Only Fools - Chapter 12: Chapter 12

"Trick or treat!" I say happily as I hold out my pillowcase to the elderly lady standing in front of me.
"Aren't you a little old to be doing this?" she asks me with a laugh as she hands candy to the kids around me.
"I'm actually seventeen, so I'm technically not an adult yet," I tell her in an "as a matter of fact" type of tone. She raises an eyebrow at me, but gives me a handful of candy nonetheless.
"Thank you, ma'am," I say as I tip an imaginary hat in her direction. She just chuckles as she turns around and shuts her door.
"To the next house we go!" I say excitedly as I reach Ivy and her siblings. While Ivy responds with an eye roll, the others cheer and begin to jump up and down.
"Ok guys, but this is the last house," Ivy says in an authoritative tone.
"Aw," the kids and I whine at Ivy's ruling.
"Seriously, Ivy? It's not that late!" I try to reason with her, but she simply sends me a glare in responds and motions for the kids to keep moving.
"You're the one that actually has plans after this, so I'm not sure why you're encouraging them to keep going," Ivy whispers to me as her three siblings run ahead to the next house.
"I want them to at least think that I tried. I have to keep making them like me more than you somehow,"
"Itch only likes you so much because he has a crush on you,"
"What can I say? He has good taste. What do you make of the other two then?"
"Shut up," Ivy grumbles. I throw my arm around her shoulders and let out a laugh.
"Hey, they still love you. They just have more fun with me. That's all. You can't help that you're naturally a responsible person, so much as I can't help that I'm such a catch that even your nine year old brother can recognize it,"
Ivy rolls her eyes at me, but a hint of a smile lingers on her lips.
As we walk back to Ivy's house, the kids constantly try to change her mind, but with no avail. Within five minutes, we've reached her front door and as soon as she unlocks it, the kids burst through into the living room to begin their traditional process of candy trading.
"You know, I really don't think I'm going to be able to eat all of this candy. And it would be a shame for it to go to waste...." I trail as I walk over to the kids with my pillowcase in hand. Their eyes begin to widen in excitement as they can most likely guess where this is going.
"And so, I must bestow it all upon you three,"
With that, I tip over my pillowcase so that the candy all falls into the space between them. I quickly hurry over to Ivy with a mischievous smile on my face as the kids lunge forward to grab whatever candy they can.
"And now the fights begin. My bet's on the little one,"
"What?" Ivy asks as she snaps her head around to look at me.
"Itch. He may be tiny, but he uses it to his advantage. Besides, we both know that the other two have low pain tolerance and Mitch isn't afraid to 'accidentally' use his elbows,"
"Plus his little crush on you may just be the motivation he needs,"
"Yeah-" I begin to respond to Ivy, but I'm suddenly interrupted by the sound of the front door opening behind us.
"Welcome home, Mr. and Mrs. Charleston," I say politely as Ivy's parents step into the house. They both offer me small smiles before their attention is quickly redirected to the kids fighting in the middle of the living room floor.
"Isla, Ivan, Mitchell! What on earth are you doing?" Mrs. Charleston asks loudly with a look of distress on her face at the sound of her kids' yells.
"Itch knows how much I love Reese's, but he took them all anyways!" Isla complains to her mother.
"I'm just trying to get all the Whoppers. No one seems to want them, but candy is candy," Ivan explains, calm as ever.
"I'm sorry that I'm just naturally faster than Isla. You snooze, you lose!" Itch defends himself, knowing full well he only grabbed the Reese's so that he could trade them back to her for twice their worth.
"You elbowed me in the stomach so that you could get there first!" Isla whines. Itch just shrugs as he continues to push candy into his pile on the floor.
"Mitchell. Don't elbow your sister! You know better," Mr. Charleston finally chimes in as he approaches the kids and crouches down to their level before quickly dividing the candy between them into three equal piles and pushes them over to each respective kid.
