Ethan was tapping out the beat of some song against the steering wheel, and I was having a great time sneaking glances at him until my phone suddenly vibrated with a message. After digging it out from my pocket, I looked at the screen to see Benji's name appear.

Today 4:39 PM

Can u and your bf get me more toothpaste?

Rolling my eyes, I decided to ignore the first part of that message, and I quickly typed back a response.

Today 4:39 PM

Mrs. Clarissa didn't get you some yesterday?

I frowned, very clearly remembering Benji mentioning at breakfast yesterday morning that he needed more toothpaste, and Mrs. Clarissa had assured that she would get some for him. Mrs. Clarissa has always been extremely strict about personal hygiene, almost to a point where it got incredibly annoying. I suppose with a house full of kids who have mental health issues, personal hygiene was one of those things we all very easily let slip, so Mrs. Clarissa always kept on top of us with things like that. It was strange that she would forget something like toothpaste.

Today 4:40 PM

I think she forgot.

Today 4:40 PM

Okay, we can get you some. She's been busy with Mary, you know how her behavior has been recently.

Today 4:41 PM

Yeah. She freaking threw her pasta at me.

With a sigh, I put my phone back in my black windbreaker pocket, running a hand through my hair. Ethan glanced at me from the corner of his eye, before quickly averting them back to the road with a slight frown. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, totally," I said, shaking my head. "That was just Benji. We need to pick him up some toothpaste after this."

"I'm sure we can manage that," he smirked.

"So, um. . . are you okay?" I ask, finding that I've been doing that pretty frequently since the death of his best friend. He looked at me from the corner of his eye, smiling. "I'm alright. Really. I miss her everyday, but now I feel warm and happy thinking of her instead of wanting to break down. She never would have wanted me to destroy myself over it."

I nodded in understanding. Knowing Ethan was still in a vulnerable state, I made sure we spent plenty of time together and checked in with him everyday. Even when we would just sit in his room and do our homework in silence, being around each other made everything feel like it would be okay in the end. Ethan turned right into a parking lot, and I squinted up at the Halloween store in front of us.

"Is this really necessary?" I groaned.

Ethan killed the engine, and sat back in his seat, looking me straight in the eye with a very serious look on his face. "Yes. This is very necessary, you're trying to go to a costume party without a costume. That is ridiculous."

"Can't I be a high school student? Then I can just show up as myself?"

"Oh my God Ivan that is so lame. Besides, wouldn't it be much more fun for our costumes to match?" He said while getting out of the car and slamming the door shut. Matching costumes? Like, a couples costume? I felt my cheeks get warm.

Hoping the cool autumn air will help stave away the redness in my face, I scrambled out of the car to walk with Ethan, who was currently whistling and twirling his key ring around his finger.

"Are we going with something cliche?" I asked in exasperation.

"What's wrong with cliche?"

I gave him a deadpan look. "What's wrong with cliches? Well, we'd be the fifth cop and robber costume or the eighth angel and demon costume there."

"Fair enough. We won't go with anything that is overdone. Oh man- this place is creepy," Ethan breathed, looking at all the moving animatronics and bloodied plastic weapons. I'm almost surprised he has yet to suggest watching a horror movie on one of our movie nights. I scanned the rows of brightly colored wigs and face paint, while Ethan had already run off to the next aisle to mess with all the prop weapons.

"What about Greek gods? Is that too cliche?" Ethan suddenly reappeared to my right, producing two different Greek god costumes.

"Vera and Emma are already going as Greek goddesses."

"Seriously? You're kidding," he huffed, arms dropping to his sides in defeat.

I laughed, shaking my head. With a groan, Ethan disappeared again amongst the costumes. Deciding to actually help him search, I started looking at some costumes on the wall next to me. I couldn't help but chuckle at some of them. Sexy nurses, sexy nuns, sexy. . . is that a woman wearing a cropped straight jacket?

Eventually I came across some 1940's gangster costumes, recalling how much Ethan loved those older urban noir movies. Grabbing them off the rack, I walk over to Ethan, who was distracted by a giant plastic scythe.

"How about these?" I spoke up, presenting him with the costumes.

Intrigued, Ethan put the weapon back on the shelf and took the costumes from my hands, his face lighting up like a child's when he saw my costume choice.

