We were entering the home stretch in our schedule as the volleyball season wound down to a close. We were feeling good about our chances, especially given the way we’d been playing in the last month or so. It was well within our grasp to make the playoffs, maybe even as district champs.

Some of the other girls were playing well, but I knew I was the only one really banking on an athletic scholarship to college so it meant a whole lot more to me than any of the others. Because of this fact I poured myself into the workouts, doing what I could create as solid and smooth a team as possible. If it meant buttering Nicole up so she’d be more confident and aggressive or stepping back to give Jenny a chance to shine, I did it. Of course I kept focus on my own game, too, because after all I was the team’s tallest player and therefore best at the net.

A few of the teams we played that we thought would give us a really hard time were easier than expected and as we got more assertive on the court our victories came one after another. I was feeling really good about my game and giving it all I had.

When games went right it was almost a magical experience. ‘Zen-like’, I guess my mom’s friend Mai Ling would say. I got into a zone and my entire world shrank down to just the court, the players, and most of all, the ball itself. It felt as if I could do anything when I achieved that state. I’d heard it described as ‘Flow states’ or ‘peak experiences’, and all I knew is that when I got into it nothing else mattered and my game was perfect.

I felt an incredible rush from playing so intensely and wished I could focus like that all the time, but it never lasted for very long. Still, we won every single match when I hit the zone, and Coach mentioned that she could see it in my playing when I was on top of my game. It was good to get the positive feedback that all my hard work was paying off.

I also found it surprisingly gratifying that Emmy came to all our games, even our road games. It was great to have someone cheering for our side in other schools’ gyms, since very few people ever came to watch volleyball at all.

“Are you going to Stephen’s Halloween party?” Emmy asked out of the blue during a break between games at West Escondido.

“What? You’re going?” I asked, surprised. “How do you even know Stephen? You’ve only been here at school for a few weeks and already you’re plugged into the social scene? I’ve never even seen you talk to Stephen, even though we’re in all the same classes!” I responded. “Yeah, I think I might go. I’ve known him forever, and he throws good parties,” I said, lamely.

“I adore Halloween! I am going to start working on my costume. I already have some ideas- do you know what you will wear?” Emmy chirped. The excitement in her face was funny to see. She was so enthusiastic, so thrilled with the idea of dressing up.

“I don’t know. Probably something slutty. It’s hard to find a costume for girls that isn’t too sexy. I swear- it’s as if Halloween is just an excuse to look like all you want to do is have sex,” I said, a bit bitterly. “I don’t know. I haven’t given it any thought. You?”

“I think, if it is supposed to be sexy,” and here she gave me an exaggerated wink, “perhaps I will be a sexy devil. Yes. I think that is it. A sexy devil. Ultra plus sexy.”

“Well, O.K. But I think you maybe misunderstood me. I didn’t say it had to be sexy, it’s just that all the costumes you can buy are that way,” I explained.

“Oh, no, Leah. I understood perfectly. But if I am going to have fun with it, I might as well have very much fun with it. And besides, devil girls are supposed to be temptresses, no?”

“Yeah, sure, I guess. Just don’t expect me to do much tempting. That just isn’t my style at all,” I replied, returning my focus to the match.

When time came, Courtney and I decided to dress as pirates, as unimaginative as that was. She went for the predictable sexy pirate wench route, but I opted for the Jack Sparrow look. I had to admit it wasn’t very original, but it was easy. Robbing my mom’s closet got me most of what I needed, after all. She hadn’t been to a Ren Faire since Dad died, but still had all the clothes.

The party was just getting started when we pulled up in Courtney’s Nissan. There might have been maybe ten people just milling around, almost all guys. Stephen was happy to see us.

“Thanks for coming. I was beginning to worry it was going to be a pure sausage fest. At least we’ll have two hot babes here!”

Courtney said “Thanks. But don’t worry. Alyson said that she and the other cheerleaders are coming at nine or so. Of course, we’ll still be the hottest babes here.” She smiled at Stephen. “Now where’s the alcohol?”