"There. Problem solved. And if you're so unhappy with what you got, then just trade or something tomorrow. Right now, it's off to bed for the three of you," Mr. Charleston says as he rises back up and moves to stand back next to his wife.
Groans from the kids echo throughout the room as they each push their candy piles back into their bags and stand up to make their way to their rooms. However, after a couple steps, Itch suddenly turns around and runs over to me, launching himself into my arms.
"Goodnight, Aspen," he says quietly as he tightly hugs me.
"Goodnight, Itch,"
With a smile on his face, he pulls away and runs to rejoin his other siblings. Turning to look at Ivy, I immediately notice the look of annoyance on her face.
"So he'll say 'goodnight' to you but not to his own sister?"
"Just accept my superiority now, Charleston,"
"Never,"
————
"Come on, let's go. Everyone'e asleep, Ivy," I try to reason with my best friend as I place my hand on the doorknob to exit her room.
"Are you sure? I really don't want to get in trouble for this,"
"Wow, you are such a goody two shoes!"
And it's adorable.
Ivy just rolls her eyes at me before she gets up from her bed and walks over to me. Thank goodness. As quiet as possible, we make our way downstairs, careful not to wake any of the members of her family. It's only when Ivy turns the knob to the front door that I hear noise, and whip around to see Itch standing there, rubbing his eyes groggily.
"Where are you going?" he questions.
"Out," I respond to him.
"But you're supposed to be asleep right now,"
"So are you,"
"I could just say that you woke me up when you were sneaking out. Mommy will believe me. What's your excuse?"
"Oh, you're good,"
Itch just shrugs in response.
"Ok. But it's me, Itch. Couldn't you just do a little favor for me and not tell your mommy?"
"Because it's you, I'd be willing to accept payment to be quiet,"
"What were you thinking?"
"Any candy left?"
"I have two Butterfingers in my pocket,"
Itch outstretches his open palm towards me and I fish out the candy before placing it in his hand.
"You'll be quiet then?"
Itch nods quickly before giving me a thumbs up.
"You're the best, Itch," I tell him before ruffling his hair and turning on my heel to exit the house behind Ivy.
"That was a close one," Ivy says with a sigh as soon as we're in the car. Pulling a Butterfinger out of my pocket, I nod in agreement with her.
"You still have more candy?"
"Well, yeah. I wasn't going to give it all to the little snitch,"
Ivy just laughs as she pulls out of the driveway and begins to drive.
————
"Damn, chicas. We look hot as fuck," Tori says with a wide smile as she slowly spins in a circle in front of the mirror. Dressed as a dark angel, Tori paired a black tank top with a short black skirt and then just added black angel wings and called it a day. Though knowing that the process of pulling together a Halloween costume was very last minute for her, you truly couldn't tell by looking at her due to her sheer level of confidence.
Naomi rolls her eyes as she tugs at her small white skirt.
"We look like we should be standing out on a street corner," Naomi quips back. Tori simply glares at her before turning back to look at herself.
"Of course you would say that. You're the angel for a reason, Nao,"
Naomi's outfit is extremely similar to Tori's. Her white tank top is paired with a short white skirt and feathered angel wings. The main notable different is the halo on top of Naomi's head.
Naomi huffs before she turns to look at me.
"And while I dislike Tori's costume, I definitely don't approve of yours," she tells me, arms crossed over her chest. Smirking, I readjust my devil horns before jumping off of Naomi's desk and joining Tori in front of the mirror.
"I don't know. I think it suits me pretty well," I say with a shrug in response.
"I'm almost a little jealous that I'm not involved in this whole costume coordination thing," I hear Ivy says as she comes back from changing into her costume.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ivy," Naomi says, characteristically sweet and sympathetic.
"It's cool, Naomi. I like my costume anyways," Ivy says with a laugh as she waves Nao off.
It's then that I actually take a good look at her costume. It's not much, just black jeans and a t shirt, but you could clearly tell what she's going for, with the iconic logo on her chest and mask around her face. Batgirl.
