Halloween

“What exactly are you supposed to be?” Josh asked.

Sam shrugged. “Either a glam rocker or a pirate, I guess? I didn’t really plan anything so this is just what we had around the house. I think this used to be my grandma’s jacket.”

“Well, it should be good enough to get into Tiffany’s party, at least,” Josh said. “I heard she turned some guy away earlier because he said his costume was ‘guy who forgot to wear a costume.’”

“I mean, yeah, it’s a costume party. Seems reasonable,” Sam said. “That kinda sucks on that guy’s part. Like, c’mon, man. At least put in a little effort.

He glanced down at himself. “Hopefully she’ll consider this a costume, right? I guess you could argue I just look like someone with a weird fashion sense.”

“Well, you have a wig and eyeliner and stuff. I dunno, I definitely think it counts. It doesn’t even really matter, because it’s not like she said you have to have a good costume,” Josh opined.

“Yeah, I guess. At least it’s a little more creative than yours.”

“Hey, vampire is a time-honored classic,” Josh said. “I think I wore these fangs every Halloween since we were 13.”

Sam shuddered. “I hope you washed them before putting them back in your mouth.”

“Eh, I rinsed them with hot water,” Josh said. “Wait, her address ended with a 31, right? Is this the house?”

“Lemme check. Yeah,” Sam said.

Sam hung back slightly as Josh rang the doorbell. A moment later Tiffany opened the door to let them in. “Hey, Josh!” she said. “Oh, is she your plus one?”

“Who?” Josh said.

“Her!” Tiffany said, pointing in Sam’s general direction. Then she squinted for a moment and suddenly seemed to come to a realization. “Oh, Sam! Sorry, I didn’t recognize you for a mo. I guess the eyeliner threw me off.”

Sam coughed awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. Nice to see you again. I like your costume?”

“Thanks!” Tiffany said. She was dressed as a classic witch, leaning more towards ‘sexy’ than ‘crone’, with a black and purple color scheme and vaguely goth makeup. “Anyway, come on in! We have a bunch of snacks and drinks and whatever, and I think people were maybe gonna watch a horror movie in like half an hour.”

Sam looked around as he entered Tiffany’s house. He was relieved to see there weren’t all that many people. He had a tendency to get anxious and clam up in any groups larger than two or three people, unless he already knew everyone involved really well.

“Hey, Jake!” he said as he waved to his friend, who was wearing a dapper Starfleet dress uniform.

“Hey!” Jake said.

“You’re lookin’ snazzy,” Sam said.

Jake blushed slightly. “Uh, thanks. You—I think the eyeliner looks nice.”

“Thanks!” Sam said. “I kind of feel like I fucked it up, but I appreciate you saying that.”

“Wings are not easy,” Tiffany said as she approached them holding a large bowl with a kitchen towel draped over it. “Eat the eyeballs… if you dare! But you have to keep your own eyes closed while doing so.”

“I love peeled grapes!” Sam said. “Apparently in Japan they just usually peel all grapes by default? Or that’s what a YouTube video said, anyway. I guess you can buy, like, dedicated grape peelers.”

“No, they’re eyes. I just said that,” Tiffany said.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sam said. “I’ll try and stick to the kayfabe.”

Jake laughed. “Sam, you realize that a lot of people don’t know anything about pro wrestling, right?”

“Well, you obviously understood,” Sam said, “so the reference worked for at least one person.”

“I guess,” Jake said.

“Yeah, I didn’t know what that meant,” Tiffany said. “I thought it was Pig Latin for a moment.”

“I can see that,” Sam said before popping a grape in his mouth.

“Eyes closed!” Tiffany said again.