October 31st, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

Halloween

The only word Cole had gotten from Maria was that the theme was “Rock”. As in music, she had clarified. So Cole managed to get an old white rocker jacket from his closet, a sleeveless black shirt, and a pair of skinny jeans with a black leather belt. As he walked down the steps from his bedroom towards his home’s entrance, Marion — who sat at her usual seat — looked up from her book to spot the boy. She gave a laugh when she did.

Cole turned around to face her. “What’s so funny?” he asked playfully.

“I wasn’t expecting you to go full 70s, that’s all.”

The boy shrugged. “I did the best with what I had.”

Marion waved her hand in dismissal, returning to her book. “Have fun, kid.”

Cole drove his car down towards the lake, stopping at the Cortez house first. He was so distracted by his phone that he hadn’t actually seen Maria until she entered the passenger seat.

“So, how do I look?” She asked. The costume was the same as when Kat had styled her, with the addition of silver inlet earrings that she found herself. 

Cole’s eyes widened. His cheeks began to flush red. He tried to stammer out some words, but ended up just releasing some strange guttural sounds.

“Eugh. You… um… uh.. oooh, I…”

Maria’s face turned downcast. “You don’t like it?”

“No! No, I love it! It’s, um…” He looked down at the steering wheel, his voice turning low. “It’s really good.”

Maria giggled as she put on her seatbelt. “Let’s go pick up Lukas and Kat, then.”

Lukas was first. He wore a gray trench coat, and held on to a long and thick plastic katana. His hair, like Maria’s, was slicked back to the side. 

“Aleksander, huh?” Cole asked as he rolled the car out of the driveway.

“Well, I was going for that. But I didn’t have a white coat, so I ended up going somewhere in between him and Cal.”

“I have a white coat, you know. You could’ve just asked.”

Lukas shrugged. “Hindsight problem, I guess. I think it turned out well in the end.”

The group next drove over to the Wilkins’ manor. Kat came out dressed in a yellow cardigan with a matching yellow plaid skirt. Her hair, usually in a ponytail, was let free to go down to her shoulders. She sat next to Lukas in the backseat, who did his best to give her room but also took a peek at her every few moments or so.

“You look cute,” Maria commented.

“Thanks, you too! I like the earrings,” Kat replied back. Maria smiled.

From there the four drove to their destination in downtown Kinsky. Kinsky’s downtown was not particularly large, but it had enough to keep its citizens occupied. Beyond the cafe and the Potbelly, there was a small beach with a pier at its center. The town did have a night-life, driven primarily by the high-schoolers as well as the young professionals who settled in the town after graduating from the nearby North California University. Tonight, in particular, many people were scattered around the high-rises, looking to partake in the discounts and events that late night Halloween offered. This was the same reason that the kids were here.

Cole pulled up to a parking place near the agreed-upon meeting spot — a small patio range of chairs and tables overlooking the ocean, placed between two restaurants. As they pulled in they saw Aaron, Russell, and a few others already talking to one another. Rose saw the car and gave it a wave.

“Damn, looks like we’re the last ones.” Cole put the car into park as he spoke.

“No, I don’t think so. Ash and them aren’t here yet.” Maria said while eyeing the early group.

The four got out of their car, and greeted the present friends. Aaron, in his cowboy uniform, tipped his cowboy hat over at Cole and Lukas. The two boys walked over to him, Russell, and Rodrigo.

Cole looked up at Russell, who wore the outfit of a casual shinobi while wielding a katana similar to what Lukas had. “You came early.”

“We were closer by than I thought we would be. Most of the guys are at Manuel’s place, right over there.” Russell pointed off to an apartment building a few blocks away.

“Can you believe it? Me and Manuel, living in the same apartment complex,” Aaron interjected. “No wonder I hear so much fucking all the time.”

While the boys chuckled amongst each other, Maria and Kat walked over to Rose and Sadja.

“Oh, that’s adorable!” Rose commented as she looked over Kat.

“Thanks. I felt like I should be self-deprecating this year.”

Maria looked over at Sadja. “Your sailor outfit turned out well!”

Sadja was dressed in a long-sleeved striped white-and-blue shirt, different from the polo she was initially considering. To pair she wore the sailor’s cap and loose, baggy pants — both a matching shade of navy blue. Sadja put her hands in her pants pockets, and smiled. “Had to do some last minute adjustments, but I think it turned out good, too.”

That brought the three to look over at Rose, who had on one of the more elaborate costumes of the group. She wore a traditional folk dress, with an imprinted pattern of strawberries on its skirt. She was also now the one in the group with a high-ponytail, its end stylized to be wavy. She had pink and silver glitter under her eyes, and her dress was matched by white fabric gloves with a light-red lining, and white boots.

Rose noticed the girls looking at her, and took her chance to pose for them. “I tried doing a Strawberry Shortcake sort of look, using inspo from Pinterest and combining things I found in Kat’s closet as well as through thrifting.”

“I like it! It fits you,” Kat exclaimed. 

“Yeah, I think it was a good choice,” Maria added.

The boys’ conversation on costumes was a lot more modest. In fact, they didn’t address their costumes at all — only Rodrigo’s lack thereof.

“Couldn’t think of anything this year?” Lukas asked.

Rodrigo shrugged. “Not my style. I’m surprised, though. Usually Cole is with me on this.”

The boys turned towards Cole. He looked right back at them. “What? A man can change.”

Rodrigo shook his head, smiling. “Traidor. I’ll get you, next time around.”

The conversations split up and died down while the others waited for Ash, Maurice, and Emily. Lukas, who sat alone with his hand scrolling through social media, was approached by Kat.

“So, how do I look?”

