Diana Hanson flipped her long, black locks over her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips which were covered in silver, metallic fabric. "Alright, let's get this show on the road." She picked up a large bowl of chips and moved them three inches to the corner of the dining room table.
"What time did you say people will get here?" Walker asked, decked out in sixies gear, complete with green platform boots. He straightened his wig and checked himself out in the back of a metal spoon before stepping into the living room.
"Soon. Where did Carter go?"
"Bathroom. She had to put more makeup on?"
"More?" Diana rolled her eyes and jumped nearly three feet when Zac grabbed onto her shoulders and let out a yell.
"HEY MON!" He shrieked.
Diana looked him up and down. "Carter had to have had a hand in this." She laughed, checking out his Jamaican hat, complete with dreadlocks and his Jamaican shirt and baggy pants. "Bob Marley right?"
"Cher?" Zac touched his mother's black hair. "That's not a wig."
"Carter dyed it and if she lied and it's NOT temporary, she's dead."
Zac laughed. "This is definitely her holiday."
"Where are your brothers?" Walker asked, tripping over his platforms. "Dammit, I swore I'd never wear these things again."
"Taylor was making Meli help him into his costume and last I checked, Isaac was putting his... pantyhose on... Please lord, for my own health, I pray I never have to say those words again."
"Ditto." Walker tripped, cursed again, and disappeared into the kitchen.
Zac plopped down onto the couch in the living room and sighed. "I wish Carter would tell me what she was dressing up as. This is her holiday and she always goes all out."
Diana grinned. "Just wait until you see."
Zac growled not liking that everybody but him knew what Carter was being. However, only Diana and Walker had seen her.
The next people to arrive in the living room were Isaac and Beth. They had spent at least two hours getting their coordinated costumes ready. Beth was simply, a man, and Isaac was simply, a woman. He wore a short, black, leather skirt, courtesy of Melissa and a white tanktop with a purple feather boa. On top of that, he wore a shoulder length, red wig and way too much makeup. Beth wore a baggy t-shirt and a pair of knee length shorts, pulled down to reach her ankles and show off her red striped boxers. She neatly tucked her long brown hair and pinned it under perfectly so it looked like it was short. Isaac stumbled on his stiletto boots as he came down the stairs.
Diana laughed. "You and your father seem to be having the same problem."
"I gotta hand it to you, mom. I don't know how you people do this."
Melissa jumped down the stairs after them.
Diana's eyes widened. "Oh my god... quick, everybody run to church."
Melissa laughed and straightened her dyed, black and magenta hair. It was chin length and sprayed perfectly to match Marilyn Manson's glam period. She was decked out in a red, floor length, foax fur coat and leather pants. "How do I look?"
"Like Satan and Madonna got together and made one freaky lookin kid." Beth looked her up and down. "You look great!"
"Taylor said to tell you all that he's waiting for Carter to come down so he can come down after her and make her costume look shabby in comparison to his ingenious.... blah blah blah... I am the king of the universe..."
Everybody stopped as they heard a loud thud followed by footsteps and another loud thud. Then, the words, "SON OF A BITCH!" came from above their heads.
Diana's eyes widened and then she sighed, knowing the profanity had come from Carter.
"Don't worry, she just ran into the wall." Zac laughed.
"Twice?" Diana asked, staring at the ceiling.
"She ran into the wall, took three steps back, and then ran into it again. It's an every day occurance."
"I'm sure it is."
Then, they were graced by the Queen of Halloween. Carter stood before them wearing a red corset, tiny black underwear with jewels on the sides, fishnet stockings, and red gloves that came to her elbows. Her hair was at least two feet wide, long, blonde, and wild. And her makeup only added to the affect. Red and black eyeshadow with jewels under and around her eyes, dark maroon lipstick and a rich shade of blush made her the spitting image of Christina Aguilera. "And now, Halloween may begin." She grinned as she stood before Zac.
Zac's jaw dropped. "You're hair... is bigger than... me."
She laughed. "Yes, yes it is." She looked around at the costumes, each of them having a tiny part of her help in them. "Where's flameboy?"
