The full moon came a lot faster than Zoey could handle. She was walking to Amber's house after leaving work since she didn't feel like driving today. It was a warmer day, and Zoey had to savor the warmth before winter came.

The town was buzzing with excitement for the full moon festival. All the shops close at six since the entire town shows up for the festival as well as all the tourists.

Amber's plan for today was to go to the festival as her parents were expecting her to help out at their booth. They would go out to look for the Beast and then head out to the night lights club, which Zoey planned on skipping out.

She finally reached Amber's house, and Amber and Jen pulled her inside the second Zoey knocked on the door. They were giggling, and Jen was hiding something behind her back.

"What's going on?" Zoey asked while folding her arms. They shared a glance and nodded at each other.

"We're dressing up for the festival. We have a costume for you, and you have to wear it."

Suddenly, Jen pulled a costume from behind her back, and her jaw dropped. In her hands, she held a skin-tight black dress and a long velvet red cape. The dress had long sleeves, but its length would probably reach above her mid-thigh.

Zoey looked at them, horrified by how short the dress was.

"You're going to be red riding hood! We're all dressing up according to the stories on the Beast. You're red riding hood, and Jen and I are vampires," Amber shouted her brilliant idea.

"We need to hurry and get ready. The boys will be at the festival soon," Amber started pushing them up to her room, and Zoey took the dress into the bathroom to change.

She slipped on the dress and looked at herself in the mirror. It hugged her in every way and was still short even when Zoey pulled it down a hundred times.

She walked out of the bathroom and saw Amber and Jen doing their makeup. Jen was wearing a black corset which showed her midriff and a tiny black skirt. Her blue eyes and blonde hair popped from all the black she was wearing.

Amber wore a short red dress that was even shorter than mine. She was currently struggling to put in fake vampire teeth.

Zoey instantly felt insecure by the beauty of the women in the room.

They looked at her dress and gasped while Zoey tried pulling it to make it longer. "Zoey! Come sit. I'll do your hair and makeup."

Amber beamed while patting the chair next to her. Zoey sat down, and Amber curled her hair in loose waves, which Zoey rarely did since she didn't have the patience as her hair was long and almost reached her belly button. She usually left it down or in a ponytail.

Amber finished after a half-hour and moved on to her makeup. She used darker shades of eye shadow and concluded her eye makeup with winged eyeliner and fake eyelashes. Amber finished with some red lipstick. Zoey was surprisingly shocked by the person in front of me. She liked how the look came out, even though it was more than she was used to.

The girls were finally ready. Jen and Ambers's makeup was similar since they used darker colors, and they both had dark red lipstick on.

Jen finally got in the fangs and had fake blood dripping from her lips and neck. Amber grabbed her keys, and they were out the door. Zoey pulled the cape around her body as the fall air but at her exposed legs. She was going to freeze tonight.

They arrived at the festival, which was always held at Joe's farm. He had a giant pumpkin patch where the kids could buy and paint a pumpkin and a huge corn maze.

In front of his barn, you could find many foods stands full of different things the townspeople worked so hard to prepare. They held chili cook-offs and pie-eating contests for people to enjoy.

Zoey took a deep breath, the delicious scent of sweet pies and deep-fried foods gracing her nose. She loved coming to the festival, but it was a constant reminder of what she feared most.

We spotted the booth where Ambers' parents were and noticed the boys were already there. The booth was bobbing for apples, and they already had a line of people waiting.

Ambers dad's face lit up the moment he saw us. "Hey girls! Thanks for coming! I re- wait, Amber, what are you wearing?!" He seethed while looking at Amber's very exposing costume.

"Young lady, I will not tolerate you dressing like this. I know you have moved out, and I can't control what you do anymore, but this is a festival for the town, and I don't want our neighbors seeing you like this."

Amber rolled her eyes and pulled on the long jacket she had brought, knowing her dad would react like this.

"Okay, dad, jeez. I'll cover myself up." He gave her a disappointing look and went back to putting more apples in the bins.

Zac and Brady met us at the booth entrance, and Zoey looked at their costumes. Brady was dressed as a vampire. He wore a black shirt, some black jeans, and some fake vampire teeth. He also had blood dripping down from his mouth like Jen.

Zac was dressed as a werewolf. He had an open red plaid shirt, exposing his chest and ripped-up blue jeans, and a pair of fake wolf teeth. Both dressed as a story of the Beast.

"Finally, you're here! Why does it take so long for you girls to get ready?!" Brady complained but instantly stopped once he looked upon Jen. She blushed as his eyes traced every ounce of her body. Amber clapped her hands together, breaking Brady from his gaze.

"Okay, so how about Jen and Brady go have fun for a little while, and the rest of us stay here and help out. When you guys come back, we'll switch."

They nodded and watched Jen and Brady head off towards the Ferris wheel.

Amber and Zoey sat down at the table, excepting tickets while Zac taught kids the "right" way to bob for apples.

While grabbing a ticket from someone, Zoey noticed a man standing not too far from her. He wore a mask covering the upper top of his face, but she could still see his stormy eyes watching her.

"Hey, Amber, do you know who that man is?" She peered over to where Zoey was pointing and shook her head.

"No, There's a lot of people here from out of town."

Zoey nodded and looked over to the man again. She didn't like his eyes on her, but she assumed it must have been her exposing outfit. She really needed to work on her paranoia.

Amber went out to help her dad get some more apples, and Zac sat next to Zoey. His hair was soaking wet and dripping down his face.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. Zoey noticed he was staring intently on her bare legs. Zoey pulled the dress further down her thighs since it rose up while sitting.

"Hey Zoey, I wondered since Jen and Brady will end up together after the club and Amber will hook up with someone there. What if you and I went back together?"

"What do you mean? We're going to drive up together and then come home together." He smirked while shaking his head.

"Well yeah, but I think Amber expected us to stay there since she booked three hotel rooms."

She shot Amber an appalled look. Zoey couldn't believe she would do this without telling her.

"So, what do you say?" Zac proposed, desire swirling in his eyes. Everything in her shouted for her to say no, and she instantly felt sick. She wasn't sure why she was feeling this way. He was handsome, but something about him turned her off.

"Uh, I don't know..."

"Come on, Zoey, it'll be fun, I promise."

She was about to give in, but her eyes drifted over to the man in the mask. He was staring very intensely at the tiny space between Zac and her. She moved away from Zac and straightened up.

"I'll think about it."