Lukas turned his head up. “Well, I think you… you look great.”

Kat put her hands on her hips. “Do you know who I am?”

Lukas’ expression changed. “Um… I… uh…”

Kat gave it a few more moments before she realized the boy’s chances were hopeless. “I’m Cher! You know, from Clueless?”

Lukas gave her a blank stare.

Kat sighed. “You’ve never seen Clueless, have you?”

“I’ve seen Mean Girls. Isn’t that like, the same thing?”

Kat shook her head, giving an exaggerated flick to her straight blond hair. “Ugh. Boys.”

After she had done this, she turned back to Lukas, who had gone right back to his phone. She sat down next to him on the bench, which caused his heart rate to spike, though he tried his best to act calm.

“So, who are you supposed to be?”

“Oh, me? I’m, uh… Aleksander. From Fox Trigger.”

Kat slanted her head, her hair falling down to her side. “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s, uh, it’s, um…” Lukas turned his head down, his voice lowering to a virtually inaudible level. “…it’s an anime.”

“What?”

“Oh, nothing! Just a show that Cole and I watch, you know. Don’t really think it would be your type of thing, haha! Just a big, action TV series with a bunch of tough guys. That’s all!”

Kat looked at the boy skeptically, but before she could continue she heard Aaron’s voice behind her declaring that he saw the last of the party approaching.

Emily and Maurice got out of the car, with Ash staying parked (the plan was for everyone to leave once they had gotten together). As Emily approached, she scratched her head nervously.

“Sorry we took so long, guys. Had to sneak out, turned out to be more complicated than we thought.”

 “No problem!” Rose spoke. “We’re glad you guys could make it.”

Cole approached Maurice, speaking to him quietly. “Things end up okay last night?”

Maurice nodded his head. “As good as they could be, I guess.”

The party turned towards Aaron, who took his place standing on top of one of the metal tables.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, here’s phase two. Right now there are two things going on that I’m sure you’ll all be interested in: discounted beer and discounted sandwiches. The liquor store on Hanson Street, and Grekko’s, respectively. I say we split up, one group goes by and grabs the alcky, one goes and gets the food. We can meet up back at my apartment, have a little fun, then decide what we should do next, sounds good?”

Cole was the first to speak up. “I can help grab the sandwiches, if you want.”

Rose: “I can help, too. Sadja, you wanna come with us?”

Sadja: “Sure thing. You wanna take Ash’s car?”

Cole: “We can do that. Lukas, you can drive mine.” 

Cole tossed his keys over to Lukas, and then walked with the girls to where Ash was parked. Lukas turned over to the others.

“Well, I guess I can drive us to the liquor store.”

“I’ll go too.” Aaron looked over at Russell. “You mind if you go with us there?”

“What, cause I won’t get carded?”

“You read my mind.”

Russell grinned. “As long as I get a freebie.”

“Of course.”

Kat was the last one to raise her hand. “I’ll go with you guys.”

Lukas looked skeptical. “You sure you want to go there?”

Kat shrugged, giving a mild scoff. “I mean, we’re only gonna be there for a few minutes, right?”

“Alright then. Join the party.”

Aaron looked over at the remainder of the group. “You guys can just head to my place. Here-” He handed Emily his keys. “-it’s the one, with the little red vase next to it. Right on the first floor, Apartment 8. My parents won’t be there, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“You don’t trust me with the keys?” Rodrigo asked.

“No, not a fuckin’ chance.”

The Latino boy gave a dismissive wave as he rounded up Maurice, Maria, and Emily to head towards his car. The others did the same, and the groups split off.

…

When Rose entered the car, she had barely put on her seatbelt when she noticed the ghastly figure sitting next to her. Its flesh peeled from its face, and blood seemed to drip down its dreadful contortions. While Rose observed its grotesque nature, the head slowly turned, and two bright eyes stared back at her.

Rose screamed.

At this point, this demonic figure did something strange. A smile began to cross its face, and it giggled.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” The figure asked, pointing to its face.

Upon realizing what the figure really was, Rose gave a deep sigh and finished buckling her seatbelt. “Christ, Ash. You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days.”

Cole and Sadja followed into the car, strapping themselves in the back seat. Cole saw Ash’s appearance in the rear-window, and smiled.

“Nice makeup job.”

Ash gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks!” Rose rolled her eyes.

“We’re headed to Grekko’s. Picking up an order under Aaron’s name.” This was Sadja, who lightly tapped the driver seat.

Ash nodded. “Got it.”

The car began to drive off towards their location. Sadja turned over to Cole.

“You excited for tonight?”

Cole looked over the girl’s appearance. In mere moments his mind flashed over to the photos he had seen only the night before. He did his best to try and separate the two, but it was too late. The photos, from this point forward, would always change his association with Sadja Ayoub. He looked away from her quickly, and out toward the window.

“Yeah, I think it will be a lot of fun,” he responded.

“I know you two won’t be drinking,” Sadja continued, referring to Ash and Cole, “so I’ll try not to be too annoying.”

“Oh, I can’t make that promise.” Rose shook her head as she spoke. “I’m always, like, self-consciously obnoxious. I can’t handle myself.”

Sadja and Rose talked while Ash and Cole remained mostly quiet. When the car finally arrived at their location, the four walked in and Sadja approached the counter.

“Hi there, I’m here to pick up an order for Aaron McNamara…”

The other three sat at a table nearby. Cole and Ash got on their phones. Rose, who leaned on the table’s surface, turned over to the boy sitting next to her.

“Got a bad hangover from last night?”

Cole looked up. “No, why?”

“You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

Cole put his phone away, and sighed. “Oh, I just… get these nightmares sometimes, causes me to wake up in the middle of the night. That might be what it is.”

