing in defeat, I walked over to Casadee and took the costume from her, looking over the smooth fabric. I looked down at the tag and noticed that she had already pulled my size, which meant that I couldn't use that as an excuse not to buy it. I could tell by Casadee's eager expression that she wasn't willing to take no for an answer anymore, which meant I would have to cave in. However much I didn't want to go to that party, I thought that if I was at least dressed in a costume that I liked, it would be alright.

"Alright," I replied, pushing my glasses further up the bridge of my nose. "I'll go to the party as Sailor Moon."

"Yes! I knew you wouldn't make me go through the trouble of kidnapping you and forcing you into a slutty costume," Casadee squealed happily, hugging the life out of me.

Naoki looked at me sympathetically as I pleaded for help, chuckling at the predicament I was in. Zacky finally got his girlfriend to let go of me so I could breathe as I walked back to Naoki, costume still in hand.

"You'll make a good Sailor Moon," he smiled.

"I really wish you were going with me so I wouldn't have to face this humiliation alone," I said sadly, looking down at my feet.

Naoki pulled me into a half hug, ruffling my hair with his hand, "Yeah, I wish I could go too. I'm sure you'll be alright on your own though."

"I hope so," I replied, leaning against him for comfort.

I looked over at Brian once again, noticing he was trying his best to keep the irritation off his face as he looked back and forth between Naoki and me. I felt utterly confused by his emotions, wishing desperately that I could read his mind. Whatever it was that was making him grumpy, I knew I would have to deal with his agitation when we got home.

I definitely wasn't looking forward to the days to come. Whether it be at school or at home, I knew I was definitely going to suffer through the wrath of Brian Haner Jr.