Chapters On A Page

"What time does the show start?" Gwen asked, glancing up from her work ever so slightly. A thin needle was clutched between her thumb and forefinger, the end attached to a light colored thread that she tugged through the hem of her skirt. She was rushing to fix it since it had ripped on her way into Nic's house. She was more frantic about being late because of it than I was.

"They go on at six. I honestly don't care about whoever plays before or after them," I replied, turning my head just enough to peek at her from the corner of my eye. I had already gotten my makeup finished, but Murph's costume required the kind of treatment the best kinds of costumes needed. He was sitting patiently while I did it for him, which was a first, and I didn't want to risk his attention getting pulled away because then he would never have a complete outfit.

"Damn it, Gwen, hurry up!" Nic exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air to make sure her exaggeration was taken as such. She had a fun time making Gwen even more flustered whenever she already was. She, herself, was already dressed in her costume, with her bright hair piled on top of her head. She had even done Gwen's hair in the time it took to mend the last bit of the latter's costume. Thankfully, I could wear my hair as I usually wore it and Murph had a doctored up wig, saving a lot of time for the four of us.

"I'm done, I'm done!" Gwen shouted as a retort. She tugged on the thread just enough to make it snap after she'd secured the hem. Then she jumped up and raced to the bathroom to put the dress on.

"Can I look now?" Murph whined as Nic and I giggled at Gwen. He had opened his eyes to look up at me and pout.

I playfully glared back. "No. I just have to finish your lips, then you'll be good to go," I promised, taking on a griping ton of my own.

His eyes widened in what I could tell was mock fear. "Are you going to put lipstick on me?" he questioned, straightening his head from the titled position it had been in. "Am I going to have to pucker?" he asked, still playing horrified.

I smacked him, laughing. "Pucker those lips at me, Russell Jacob, and I cut them off," I insisted with a hint of humor. "And besides, you know exactly what I'm doing. You've seen the movie. Hardly anything but theater makeup for you, my dear," I reminded him even though I was almost positive he didn't really need it. He sighed and nodded his head from side to side sarcastically. I had to delicately place my palms on either side of his face to stop him while being sure not to smudge the gray makeup on his skin at the same time. Once he was still again I started the lines above and below his lips.

The four of us were ready thirty minutes later, dressed in our costumes and made up, leaving us just enough time to get to the show. The Recher was already alive with music, people in their own costumes bouncing along to the pop song meant to keep them occupied until the next set started. Whoever was in control of the lights tonight had gone all out, making sure that every light that touched the crowd was orange and had even replaced every regular light in the venue with black lights. Murph led us through the close-packed audience bathed in the spooky lighting, and we automatically blended in with everyone dressed up as something they weren't. Zack had tried to talk me into hanging out with them backstage, but I had declined. The floor was where we belonged.

"Are you aware that my makeup is going to be wrecked after this?" Murph questioned with a shout back at me just before he stopped in a spot he considered good enough for us to watch the set from. He looked over at me with a distressed expression covering his temporarily gray face.

"Oh, you'll be fine," I assured him, pushing myself up on my tiptoes to get my lips right to his ear so he would be able to hear me. I was confident in the work I had done lasting through being in the crowd for only half an hour. And even if it didn't, it wasn't like things couldn't be fixed. "You should think more about how many girls are going to be all over newly-single you," I giggled, on my toes once more to speak to him. He fixed me with another look, this one telling me to get serious. He had recently broken up with Rachel -as he always seemed to do when he'd been with someone for a couple months- and I had no problem helping him find someone that he would maybe stick with for once. He was uninterested though, so I just looped my arm through his and waited for the lights to go down.

I found myself screaming along with the majority of the crowd surrounding us when the four boys that just happened to be my friends took the stage. This would be my first time attending one of their shows since I had switched schools. So also since I had become friends with Alex, and Jack and Rian, of course. It had been too long. I'd forgotten how much I loved these songs, how the music they played seemed to flow through my veins and how the lyrics Alex sang easily stuck in my head. Seeing them on a night that each of them was dressed up as something different just made it all the better. My cousin was a lion, only a tail clipped to the back of his belt and what I was sure was the same fake mane he had worn one year when we were kids identifying him as such. In the back, Ri was a clown, fake bulbous red nose and rainbow wig included. Jack appeared as if he was simply a gorilla, sans mask while they played. Alex was clearly a pirate, his inspiration so obviously Johnny Depp, with the puffy shirt and the bandana pulled low on his forehead and tied behind a long, dark wig. The illusion was only ruined by the jeans and Nikes he wore.