Sure enough, the cheer squad arrived en masse a bit after nine o’clock. If I thought that my costume showed a lack of creativity, theirs beat mine hands down. They came as, you guessed it, cheerleaders. O.K., vampire cheerleaders, but still. Black fingernail polish and plastic teeth were weak efforts.

I have to say, though, that we were all greatly overshadowed in our efforts at costumes when Emmy strode in. When she’d said she was going to dress as a sexy devil, I had no idea she was going to go so all-out. Over the top might be a better description.

My first impression on seeing her was that she was really tall. Her heels must have been six inches tall, and adding to that her hair was swept up into dozens of waving spikes, dyed yellow at the roots and red at the tips so they looked like flames rising from her head. All told, it made her well over six feet tall, which gave the impression that she was the tallest person at the party.

Her outfit was totally outrageous. By totally outrageous, I mean she looked like a cross between a dominatrix, a fashion model, and a classic Hollywood demon.

She wore a blood red corset-like bustier, displaying far more cleavage than was legal in most Southern states. It looked as if it were made of leather and silk, with a black satin ribbon laced in the back holding it together.

Her skin-tight pants (if they could be called that) matched the bustier. Also blood red leather with silk details, they were so low-cut they almost qualified as thigh-highs. I mean, I’ve seen low-cut hip huggers before, but these bordered on pornographic. The sides were slit all the way up, with a black satin ribbon on each side lacing the front and back halves together, but leaving a two inch gap of bare skin showing all down each side. The red leather and satin contrasted with Emmy’s midnight black skin creating a very demonic appearance indeed, and showing off how sharp her hipbones looked. I mean, I knew she was skinny, but really?

Her crazy high heels looked completely painful. They reminded me of ballerina toe shoes, but made of dark red leather. A long slender spike of a heel and just the tips of her toes bore all her weight. I wouldn’t be able to take a single step in those shoes without breaking both my ankles, but Emmy seemed to have no such problem at all.

She walked in the door with an odd gliding stride. She didn’t just sway her hips- no, her whole body moved with every step in a strange, boneless motion that reminded me of videos I’ve seen of sidewinder snakes in the sand. How she did it I couldn’t say, but the effect was both hypnotic and a bit disturbing.

Emmy saw Stephen and went over to say hello. The look on his face (and everybody else’s in the room, too) was a mixture of shock and I’m not sure what else. I mean, Emmy could have walked in completely naked and not caused any more of a stir. Dramatic can’t begin to describe the effect she was having.

Emmy took Stephen’s stunned face in her hands and gave him a kind of kiss on the lips, but just barely brushing her lips on his.

In a husky, low voice she said “Good evening, Stephen. Thanks for inviting me to your party.” She let him go, then turned and walked over to where I was standing with Tom and Courtney. Randy, Stephen’s best friend since elementary school, slapped him on the back. “Wake up! Earth to Stephen!”

Stephen’s face lost its dazed look and just became annoyed. “Fuck off. You’re just jealous she kissed me,” I heard him say. “Because that’s how I roll.”

To the three of us she gave her more usual cheek kisses.

“I thought you weren’t going to dress sexy, Leah,” she said in that same breathy voice. “And yet look at you and Courtney. I would gladly surrender my booty to the two of you, you look so good.”

I felt my face turn red- I’m sure it just about matched Emmy’s clothes at this point. Courtney, too, looked more than just a little bit uncomfortable at the innuendo, which surprised me- usually she’s the one making comments like that.

Emmy turned to Tom and gave him a big smile. That’s when I noticed she had fangs. Not the cheap plastic vampire teeth like the ones the cheerleaders had already given up on, either. These things looked real. Real sharp, too. If I hadn’t ever seen her before I’d be convinced that they were in fact her real teeth. I don’t know how she had them done, but they were done very well, indeed. The little horns on her forehead looked completely believable, too. Some makeup artist did a great job, all right.

“Tom, my dear,” Emmy breathed, fingering the sheriff’s star on his suede vest. “Maybe you should arrest me for being bad. Because I’m going to be very bad tonight. You did bring your handcuffs, I hope?”

With a little laugh, she lifted his chin to close his mouth. Then she spun and walked away with that odd stride, her shoulders thrown back and her chin high.

