Page 105

Emily came out of her room and walked around to us.

“So, what do you think?”

She was dressed up as Barbie, like Margot Robbie in the most incredible film of the year. With a plaid dress and a flawless tiara.

“It's perfect!” Troian was excited when she answered her.

“It’s wonderful!” I also praised her.

"Thanks!" Our roommate even blushed a little as Troian accidentally let the brush drip a drop of blood onto the floor. Amidst curses and complaints, Troian cleaned it up while I decided to finish getting ready on my own. "You both look amazing as Boo and... Jennifer."

Troian was dressed as the little girl from Monsters, Inc., while I went for a more macabre look, choosing to dress as Megan Fox from Jennifer’s Body—the iconic first scene where she appears bloodied, wearing a white coat and a denim skirt.

“Thank you, Em.” I smiled at her, but I was sure it wasn't my best idea since there was fake blood also dripping from the corner of my mouth. “Well, are you all ready?”

“YES!” Both answered excitedly in unison.

We grabbed our bags and stepped into the hallway. I had to bring a towel just to be allowed into any car, and even then, we had a bit of an argument with the app driver when he arrived. We eventually convinced him to let us in, but it wasn’t easy.

The drive there was slightly awkward, but thankfully, it was short. When we arrived in front of the fraternity, it was obvious the party was already in full swing. We joined the line and waited about ten minutes to get in, which I wasn’t thrilled about, but with Derek not answering his phone, we had no other option. When we finally got inside, we spotted part of the cheerleading team gathered in a corner.

We got closer to our team and I soon realized that destiny really sought to bring people together, after all, even though they didn't match, Emily was wearing Barbie and Logan was wearing Ken, like Simu Liu's Ken in the summer movie.

We greeted everyone, until my eyes rested on Kendra staring at my brother suspiciously, while Colleen seemed to be amused by their interaction. The short skirt and pink pom poms in her hair gave me the best version of Britney Spears in “Baby One More Time” that I had ever seen. She was so beautiful!

I approached the three of them and stopped next to Kendra.

“Hello!” I opened my best smile and received Kendra's blue eyes analyzing me for a moment.

“Hi… devilish, hm?” mocked the blonde.

“Not more than you.” I turned my attention to Colleen and my brother. He was dressed as Zorro and she was a sexy female version of the Toy Story character Woody. “You two look great too.” I praised the new couple. After all, the two were there holding hands at a fraternity party. My brother wasn't the kind of guy who showed others that he was with a girl, that was rare. The last time I had seen this was with a high school girlfriend and it didn't even last that long. “Where is the alcohol?”

“Come, I'll show you...” Kendra said, putting two fingers to her eyes and then pointing at both before grabbing me by the hand and pulling me to the other side of the kitchen. “Yourbrother is bold. He said I can call him brother-in-law, since Colleen and I are like sisters.” She grumbled, taking two clean glasses and placing them under the counter.

“He's not so wrong, he's my brother and we...” I didn't need to finish the sentence; she knew what I was referring to.

“I know, but he doesn't know about that.”

“Yet.”

She laughed weakly and served us Coke and whiskey, mixing the drinks. As soon as she finished, she offered me a glass.

“To us?” Suggested the toast.

“To us!”

I let my plastic cup touch hers and took a sip of my drink. The bitter taste was still strong, even with the exaggerated sweetness of the soda, but I didn't care. The only thing I regretted was that I couldn't kiss her next. For now.

“Hey, are you toasting without us?” Sidney's voice came through. And, interestingly, she was dressed like Drew Barrymore's character in Scream. With a blonde bob wig and everything. Jazmine also approached, she was dressed as Isabela, from Disney's Encanto. Emily and Troian came along.

“We deserve shots!” Kendra declared, looking for smaller glasses.

She didn't take long to find and fill them with tequila.

“To our team and the friendships we found along the way.” Jazmine declared, raising her glass.

We all agreed with her and toasted before sending the entire contents of the cup inside. A grimace escaped me, but I soon recovered.