A look of worry washed over Rose’s face. “Aww, hun. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I don’t actually lose that much sleep, really.”

“You know, my therapist gives me this pill for anxiety. I noticed when I have them right before bed, I sleep a lot better. I can get some for you, if you want.”

“No, no, that’s… it’s fine, Rose. Really.”

Rose nodded, putting a gentle hand on Cole’s shoulder. A few moments later Sadja called out.

“Hey Cole, can you come help with these?”

Four big bags of sandwiches fit on the counter. Cole nodded, letting Rose’s hand fall off as he walked over and grabbed two of the bags. And with that, they were gone.

…

At around the same time, Lukas and his party arrived at the liquor store. Outside the entrance, Aaron gave Russell the details.

“I’ll say our budget’s probably $30 per person, minus drivers. So that’s eight people, uhh…”

“Two hundred and forty dollars.” Lukas interjected.

“Yeah, I think that’s right. Anyway I’ll Venmo you the amount and have everyone pay me back. That good with you?”

Russell nodded. “Sounds good, chief.”

“Alright buddy. Get us something good.”

Russell walked inside, and the other three waited by the wall. Lukas quietly observed groups of men and women who howled and laughed as they passed by. Aaron scrolled through his Instagram. Kat, who stood between the two, gently kicked at the wall with matte black shoes. 

“So, what’s your master plan?” Kat asked Aaron.

“After the apartment? Well, there’s the Halloween event going on a few blocks down. They got like… a concert, some little outdoor art stuff. That ends at 10. A lot of other places are also open until midnight. That includes the sex museum.”

Lukas’ head piqued up. “Oh God, that’s right. I’ve never been to the sex museum, actually.”

Kat turned towards him, smiling. “You haven’t?”

Lukas looked at her funny. “You have?”

“Yeah, once. With Sadja and Natalie. Ironically, of course.”

Lukas gave her a dismissive nod. “Of course.”

“I can give you a tour, if you want.”

“I’ll have to see how fucked up I am by the end of the night.”

Aaron spoke up again here. “You know, there is one more thing we can do… but I won’t tell you guys until I tell everyone else.”

Kat raised her eyebrow. “Oh, well now you’ve got me curious.”

By this point Russell walked out of the store, two big crates in his hands. He motioned with his head for the car, and the others followed close behind.

…

Simultaneously with the other two events, Emily had opened the door to a dark and empty apartment. She flipped on the lights, and she — followed Maria, Rodrigo, and Maurice — entered inside.

Rodrigo walked ahead. “Gotta go pee. I’ll look for the bathroom.” 

Maurice followed him. “Same here.”

The two boys walked down one of the hallways. Emily and Maria stood alone in the dining area.

“You look cute,” Emily finally mentioned.

Maria smiled. “Thanks. I like your pirate outfit.”

“Oh, thank you. You know, it’s a funny story. I needed an eyepatch, and when I got to Party City they didn’t have any left, so I was like…”

While the girls were talking in the other room, Rodrigo opened the door. But it wasn’t a door to the bathroom; rather, it was a door to Aaron’s bedroom. Maurice sat down on the bed, and sighed.

“Well, he keeps this place tidy.” Rodrigo looked around the room after he softly closed the door. “I’m impressed.”

Maurice looked back up to Rodrigo. “So, what’s new with you?”

Rodrigo walked towards the bed. “It’s not much better, honestly. Mom’s not doing too hot. She had a second fall, earlier this week. On Wednesday.”

“Shit, man. I’m sorry.”

Rodrigo looked down. It was clear he was thinking, trying to reach at the best thing to say. He rubbed his foot into the carpet floor.

“Is it okay if I bring something to you? Something I’ve been… thinking about.”

Maurice leaned back in the bed, his arms supporting him. “Of course.”

Rodrigo turned his head over to the door, hearing the murmurs of discussion between Maria and Emily. He then turned back towards Maurice, his voice quieting.

“I think, between the stress of my mom… and your mom, and graduating, and all the other shit life is throwing at us… I think we oughta just tell everyone. I know you wanted to wait until after graduation, but I feel like now’s about as good of a time as any. We need to let at least this off our shoulders. And besides, all them out there-”, he motioned towards the door, “-I don’t think they’re gonna care one bit.”

Maurice shook his head. “I’m not worried about our friends, Rod. I’m worried about my mom. And Coach Haa.”

Rodrigo sat down next to Maurice on the bed. “Alright, well, first of all, fuck your mom. Sorry, but I just needa say it. We don’t have to tell her; and besides, I don’t think she’s ever gonna find out. And with Haa… I dunno, what are you worried about?”

“That he’ll kick me off the team. That he’ll tell all the other guys they can’t associate with me, or they’ll get kicked off too. That I… that I won’t have anyone left.”

“Hey, that’s not true! You’ll have me. You’ll have Em. You’ll have everyone else.”

“Yeah, but… I don’t really want to leave the football guys behind. They’ve been good to me, all things considered.”

Rodrigo thought for a moment, as he leaned and put his arm on his chin. “Aight, what about this…” Rodrigo turned back to Maurice. “…you tell Isaac or Rus first. Get their vibe. See what they tell you to do. Then, when you think it’s safe, tell Haa. Then we can tell the others.”

Maurice seemed unsure, but he nodded along. Rodrigo caught on to this. He placed a hand on the boy, who turned towards him.

“Hey. We’ll get through this, okay?” Rodrigo said assuringly, his light-brown eyes reflecting in the dim light of the room. 

Maurice paused, but after a few moments a more optimistic realization. A soft smile filled the edges of his face.

“Okay.”

The two boys leaned into one another, and embraced in a quick kiss.