Melissa sighed and rolled her eyes. "And now I present to you..." She rolled her eyes again and held out her arm. "The most creative costume known to man..."
Taylor walked slowly down the stairs with his arms to his sides. His costume consisted of a large round box, with holes cut out for his arms and legs.
"What the hell is that?" Carter asked, very glad to know she had nothing to do with his costume.
"I am an altoid." He grinned. "Curiously strong."
"More like curiously a homosexual." She grinned back at him.
Diana stepped between them. "Alright, alright. No arguing like five year olds today."
"Oh come on mom, it's what she does best." Taylor growled at Carter and she just stuck her tongue out. "I have plenty more things to argue about. I could start a big thing just by saying that she has more makeup on than Bozo on an acid trip."
"You're just jealous because you're not as pretty as me today."
"ALRIGHT!" Diana jumpd in betweeen them. "That's enough! If you two don't grow up within the next year I'm seriously going to consider putting you up for adoption."
Everybody stared at her for a moment before she shook her head. "See what you've gone and done? You've made me start thinking that Carter is my kid. I need a vacation."
Carter laughed and jumped up when the doorbell rang. She threw it open and greeted the guests with a smile. "HI!" She opened the door and let Jade, Nique, Abby, Todd, and Bianca in.
Jade walked in first, dressed completely as Santa Claus. Nique followed her. She was decked out in princess gear, complete with a long silver dress and a tiarra.
Carter snickered. "Wow, how ironic." Then she glanced at Abby with a frown. She was wearing no costume. "Very creative mask, where did you get it?"
Abby sighed. "Personally I find this holiday childish and revolting. I refuse to dress up like a fairy just to be cool."
Todd, who was dressed as an unknown boyband member (god knows there's enough talentless schmucks out there occupying TRL), winked at Carter, "She's still afraid of ghosts."
Carter shivered, thinking about to the previous month. "Yeah me too." She turned to Bianca and looked at her, confused. "What are you supposed to be?"
Bianca adjusted her bright pink wig and her yellow leather pants. "I haven't quite figured that out yet." She also wore a florescent blue tanktop and a green feather boa. "I think I'm going for a box of crayola crayons."
"Very... cool." Carter laughed and smiled over Bianca's shoulder when Tanis, Jesse, and Justine showed up on the porch. She was surprised to see Jesse with the two of them. Tanis was wearing a cheerleading costume covered in fake blood. Her face was painted white with powder to make her look dead. "Cute." Carter smiled and then turned to Justine. She was dressed as an arabian princess, her costume going above and beyond Nique's. "This will be good."
Carter finally turned to Jesse who was wearing a toga. She grinned and couldn't help but noticed how great he looked. His dark hair was slicked back pulled in a low ponytail. He wore sandles and a white sheet, fitted to make him look like a true Roman. "Hey Jesse." She smiled.
"Hey."
Then, Trey and Tristan appeared on the porch. Carter didn't recognize them at first. When she did, her jaw dropped. "Whoa."
"Yeah, we know." Trey muttered. "It was all her idea."
They were dressed perfectly in Catholic school uniforms. Trey was in pleated navy blue pants and a white shirt and tie. Tristan was in a plaid skirt with knee-high socks and saddle shoes. her hair was pulled into two french braids and the blue and purple was all washed out. She wore no dark makeup and she was almost unrecognizable. Carter for once noticed how beautiful she was. "You guys really look great. Come in."
Zac looked around the room and counted everybody. Carter closed the door. "I think that's it."
Zac gave her a sheepish grin. "Actually, no, there's somebody else coming."
"Who?" The doorbell rang again and she opened it. Standing before her was an unknown person in a Gumby suit. She screamed and closed the door. "WHO THE HELL WOULD COME HERE DRESSED AS MY CHILDHOOD NIGHTMARE!?" She opened the door again slowly. "Hi?"
Zac laughed and ran over. "I hope you don't mind, I invited somebody extra cause uhm, he makes me laugh? And I figured he could come in with Beth so..."
Carter cringed and poked the Gumby suit, then, Gumby took his head off. Carter screamed again, but not because of the costume. "ZAC! YOU INVITED SATAN!"
