Whoever She Is

Finally fulfilling my true purpose on this planet – going to a Hallowe’en party in matching Mickey and Minnie costumes.

“Add mouse and pumpkin emojis… send tweet,” Kimmi muttered to herself, smiling as the post loaded on her timeline.

Elyse glanced at the tweet over her shoulder, poking at Kimberley and rolling her eyes. “Fucking lame. You already tweeted about it three days ago. And the week before. And the week before that. And posted a progress picture of the masks on Instagram. You’re so smitten about him, not the costumes.”

“Shut up.”

“You forgot to add heart eyes and the kissing emojis, and Flyzik’s Twitter handle.”

“Shh!” Kimmi shushed her just as Flyzik caught up to them with the mouse masks.

“Here ya go!” he grinned, handing Kimmi hers.

Elyse gave Kimmi a knowing look and turned away to ring the doorbell.

Maya and Luke, their hosts for the evening, really did have a huge house. Flyzik was impressed. They’d kitted it out in every Hallowe’en decoration imaginable; webs, skeletons, fake and real pumpkins, little tombstones, spiders, bats, glowing green slime, sound machines with witchy laughs playing… the whole nine yards. Cool as it was, though, he was way more impressed with he and Kimberley’s costumes.

They’d decided they wanted to go a little further than the usual outfit replicas with mouse ears – they’d opted to make their own Mickey and Minnie head masks. It was a lot of papier-mache and paint but they’d done it with about a day to spare until the party.

Matt was dressed in black leggings and a plain black long-sleeved shirt, and a bright red pair of shorts on top. He’d bought two comically huge white buttons and hot-glued them onto the shorts himself. He already had some yellow Converse which worked great for Mickey’s classic yellow shoes, and a little pair of white cotton gloves to complete the look.

Kimberley was wearing a similar plain black long-sleeved shirt, with the white cotton gloves, and thick black tights. But on top of those, she had a puffy red skirt patterned with white polkadots, paired with a pair of simple patent yellow heels.

The masks covered their entire heads. Fortunately they were quite light to wear, and they could each sort of see out of the mouth section… visibility wasn’t great but it was worth it. They gave each other a nod before they each placed the masks over their heads.

“You’re here!” Maya yelled as she flung the door open, ushering everyone inside. “Get in! There’s some people already here but not everybody so get the good drinks while they last! Oh my God, look at your Mickey and Minnie outfits! Oh my God, that’s so— okay, get in.”

“She’s high energy,” Flyzik said.

“Tell me about it,” Kimmi rolled her eyes.

Kimberley, Tessa, and Elyse did their best to introduce Matt to who they could, but the house started filling up fast. After a quick tour of the downstairs areas and the garden, Tessa and Elyse headed off to get drinks, leaving Mickey and Minnie to their own devices.

After a couple more laps of the place saying hi to people, though, Matt needed a breather.

“You have a lot of friends.”

“Correction, Maya and Luke have a lot of friends,” Kimberley laughed. “I only know some of these people.”

“Alright, fair enough. Do you want something to drink?”

“Uh, yes please.”

“You want Vanilla Coke? I saw bottles in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, thank-you.”

“Be right back!”

Kimberley smiled as she watched the giant Mickey Mouse navigate his way through to the kitchen. He knew what drink she’d want and everything. Maybe Elyse was right, maybe she was a tiny bit smitten.

/////

From across the room, though, someone was watching. Someone else in a Mickey Mouse costume – the shorts, the gloves, the mask. He’d entered via the back gate while the party was in full swing… guests were arriving every few minutes, both the house and the yard were filling with people. Nobody questioned his presence. The house was too busy for Maya and Luke to greet every single new guest. People showed up in accidental doubles of costumes all the time, right?

This wasn’t an accident though.

This was a plan.

This second Mickey had seen Kimberley’s tweets and monitored her Instagram. A progress photo of the making of the masks had made it all too perfectly easy for Aled Phillips to replicate, and come dressed nearly identical to Flyzik.

Aled hadn’t been able to get over Kimmi. They’d been a perfect match, once upon a time, until she ended it. He’d obsessively check her social media accounts every single day. He couldn’t stand the thought that she might be with someone new when he saw the tweets implying a couples costume. Nobody could make her happier than he could, he just had to make her see that. He was going to win her back. Tonight.