It was apparent though that not one person cared much about the costumes. They cared about the music and were sure to sing the words right back. The fact that it was a Halloween show didn't matter. Everyone, including myself, was here for the bands. So it made sense when my friends and I were the only ones that departed as soon as the boys left the stage.

Nic was the leader this time, absentmindedly shoving between people and getting no reaction but parting bodies. With others shifting, trying to take the spaces we left or just moving to get drinks, I lost sight of my friends. It was a miracle, really, since they were impossible for me to miss, unmistakably being three-fourths of a group I had spent most of my Halloweens seeing. The crowd was thinning out the closer I got to the doors and I was sure I'd find my friends more easily this way. Before I could even scan faces to see one I recognized as someone I had come with, fingers wrapped gently around my wrist. I knew whoever was taking hold of me wasn't threatening before I was even positive of who it was. The fingers felt familiar and somehow comforting. So I wasn't exactly shocked to turn to find Alex, though Lilah standing next to him was a bit puzzling.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned, directing it at my younger sister. I wasn't opposed to her attending the show. Murph and I were simply supposed to pick her and Katie up later for the party. "Where's Katie?" I added once I remembered my sister should have had company with her.

Lilah crossed her arms over her chest, causing the red, hooded cloak she had on over her dress to drop from her arms and sway slightly at her back. I could at least appreciate her classic costume. "I don't know," she answered, playing angry, but clearly just annoyed and upset. "She got pissed off at me, saying I couldn't really convince Zack to let us in the back. She stomped off into the crowd somewhere," she told me, rolling her eyes and then glancing around in a fake attempt to find her best friend.

"You've got to be kidding me," I muttered under my breath, raising my eyes to the ceiling. Both my mother and Katie's were aware that the girls were going to be at the party with me, assuming that I was going to have an eye on them the entire time like I had no life of my own. And here I had lost one of them in a place they weren't even supposed to be before they were even part of my night's responsibility. "Do I seriously have to pull a frantic mother move and have them call her on the PA?" I asked Lilah, giving her a pointed look I prayed was scaring her into calling her friend.

"I don't have my phone on me, and she doesn't have hers," she informed me, my glare working but not in the way I had planned. She dropped her arms back to her sides in defeat, her cloak floating up and then slowly back down to cover them.

I was truly acting like a big sister in the moment, absolutely irritated with my sibling. "Li, we don't have time to look for her. We have to find the others and then-"

"I'll look for her. We're going to the same place, remember? The guys and I will bring her with us," Alex promised, cutting me off. He gave a shrug of indifference to the whole situation.

The anxiety drained from my knotted stomach and the headache that had been beginning due to the exasperation instantly faded. "Look at the hero saving the night and all," I smirked, nudging him lightly with my elbow. But I couldn't contain my appreciation towards him for offering to retrieve Katie from wherever she was in the audience. I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling his snake around my waist before whispering in his ear, "Thank you, Alex." And I kissed his cheek before pulling away. "We'll see you at your place," I affirmed with a smile, taking my sister's hand. Alex nodded with a smile right back at me. He had turned into the throng behind us before I pulled Lilah toward the door.

"Overreaction much?" she mumbled, loud enough to let me hear. I chose to ignore it.

Murph was waiting for me right outside the doors, leaning against the concrete wall of the building. His eyebrows raised in surprise at the sight of Lilah with me, but my shaking head told him not to ask about it. He smirked in amusement, yet led us back to the car where Nic and Gwen already were. The streetlight-lit sidewalk was littered with show-goers, dressed as generic vampires and slutty animals of all kinds and foods some company had found fit to turn into costumes and more. But the amount of people decreased once we had turned the corner at the bank at the end of the block and we were able to cross the street diagonally to the parking lot. There was a chill in the air that left me pleased to be climbing into the backseat of the car, and sad to be so eager to get away from the fall all the same.

Gwen and Nic had been talking while they'd been standing outside the car, but the words of their conversation didn't reach me until we were already on our way to Alex's. Even then, it was mostly because my name was uttered. "I still can't believe you didn't go to Homecoming, Val," Gwen stated incredulously, leaning around Lilah in the middle seat to set her gaze on me.