…

A few moments later Rodrigo and Maurice walked back out into the dining area. The two girls were now on their phones, and Emily looked up.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

Rodrigo pointed down the hallway which they had come out of. “Second door on the left.”

Emily walked past them. The two boys sat down with Maria. Her head looked up from her phone, and she examined the both of them.

“Neither of you dressed up?” She asked.

Rodrigo shook his head. “Wasn’t feeling it this year.” Maurice concurred.

Maria smiled. “Be careful not to grow up too fast.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’m at any risk of that,” Rodrigo smiled. 

A knock was heard at the door. Rodrigo got up and opened it. The first group — Ash, Sadja, Rose, and Cole — piled into the apartment, placing the bags down onto the table.

“Oh, thank god. I’m starving!” Rodrigo exclaimed.

Sadja shook her head. “You boys are always starving.” 

As Cole put down the bags he carried, he looked over at Maria to greet her. “Hey.”

Maria’s face lit up. “Hi.”

The group decided to dive into their sandwiches early. Of course, it didn’t matter too much — the remainder of the group came in only a few minutes later.

As soon as the drinks were unbagged, the teens began filling their cups. Russell, who had planned to leave at this point, stayed out of their way. But Aaron insisted.

“Come on, man. I don’t want to have dragged you all the way here for no reward! Get yourself a little something,” Aaron beckoned to the football player.

“You can have half of my sandwich if you want,” Emily added.

Russell grinned, but waved his hand away. “Nah, it’s all good.” Then he surrendered. “Alright, alright. Maybe one drink.You know, my freebie.”

“That’s more like it! You’re just going upstairs, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Russell poured himself a shot and immediately downed it. “I’ll see y’all around. Oh, yeah, Maurice — Otto wanted to ask you about the concert tickets.”

Maurice waved. “I’ll text him.”

Russell gave a nod, then saluted the group. “Aight. Peace.”

The group gave their goodbyes to the athlete, and then continued on their drinking binge.

…

About an hour had passed. The group was now sufficiently fuzzy — sans Rodrigo, Ash, and Cole — and spread all across the apartment. Aaron got up, and clanged the side of his glass with a spoon.

“Alright, alright, hear hear. I think it’s about time we dip. What’s everyone wanna do?”

Kat sat at the table with Lukas and Rose, rubbing the sides of her temples. “What were…what were the choices again?”

“Well, let’s see… there’s a ‘Halloween Square’ thing going on or whatever, right down near the town office. They’ve got like, arts and crafts and shit. Food trucks too, probably. Most places are open late, to midnight. Like Kentucky Cream, the sex museum…”

Sadja, who was slouched down onto a lounge chair with her phone, suddenly shot up. “Oh shit, we should go to the sex museum!”

Maurice, who stood right behind her, was somewhat startled by the girl’s sudden enthusiasm. “At least someone’s excited.”

“Bro, they got this like… gigantic pink dildo. I don’t even know how to explain it.”

Rose rapidly shook her head. “Sadja, please. No.”

“It’s gotta be like, four feet tall. I don’t know how they got anyone on that thing. You have to… see it in person, in order to really understand the scope of it.” 

Aaron nodded his head. “Alright, well that’s a vote for the sex museum.”

Rodrigo sat atop a little wall which separated the dining area from the kitchen. “Can we go to the ice cream place on the way there? It’s on the way, right?”

Aaron nodded once more. “I’m down for Kentucky Cream.”

Lukas turned his head up, squinting his eyes. “What was the… the third thing you said, that you had?”

Aaron thought for a moment. His eyes widened as he remembered. “Oh, yeah! Okay, so, get this… you know my weed guy, Terrence, right?”

Maurice took a sip of his drink. “Isn’t that the same as Isaac’s?”

“Yeah, yeah. Same one. Okay, so anyway… he tells me that tonight, there’s a guy down at an apartment on Sixth street… named Moondog.”

Part of the group smirked. Part of the group looked confused. Ash looked up in recognition.

“Moondog? You mean like the musician?”

“Man, hell if I know. I just know they call him Moondog. Anyway, he’s got like this… new age, hippy shit, and they’re doing some transcendental voyage, uh, watchamacallit. He tells me, ‘You go down there, give him my name, and you’ll get some DMT. For free.’”

“DMT? That… that some sort of, some kind of, like… that’s like… some sort of timezone, or something?” Lukas asked, not entirely sober.

Cole chimed in. “It’s basically the same as LSD, but a lot stronger. They say dreams are made by the brain using DMT.”

“Ah, got it.” Lukas raised a hand towards the boy. “Mr. Cole Mulaney, drug expert, everybody.” Cole gave a playful bow.

Emily, who watched the conversation go on uncomfortably, decided to chime in. “How about we all head to Halloween Square first, and then decide on how we want to split up?”

Aaron shrugged. “Sounds good to me, if it’s good with everyone else.”

“But the ice cream place is on the way, yeah?” Rodrigo asked.

Rose gave a little laugh. “Yes, yes it is.”

“Aight, I’m down.” Before the others could react, Rodrigo got off the wall and began walking to the exit. With the others unsure on what else to do, they all followed him onto downtown Kinksy’s night time streets.

…

The group coalesced into a formidable mob as they walked down the sidewalk in a huddled mass. Aaron and Rose walked at the head of the group. Rose’s eyes moved over to the rope on Aaron’s belt.

“So, you tie up outlaws with that thing?” Rose asked him.

Aaron looked up at Rose’s face, giving a phony cowboy accent. “That I do, ma’am.”

Rose put her hands on her hips. “Would you tie me?”

Aaron gave a smirk. “Be careful there, Ms. Shortcake. I just might have to eat you up.”