/////

“Kimberley!” a voice cried from across the kitchen, causing Kimmi to almost spill the drink Flyzik just got her at the suddenness of it.

“Jeez,” she muttered, shaking the drips of Coke that escaped the cup off her hand.

“Who is that?” Matt chuckled.

“More Maya’s friend than mine, but I know her… I’m sorry, I should really go mingle, I haven’t seen these people in forever and it’s probably rude but I don’t really want to abandon you on your own?”

Matt waved her off. “Don’t worry about it, say hi to people. I heard Luke saying he was gonna get more beer crates from the garage, I’ll go offer him a hand.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah! It’s your Hallowe’en too, you don’t have to babysit me.”

“Well. Okay. Sweet, uh, just meet me in the game room on the second floor in maybe thirty minutes? They’ve got cool stuff up there, I think you’d love it.”

“They have a game room? That’s it, I’m moving in here.”

Kimberley laughed and nodded, then turned to go and greet her friends. Matt rubbed his gloved hands together, feeling a little stranded now that he was left to his own devices, but he didn’t want Kimberley to be glued to him all night. It didn’t seem fair. He’d cope on his own for half an hour.

With that, he made his way out to the back yard to find Luke and hopefully offer his assistance.

Aled watched carefully as Kimmi and her date separated. Kimmi went to friends, date went… somewhere else. He followed.

/////

Matt made his way through hordes of people in the yard, Mickey head under one arm, out to the side of the house where it was quieter. There was another building just off from the house, and Matt assumed that was the garage since he couldn’t see any cars in their driveway. He paced around the whole building but it was all locked up, no sign of Luke.

“Must’ve got waylaid,” Flyzik figured.

A man appeared from around the corner, wearing all black bar some red shorts, carrying a Mickey head mask under his arm. Matt stalled for a moment, confused by the mirror image.

“Hey?”

“Hi,” said the bleach blonde stranger, walking right up to him.

It was uncomfortably close, and Matt took a step back. “Uh, cool costume,” he chuckled, pointing to the mask. “I guess Mickey is kind of an obvious character to dress up as, huh?”

“Yep.”

“…So, how do you know Luke and Maya? I’m just someone’s plus-one, I haven’t really had a chance to get to know them.”

“We go back a few years. Haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Oh, cool, it’ll be nice to catch up then? I was just looking for Luke, actually, he said he needed to get more beer but he’s not around.”

“He’s busy.”

Matt nodded, clearing his throat. This guy was definitely a man of very few words, and none of them sounded friendly.

“I’m Matt Flyzik, by the way,” he said, extending his hand. “Happy Hallowe’en!”

Aled looked at Matt’s hand and then back to his face, ignoring it and his introduction completely. Matt waited a few more seconds before slowly lowering his hand, feeling increasingly unsettled.

“You’re Kimberley Love’s plus-one,” Aled stated. “How long have you been dating?”

Matt laughed from the complete shock of it, shaking his head. “What? No way, no. I’m guessing you’re a friend of hers too? No, we’re not dating. Just friends. She asked me to come to this thing so we could do a matching costume… we’ve both always wanted to be the classic Disney couple.”

“You’re telling me you’re not together,” Aled said flatly. “Do you think I’m fucking stupid? Of course you’re together.”

“Okay… who the hell are you? It’s not really any of your business anyway.”

“So you are dating?”

“No! She’s— I don’t know, okay? I don’t know if we’re going to or if this is a date, I don’t think it’s a date, but I don’t know. But I don’t see what any of it has to do with you. Who are you? Are you friends with her?”

Aled took a deep breath, placing his Mickey head down on the ground and then taking another two steps towards Flyzik. Flyzik backed up once more, suddenly much more aware of the fact they were most definitely alone. Outside of the house, away from the backyard… there were no other people near the garage at all. It was just the two of them, and Matt didn’t like it.

“You listen to me. You’re gonna leave. Right now. Call yourself a cab or walk, I don’t give a damn how or where you go, but you’re gonna leave this party right now without a word to anyone. Especially Kimberley. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. There’s only one person for her, and it’s not you. So go.”