“Jesus Christ! Did you see her eyes?” Courtney asked.

“Umm, no… I was too busy noticing other things,” said Tom.

“I’ll just bet you were. She certainly had her ‘other things’ on display,” Courtney snorted. “Well, her eyes were blood red. She’s got some of those contact lenses in, but they look a lot more real than any I’ve seen before.”

“Did you notice her teeth?” I asked.

“Yeah I did. She went for all the details, all right. Even her necklace was crazy,” Courtney shook her head in amazement.

“What about her necklace?” asked Tom.

“How could you have not seen it? It was right there between her tits. I don’t have any idea how you could have missed it, the way you were staring at them. Well, take a good look at it next chance you get. That necklace is pretty freaking amazing.” Courtney rolled her eyes at our inability to see the obvious.

Tom was checking his pockets for something, so I gave him a questioning look.

“I might have to go,” he said, apologetically. “But I’ll be right back. I forgot my handcuffs at home,” he smiled.

I smirked, and Courtney gave him a shove. “You go, cowboy.”

I next saw Emmy in the living room, where Stephen had moved all the furniture to the sides to make a little dance floor. Emmy was the only one dancing- I guess the others hadn’t had enough to drink yet. Emmy was swaying to the music, again in that strange, boneless way. Her eyes were closed, as if she were wrapped up in her own little world, oblivious to the stares from everyone else.

“Dude, she is so freaking hot!” I heard one of the football players say to another.

“So hot. I’ll bet she’s a real tiger in bed,” his friend agreed. “What I wouldn’t give for a night with that!”

Pigs, I thought. But then, I realized that’s exactly what Emmy wanted. She knew what she was doing with that outfit, acting the way she was. A sexy devil temptress. She’d said it herself.

She looked up, as if she somehow knew I was there. “Ah, Leah. How are you tonight?” she asked as she walked over to me. “Are you having a good time? I am. Do you need something to drink? Let’s go.”

She took my hand and led me to the back patio where the keg was set up, along with cups and sodas in coolers.

“Emmy-“ I started, but she put a finger to my lips.

“Halloween is a special night. It's a night when a person can be other than one’s typical self, become someone different. Tonight you are Captain Jill Sparrow, and tonight I'm Ruby, temptress from the Inferno.”

“Ruby, then.” I said. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit excessive?”

“Oh, but no,” she replied. “It’s fun, and that is what I want tonight. Tonight I’m going to enjoy myself.” She gave me a big, scarily fanged smile.

While we were talking, I noticed what Courtney had meant about the necklace. It was a large deep red ruby (far too large to be real) on a gold chain. In the dim light of the back patio I saw that it glowed with a slow pulsing light. One more strange thing about her tonight, I thought. Her ears had matching ruby studs (although they didn’t seem to glow), and so did her bellybutton. Even the little tiny nostril stud she wore was a ruby. She really had pulled out all the stops for her sexy devil costume. In a way, it was very impressive, I thought.

Just then Mindy Stock (one of the vampire cheerleaders) and some boy I didn’t know walked up.

“Umm, Emmy…” stammered Mindy, obviously intimidated. “Where did you learn to dance like that? That was really incredible.”

“Mindy. How lovely to see you” said Emmy in that low, sexy voice. “Is that your boyfriend?” she asked, indicating the boy dressed like Fred Flintstone.

Again, I wondered how she knew everybody’s name. I wish I could master that trick.

“Uh, no. Um, he’s my cousin. My cousin Robert. He’s from Oregon.”

“If he’s not your boyfriend, then that means he’s available, no?” Emmy said, as she sidled up to him, gently stroking, then softly raking her long, sharp red nails across his cheek. “And he’s so cute, too…”

Robert smiled, pleased with the compliment and the attention. As he raised his arm to put it around her, Emmy stepped over to Mindy.

“If he’s not your boyfriend, then that also means that you, too, could go home with anybody you wish. What a lovely idea,” she mused with a purr, as she put her hands on Mindy’s hips.

Emmy stepped away with a laugh when she saw the stricken look on the girl’s face.