Rose giggled. Ash, on the other hand, gave a look of utter bafflement as the only one outside the two to hear. She muttered under her breath. “Eww.”

On the opposite end of the group was Lukas, who walked last. Ahead he watched Kat, who had an arm wrapped around Sadja’s shoulder, and Cole, who talked with Maria and Rodrigo. Both of them seemed oblivious to his existence. He considered the idea of running off, seeing if anyone would notice — but he ultimately decided against it, and followed the group to the ice cream shop.

Aaron held the door as Rodrigo, Cole, Emily, Maurice, and Sadja walked in. Maria signaled to the leader.

“Aaron, is it okay if the rest of us go on ahead? I’m still stuffed from the sandwich.”

The boy waved at her and the rest. “Yeah, you guys go. We’ll meet you there.”

Aaron closed the door behind him and realized that the teens weren’t the only ones who planned to get the Kentucky Cream. The entire building was packed with kids, families, and couples. The counter itself had a significant line, yet the others didn’t seem too deterred. Aaron walked over to join them.

Rodrigo turned toward the group. “Did you know that when a group of hillbillies gangbang some chick, they say she got Kentucky creamed?”

The boys burst out laughing. Sadja gave a snort through her nostrils. Emily gave a sharp sigh and shook her head.

“Rod, that’s not even that funny.”

“It’s not supposed to be funny, it’s supposed to be true.”

“There’s kids around, you know that?”

“Children have nothing to fear from the truth.”

A smile began to curl on Emily’s lips, and she brushed the boy off. As the group got closer to the counter, Aaron looked up at the menu.

“So, what are you guys getting?”

Cole shrugged. “I’m not too hungry. I’ll probably just get something small.”

Sadja turned towards him. “You wanna share some with me? I’m getting butter pecan.”

The photos flashed into Cole’s mind again. He shrugged them off. “Uh, sure. That sounds good.”

A few blocks away, the remainder of the party found themselves at the square. Ash, Rose, and Maria walked off to check out some of the booths. Lukas remained near the entrance, eyes on his phone with partial attention towards checking for the rest of the group’s arrival.

Suddenly, he felt a small jab at his back. He turned around. Kat was there.

“Psst,” she said, leaning over him and whispering. “You want some?”

A small brown bottle was sticking out of her blazer. Lukas looked up at her.

“Did you take that from the party?”

A smile crept across Kat’s face. “Mhmm.”

Lukas gave a short, stuttered laugh. “Sure.” 

Lukas took a big gulp while Kat provided him cover. He quickly handed it back to her, and she hid it back in her cardigan. The two sat down together. 

“They didn’t say they were eating there, right?” Lukas continued, looking off into the crowd. “It’s been taking them awhile.”

Kat shrugged. “Place is probably packed. I mean, look how many people are still out at ten.”

“It’s the most people I’ve ever seen in Kinsky in my entire life.”

Kat laughed. “Well, remember that big Fourth of July fireworks show back in sixth grade? I feel like that still had more people.”

“That thing? No way. Look at the amount of people here.”

“Okay, well here, it’s like… everyone’s crammed together, y’know?. People were all at their cars, spread out for the whole fireworks thing.”

Someone leaned in on the two, mid conversation. It was Rose. Lukas was a bit annoyed by her sudden presence.

“Kat, you aren’t gonna believe this!”

Kat turned her head all the way back to face the friend behind her. “Wha?”

“There’s a guy, over there, who makes like… custom teddy bears, out of old used shirts. And they’re so cute. You gotta see them.”

Just as quickly as she had sat down, Kat got back up again, and followed her friend away. Lukas felt his heart crash once more. Again, he was alone.

“Luke!”

Or perhaps not quite. He turned around, and saw Kat beckoning towards him.

“You gonna come or not?”

Lukas turned back toward the crowd, then to Kat. “What about the others?”

“Screw’em! They’ll find us.”

A smile reached Lukas. He got up and walked with the two. 

Ash and Maria were already by the booth. The five looked at the dozens of teddy bears on display, Lukas watching as the girls showed each other their favorites. There was one in particular that Kat doted upon, and Lukas was tempted to buy it for her. But a sudden change in his mind declared that it was too forward, and perhaps not appropriate. Besides, he didn’t have that much disposable income on his own.

Sure enough, the other half of teens found them. Each one held a small plastic cup of ice cream, with the exception of Sadja and Cole — who took turns with their cup — and Rodrigo, who had finished his on the way.

“Well, I gotta say… those Kentucky boys know how to make a good cream,” Rodrigo declared, giving a mock hillbilly inflection.

Emily walked over to Ash. “You wanna try some of mine? It’s their Fall flavor, it’s like a Pumpkin Spice sorta thing.”

Ash tried some. The other teens looked towards Aaron.

“Alright, so what’s the plan now?” Aaron asked. 

Sadja shrugged. “I think we should go to the sex museum, personally.”

Cole shook his head. “I am, uh… not feeling a sex museum right now.”

The Arab girl shot him a dirty look. “What, would you rather take drugs?”

“I mean… no. Not really.”

“Alright, alright,” Aaron brought the focus back on him. “Does anyone want to go check out the psychedelic stuff?”

A few of the crew, such as Emily and Sadja, shook their heads vigorously. Others brought their heads down or otherwise looked unamused. All in all, there was only one among them who seemed the opposite. A smile, small at first, widened across her face, and she began to giggle to herself.

“Honestly,” Kat mumbled, looking up at the rest of the group. “Deadass.”

Sadja looked at the girl in shock. “Kat!”

“What? It’s about, like… opening your mind up ‘n stuff, right? That sounds like it’ll be cool.”

