"I can't believe you convinced me into wearing this costume," Katie groans.

I look up, Katie is standing in my doorway with her arms crossed and pouting. She's wearing a short strapless black dress, black fishnet tights, heels, white satin cuffs, a collar, and bunny ears.

I laugh. "Come on, it's Halloween. I've been throwing giant parties every year so I have to have a good costume."

I'm wearing a red silk robe over a black dress shirt, and a white captain's hat. "I think our matching costumes are great," I say with a wide grin.

She walks into my room, and stands in front of the mirror, fixing her hair.

"I think you look really good," I wink at her, and her face turns red.

__________________

Guests begin filtering in. I got my interior designer to decorate my place for the party. Normally I book some sort of venue, but my penthouse is big enough to host. The decorations are impressive, and I hired a bartender this year.

I see Ray and his girlfriend come in. They're dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I go over to them.

"Hey Ray, hey Stephanie," I greet them, "cute costumes."

Ray laughs. "Stephanie insisted on matching costumes."

She looks at me, confused. "What are you supposed to be?"

Katie happens to appear next to us right after she says that.

I put my arm around her waist. "Make sense now?"

"Oh, Stephanie this is our friend Katie," Ray nods to Katie.

Stephanie gives me a suspicious look, she's always seemed very skeptical of me. "Friend?"

"Yes, friend," I say.

She continues giving me a look, but smiles when she turns to Katie. "Nice to meet you, let's go get a drink!" she exclaims cheerfully, as she links her arm around Katie's and pulls her away.

"So what's going on between you two?" Ray asks me, "You're not dating right?"

"Nope, we're just friends," I state plainly.

"I'm pretty sure she has a thing for you. Are you leading her on?" he frowns a bit. "You have to be honest with her. Let's not repeat that incident you had with Sally that time in sophomore year."

"No, nothing's going on. There's nothing to be 'honest' about," I say. I know exactly what I'm doing, I have everything under control.

__________________

Stephanie and I have both gotten our drinks and are sitting on one of the sofas. Things are getting pretty hectic as more and more people arrive. "I'm so glad I'm finally meeting you," Stephanie says with a big smile, "Ray and Lincoln spoke a lot about you."

"It's nice to meet you too," I smile. I wonder what they told her about me.

Stephanie ends up being super kind and down to earth. Definitely a good fit for Ray.

"Hey Tee!" she calls. I turn and see Tina, she's wearing a short grey dress and mouse ears.

"Hey you two," she says, coming over and sitting with us.

For someone who hates parties, I have a surprising amount of fun. Stephanie, Tina, and I spend most of the night together. We people-watch, and rate their costumes. Tina shares funny stories about the guys when they were kids. We end up drinking a little more than we probably should.

I notice Tina and Stephanie suddenly share a panicked look, Stephanie tilts her head to the side and Tina nods. "Hey Katie, why don't we go get more drinks?" Stephanie quickly asks, taking my arm.

"What's wrong?" I raise an eyebrow, and turn to look in the direction they're facing.

I see Lincoln, he has his arm around a girl. She's wearing fluffy wings and a halo, and a revealing short white dress. They're with a group of people talking and laughing. She leans over and kisses his cheek. My heart sinks and I quickly turn back around. Tina and Stephanie give me sympathetic looks, and Stephanie puts her hand on mine.

"Are you alright?" she asks gently.

I nod, "Yeah, we broke up ages ago, I'm good."

They look sad when they notice the slight shake in my voice.

"Let's go get more drinks," I say, before they ask me anything else. We head over to the bar and they both order mixed drinks. While they're talking, I order four shots. I down three of them before they notice.

"Katie! Oh my god," Stephanie shouts, yanking the forth glass out of my hand, glaring at the bartender, "you've had way more than enough tonight for someone your size."

Tina grabs me. "Let's go outside and get some air."

The three of us sit on one of the sofas outside. Even with the cool autumn air, I can feel my face starting to heat up and turn red, thanks to my Asian genes. Things are starting to spin and I feel lightheaded.

I take off the cuffs, collar, and ears and toss them onto the ground. Stupid costume anyways. I slump into the sofa defeated and sigh.

Tina and Stephanie are being very attentive. "What's wrong Katie?" Tina asks.

All my emotions feel magnified, it's probably the alcohol. "I miss him, but I have feelings for someone else...or maybe I don't...I don't know who I have feelings for anymore...I can't have either of them..." I slur. The alcohol is really hitting me now and I don't know if my words are making sense.

They both hug me.

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Someone help Katie 😓

Thanks for reading!