“Oh, Mindy, I’m just teasing you. You can relax.” The look of relief on Mindy’s face was immediate. “To answer your question, I’ve been taking daily dance lessons from the time I could first walk. I love to dance. It’s one of my very favorite things.”

Continuing, Emmy said “I’ve seen your cheer squad workouts. You are one of the best dancers on the team. You and Stephanie, but I think you have more natural talent. Please do not tell Stephanie I said that, though. She is very proud of herself.”

That’s certainly true enough, I thought. Stephanie would never let anybody forget she was captain of the cheerleading squad.

“If you would like, we could dance together some time” Emmy finished. It struck me that while Emmy was talking to Mindy about dance she’d reverted to her normal voice, forgetting to maintain her sexy devil persona.

“That’d be great!” Mindy said, having recovered her composure.

Just then something caught Emmy’s eye inside. “Oh…” she sighed. We all looked into the house to see what had caught her attention. A girl I recognized as Sara Diaz had just walked in to the living room from the front hall. I have to admit I was really surprised to see her there at the party at all. She was, after all, the quiet girl at the back of the class- the one who never spoke unless the teacher called on her. The one everybody forgets is there just because she makes such little impression. Honestly, I don’t think we’ve said any more than a dozen sentences to each other over the years, and I’ve known her since seventh grade. Heck, we have two or three classes together this term! She’d never been to any parties as far as I knew, and I’d never seen her at any school dances or anything. She was so shy that one time in ninth grade she’d broken down and cried when she had to give an oral presentation in social studies.

And yet, there she was, at Stephen’s Halloween party, the social event of the term. Still, judging by her lost look, she’d been dragged to the party by her best friend Juli Andrade. I just knew she had to be behind Sara’s being there, and sure enough, I saw Juli through the kitchen window talking to somebody out of view.

Emmy was still staring at Sara with a look that seemed to me to be like a lioness watching a gazelle at a watering hole in the savannah.

“Excuse me. I see something very, very sweet, and I am so partial to angel food.” As Emmy said this, again in that husky, sensual voice, she smiled wide, exposing those ever so convincing fangs. More disturbing, though, was the way her pink tongue ran along the tip of her way too sharp canine, the way some people lick their lips. It seemed an unconscious action, but I am sure she’d practiced it plenty to get it to look that way.

She started back into the house, and that’s when I realized what she’d meant. Sara’s silvery white empire-style dress and little silver circlet against her long black hair made sense. I didn’t see any wings, but since Sara was facing us maybe they were just hidden from view.

The three of us watched as Emmy slithered (and that’s actually a good word to describe it) over to Sara. She stalked around the girl, eying her up and down, finally walking up behind her to talk, pressing herself against the embarrassed girl and whispering into her left ear from behind.

Sara was blushing, turning redder and redder as Emmy continued whispering close to her ear. Emmy was gently stroking Sara’s right shoulder and the side of her neck, while her left hand was exploring the disconcerted girl’s hip.

I was getting embarrassed just watching this, and I know I wasn’t alone.

Robert asked Mindy “She goes to your school, right?” When Mindy nodded yes, unable to stop watching the scene though the sliding glass door, he continued “Is she always like this?”

Mindy shook her head, and said “No, she’s not normally like this.”

“The teeth are fake, right?” Robert seemed to want some reassurance. “And the eyes and the skin, right?”

“No, that’s her real skin color,” said Mindy, finally able to talk.

I looked back inside to see Emmy had slipped Sara’s dress strap off over her shoulder as she stroked along Sara’s neck and collarbone. Finally it seemed Sara had had as much as she could stand, and she shook Emmy off. She turned around to face Emmy, and I saw that she did in fact have white wings painted on her shoulder blades.

She gave Emmy a little push and then very deliberately turned her back on Emmy, crossing her arms with a scowl.

Emmy slinked back to us out on the patio. I saw that as Emmy walked away Sara turned to watch her go, and was distractedly rubbing her hip where Emmy’s hand had been. She look thoughtful, it occurred to me.

“Oh, how delightful!” said Emmy. “But it’s a shame. Oh well, you win some, you lose some” and she gave a wicked laugh. Tormenting and teasing a shy girl is delightful? How mean is more like it, I thought.