"Gangsters? You want to be partners in crime?"

I shrugged. "I know you like those movies."

Biting his lip, I knew he was trying to keep back a blinding smile. I never wanted that look to leave his face.

With a curt nod, he looked at me mischievously. "Gangsters it is."

~

I watched Ethan slick back his hair as I fumbled with my suspenders. The whole process would probably have gone a lot smoother if I wasn't so busy checking him out.

"So, you told your mom we were watching a movie with friends and just hanging out?" I asked.

"Yeah, she's cool with it. Isn't that what you told Mrs. Clarissa?"

"Mrs. Clarissa knows I wouldn't go to a party even if I was held at gunpoint. Of course she believed me, just told me to be back by eleven," I scoffed.

"She must not know you very well then. That, or you've changed a lot. Come here, let me do your hair," he motioned for me to stand in front of him in the mirror, and I immediately went thermo-nuclear. I guess I have changed a lot since meeting Ethan. "Christ Ivy, did you even comb your hair today?" He playfully scolded, grabbing a different comb to work through all the knots. I shrugged, and played with my fingers as he detangled my hair.

"When you wore your hair like this for homecoming. . ." he trailed off, smearing some hair gel on the comb and gently pulling it through my hair. "I thought you were-" he cleared his throat awkwardly, "I thought it looked really nice."

I stared at him in the mirror, watching him work. When he was done, he stepped back so we were side by side. "Damn, look at us," he breathed before disappearing to his bedroom, just missing the giggle that bubbled out of my mouth. I'm glad he wasn't there to witness that.

"You ready?" He asked, holding up his car keys.

"What if we get caught?" I whispered harshly. Ethan winced.

"Let's just. . . not get caught?"

I could feel myself getting a bit anxious, noticing some random chatter beginning in my right ear. Nothing I wasn't fairly used to, I just hope I don't have to deal with drunk people and too many hallucinations at once tonight.

"Look, as long as we're back by eleven, they won't know the difference." Ethan said, jerking his head towards the hallway as I followed behind him.

Twenty-two, the sky is blue.

Hey Ivan. Ivan. Hey you.

The bank is closed today?

I was glad the voices were just speaking nonsense tonight. It's a lot easier to tune them out when they spoke gibberish than when they were actively threatening me. Or arguing. It's the little things in life, I suppose.

Ethan and I continued through the hallway, descending down the stairs where Ethan's mom and Ally were in the kitchen fussing with his little sister's costume. Ally was dressed like a vampire, wearing a black dress and a red cape, playfully hissing at Ethan and I.

"Well don't you boys look great! I love the pinstripe suits and suspenders. Oh honey, do you have enough money in case you need gas? And remember curfew is at-"

"Mom, we got it. Thanks," he laughed as we pulled our shoes on.

"Have fun you two. Don't get too scared," his dad smiled evilly, suddenly turning to his little sister and tickling her sides as she squealed. We bid Ethan's parents and sister goodnight before closing the door.

Some kids were already out trick or treating, one group wandering up to Ethan's house just as we got into the car. As Ethan was backing out, I noticed Mrs. Clarissa leaving our house with Mary and Benji, probably going to meet up with Ally and Ethan's mom. She waved at me, her lithe body covered in a thick black peacoat. I smiled fondly and waved back.

We sat in comfortable silence during the drive to Chloe's, the radio softly playing in the background as I watched the houses grow bigger and nicer. We definitely just entered Chloe's neighborhood.

"Oh my God," I breathed, perking up at the sight of the cars lining the street.

"Are we early? Doesn't seem like many people are here. Well, I guess in Chloe's standards this is a small turnout," Ethan said, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he searched for a parking spot in the dark. When we finally parked, a just a block down from Chloe's house, Ethan looked at me seriously. "You ready?"

I took a deep breath and responded with a determined nod, leaving the car to begin the walk to Chloe's house. I could hear some of the muffled music from inside, but it lacked that bone rattling intensity like Chloe's other party had. People milled about in the garage, a beer pong table set up in the middle as they cheered and chugged down their drinks. I can't believe I agreed to another party.

~

How is everyone doing? This is book has started to take off a little and I am so grateful for everyone's support.

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