“I think the concern is less about the drugs, and more about whether they exist in the first place,” Cole interjected.

“Listen, I can vouch for my guy,” Aaron claimed, knocking on his chest. “I can go with her.”

“I can come, too.” Lukas mentioned. Kat looked over at him and smiled. Cole looked over at him and sighed.

“Well, as long as you two are with her, that makes it a little bit better.” This was Sadja speaking. “But I’m still pretty sus about the whole thing.”

Rose, who was leaning on a metal fence, sprung forward. “I’ll go with them, too. Make sure they stay outta trouble.”

Sadja gave her own deep sigh. “Alright then. If you guys are set on it.”

Kat, Lukas, Aaron, and Rose waved goodbye to the rest of the group. Emily turned back to the remainders. 

“So, we all going to that sex museum then?”

Cole shook his head. “Like I said, not really interested in sex museums right now.”

“Well… what did you want to do, then?”

Suddenly, Cole’s demeanor turned much more dour. He looked down to the ground, ignoring the gaze of the party.

“I think I’ll just… go on a walk.”

Before anyone could react, Cole had turned around and began walking up the opposite street. Maria came forward, turning back to the group and stuttering in her speech.

“I-I’ll go with him, and make sure he’s n-not alone!”

With that, she chased after him. That left Rodrigo, Ash, Maurice, Emily, and Sadja, who all went in the direction of the museum.

…

Our next three stories follow in parallel, much like when the party split off earlier in the night. We will begin with the group that turned towards the museum.

Sadja led the troupe. Rodrigo and Maurice talked amongst each other and left Emily and Ash at the end of the line.

“You know… you don’t have to go in, if you don’t want to,” Emily muttered.

The statement threw Ash off guard. “What do you mean?”

“Into the uh, sex museum.”

Ash’s face began to turn red. “What? No, I don’t care. Why would I care?”

“I just wanted to check. You know, with…”

Emily trailed off, but it only took Ash a few more seconds to understand what she meant. The zombie girl vigorously shook her head.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s just some stupid museum.”

“Yeah, I know.” Emily looked back down. “Sorry.”

A few more minutes of walking were followed by a loud shout from Sadja at the front of the line.

“Ugghh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

The rest of the group quickly found out what the commotion was. As it turned out, Rochenbauer’s Museum of Consciousness and Sexuality had all its lights off, with its standard hours posted.

“Didn’t Aaron say this was open late tonight?” Sadja looked back towards the group to ask.

Rodrigo put his face to the window. “Must’ve been a false flag. Place looks like it closed hours ago.”

Sadja groaned, sliding down the side of the glass door until she was sitting down, leaning against it. “What do we do now?”

“We could go back to the square,” Ash suggested.

Sadja shook her head. “We already saw everything there. And I’m not hungry.”

Maurice looked down towards her. “Could we go back to Aaron’s place?”

Sadja looked up. “He has the key, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, shit. You’re right.”

The girl pulled out her phone from her sailor pants. “I’ll text him. God, this sucks so much ass.” 

“Hey, Sadj,” Rodrigo pointed into the glass. “Is that the giant penis you were talking about?”

Sadja shot to attention. “Huh? Where?” She turned around and pressed her cheek on the glass, right next to Rodrigo.

“Right there, by the pillar. You see?”

Sadja’s eyes did a bit of searching, then came upon the object of discussion. Her eyes lit up.

“Holy shit, there it is!”

The rest of the group congregated over to the door, peering into the glass. Maurice chuckled.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about the size of that thing.”

“I know, right? I think it was supposed to be some sort of art piece or something. I dunno.” Sadja walked back away from the window, and looked back at her phone to text Aaron. “Honestly, I’m satisfied now. That was all I wanted to see. I don’t even remember what else the museum had.”

With Sadja’s back turned, Rodrigo turned toward Emily and tapped his head with his finger. “One thing on her mind,” he whispered. Emily covered her mouth and giggled. The group sat down together near the sidewalk, waiting for the next step.

…

Cole only took a few steps before Maria came walking down next to him. He didn’t try to shoo the girl away, but didn’t say much.

“Where are we walking to?” Maria asked.

“The pier.”

Maria smiled. “I haven’t been to the pier in a long time.”

The two were silent until they got to the edge of the beach, where a stone wall led them to the pier. Cole turned to look at Maria.

“Something wrong?”

Maria looked up at him. “Huh?”

“You’re acting different than you usually do. More… anxious, I feel like.”

Maria pressed her hands to her cheeks, feeling their warmth. “It might just be that I had one too many drinks.”

Cole chuckled. “Better than me. When I get drunk, I usually just feel moody. Start… thinking about things. Regrets, things I should and shouldn’t do, that sort of stuff.”

Maria looked sympathetic. She turned her head to look around at her surroundings, and her face lit up when she saw the wall.

“Hold on, I have an idea. Check this out!” 

Before Cole could react the girl swung up on the wall, lifting herself up until she was standing on top of it. She outstretched her arms, a warm smile on her face.

“Tada!”

Cole, by comparison, looked much more concerned. “Um, Maria… are you sure that’s a… good idea?”

“Oh, it’ll be fine.” The girl began to walk across the wall top, balancing with her arms stretched out. “I don’t know if I ever told you this, but… when I lived in Arizona, I was on the gymnastics team at my school… and we made it all the way to the state championships, two years in a row.”

“Well, I’m very impressed. But I also think you should get down from that wall. Like, right now.”

“What? You don’t believe me, huh?”

“No, I do believe you. It’s just that you’ve been drinking a lot as it is, and- shit!”

