Never Say Die- Chapter 22

 

Chapter 22

 

 

 

            When I was finally dressed, I took a deep breath before leaving my room and walking downstairs for inspection. It seemed like every person who had been left in the house was waiting for me and the silence was deafening by the time I reached the bottom step. They all stared at me like they’d never seen me before, causing me to stop and look down at myself, was something wrong?

            Flan rushed over to me and my mouth fell open as I looked at her, she was absolutely stunning with her hair and makeup flawlessly done. Have I ever mentioned that being the hippy she is Flan almost never wears makeup? Not that she needs it or anything but it definitely made a difference.

            “You look so beautiful!” We both exclaimed at the same time and then grinned at each other. I realized that people were still watching and whispered as much in Flans ear.

            “Why are they staring?”

            I think it’s quite possible that for the first time, they’re really seeing who you are on the outside. She replied silently and I realized that her explanation made a lot of sense. These people had never seemed to care about how I looked, they had gone beyond the face to see who I was on the inside from the very first time I met them and as the realization dawned on me I began to cry.      

            Suddenly there was a rush of people coming at me, reaching out to touch me and asking if I was alright. Flan pulled me over to the couch and sat me down, pushing the crowd back to give me some breathing room.

            “What’s wrong honey?” she asked, kneeling in front of me very carefully in her dress. I didn’t seem to be able to take a decent breath as the tears flowed against my will. I couldn’t form a coherent thought or stop crying enough to say anything understandable, so she pulled me into her arms and let me cry on her shoulder until I’d calmed down.

            The overwhelming emotion had surprised even me. Besides Flan, nobody had ever really cared more about who I was than what I looked like, even Rhys had to have been taken by my looks before he got to know me. I know there are probably a million women right now thinking “What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you crying about being pretty?” but you have to understand that it’s not always the best thing in the world, especially when it comes to making friends.

            But these people, they changed my entire perspective of human nature, they’d helped me realize that I could have friends and get close to people; and not just a few people but a group of people all at one time. It was a huge breakthrough as well as a pretty big deal for me.

            “I am so sorry.” I blubbered between breaths. “I just…I’ve never really had close friends, Flan was actually my very first good friend and then I met you guys and you’re all so great and I really love you all so much…” I trailed off again as the tears kicked back up into high gear. Through the watery haze I could see their smiles as if I’d moved them just as much as they’d moved me.

            “We love you too Saydie.” Hadley replied with a small smile.

            I found myself in the biggest group hug I’d ever seen as they piled around us on the couch and on the floor in front of us, not caring if they messed up their hair and makeup or if they wrinkled their costumes. They were my friends and for the moment they were there for nothing else but me.

           

            It took a while to get myself under control because the group hug had started tears in others, causing me to cry harder. When it was all over there were quite a few people who needed touch ups on their makeup, fortunately for me, I hadn’t put any on yet and sat with a cool cloth pressed to my face to help reduce the redness before we got started.

            As the touch ups went on, people would come sit with me to talk, give me a hug or just to squeeze my hand encouragingly. Obviously they got the idea that my temporary breakdown had been a big deal and they wanted to show their support; but as hard as they tried not to say anything that would get the water works going again, once in a while someone would say something so touching that it started all over.

            This wasn’t just having friends, this was like having a family, a big, gay, loving family in this case and they all loved each other for who they were. I would never get over how easy it was to fit in with them and be accepted into their number, they were just so easy to love, I think they’d even won over every stylist who was still at the house when everything was finished.             They just sucked new friends into the entourage, there was no fighting it and no need to try, you just suddenly find yourself in a middle of something bigger than you, and realize that it’s somewhere you belong.

            Finally, around eight thirty I was dry-eyed, had makeup on and was almost ready to go before I remembered that Flan was the only person who could do my hair.

            What about my hair? I shouted silently at Flan over the excited chatter of the group.

            S**t! I forgot about that, can we take your car and I’ll fix it on the way?

            I guess so, let me call Rhys and make sure he’s not planning a surprise pickup.