“How about you, Robert? Would you care to dance with me?” Emmy asked, but it sounded more like a dare than anything else.

“Uh… no, thanks. I’m a terrible dancer. I’d just humiliate myself,” he responded, looking more than just a tiny bit alarmed.

“Mindy, then. Come with me. We need to get people dancing” Emmy said as she took Mindy’s hand and pulled her to the dance floor. It didn’t look as if Mindy had any resistance planned.

Soon, the two were dancing but not really dancing with each other. Dancing together but separately might be a good way to describe it. A few other girls joined in after a little while, and then some boys worked up the nerve.

Robert and I were still out on the patio, just watching. “Emily’s her name, right?” he asked.

“Huh? Oh, no. It’s Emmy. Short for Emerald. When she doesn’t have those red contacts in, her eyes are really green” I said, too quickly. I realized it made me seem like an idiot.

“Mindy said that’s her real skin color. I’ve never seen anybody like that before. Ever. Where’s she from?” Robert wanted to know.

“Well, you heard her accent. She was raised in Paris, but I have no idea about where her family’s from before that. And no, I’ve never even heard of anybody like her before she came to our school. She sure is different, all right,” I blabbed.

Robert said “I’m either going to have really good dreams tonight or really scary ones. Or maybe both at the same time.”

I have to admit he made me laugh with that one.

“Hey, you want another beer? I’m getting cold. Let’s go inside” he said.

By this time there was actually a small crowd dancing, but Emmy’s ridiculously tall heels and spiked hair made her stand out above the crowd, easy to pick out. She was dancing very close with Andy Temple, one of the few boys tall enough to look her eye-to-eye tonight. Andy was dressed as a prison escapee, wearing an orange jumpsuit with a chain on his ankle attached to the fake iron ball he was carrying in the crook of his arm.

Courtney grabbed my elbow and steered me into the kitchen. “Your girlfriend is out of control,” she said, looking back towards the living room where everybody was dancing.

“What do you mean, ‘my girlfriend’? I wasn’t the one Emmy was feeling up, now was I?” I retorted.

“Chill!” Courtney said. “It’s just a figure of speech. And about that, she practically violated that girl. I could hardly watch!”

“But you did, didn’t you?” I teased, getting a little revenge dig in.

“Yeah, well. Have you seen Tom recently? I’m starting to think maybe he did leave to get the handcuffs after all. He-” Courtney shut up because Sara Diaz walked into the kitchen just then. Sara looked around a bit, then asked us “Hey, do you guys know where the drinks are?”

“Uh, yeah,” I replied. “There are some coolers on the back patio. I think there are some cokes and diet cokes in the red one.”

“Um…” she looked a bit nervous. “I was hoping for something with alcohol in it. Maybe a beer?” she looked hopeful.

At this, a sultry voice from behind made Sara visibly jump. “I have something for you, my lovely” purred Emmy, handing her a glass of what looked like champagne. Sara took the glass, but she looked like a deer in the headlights, not sure which way to bolt.

“To Halloween” toasted Emmy, raising her own champagne glass. Reflexively, Sara clinked her glass against Emmy’s. She looked relieved, I noticed, when Emmy stopped looking at her like a candy to be unwrapped and turned her attention to Courtney and me.

“I have not seen you two dance yet. Do you two need alcohol, too? Come, mes amies. Let’s dance!” With this, she shepherded the two of us into the living room.

“Look- there’s a boy who needs someone to dance with, Courtney. I happen to know he thinks you are very pretty,” she said, waving to get Joel Smith’s attention. He came over and Emmy put Joel and Courtney’s hands together and shoved them out onto the dance floor, despite Courtney’s protests. Emmy then took my hand and pulled me after them. I resisted, though, and pulled her away from the dance area and the loud stereo to a quiet spot by the stairs.

“You’re overdoing it, don’t you think?” I asked.

“Overdoing it? What do you mean?” she asked, her voice serious for the first time that night.

“This whole sex kitten bit. That scene with Sara. You embarrassed the hell out of her, and she’s super shy to start with. That was just mean.” The irritation in my voice sounded harsher than I’d meant, but I couldn’t stop. “Playing with people like that isn’t nice.”