I tore my own away from the passing scenery that was already bathed in darkness since the sun had set while we had been inside. I shrugged at my friend and glanced at Nic to include her in my apathetic response. "I didn't go any during my three years at Towson. Why would I go while I'm going to Dulaney?" I asked rhetorically. The dance was still no big deal to me, no matter what anyone said.

"But you have a boyfriend who was completely willing to go with you!" Nic screeched the reminder, sounding as if my relationship should be the most important aspect of my life. It was unlike her to act as such. "Was Dom pissed about that or anything? Him getting all silent when you told him couldn't have been his only reaction," she continued, turning around in her seat so she was almost opposite of how she should have been.

I shook my head. "No, he seemed fine with it," I answered. To myself though, I was thinking how she was right. He hadn't mentioned the dance after lunch the day I had refused to go, besides to tell me that he was still going to go. I found I didn't want another choice than to believe that the words I was speaking were true. "I didn't go to the dance with him. He's not coming to this party with me. We both have things we don't like to attend, and we're compromising," I explained, but it felt strange on my tongue. Really, we were just cutting each other out of different parts of our social lives because we didn't want to be at the other's. I shook it off and turned back to the window, now watching my breath condense on dirty glass to leave the outside world looking foggy. I couldn't help but wonder if Dominic and I were fighting and I just didn't know it. I tried hard to think back on the week since Homecoming to remember if he had showed any resentment toward me for making him go alone, but it was hard to get passed the fear that I might actually remember him being angry.

I scarcely noticed when we had made it to Alex's, but I quickly regained awareness since I was the one that had to let us in. Alex had known that I would be here a lot sooner and had therefore given me his key. I dug it out of my purse now as Murph held the screen door open for me and hurriedly unlocked the front door of the Gaskarth residence. I had been here earlier, had spent most of the morning and afternoon helping him change the house into a Halloween utopia. Black and orange were the colors of the night and were everywhere you looked. Paper ghosts and plastic skeletons, rubber bats and styrofoam pumpkins took over both wall space and surfaces. We had even draped black velvet over the walls of the living room and topped it off with fake cobwebs hanging all over the ceiling. Pacing through the rooms to check on everything, I couldn't help but be proud of our work even though it probably wouldn't even last for the night.

It wasn't long before my friends and I weren't alone in the house. The door was eventually just left open because people were constantly flowing in. The house was packed before long, every single person dressed in whatever costume they had chosen, whether it be minimal or over the top. Alex and the guys showed up not long after I had walked through the front door, Katie in tow. Acting as if she had been worried for her best friend -and maybe she had been- my sister ran to Katie to throw her arms around her and squeal in delight. With an infinitesimal shake of my head, I hooked my arm with Alex's and led him to his kitchen.

"Seriously, thank you for getting her," I said as I handed him a drink to show my gratitude. "Lilah drives me nuts sometimes. She doesn't think things through." I sighed, leaning over the counter with my elbows against the cold granite and my cheek connected to the knuckles of my left hand to allow me to look up at him standing next to me.

He took a long drink from the plastic cup, black for the autumn holiday. He nodded as he set it back down on the counter. "It's no problem. God though, does the girl talk," he berated with a chuckle. "Nice costume, by the way," he complimented after a moment filled with greetings from everyone walking passed or stopping to get a drink of their own. "What… are you supposed to be?" he wondered a bit hesitantly, downing the rest of his drink to prevent me from seeing if he was embarrassed or not.

I giggled lightly, looking down at my fingernails before pushing myself to stand up straight again. "I'm Sarah Sanderson," I enlightened him, holding my hands out at my sides to show off the dress. "From Hocus Pocus," I added when he didn't seem to recognize the name, craning my neck forward some which showcased my surprise instead of hiding it as I had meant to do.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, remembering now what I was referencing. "So you're a witch?" he asked.

"A very specific witch," I corrected, my index finger held up and bobbing up and down with each word as if I was making a very important point. "I'm just one of three. Murph's even Billy Butcherson. But doesn't Nic look perfect as Winifred?" I insisted when I caught sight of her coming into the room, flinging my arm out to point at her though she was hard to miss with her bright red hair and green and purple dress. Detecting that I was directing attention toward her, she smiled nervously and gave a confused wave to Alex and I.