As Cole spoke, Maria lost her footing and slipped off the railing. She cried out as she tried adjusting her weight in real time, making sure she would fall towards the much shorter ground of the pavilion rather than off the cliff below. Cole leaped forward, reaching his hands out in an effort to catch her, but ended up getting knocked off his footing by her force and falling to the ground, at the very least breaking her fall.

When the two teens caught back on to their senses, Maria found herself in Cole’s arms. Cole could feel Maria’s warm body wrapped around his hands, her heartbeat — at first quick, now easing — rhythmically thudded against him. Maria moved her head up to look at Cole’s face. In the shadow of the pier light he saw her olive eyes look back at him. 

Then, she laughed.

Cole laughed too, seeing as the girl must be alright. The two stayed like that for just a few more moments, before Maria finally got up and dusted herself off.

“Thanks for saving me,” Maria spoke cheerfully.

“Saving you?” Cole leaned up, brushing himself off.  “If you had been on the wrong end of that wall, this would be a much different story.”

Maria shrugged nonchalantly. The two continued down the pier’s walkway until they found a bench which they decided to sit down and rest at. 

“You know, it’s funny that you mention it.” Maria spoke almost in a whisper. “About… thinking about things, you know. I’ve gotten to realizing that I don’t think I’ve thought about the Anita thing for a whole week.”

Cole didn’t say anything. Maria looked down and kicked her legs back and forth under the bench. She continued.

“I’ve been starting to think… maybe it would be better, for everyone, if we just… focused more on healing, then trying to get revenge.”

Cole turned towards her. “Do you think it was Lorenzo?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t know if I… want to think so. Part of me is angry at myself for even considering quitting. But the other part of me… the other part is just tired, Cole.”

Cole sighed. His eyes turned back to the revolving, shimmering lights of the pier. “I wish I had an answer for you. But I don’t.”

“That’s okay,” Maria spoke, leaning her arm against the opposite metal rest from Cole. “I don’t need answers. You being here is enough.”

The two sat at that bench for most of the remaining night.

…

This brings us to the last group, the pairing of Lukas, Kat, Aaron, and Rose. As the four made it inside the apartment where the supposed Moondog resided, Aaron felt his phone buzz. It was Sadja.

| Sex museum is bust. Need something else to do. Do you have your key?

Aaron stopped next to the elevator and sent off a quick text, copying the address of their location.

| come join us!!!!! Apartments at Frontera 293 6th Street 95460

“Who was that?” Rose asked as she hit the up button.

“Sadja. I guess the sex place was closed after all.”

Kat giggled to herself. “The sex place.”

Aaron looked over at Lukas, pointing to Kat. “Have you been paying attention to how much she’s been drinking?”

Lukas shrugged. “I’m not her dad.”

“Thank God you aren’t,” Kat mumbled.

The elevator door opened, and Aaron led the group up to the fourth floor. Lukas took another one of his quick glances at Kat, but this time she had caught him, and his eyes — flustered — darted towards the floor. Kat, however, smiled.

“You excited?”

“Huh?”

“The drugs. What else?”

“O-oh, yeah.”

Aaron turned his head towards the two, his cowboy hat now off his head and hanging off his back. “Man, Lukas is already on a trip. He barely even knows where he is.”

The others laughed. Lukas didn’t.

A moment later the elevator doors opened and the group hurried on out. Aaron marched on ahead, reading off the numbers of the doors to himself until he finally found the one he was looking for. On the other end of the door was a rhymically droning bass, and the faint hint of some foreign chanting playing on the speakers. Aaron put his knuckles towards the door, then turned towards the others.

“You guys ready?”

Rose felt nervous, but complied. Kat’s excitement showed on her face. Lukas was off in his own mind, thinking of unrelated things.

Aaron gave a loud and pronounced knock on the door. The four waited for only a few seconds before the door opened, and a man appeared in front of them.

He was taller than the group of teens, somewhere between the heights of Isaac and Russell. He had a chiseled face and a chiseled body, and wore a loose pair of a dark gray shirt and khaki shorts. His hair was short, almost buzzed, and dyed light pink. His aquatic blue eyes stared stoically back at the teens.

“Who the hell are you?” He finally said, a tinge of an English accent appearing in his voice.

“Oh, well… I’m, uh, Aaron, and these are my-”

“Am I supposed to recognize that name?”

“Well… I-I’m friends with Terrence.”

From behind the man, within somewhere in the apartment, a raspy voice spoke out. Who is that?

The man turned his head slightly towards the apartment, though keeping his eyes trained on the four in front of him. “It’s four kids. Said they’re friends with Terrence.”

I don’t want any fucking kids! The raspy voice shot back. Get them out of here!

The man turned his head back to normal, and crossed his arms. “You heard the man. Piss off.”

“What?” Aaron spoke back, clearly upset. “No, no, you don’t get it. Terrence said we can come here, and-”

“I don’t care what Terrence told you. I’m giving you a new order, and it’s to piss off.”

Rose, who was hiding behind her boyfriend, leaned in to speak to him. “A-Aaron, I think we should just… go and leave them alone.”

The man nodded towards Rose. “Listen to the girl. She has more sense than you do.”

Aaron’s face contorted into anger. He squeezed his right fist, and then stormed off. The others followed him closely behind. The man waited until they had passed the hallway corner, then shut the door and locked it again.

“Man, this fucking sucks,” Aaron finally spoke when they got back to the elevator. He pressed down the elevator button a few quick times in succession. “This totally fucking sucks.”

“Hey… I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Kat spoke, trying to console.

“No, don’t be sorry. I should be sorry. I can’t believe Terrence pulled that shit on me like that.” He looked up at the elevator floor indicator. There were only a few moments that passed until he got impatient, and a look of displeasure crossed his face. “Fuck this, it’s taking too long. I’m going for the stairs.”