I had Rhys on the phone a second later and could hear the sounds of a gym full of people which told me he definitely wasn’t coming to surprise me. After assuring him that we’d all be there soon, Flan and I rounded everyone up and into cars so that we could be off.

            It just happened to work out that everybody was gone leaving Flan and I with the house to ourselves so she could just fix my hair there instead of on the way. And a quick wave of her wand later, I was all set and speeding through town, arriving just behind our group of friends, who stared at me again when I got out of the car. I had to admit that the hair was a really great touch.

            This time the stares had more of an awed theme to them and I blushed as I headed inside to find Rhys. The gym was decorated similarly to the rest of the town with fake cobwebs covered in bugs, Jack O’ Lanterns strategically placed around the room, each with a unique carving and electric candles instead of real ones which I found to be a stroke of genius. Corn stalks and scarecrows also added to the theme along with hay stacked around the sides of the dance floor for people to sit.

            The tables were decorated with the electric candles and beautiful leaves in fall colors that some of the children from the orphanage had made by rubbing a crayon on a paper covering a real leaf and then cutting it out. There were also spiders scattered here and there but the part that I thought was the best was the little cauldrons on each table overflowing with mist, Flan would get a kick out of those.

            Refreshments included bloody eyeball punch, consisting of fruit punch with peeled grapes for eyeballs and worms were on the menu with a side of slugs, which was spaghetti noodles that had been blackened in squid ink with small, Italian sausages as the slugs.

            There were cookies and cakes all decorated in Halloween colors and shaped like anything from cats to spiders.

            “Double bubble toil and trouble.” I heard Flan whisper eerily into my ear and I smiled.

            “I thought you’d like the cauldrons.” I teased.

            “Of course, they’re too cute not to like with the dry ice putting off a fog to envelop and hide you so you don’t have to talk to your neighbor.” I noticed that she was starting to sound nervous.

            “It’s okay Flan, it’s going to be alright, there’s nothing to be nervous about, and we’re just here to have a good time. Besides, you get to spend the entire night with Hadley and then go out on a terrific date with her when this is all over, that’ll be fun right?” She looked a bit calmer when I mentioned Hadley’s name but I realized it was because Hadley had come to stand near us without interfering with our conversation. When it came to Flan, Hadley was as perceptive about her as Flan was about me, it was almost uncanny.

            I left the two of them to choose a seat with the promise to come back as soon as I’d found Rhys. As I wandered through the gym I took the time to really appreciate the decoration, they had done a fabulous job and if it wasn’t plainly obvious from the sign outside announcing the building as the gymnasium, you’d never know that this entire party was set up in the middle of the basketball court.

            I headed for the restrooms first, figuring that he’d save his costume for last and ran into Armistead just outside.

            “Hey! Have you seen Rhys?” I asked before my mouth fell open and I took in his costume. He had come as a Gladiator complete with helmet, shield and sword; the part that got me though, was that it looked like it could actually be the real thing.

            “Is that…?” I started to ask, not sure if I should finish the sentence or not.

            “Yes it is, one hundred percent authentic. You’re not the only one who’s been around for a while.” He winked, “And yes I’ve seen Rhys, he’s been all over the place trying to put the final touches on things but now he’s getting dressed in the locker room.”  

            I sighed with relief, “Thank goodness. Would I look like a huge pervert if I stood out here and waited for him?”

            “Maybe not so much if you didn’t mind me standing here with you.” He suggested and winked at me, I laughed and nodded my agreement.

            “You look stunning by the way.” He said and I blushed.

            “Thanks, so do you.”

            “I gathered as much when your mouth fell open.” He teased and I laughed again.

            “It’s not every day you get to see a real gladiator outfit.” I defended myself.

            “No, I suppose it’s not.” He replied quietly sounding somewhat distracted and attracting my full attention. I sensed evil and it wasn’t him as our eyes met and narrowed in very similar ways.

            “Looks like it couldn’t just be an easy night.” I sighed and he looked at me curiously.

            “What does that mean?”