He snorted at her reaction. "Besides that, she does play the character well," he admitted, grinning down at me. "So Gwen's Mary then?" he asked for confirmation to which I nodded. "I was under the impression she was trying to be a Who, what with the hair sticking straight up and all. So it's nice to be proven wrong," he claimed.

I smacked his arm, protesting that, with purple hair and an eccentric dress of multiple colors and patterns, she was obviously not anything from Dr. Suess' mind. But my argument got lost somewhere in all the colors and I ended up laughing. "Well, I highly enjoy your half-costume, Captain Jack," I praised, flicking at one of the fake dreadlocks in his wig. "How's your best friend taking it that you've stolen his name for the night?" I inquired jokingly.

"Pretty good since he gets to be King Kong," Alex informed me.

I followed his gaze to find Jack. It was tough to spot him at first, but then I recalled he had been dressed as a gorilla earlier. Now he had donned the mask of the costume. A wrecked toy airplane appeared to be glued to the mouth as if he was eating it and he carried a doll clothed in a white dress. It was obvious to me now what he was supposed to be. As I stared at him though, my eyes landed on a brunette with glaring eyes flitting my way as she walked around Jack. It was without spirit that I muttered, "That's so funny." Alex shot a concerned expression my way but I excused myself, immediately heading to find wherever Nic had gotten off to.

I found her in the dimly lit living room, sitting on a couch in the stifling air. I fell down next to her, trying to gather myself before telling her anything. I had to be certain that my voice wasn't going to come out too high or in a whisper she wouldn't hear. "Stacey's here," I reported. I hated how fearful I sounded because I knew I wasn't scared of this girl in the least.

"That bitch that hates you because she's Dominic's ex? Want me to fight her?" Nic asked merrily. She was kidding but the prospect didn't bother her. "Have you talked to him about this yet?" she inquired when I simply sat staring at spilled beer dripping off the table and puddling on the hardwood floor.

I shook my head in response. I had seriously considered talking to my boyfriend about this, asking him why he hadn't told me he had dated Stacey or why she hated me so much even though I hadn't known about her. But every time I got up the nerve, he distracted me from it with kisses or I got worried I wouldn't want to hear his answers. I heaved a sigh, sick of how drained I sometimes felt in my relationship. "Remember when my life was drama free? You know, that year between now and the first anniversary of Em's death? That was a nice time." She chortled along with me since we both knew even the past year had been crazy with my parents' divorce. "Ugh, I'm going to find the dog!" I announced nearly loud enough for everyone to hear, and I stood, pausing only to kiss the top of her head as thanks for the brief respite from my distressed moment.

I made my way toward the stairs, climbing them carefully to avoid the people sitting on them and a few forgotten bottles. The way to Alex's room was stamped in my mind and I found it without a problem. I figured Spot was in there, lying on the bed, disinterested in the attention he could be receiving. I had expected to see him the moment I pushed the door open, but he wasn't there. I flicked on the light just to make sure I wasn't missing him in the semi-darkness, and got on my hands and knees to look under the bed when even the illuminated room gave me nothing.

"What're you doing in here?" a familiar voice asked as I was peeking beneath the bed.

Startled, I jumped, barely missing hitting my head on the bed frame. I shot to my feet, turning around at the same time to face Dominic. "Looking for the dog. What're you doing here? You told me you didn't like Halloween," I stated once I had remembered he had refused to come to any parties with me for the holiday.

"Yeah, but Gaskarth throws some good parties. I thought I'd check it out anyway," he clarified as he stepped further into the room, sounding oddly suspicious. When he reached me though, his arms went around my waist to pull me toward him and his lips found mine in a second.

I practically melted, winding my arms around him and letting my fingers run through his dark hair. I was so relieved that he wasn't mad at me as I had been worrying about since after the show. I didn't even protest when he backed me up until the back of me knees connected with the edge of the bed, causing me to fall onto it. The fingers of one of his hands twisted around the roots of my hair and the other gently led me to lie on my back. I knew where he was going with this, didn't even have to think twice about it. "The door's open," I complained, breaking from the kiss which just led to him moving to my neck. The door was just an excuse.

