Poison and Wine

Putting the finishing touches on my hair, I took a step back to look at my costume in the full-length mirror in my and Annie’s room. I re-applied the gold lipstick to my lips and then smacked them together loudly. “Brynn, you almost done in there?” Annie called up from the first floor.

“Yeah, give me a second,” I called back, and adjusted my leaf-like gold circlet headband. I walked down the steps and saw Annie playing with one of the fake snakes in her hair. She looked over at me and grinned, the green lipstick making her teeth look a little whiter.

“Ready?” She asked. I nodded. Chris appeared out of nowhere, holding a camera in his hands.

“What exactly are you two supposed to be?” He asked. Annie and I shot him bored looks.

“Medusa,” Annie answered, motioning to the snakes in hair.

“Aphrodite,” I said a second later.

“Ah,” Chris stated with a somewhat sheepish smile on his face. “Well, Brynna, Antoinette, you both look lovely.”

“Thanks,” we said in unison. He made us pose for a couple pictures and then we quickly excited the house to Annie’s Nissan. I climbed into the passenger seat, careful not to jostle my hair and noticed Annie do the same thing. “Wait, hold on,” I said suddenly, reaching over to her hair.

“What?” She asked, not moving.

“One of your snakes were about to fall out.” I adjusted the plastic snake, pushing it a little deeper into the curls piled on top of her head.

“Oh, thank you,” she thanked, starting the car. The drive to the school Halloween Dance was spent listening to some Avenged Sevenfold, as it usually was. When we pulled up, I saw the twins and that Christina girl getting out of the back of a police cruiser. The twins were dressed up in what looked like slutty dancers and Christina looked to be a… “Is she really dressed up as a fucking fairy?” Annie asked. I shrugged.

“Looks that way.”

“Ew.” I laughed and the two of us got out of the car and walked to the front doors. As we walked past them, the twins gave us dirty looks and Christina looked like she was studying us. Annie raised an eyebrow. “What? Jealous you aren’t the only twins in this school anymore? Get the fuck over it.” Annie walked away and I gave the three of them a feral-ish looking grin.

“Tough luck,” I laughed, following my sister. I stopped at the tank with the snake like I always did. I love snakes and to see one stuck in a fucking tank for a bunch of teenagers to gawk at really pissed me off. Annie appeared next to me. “I’m so stealing this snake as my Senior Prank,” I promised and Annie started laughing.

“I honestly wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.” I grinned at her and we walked into the auditorium where the dance was actually being held. The second we walked in, two gladiators approached us. They didn’t look familiar, so I figured that they weren’t in our grade; either seniors or sophomores.

“Well, if it isn’t Aphrodite and Medusa,” Gladiator number one said, leering at the two of us.

“Would you two like to dance?” Gladiator number two said, holding out his hand to Annie. The two of us shared a look and then shrugged.

“Yeah, whatever,” she stated, letting her hand fall into his hand. He pulled her to the dance floor and Gladiator number one gripped my hand tightly, following his friend. The music changed to something upbeat with a little techno in it, and I scowled when I felt him start grinding against me. I looked over at Annie and saw her in the same predicament. We danced for a couple more songs, but when a slow song started playing, I quickly untangled myself from him.

“What? Don’t want to slow dance with me?” He asked with a stupid sneer on his face. I smiled brightly at him.

“Nope.” I walked away from him and sat down in one of the chairs at a table that was unoccupied. I saw Annie walking towards me, but her path was blocked by someone; Roman Godfrey. He said something to her that I couldn’t hear, but a couple seconds later, they were slow dancing.

“My cousin likes her.” I jumped, letting out a curse and looked over to see Letha standing there in a flapper outfit.

“Yeah, Shelley told us last week.” We sat there in an awkward silence for a while until Annie and Roman walked back over, laughing about something.

“Thank you for the dance,” he said, smiling slowly at Annie and then walking away with Letha trailing behind him.

“That was unexpected,” I commented.

“He’s actually not so bad once you get pass all of the rich-boy attitude.” I laughed and two of us went over to the table with snacks and drinks on it.

Fifteen minutes later, we were all being ushered out of the school by teachers, and most of the kids were screaming. “What a fucking waste,” Annie snapped, wrenching open the door to her car. I nodded, feeling pissed off myself. “Let’s go get some food since our dinner was so rudely interrupted.” I agreed and we went through a Burger King drive thru, and then went home.

“You’re home early,” Chris commented from his spot at the kitchen table.

“The dance was cut short,” I answered. He furrowed his eyebrows, looking like he was going to ask another question, but Annie quickly cut him off.

“You know what, we’re really tired,” she said, faking a yawn. “I think we’re gonna eat and then go to bed. Night.” She quickly ran out of the room and up the steps to our room.

“Night,” I echoed, following her. We quickly ate our food and then Annie looked over at me.

“Can I have the shower first?”

“Yeah, sure. I had it first last time.” She gathered up some clothes and hurried down the steps. I walked over to my desk, slipping off my bracelet, headband, earrings, etc. I slipped off my shoes and then sat down on my bed, waiting for Annie to be done. Ten minutes later, I heard her walking up the steps.

“All yours,” she said with a smile, plopping down on her bed. I grabbed some clothes and walked down the steps and into the bathroom. I took a shower quickly, and got changed. I tossed my dress into the dirty clothes and then exited the bathroom and into the kitchen. I grabbed two pints of Ben & Jerry’s, strawberry cheesecake for Annie and chocolate chip cookie dough for myself, and then walked back up the steps to our room.

“Here,” I said, tossing her the ice cream.

“Ooh, thanks,” she said, opening the lid. I tossed her a spoon and she quickly dug in. I plopped down on my desk chair and took bites of my own. As I was eating, I opened my laptop and went onto Facebook.

“God, those Sworn twins are fucking annoying,” I muttered around the metal spoon hanging from my mouth.

“Tell me how you really feel,” Annie deadpanned. I laughed, closing the laptop. After a few minutes, Annie stood up. “You done?” She asked, motioning to the ice cream in my hand. I nodded, putting the lid back on, and handing it to her. She walked down the steps quietly; we figured that Chris was probably asleep like the senior citizen he acted like so she decided to be quiet. A minute later, she walked back up, and fell onto her bed. I stood up, stretched lightly, and then climbed into my own bed, cuddling with covers.

“Night, Annie,” I said.

“Night, Brynn.” She reached over and turned off the light, sending the room into darkness.



That Monday at school, there was another rumor going around about Peter. He got questioned by someone and now everyone is thinking that he was the killer of the two girls. “How dumb can people be,” Annie grumbled. I shrugged.

“Pretty damn stupid, apparently.” Annie and I walked through the door into the stairwell to go to our next class, when I overheard two people talking.

“We’re doing it tonight, right?” One of them asked and it sounded like Roman.

“You bring the shovels,” someone that sounded Peter answered. Annie and I looked at each other.

What the hell were those two planning?