One again, the boy stormed off, this time towards a door close by. Rose chased after him. 

“Babe, wait!” 

And with that, Lukas and Kat were alone again. Both looked towards the door their two friends just went through.

“I hope Aaron’s alright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that angry.” 

Lukas shrugged in response. “He got outplayed. I don’t blame him.” 

Kat looked up at Lukas’ face. “Huh?”

“Yeah. The bigger guy sized him up, and embarrassed him. In front of his girlfriend, no less.”

Kat let out a sigh, then looked back towards the elevator indicator. “Men get upset over the silliest things.”

“Well, it means something to us. Even if no one else notices it.”

The elevator doors opened not long after. Lukas got into the elevator first, followed by Kat. But the girl’s movement, already sluggish, managed to slip her up – causing the boy to catch her just in time.

“You good?” Lukas asked.

Kat laughed. “Oh… yeah, yeah. I’m just… real fucked up, is all.” 

Lukas smiled, and started the elevator. The two stood waiting next to each other, keeping their eyes trained forward, until somewhere between the second and third floor the elevator suddenly jolted to a stop. Kat, who had taken out her phone suddenly stopped looking at the screen and looked around, her hand reflexively holding tight to the interior metal bar.

“Wh-what was that?” Kat stuttered out.

Lukas looked around the elevator. He listened closely to the sounds, or lack thereof. After his analysis, he finally came to a conclusion.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding.”

“What is it, Luke?” Kat softly touched his arm with concern.

Lukas turned back towards her. “The elevator. It’s stuck.”

Kat’s eyes widened. “I-Is that b-bad? Like, are we gonna… die, or something?”

Lukas sighed and shook his head. “No, we aren’t going to die. But we’re gonna be stuck here for a while. It’s late so I dunno when anyone will be available to get us out.”

Kat slumped down against the elevator wall. Lukas held down the red emergency button until it beeped twice, then walked back towards the wall where Kat sat.

“Should I… text Rose, or something?”

Lukas leaned against the elevator wall, holding on to the metal bar with his hands. “Yeah, just so that they know where we’re at. Maybe they can get someone from the front desk to help, too.”

There were a few moments of silence, as Kat took out her phone and typed. Lukas’ eyes darted around the stale yellow elevator, but couldn’t find anything of interest. Besides the obvious, of course.

After a while, Kat sighed and placed her phone down beside her. She looked up at Lukas. “Not exactly how you thought your night would end, huh?”

Lukas gave a slight smile. “Don’t think this made it on my list, no.”

Kat looked back toward the elevator wall. She watched the distorted glimmer of herself shine back from its shiny facade. “What do you think the others are doing right now?”

“Probably having a lot more fun than we are.”

Kat smiled. She moved her hands around to distort her mirrored self. “You know, as we left I saw Cole go off with Maria. By themselves.”

“Oh?”

She looked up at the boy. “Whaddya think about that stuff, anyway?”

Lukas looked down, thinking to himself. “I mean, he just wants to help. You know how close he was to Anita, and all this stuff… Maria’s been through hell, and he wants to make things better.”

“You think that’s all?”

Lukas looked down at the girl. “Well, what do you think?”

Kat shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know why they don’t just… fuck already.” She clapped her hands together at this emphasis.

Lukas looked away, chuckling. “Oh wow, you are drunk!”

“What, you don’t think they have anything?”

“Listen, I know Cole. He sees them as close friends… they aren’t thinking about anything like that.”

“I know Cole too, you know.”

Lukas sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

Silence permeated the frozen elevator once more. Lukas paced around the room while Kat got back on her phone, scrolling through Instagram. Suddenly, her face lit up.

“Oh my god, have you seen Bonny yet?”

Lukas turned back towards Kat. “Bonny?”

“Yeah. Rose and Aaron got a dog together, named Bonny. And she is… no exaggeration, the cutest thing I have ever seen in the world. C’mere, I’ll show you.” Kat patted the ground next to where she sat. The notion gave Lukas an odd feeling in his stomach. He sat down as told, and Kat leaned up closer to his body. He could feel her smooth warm arms touching his, and the feeling in his stomach grew.

“See, okay, watch this. They took this video at the park the other day.”

Lukas watched the video, but only passively. His mind focused on other things, such as Kat’s bright smile and her pink cheeks, or how her body rhythmically vibrated against his when she laughed, or how her scent (disregarding the smell of alcohol) was that familiar, comforting tone to his nose. When the video ended, she turned towards him, their noses almost touching.

“Don’t you think she’s cute?”

A smile lit up upon Lukas’ face. “Yeah. She is.”

She put her phone away, and reached back inside of her plaid jacket. “I still got some of that bottle left, if you want some.”

He watched as she took the bottle out. “You sure we should have some, in here?”

Kat looked around the elevator. “Well, I don’t see any cameras, and you said it would take them a while, sooo…”

Lukas took the bottle from her, taking a quick sip. “I guess that’s the one good thing about being stuck here. What happens in the elevator stays in the elevator.”

Kat leaned in a little bit closer. Lukas oriented his head to face her, their pairs of eyes locking in on eachother. Their faces were dangerously close.

“And, given how drunk we are… we probably won’t remember what happens ourselves.”

Kat tilted her head slightly, getting her nose out of the way of Lukas’. Lukas slyly put his arm behind Kat’s back.

“That’s a good point, you know.”

Kat brought her hand around the right side of Lukas’ waist, with a delicate touch.

“Maybe, that’s for the best.”

In that moment, the two leaned in simultaneously, and kissed. The door to the elevator opened by itself, not long after.