            “It means that the demon Malcolm sent me a marriage proposal, on paper might I add and via my father; I don’t know what he thought I would say but when I said no it seemed to piss him off. He’s influenced Veronica more than once as well as another guy on the football team and even went as far as possessing Rhys once.” Armistead stared at me open-mouthed.

            “He possessed him?” he asked in disbelief and I nodded.

            “Remember the broken nose in Vegas?” he nodded silently. “Well, Flan had to alter their memory of what happened, I couldn’t let Rhys live with the guilt of what Malcolm had made him do.” I dropped my voice to a whisper before continuing, “Flan had a vision of something going on with them, and so we run up to our room to find her in his lap and they’re making out. Mind you, he was possessed, she was not.” I added before he could be offended by my treatment of his girlfriend. “She was already down to her underclothes and well, let’s just say he wasn’t discouraging her one bit. So after I’d broken her nose and thrown her out, we realized he was possessed, he was too cocky but then he started fighting it.” I paused for dramatic effect at this part and was suitably rewarded as Armistead’s eye nearly bulged from his head in disbelief.

            “He was begging me to help him but then it was gone. I did my first exorcism that night, fortunately my power is strong enough that it didn’t take much. He was so filled with guilt when it was over and he had no idea what had happened to him; I couldn’t let him stay that way, so I had Flan alter the memory a bit and now they think that we interrupted just in time.” I shrugged as the story ended and Armistead remained silent for a moment, I was surprised at how un-fazed he seemed to be about the way Veronica had acted before she met him, and then I realized that he’d probably known already anyway.

Duh Saydie, same powers. I chastised myself mentally.

            “She told me that Mark Whitley had been after you all day the first time Rhys brought you out to meet his friends. She also told me that he’d attacked you later that night and had been acting very strange afterward, not so much like he was drunk.” I nodded.

            “He’d been influenced, that was the first time.” I whispered.

            Armistead looked up suddenly, “Here he comes, I wouldn’t want to look like I was compromising his date.” He winked at me and I smiled again, “I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if anything unusual happens alright?” I nodded and in a flash he was gone, leaving me alone outside the men’s room, once again hoping that I didn’t look like a pervert.

            Rhys came out less than a minute later looking amazingly handsome in a black tux, dressed as Dracula. I was blown away by how sexy he looked as I took in the entire costume; he had opted not to go with the makeup that you saw on a lot of people who went with the same costume but he did look like he had a pale sheen to his face.

            He seemed so concentrated on what he was doing that he walked right past me.

            “Excuse me!” I called, following behind him and he stopped to turn around while adjusting his cufflinks.

            “I’m sorry, is there something I can help you with?” he asked without looking up.

            I smiled and reached out to help him with his cuffs, “You could give me a kiss for starters.” I said seductively and his head jerked up so that he could look me in the face. Every wrinkle and worry line smoothed out and disappeared as he realized it was me and pulled me into his arms.

            “God I’ve missed you...you’re all I’ve been able…to think about all day.” He told me, punctuating each phrase with kisses before pressing his lips to mine one more time and leaving them there. We were wrapped in each other’s arms when I heard a teasing voice.

            Get a room will you? I could also hear Armistead chuckle from across the room and rolled my eyes behind my lids before reluctantly pulling away first.

            “You’ve done a wonderful job.” I told him and he smiled nervously at me.

            “You think so?” he asked, not sure if he believed me and I laughed.

            “Just look at this place, its incredible!” I gestured to the room.

            “Yeah, it does look great.” He admitted.

            “Do you have anything else you need help with?”

            “No, I was just coming out to wait for you.” He replied and his eyes widened as he finally seemed to take in my costume. “Wow Say, you look absolutely incredible.” And again I blushed.

            “How did you get your hair like that?” he asked curiously.

            “Oh Flan worked her magic.” I replied as nonchalantly as I could.

            “She did a fantastic job.” Was the only other thing he said as he took my hand and led me to the table where Flan and Hadley were waiting for us.

            “Hey Rhys! Don’t you look handsome?” Flan said admiringly and he blushed slightly. I was surprised that he’d even heard her the way his eyes were darting around the room to make sure everything was in place.