Zac laughed and motioned for him to come in. "Hey, Tom. Good to see you again."
"You've GOT to be kidding me." Carter groaned and plopped down on the couch. "Now I get to spend the party listening to Tom tell me I was looking at his ass."
"YOU WERE!"
"LIKE HELL!"
Zac jumped between them. "Ok, no killing eachother in the first 3 minutes of the party ok?"
"Death." Carter grumbled.
"Yes, I know." Zac patted her on the head.
Three hours later, Carter found herself in the kitchen, dumping a small trashcan full of garbage into a large trashbag. She was almost finished with that when Jesse walked in. "Need any help?"
"No, I got it."
"Oh." Jesse sighed and turned around.
"Actually, you could help me with something." She tied the garbage bag up. "I have to run next door to finish setting up for the surprise because I need to make sure everybody dropped their gifts off over there. Can you cover for me?"
He nodded. "Of course. I'll tell him you're... or that you... and then... ok what should I tell him?"
Carter laughed. "Well, I figure if you make a big scene or start a game of charades he won't notice I'm missing for five minutes."
His face dropped. "Do I actually have to play charades?"
"Of course. It could be fun. You could be in charge and you could make Nique be like... a sponge... or something. Fun for the whole family."
He laughed. "Did you hear her bitching earlier?"
"Because Justine stole her costume? Yeah that was the highlight of my night." Carter straightened her wig and went for the backdoor. Before she got the chance, she tripped over her heels and stumbled. Jesse caught her before she crashed onto the floor and knocked over a tray of snacks. "Whoa... Take me drunk, I'm home."
"One tequila, two tekeela, three kateela floor..."
"That too." She smiled. Then, she noticed that Jesse's arms were still wrapped around her. Before she even had the chance to think, his lips were on hers. She instantly backed away, looked at him, surprised, and went out the backdoor.
Jesse sighed and turned the other way. He pushed past the person standing in the doorway, watching, and left the kitchen.
"That didn't happen. That didn't happen. That didn't happen." Carter chanted as she went to her house and began straightening the presents that were stacked up in the living room. There were gifts from friends, relatives, and some people she didn't even know. "It DIDN'T happen."
"What didn't happen?"
"AH!" Carter jumped when the two voices in unison came from behind a chair. She looked behind it and saw Jade and Todd. "Whoa. What are you two doing back there?"
Todd smiled.
"Ew. Ok, nevermind, I don't want to know." Carter rolled her eyes and turned around, heading for the front door.
"No, no, no." Jade jumped up and grabbed Carter's arm. "It's not like that. This was just, the only place we could go where there weren't people."
"Ok, fair enough, but why did you want to be away from people in the first place?"
Todd came over and put his arm around Jade's waist. "We've been talking a lot on the phone ever since Gabi... died. This is the first time we've hung out though."
"So you two are a couple?" Carter asked, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Yeah." Todd nodded.
"Ok. Ok, I'll deal with that later." She smiled. "I'm happy for you, but if one more weird thing happens at this party, I might just have to drop kick a wall or a ... Tom or something." She muttered as she went outside to go back to Zac's house.
Carter smiled and put her arms around Zac's shoulder's. "Zac, sweetie, can you do me a huge favor?"
"Sure." He laughed. "I swear I can't get past the makeup. How many bottles did you use? Or did you go straight for the paintroller."
"I did what Christina does."
"Paintroller."
"Cute."
Zac smiled. "Ok, what do you need?"
"I left a little gift for you next door. Can you go get it?"
Zac grinned. "I thought this was my present."
"It is, but I wanted to get you something a little extra too."
"Alright. Come with me?"
Carter looked around and waited for a few nods from people. "Alright." She took his hand and followed him next door, watching as everybody followed quietly. He pushed open the front door and his eyes widened.
"Holly mary mother... You get me BIG present!" Zac's jaw dropped.
"Surprise." Carter whispered into his ear and kissed his cheek.
"SURPRISE!" Everybody behind him screamed and he jumped.