“Oh, Leah. I do not think she was as hurt as you feel she was. Look at her now,” and Emmy pointed through the doorway to the living room, where Sara was dancing with Stephen. “In truth, I think the attention did her good” Emmy said, returning to her sexy voice. “Perhaps she needs a little more,” she said, doing that thing with her tongue on her fang again. It was just as disturbing as it had been the first time.

“I give up. Do what you want, Emmy. Just leave me out of it, O.K.?” I stomped off, to find somebody else to talk to.

A while later, I saw Emmy on the dance floor again. She was dancing close with Sara. Really close. She was grinding against Sara from behind, and it sure didn’t look as if Sara had any objections to grinding right up against Emmy, either. Irritated, I turned away and bumped into Tom. He was looking past me at Emmy and Sara.

“What did I miss? Who’s that with Emmy? And most important, what are the two of them doing? Jeez- if they were any more graphic guys would be throwing dollar bills in their direction. I mean, wow! Look at ‘em go!” he exclaimed.

“No kidding,” I grumbled. “And where the hell have you been? I hope you got your handcuffs, after missing half the party.”

He looked confused, then remembered the earlier conversation. “Oh, no,” he said, laughing. “Dave got sick so I drove him home. The poor guy had to worship the porcelain god for about an hour before I could leave him to come back here. Hey, is there any beer left?”

As we walked back to the patio I looked for Emmy on the dance floor but she wasn’t there.

Mindy’s cousin Robert was also looking for a cup for beer for himself, so I introduced the two. “Robert here is Mindy Stock’s cousin from Oregon. Robert, this is my friend Tom Carter. Tom used to live in Oregon, too.” With that, I went back inside with my first beer of the evening. Normally I don’t like to drink, but hey- it was seeming more and more appropriate for the way the night was turning out.

Looking for Emmy, I found Stephen in the hall. “Hey, Leah,” he said. “Having a good time?”

“Yeah, sure. A little embarrassed by Emmy’s behavior, though, “ I confessed.

“Emmy’s behavior? Dude, she is making this party happen! Seriously, it’s freaking hot.” He took a big hit off his beer bottle, then continued. “Who’s that girl she’s all over? She looks familiar. Does she go to FHS?”

“Yeah. In fact, she’s in our third period class, Mr. Attentive. Her name’s Sara Diaz. She came with Juli Andrade. Why?” I asked.

“Well, she’s hot. I mean, Emmy’s like, all freakin’ scary hot, the way she’s dressed and acting tonight. But Emmy’s like, way out of my league, you know what I mean? I mean, really, she’s way out of anybody’s league. But that other girl, Sara? She’s more like a normal kind of hot. I mean, she seems like someone I might actually have a shot with. She did seem kinda into me when we were dancing…” He trailed off as he spotted Sara, who was back in the living room, dancing. I didn’t see Emmy with her, though Sara was now wearing Emmy’s glowing ruby necklace.

“Um, excuse me. I’ve got some work to do,” Stephen said as he headed over to the dance floor.

Watching him go, feeling a bit amused at his awkward determination, I was startled when someone bumped into me from behind. I turned around, only to have Emmy wrap her arms around me in a tight hug.

“Oh, Leah! I am having such a delicious time! This party is even better than I had hoped,” she said as she pulled me in tighter. I got an uncomfortably close and personal view of that cleavage she’d been displaying all night. With those insane heels of hers I was right there, getting a good whiff of her jasmine perfume.

She let me go out of the embrace, but held onto my shoulders. She looked into my eyes, and I returned her gaze, but those red eyes were just too weird. As she reached up to brush my hair out of my face, she got a crestfallen look.

“Oh, Leah. I am upsetting you, am I not? I do not want you to be sad. Halloween is a special night, and I am just having fun- being something I cannot usually be.” Tucking the errant strand of hair behind my ear, she continued. “Do not forget, it is only one night and it is only for fun.” Changing the subject, she suddenly looked concerned. “What time is it?”

Glad to return to a lighter note, I checked my phone. “Almost midnight. Why?”