            “Thanks Flan.” He smiled at her.

            “It looks amazing in here but does it seem a little dark to you guys?” Hadley asked and I could see something click in Rhys’s head as it snapped up as if she’d just reminded him of something.

            He looked at me and smiled as he took my hands in his, “I can’t believe I almost forgot, I was on my way when you caught me in the hall. I did this for you, you’re going to love it!” his words came out so fast that they were jumbled together and a little hard to understand as he let me go and hurried over to the wall.

            He gave me another big grin, looking like a little kid before he flipped a switch on the wall; the entire room went silent as a giant spider web of twinkling lights lit up overhead just before a deafening round of applause filled the room. I stared at the lights, definitely not thinking about clapping and was overwhelmed with emotion for the second time that night, so much that I didn’t realize that he was by my side again until he wrapped his arms around me.

            “It reminded me of our first date.” He whispered in my ear as I fought back the onslaught of tears that were sure to overtake me in a matter of seconds. Flan was suddenly in front of me fanning my face with her napkin.

            “No tears sweetie, there’s no airbrush machine here.” She smiled and I couldn’t help smiling back, but despite her efforts a few tears managed to squeeze their way out; she managed to catch them with her napkin before they got too far though.

            Finally in control of myself yet again, I turned to Rhys, “It’s beautiful Rhys, thank you so much.”

            “You’re welcome.” He replied before gently pressing his lips to mine and then holding out my chair so I could sit.

            Just then the Dean of the school caught everyone’s attention when the microphone squealed as he took the stage for an announcement.

            “Welcome everyone to the 3rd annual Halloween Charity Auction! I’d like to invite you to take your seats at this time as dinner will be served soon, then we will be auctioning off our wonderful volunteers periodically throughout the night. Thank you all again for coming and I hope you have a wonderful evening!” We all clapped as he put the microphone back and left the stage.

            As people began to take their seats, I turned to Rhys, “So how does this all work? With the eating then the auctioning and the dancing?”

            He smiled like he was letting me in on a secret, “Well, as you’ll notice right now there are waiters coming around to bring people their food. Everybody gets worms with the option of slugs and some lice eggs to top it off.”

            “Lice eggs?” Flan, Hadley and I all asked shrilly at the same time.

            “Parmesan Cheese.” He replied calmly looking highly amused, “The kids got to help with the menu.” I relaxed a little, that made a lot more sense. “Then, we will have the first round of auctioning, dancing, another auction, more dancing and then the final auction round. That way people aren’t stuck sitting through the auction all night, it breaks it up a little.” I nodded my agreement with the way it was set up. Not a bad plan at all.

            When our food came, it was accompanied by a basket of breadsticks to be shared with the whole table. Flan was the first at our table to pull one out and I turned to stare at her as she began laughing uncontrollably.

            “Are you barking mad?” Hadley asked her and I turned in surprise, that wasn’t a phrase you usually heard Americans use.

            Flan just handed her the breadstick and kept on laughing. I reached into the basket and pulled one out myself, then I realized what she thought was so funny; they were shaped like giant fingers with pumpkin seeds for the nails, complete with wrinkles on the knuckles and everything.

            As comprehension dawned on the group, it was hard not to join in with the laughter and soon we had the merriest table in the room. I can only imagine that some of the other guests must have thought we’d spiked our punch or something.

            As we ate, the waiters also walked around the room offering what would have normally been appetizers but for this they were more like extra’s for the meal. Rhys’s friend Aaron came up to our table with a plate full of little broomsticks that were absolutely adorable. They were just pretzel sticks with small strips of yellow bell pepper tied to one end with chives, giving them the look of those brooms that Mickey Mouse puts the spell on and makes them carry the water for him in Fantasia.

            There was a plethora of Halloween themed foods making their way around the room, appealing to the inner child in everyone, random laughter rose throughout the room as people found themselves tickled by the child-inspired snacks. The best part was getting to eat it all; it tasted wonderful and created a fantastic ambience for the occasion.