My Imagination's Much Worse

A few days before Halloween, Pete invited me over to the apartment he shared with his band mates. When I got there, a chubby, young looking guy opened the floor.

"Hi, is Pete here?" I asked with a smile.

"You must be Lauren, come on in," he said, opening the door more.

The apartment was dirty and filled with drums, guitars, and amps. Two guys were sitting on the couch watching TV and glanced at me before looking at each and nodding. boys.

"Pete's in his room. Just go down that hallway and it's the last door on the left," the guy that opened the door told me.

I told him thanks and walked to where he told me. I knocked lightly waiting for a response.

"What?" I heard him say, just under a yell.

I opened the door and saw Pete laying on his bed. "Hey."

"Hey," he said looking at me and smiling.

I walked in and closed the door, setting my bag down on the floor and laid down next to me.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he stared at the ceiling.

"You sure?" I asked, starting to run my fingers through his hair.

He sighed and looked at me, "I'm not being completely honest with you."

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked, not trying to force anything out of him.

"It's just.. I'm a depressed, bipolar mess and I don't want to do something to push you away. So if I'm just not acting right, just know I'm not doing it on purpose because I really do like you."

"I'll be here for you no matter what," I told him as I laid my head on his chest.

I was surprised Pete told me he suffered from depression and was bipolar, but I was happy he told me. I know it must have been hard for him to tell me that.

We laid there awhile until Pete spoke up.

"There's a halloween party on the 30th and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me."

"That sounds fun, I'd love to."

"What are you going as?" He asked as he started playing with my hair.

"I don't know. What about you?"

"I don't know either," he chuckled, "we should go as like Jack and Sally."

"Yeah! Let's go buy costumes after I get out of class tomorrow," I said excitedly.

---

The day of the party, Pete came over to my apartment to take me to the party.

He was dressed in black fitted pants and a t-shirt that looked like Jack Skellington's shirt from the movie, a hoodie, and black Converse. He also had on a Jack Skellington mask to play the part.

I wore a dress like Sally's but modified it so that it was just above my knee. I decided to wear low cut Converse to match Pete and because I didn't really want to wear heels. I kept my hair straight and had on a little bit more makeup than what I regularly wore.

When I stepped onto my front porch, Pete was sitting on the steps with his mask in his lap. When he heard the door open he glanced up and smiled.

"Wow, look at you!" I winked and stood up.

"Me? Look at your spiffy ass," I said, smiling and hugging him.

A couple hours into the party, I had managed to meet a good portion of Pete's friends. They were all really nice. A few winked at me, causing Pete to pull me closer to him. Once we were alone again, Pete gave me a smile then made the butterflies come alive.

"Hey, I was wondering," he started, looking down at his feet, "if you wanted to be my girlfriend?" He asked, looking back up at me.

I smiled and nodded, "I'd love to."

Pete smiled bigger and kissed me. A few people around us cheered, making us pull away and blush. I bit my lip and smiled at him.