“Oh, No! I have to leave soon!” and she took off for the living room. Emmy looked back over her shoulder and caught me watching the exaggerated sway of her hips. A quick wink my way got me blushing again. Jeeze, this girl could get under my skin, I thought.

She strolled into the living room and over to Sara, who was now dancing with Stephen. Emmy took Sara’s hand and gently pulled her away from the dance floor. Sara waved goodbye to Stephen who followed the two to the door. In fact, quite a large percentage of the partiers all followed Emmy and Sara, who were still holding hands. I guess everybody wanted to see what was going to happen next. Me, too, I have to admit.

Outside, Emmy turned to Stephen. She put her hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss, the same light pass of the lips she’d done when she arrived.

“Thank you very much for such a wonderful party, Stephen. The tricks have been fun and the treat- well, very, very delicious” she purred as she glanced meaningfully at Sara, who was waiting expectantly. Turning back to Stephen, she gave him a lascivious wink, and put something into his hand.

While this scene was playing out a long black limousine had quietly pulled up to the curb, running dark with all its lights off.

Emmy led Sara to the limo, and the driver (wearing a skull mask) opened the door for the fallen angel whose halo had gone missing some time before. Theatrical smoke poured out of the open door, and a flickering glow in the open doorway made it seem as if there were flames inside.

We all watched this in silence, almost as if we were holding our breaths wondering what was going to happen next. By this point pretty much the entire party was out on the front lawn, curious and a bit excited.

The limo slowly pulled away, still with no lights on at all, not even headlights. It rolled down the street, turned the corner and vanished out of sight. This seemed to be what everyone was waiting for, because we all started talking at once.

One boy (I didn’t see who) yelled out “Best! Party! Evar!” and a bunch of others joined in the laughter.

That’s when Stephen held up what Emmy had given him for everyone to see. When the crowd saw that it was a pair of lacy, silvery-white satin panties, the boys all cheered. When the noise died down a bit, Stephen buried his face in them and took a big, exaggerated breath. Exhaling, with a glazed look on his face, he said “I’ll be in my bunk” which prompted even more cheering and laughter.

“Pigs!” said Mindy, loud enough for everyone to hear. Laughing and making oinking noises, the crowd piled back into the house.

As if something had somehow been triggered or perhaps a barrier had been broken down, the energy level of the party increased dramatically. I’ve never actually been to a party that was like those in the movies- you know, everyone dancing, acting crazy, having a great time. I mean, this is high school, after all. Parties are always just a bunch of people standing around talking to their friends, holding beers in their hands, right? Well, not this time. Something about Emmy’s outrageous behavior had opened the floodgates and somehow, in some way, given the rest of us permission to act out of the ordinary. People were dancing, unconcerned whether they looked foolish or not. Others were talking, standing around with beers in their hands- the difference was that they weren’t just talking to their same old friends, but actually mingling.

About half an hour after Emmy left with Sara, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Emmy. “Is everyone talking about us?” she wanted to know.

“What do you think? Of course they are!” I texted back. I really don’t like texting slang, and I appreciate that Emmy doesn’t either. “OMG!” drives me up the wall. Most people have full keyboards on their phones nowadays, so there really is no excuse. Anyhow, she replied “Excellent. That is exactly what we wanted.”

“You planned all that?” I replied, incredulous.

“Of course! See you Monday. Have a good night.”

I couldn’t believe it. I just had to tell Courtney. I found her with Tom and Mindy’s cousin Robert.

“You’ll die when you see this,” I told them.

“What? Courtney asked, so I handed her my phone so she could see the text conversation.

“Holy shit! That was all an act! We were getting our chains yanked!” Courtney said, her eyes wide with excitement.

“What are you two talking about?” demanded Tom.

“Emmy and Sara- that whole scene was all staged to get attention. They were in on the whole thing!”

Unable to contain the news, Courtney zoomed off to tell anybody she could find.

“Wow. Crazy.” Said Robert. “So this girl Emmy? She was the devil girl, right? Why did she put on an act? I mean, I don’t know her, but she seems like somebody who has no problems getting attention. Why would she need to do something like this?”