Matt blinked for a moment, allowing that to sink in. “Are you a fucking stalker? I’m not going anywhere. Certainly not because you told me to.”

Aled clenched his teeth, getting increasingly impatient. “I’m warning you. Get the fuck out.”

“No. Fuck you.”

Flyzik shoved past him, intending to march back to the house as soon as possible and ask Kimmi if she knew this absolute lunatic. But he didn’t get a chance. Aled decided he was tired of waiting and if Matt was going to leave, well… it was time for plan B.

Aled dragged Matt backwards, slamming him down on his back, and just started throwing punches. Matt kicked and squirmed to get away, managing to stand. He was too dazed to try hitting back so he headed for the fence. If he could climb into the front yard and access the house from the main door again, at least there’d be witnesses. Aled wasn’t about to let him escape now, though. He shoved Flyzik against the wooden fence and then to the ground, and kicked him. He punched him a few more times, until Flyzik had absolutely no chance of even crawling to an escape. Not right now, anyway.

“Alright, buddy,” Aled said, dragging Matt over to the bushes and shoving him into them. “You can be the neighbours’ problem now.”

He tossed his bloodied gloves into the bushes with him and dusted himself off. He stamped on his own Mickey head and crammed it into the garbage, and then took Matt’s to replace it.

It hadn’t exactly went as he was hoping – Matt leaving quietly would’ve been way more convenient. But he was out of the way.

It was time for phase two of Aled’s plan. He knew that Kimberley wouldn’t just take him back on a whim. He’d make her a little jealous. There would be a confrontation, she’d see it was him, and then they could talk. Reconcile. She’d remember how perfect they were together.

They could work it out, he knew they could. This Matt guy didn’t hold a candle to what they’d had.

/////

Where are you??? Did you get lost???

Kimmi sighed, Minnie mouse mask under her arm, as she sent Flyzik a fifth text asking of his whereabouts – half an hour had been and gone and there was no sign of him in the game room. She’d even tried calling but it just rung out.

Maybe he wasn’t getting any signal. Or maybe it was on silent and he just hadn’t checked it yet. Or maybe he had put it down somewhere and lost it. Maybe he got caught up helping Luke and they were making friends.

She decided there wasn’t really a point standing around stressing about it. He was already fifteen minutes late, so she figured if he wasn’t going to reply, probably best to go look for him.

There was no sign of him on the second floor so she headed back down to the ground floor.

“He’s carrying around a giant Mickey head, he can’t be that hard to spot,” she whispered in annoyance, throwing people a smile and a wave when she recognised them. No time to stop and chat. She’d lost her costume partner and honestly, she had kind of found herself hoping maybe tonight, Flyzik would ask her on a date again. “Where are you…?”

Sure enough, he wasn’t that hard to spot. Kimmi caught sight of him as soon as she was in the dining room doorway.

He was seated in the corner, mask and all, with a pretty girl in his lap. He had one hand slung low around her waist, the other suspiciously high up her inner thigh. She was dressed in almost nothing, apparently sporting a sexy nun outfit, which was fine, but it did put a lot of emphasis on just how pretty she was. She was giggling at him and playfully tweaking the Mickey nose.

Stunned by the interactions between them, Kimberley stepped inside the dining room so as not to block the doorway, and watched them.

They were talking, the girl was laughing. She kept rubbing his chest and his hand seemed to creep further up her thigh every few moments. Matt ran a hand through her hair and then patted her thigh. He must’ve said something because then she nodded and hopped up off his lap, taking his hand and guiding him towards the door.

They bypassed Kimberley.

Matt looked right at her on the way out the door. It only lasted seconds, but it felt like much longer to Kimmi.

And then he was gone. She went to the doorway and watched the pair of them vanish down the hall to the stairs. Matt even looked back at her, his mask making the situation feel all the more ridiculous. She supposed they were off to some bedroom, though why Matt kept staring at her was beyond her. If it was for approval, he wasn’t going to get it here.

Without a word, Kimberley exited the party, dumping her Minnie mask by the door on her way out.