It's only when we arrive at the party that I fully understand her costume choice.
"Hey, Ivy! Aspen,"
As Jax approaches us, I can't help but be pissed off over the wide smile on his face and the way he's looking at Ivy.
"No way," Ivy says excitedly.
"You're Batgirl," Jaxon says incredulously.
"And you're Batman," Ivy says with a small laugh. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.
"Aspen, we literally didn't even plan this. How funny is that?" Ivy tells me as she nudges me in the arm.
"Fucking hilarious," I say under my breath with an eye roll, and she thankfully doesn't hear it.
"So when did you decide to come to the party, Batman? I thought you said you couldn't make it," Ivy asks him.
"Well Keegan said that he wanted to come, so I thought I'd tag along. Is that alright, Batgirl?" Jaxon says, playing into the cheesiness of the situation.
Not able to handle the situation any longer, I simply decide to walk away. And by walk away, I mean walk to wherever the alcohol is kept. And even though the alcohol burns my throat, it seems like exactly the feeling I need right now. So I just keep drinking. And then maybe I can forget about the dumb fucking smile that appeared on Ivy's face as soon as she saw him.
————
"Margot!" I exclaim loudly as my friend comes into my view.
"Aspen!" she mimics me in a lower tone.
"You're at a party!"
"I'm aware. And you're very drunk,"
"Yeah," I giggle in response.
"Wonderful," Margot says under her breath.
"You know, you're really pretty, Margot. Like, you're really pretty," I say as I begin to play with the curls that lay on her shoulders. I laugh to myself as they remind me of the slinkies I played with as a child.
"You're pretty too, Aspen,"
"You really think that?" I exclaim.
"Sure. Now, how about I go get you another drink? You just have to promise to stay right here and not move," Margot offers. I nod emphatically at her request before plopping down right onto the floor, planning to stay there until she gets back.
"Here's your drink," Margot says as she hands me a red solo cup. My head snaps up to look at her and a wide grin overtakes my face.
"Yay!" I cheer as I bring the cup to my lips.
"How is it?" Margot asks, clearly amused by my excitement.
"Pristine," I say solemnly with a head nod. Margot's eyes twinkle in amusement. Fuck, she has pretty eyes too? Is there anything wrong with this girl? I mean, she's not Ivy so that's a negative. But she can't really help that.
"And that's how you know you're drunk as fuck because that was just water," Margot tells me and the betrayal hits me like a bus. My eyes widen as I let out a dramatic gasp.
"You bitch!" I say to which Margot raises her eyebrows in response.
"You wanna say that again?" she challenges me with a threatening look in her eye, and knowing Margot and how dangerous she is even standing only at 5'4, I don't dare accept the challenge. Not like my 5'2 ass is any better off. Dumb genes making me short.
"Thought so," Margot says before grabbing my hand and pulling me behind her through whatever house we're in until we finally arrive alone in one of the many upstairs rooms. Margot locks the door behind us and then turns back to face me.
"Whoah, whoah, whoah. I don't like you like that dude," I slur. Margot just rolls her eyes at me in response as she shakes her head.
"I just thought it might be best for you to get away from the party scene for a little bit," Margot tells me calmly. However, I don't exactly like the words I'm hearing. No party, equals no alcohol. No alcohol, means remembering why I was drinking it in the first place.
"I can make decisions for myself,"
"Yes, you can. However, I don't trust that your drunken decisions will be very spectacular ones," Margot explains to me. I just frown at her words, but still follow her lead in sitting down on the fuzzy rug between the door and the bed that stands in the very center of the room.
We stay silent for a few minutes, her probably not knowing exactly what to say, and me thinking about the important things in life, such as what the true difference is between a spout and a blowhole.
"Let's play two truths and a lie," I say so out of no where, that I'm not even sure where the idea came from.
"An overused party game?" Margot says sarcastically. I frown at her response.
"Be like that,"
"No. I just.... that game is a bit cliché, no?"