Dominic shrugged, truly not caring. "It'll be fine," he claimed, his voice husky. He continued his kissing, clearly working to get my breathing just as hitched as his.

When his free hand began untying the laces at he top of my dress's bodice, I didn't hesitate to push him away. It took no time at all to clear my mind. "Dom, no. I told you how I felt about this. I just have to… be sure… before I do it again," I reminded him, attempting to find new words to explain it to maybe make him understand better.

He was still hovering over me, leaning on one elbow. His fingers still played with the strings he'd been trying to get undone only moments ago. "Are you saying you don't love me?" he questioned, his eyes downcast.

"Stop that. You know I love you." Lie. For now, at least. "I don't know if love is enough just yet. I wasn't in love last time, and I ended up getting hurt. It left me hesitant," I revealed, hoping this made it clear for him. I didn't want to discuss it anymore because it would only turn into him trying to convince me to do something that I was going to say no to until I was absolutely certain of myself. So I stretched, leaning up to press my lips to his once more.

"Oh shit…" another voice trailed off and I quickly broke from Dominic and sat up to see who it was. Of course it was Alex. This was his room. "Sorry for interrupting," he apologized, holding his hands up in defense as if he was trying to get away from some argument he had started.

"It's cool, man," Dominic assured him, wrapping his arm protectively around my waist when he followed my moves by sitting up. "We did kind of take over your room, so we should probably let you do whatever you needed to do," he said, and pulled me to stand up along with him.

"I was actually just coming to find Val," Alex responded, shaking his head and waving us forward to pass him out the door. I didn't even have to look at my boyfriend to know that his eyes narrowed. "I was getting ready to put Taking Back Sunday on. I knew she wouldn't want to miss the chance to dance to her favorite band," Alex said, still mostly talking to Dominic. The smile that spread across his face was only for me though.

A similar smile took over my lips and I turned to Dominic as we continued down the hall to the stairs. "Are you going to dance with me, babe?" I wondered with my best cute girlfriend voice. The grimace he gave in response was all the answer I needed. He often liked to remind me that the music I listened to wasn't the music he would ever want to listen to willingly. "Guess it'll just be me then," I announced, not even fazed by his refusal to dance with me only because he wouldn't like the band.

When we made it back to the living room, Dominic instantly went off to get himself a drink, not even bothering with words. I crossed my arms as I continued to follow Alex, shaking my head to myself. I may have still been on the fence about whether or not I loved him, but it still hurt and bothered me when Dominic got temperamental for seemingly no reason. I hated putting in effort to figure out what had caused it because he wouldn't tell me. These times were becoming increasingly frequent, so I was thrilled to push them all aside and sincerely have fun. There was a second of silence as Alex switched the CD, but no one appeared to notice as the music started up again, continuing to dance just as they had been. I joined right along. I couldn't dance, not in any form. But I didn't let it stop me. When I wanted to dance, I wanted to dance. And with my favorite band playing, I certainly wasn't going to pass up the opportunity.

Surely, Lisa was around here somewhere, dressed as most of the other girls were. But Alex sidled up to me and kept time with the beat along with me. "So what's wrong with your boyfriend?" he asked, not fearing that this may be the wrong thing to say.

I shrugged, not caring. "He's probably just pissed because I wouldn't have sex with him in your room. Whatever." I waved it off, the words rolling off my tongue swiftly turning into the lyrics from the song that was playing. As I sang, I listened to Alex guffaw.

"Well, I thank you for that. I like to be the only dude that gets lucky in my bed," he asserted, quickly taking my hand and unexpectedly spinning me around. I went along with it though and felt my cheeks flush with exhilaration. "What are you doing tomorrow?" he asked when I was facing him again.

I didn't think about how it was strange that he would ask in this moment. "Cuddling on the air mattress in the spare room with tons of blankets and pillows and having a Halloweentown marathon. Care to join?" I countered knowingly, one eyebrow raised in question. It was clear he wanted to hang out and I wasn't going to turn away company for my movie marathon. It was no surprise when he accepted. In the middle of the living room, we continued dancing, being joined by Gwen and Jack, Nic and Zack, and Rian and Kara who dragged Murph with them. Drinks were consumed -even one or two by myself- and fun was had on our favorite holiday. All the while, I didn't even notice Dominic standing on the other side of the room, looking on and refusing to join in the fun.