"Whoa." He squeezed Carter's hand and whispered, "You are the greatest girl in the world."
"I know." She laughed.
Zac looked around at all of his opened presents; three books from Beth, cds from almost everybody, a spiked dog collar from Trey and Tristan, and various large items from relatives and friends who didn't come. "Thanks, everybody. You guys all rock." He grinned and glanced nervously at the dog collar. He knew Carter would be wearing it before the night was over. "So that was the last of them. What now? Back to Halloween party?"
Zac's thought's were interrupted by Gumby coming out of nowhere and tripping into the living room. Zac laughed. "Smooth." Gumby shook his head and handed Zac a small box. Zac looked around at everybody and took the lid off of the box. Inside, there was a silver cross hanging from a black cord. Zac took the necklace out and looked up at Gumby. "Thanks, Tom. This is really cool."
Carter cringed to herself and reached up to smack the Gumby costume. "Dammit, Tom, can't you take that head off? It's wiggin me out again."
"My head is off." The voice came from the kitchen and out walked Tom, wearing his Gumby costume with the head off.
Carter jumped up and stood on top of the couch. "WHAT THE HELL?! THERE'S TWO GUMBIES!" She grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest. "Childhood nightmare times two..."
Zac stood up and glanced from Tom to the mystery Gumby and back to Tom again. "Ok, it's starting to freak me out, too."
Slowly, Gumby number two lifted her large, green head off and smiled. Her long, dark hair fell down her shoulders and she hugged the head of her costume to her chest. "Hey everybody. Sorry your present wasn't wrapped. I didn't really have the chance."
The room fell silent and nobody said a word until Carter dropped her pillow and jumped off of the couch. "Holy shit. Talk about freaking out."
Everybody was silent for a second time, and then, Justine whispered, "Gabi..." Then, she grabbed the pillow from the floor and threw it at her sisters face before leaving the house and slamming the door behind her.
"Ok, she'll get over that." Gabi sighed and turned to Tanis. "Please don't hate me?"
Tanis took a deep breath. "Ok first, you have to explain what the HELL is going on and then I'll decide whether I'm going to hate you or just really really dislike you."
Gabi sat down on the couch. "Nobody knows any of this except my parents and... Well, Tom."
Carter glared at Tom. "Satan."
Gabi laughed. "We met last year because Tom comes to Oklahoma a lot to visit relatives. So when mom and dad decided to send me away for a while, they sent me to Tom's house."
"Your parents sent you away? And they didn't even tell Justine?" Isaac asked. He felt bad for Justine, who had just stormed out of the house and was now missing the explanation.
"And they never told me they told all of you I was dead. Then they went and had a funeral and... I found out about all that the next day. That's when I came back and started, well, trying to make things right."
Tanis grumbled. "You started messing with my mind."
"I couldn't tell you everything. I just needed you to help me. My parents wouldn't let me come back until I fixed all the things I screwed up."
"So you're back now." Zac sat back down on the couch. "Does that mean you fixed everything?"
"Not really. I tried. Unfortunately Taylor and Carter will forever have a crazy whacked out relationship. And I guess all the people I hurt... I convinced my parents that the only way to fix it was to apologize in person and prove that I can be good."
"Good luck." Carter chuckled.
"I'm serious."
"Fine. So then does this mean no more late night stalking parties and no more attacking me in alleys?"
"Yes. I am really sorry about that. And not just because my parents told me to be. I was screwed up for all kinds of reasons that I'm not really ready to tell you about in front of everybody else. But I'm hoping now I'll have the chance..."
Carter sighed and Zac nudged her.
"So, what do you say? Do you forgive me?"
Zac nudged her again. "Fine! I forgive you. But I'm serious about the stalking thing."
"Deal." Gabi laughed and took a deep breath. "Alright then, I guess I better go find my sister and make sure she's ok."
"Thanks for the gift." Zac smiled. "And for making my party... hella exciting."
"No problem."
Everybody waited for Gabi to leave before finally talking all at once. Carter sighed and leaned against Zac. "Ok, but I'm really serious now. No more weird ass things at this party or I might just have to scream."
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