You Give Love a Bad Name

"I don't look or feel anything like the Feisty Fairy," I grumbled, looking over my shoulder in the mirror at the puffy Halloween getup that I was clad in. "More like an oversized blue marshmallow."

Today was October 31st; Halloween and Frank's birthday, and I was getting ready for the my school's Halloween Dance.

Cara put down the latest issue of Seventeen that she was reading on my bed and came over to stand beside me. "Sure you do, honey. I think you look perfect."

I turned to face her, biting my lip ring with uncertainty. "Yeah?"

Cara's mouth stretched into a wide grin as she surveyed me once more. "Short, loud, black-haired basket case? You've got Merryweather down to the dot."

I laughed and jokingly slapped her arm. "Jerk."

"Ah! You guys are so cute!"

Cara and I turned around just in time to see a green blur that was Melanie charging at us in full speed. A second later I was engulfed in an uncomfortably tight group hug that took three quarters of oxygen away from my body.

From the corner of my eye I saw the material of Cara's red dress stir, following by a raspy groan. "Air..."

"Oops, sorry." With a final squeeze Melanie stepped back, letting us go, her face shining with pure happiness. "I'm just so excited for tonight! I still can't believe your Mom is letting us use the house for Frank's party unsupervised. Either she's really cool, or really crazy."

"The second one," I offered, still having a hard time believing our good luck as well. "And we are going to be supervised. Mom put Gerard in charge seeing as he's the 'adult' out of the three of us."

"Like Melanie said, I can't believe we're going to be unsupervised," Cara winked, giving both of us high fives.

"Three gay marshmallows?" Gerard's teasing voice sounded behind us. "Well, it's original. I'll give you that much."

Rolling my eyes, I turned around.

Already holding a beer in his hand, my oldest brother was surprisingly dressed as a zombie and not a vampire - his usual choice for a Halloween costume.

"What? A cat got your tongue?" he grinned wickedly. "Or you can't handle the hotness that is Gerard Way?"

I grimaced and poked him hard in the chest. "Ewww, please don't make me throw up. Where's your fangs and V8?"

Gerard shrugged and took a sip of his beer. "Tracy thought it would be cool if we came as zombies. Besides, it's about time I try something new."

"Tracy? We?" I started to snicker uncontrollably. "That girl's got you whipped!"

Gerard made a face and walked out the door.

Thirty minutes later and I was running around the house trying to get everyone together.

Melanie wondered off somewhere with Mikey, and Cara was nowhere to be found. Instead of being helpful and aiding me in my desperate search for the rest of The Three Good Fairies entourage, Gerard was laying on the couch and checking his text messages.

"If you're not going to help me find them, at least start getting ready for Frank's party." I told Gerard, trying to keep my blue hat in place.

Shutting of his phone, Gerard stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. "Cara's in the bathroom, and Melanie is in Mikey's room. I suggest that you don't go there, though. Not unless you want to be traumatized. But then again, it's not like you listen to me."

I decided to break my habit just this once.

"Um, okay," I checked the time. Logan was supposed to come any minute now. "What about the party?"

"Bob's getting the booze and Ray is on his way over with the cake," my brother informed me lazily. "Anything else, Mom?"

"Actually, yeah. How many people are coming?"

"Ninety to a hundred. Maybe one fifty."

My mouth fell open in shock. Did Frank even know that many people?

Most importantly, who would clean everything up after the stampede of teenagers that was going to hit our house?

Something in my mind told me that this was the first and last time my Mom left Gerard in charge of the house.

Or just in charge, period.

"I guess the word got around that the strippers are coming, so that about doubled the guest list," Gerard smirked, opening his left eye to examine my reaction.

"Strippers, Gerard?" I repeated in a whisper, thinking of a best way to strangle the leering moron in front of me. "Strippers? For your sake and mine you better be kidding. Mom would kill us if she ever find out ab-"

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Gerard cut in smoothly, closing his eyes once again.

"Hey guys! What are we talking all about?"

Our heads turned to examine two figures who was now presents in the room with us.

One was wearing an emerald dress that beautifully accented her big, green eyes. I had to admit that Melanie made an amazing Fauna, The Thoughtful Fairy. She smiled at me and I noticed that she was holding someone's hand. My eyes traveled from the entwined fingers to a big orange ball on legs that was my other brother.

"Sweet pumpkin costume, bro," Gerard complemented behind me.

Mikey flashed a happy smile. "This was the last one they had, too! Plus it was on sale."

"I can certainly see why," I muttered, now taking in his green hat.

Melanie threw up her hands in relief. "Thank you! Finally somebody other than me has the same opinion on the veggie-boy!"

Mikey's smile faded a bit. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I ignored his mocking tone and shrugged. "Well, not everyone wants to be a pumpkin, Mikey."

Now it was his time to shrug. "Well, it goes perfectly with the theme, don't ya thing? I thought since Melanie's a fairy, I should be the pumpkin that she made Cinderella's carriage from. Clever, eh?"

I sighed and patted him on the shoulder. "Wrong story, bud. We're from Sleeping Beauty not Cinderella. But turn that frown upside down - it's the thought that counts."