I just stay silent as I look around the small room that looks like it came straight from the IKEA displays.
"How are you feeling?" Margot asks me.
"Well, you won't play two truths and a lie with me," I say as I cross my arms over my chest.
"I just don't think we need a cliché party game to talk to each other. Let's just.... tell me one thing no one else knows about you," Margot says.
I quite literally have to bite my tongue so I don't blurt out the most obvious.
"I see how it is. Catch me when I'm drunk and unfiltered. I see what you're doing," I slur to the girl beside me.
"Fine," is all that Margot says before she stands up and walks out of the room. Not exactly sure what to do, I just stay sitting and fiddle with the rug beneath me. It's not until about five minutes later that the door to the room opens and Margot thankfully steps back in.
My eyes widen and my smile grows at the sight of the red solo cup in her hand.
"Is that for me?" I ask excitedly, however my excitement quickly departs with the shake of her head.
"No. It's for me. You don't want to be the only one drunk? Fine," she takes a sip before grimacing and then turns to face me, "now will you answer? Or do you have more complaints?"
I just shake my head, but also can't help but smile at what's about to happen.
"You asked me what's one thing I've never told anyone else before.... I don't just drink to have fun. I have reasons, multiple,"
"And they are?" Margot tries to press me forward.
"You don't get that information! I answered your question by telling you something I've never told anyone else, and now it's your turn!"
"Fine," Margot whines, and just by that I can already tell the alcohol is having an effect on her which makes me giggle.
"I knew Xavier was cheating on me for about a week before I broke up with him but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything to him," Margot says before taking another drink.
"Why?" I ask, almost in astonishment, having simply assumed that she would react in a way that could be described as just the opposite.
"I don't know, Aspen. I guess I didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to be the girl that got cheated on. It just outright told me that I alone wasn't good enough,"
A frown immediately forms on my face at her words.
"But.... you are good enough," I say quietly, the words coming out almost as a question due to my questioning of her own thought process. And at the same time, I can't even begin to describe how amazing she actually is.
"Thank you, Aspen," Margot says with a small smile. We stay silent for a few seconds before I decide to voice the second thought that entered my mind as a result of her own self doubt.
"You're one of the most confident people I know. I mean, you don't take shit from anyone,"
"I guess self confidence and the ability to not take shit from anyone are less connected than you thought," Margot answers before taking another sip of the drink in her hand.
"You're not a fun drunk are you?" I say with a small laugh, trying to lighten up the situation slightly.
"Seemingly not. And you're sobering up. Aren't you?"
"Seemingly so," I say with a smile. Margot sets her cup down on the floor next to her.
"I said I drink for more than one reason...." I trail off as Margot raises her eyebrows at me.
"Well, I guess you were kind of right when you said that I'm one of those girls who thinks they need to be drunk to have a good time. Except, that's really just how it started,"
Margot doesn't respond but instead tilts her head in confusion, urging me to go on.
"Well, parties make me really.... anxious, I guess. There's just so many people, and I don't even know most of them.... Everything is so loud.... it just always makes me so nervous. And the alcohol helps with that, I guess," I finish my explanation.
"Then why go?" Margot asks the obvious question. I let out a sigh.
"I think it would be worse if I didn't. I already established myself with a certain persona at school. So now I do what I can to keep that,"
"That can't be very good for you,"
"Well, I'd rather that than the alternative,"
"What do you think the alternative is?"
"People forgetting about me. People leaving me," I say quietly, almost quiet enough that I'm not sure if she hears me.
"Well, here's another alternative. I'll start coming to the parties you go to. Show up, make sure it's known you're there, and then we can escape together," Margot says.
I smile at her suggestion as I pull her into a hug.
"I'm happy we met," I say into her shoulder.
"Yeah. Thank goodness you're shit at calculus," Margot says and I just playfully smack her shoulder in response, but my smile doesn't leave my face.
So as we sit on the floor with our backs against the foot of the bed, I rest my head on Margot's shoulder and we talk about anything and everything.