“I don’t know,” said Tom.

Just then Mindy walked up with Jane Dixon, another girl from the cheer squad. “Is it true?” asked Mindy. “Was the whole scene with that other girl all an act?”

“It looks that way,” I admitted. I showed her the texts on my phone. Jane, reading the texts over Mindy’s shoulder, whipped out her own phone and texted somebody else. Within minutes everybody at the party had heard the news.

To my surprise, it only seemed to make the boys appreciate the performance all the more. The main topic of the night- the only topic, actually- was Emmy and Sara and the show they’d put on. I can’t tell you how many variations of the “My pants were uncomfortably tight” comment I overheard from any number of guys that night.

After a while Courtney and I left, even though the party was still going strong. Tom and Mindy’s cousin Robert had left earlier to go get something to eat, and I had a headache so we decided to call it a night.

In the car, Courtney clearly indicated she’d been giving the night more thought than I had. “So, Mindy’s cousin’s question got me thinking. Emmy and Sara set the whole scene up, right? To what end? I mean, why go through all that trouble?

“I don’t know,” I replied. “To get attention, I guess?”

“Sure. To get attention. But as Robert pointed out, and you and I know well, Emmy gets plenty of attention all the time. Plenty.” She added for emphasis. “Sara, though…” she trailed off.

It hit me. Courtney was absolutely correct. Sara was almost invisible at our school. She was quiet, and didn’t have many friends. It always seemed as if she went out of her way to avoid attention, though.

“Sara, though,” Courtney resumed. “Nobody even knew who she was, right? Well, they do now. I guarantee every boy at that party is going to notice her at school on Monday. Every single one. Suddenly she goes from an unknown that guys don’t look at once, much less twice, to a sexy desirable hottie.”

“Well, when you put it that way it makes all kinds of sense. But that only explains why Sara would want to put on the whole act. What does Emmy get from it?” I wondered.

“Well, if you hadn’t noticed, Emmy loves attention in general, especially from boys. Also, she really seems to enjoy playing games, and screwing with peoples’ expectations. For her it was probably just some kind of game,” Courtney finished.

“Yeah, I guess so. There are still some things I don’t understand, though. How does Emmy even know Sara, much less plan something like this out? Sara never talks to anybody. Emmy and I are together almost all day at school, and I’ve never even seen them talk once. When could they have gotten all this together?” I pondered.

“I don’t know,” said Courtney, “but I’m not at all surprised you don’t either. You’re really not the most observant person ever, and I say that as your oldest, bestest friend. You just told me the other day that you’d had no idea when Stephen had actually invited Emmy to his party, but they sure seemed to be friends tonight.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I admitted as Courtney pulled her old Nissan into our apartment’s parking lot. “See you at school on Monday.”

When Monday morning rolled around and Emmy showed up to pick me up for school, I asked her point-blank. “So what was that all about?”

“What?” she asked, clearly not on the same conversational track as me.

“The party. Sara. The panties. All of it.”

“Oh, Stephen’s party. That was so much fun! I had a wonderful time.” She gushed.

“So, what was the deal? That whole scene between you and Sara. How do you even know Sara, anyway?”

Smiling, Emmy explained. “Sara came to me after I had been at school for a few days. She wanted to know how I could be so confident and self-assured, because she had problems with shyness. I told her that I could help her, but it would be difficult for her.”

Emmy interrupted her explanation, pulling the car into the coffee hut’s drive-through. We ordered our usual, and Emmy resumed her tale.

“Sara also had feelings for Stephen, but felt there was no possible way for her to approach him. I suggested that she only needed to get his attention, and if he were interested he would do the work of approaching her.” Sipping from her espresso, Emmy continued. “Stephen invited me to his party, and I saw the perfect opportunity. And there it was.”

“And now you just need to see if it worked or not,” I conceded.

“Exactly,” Emmy agreed as we pulled into the school parking lot.

As we walked to Home Room, I noticed that the color hadn’t washed out of Emmy’s hair completely, leaving it a very light yellow with peach tips. I commented on it, and Emmy laughed.

“I know,” she said, laughing. “I hope it goes away soon.”