How Curiosity Killed the Cat and the Ghost Was Brought Back

Tricks and Treats

Unlike Amber, Vic always kept quiet and kept his head even lower. He had been going out of his way to avoid Kat like the plague since middle school. Kat knew that despite being an accomplice, he had always been the one to purposefully sabotage the pranks and general cruelty of Amber. It was a wonder he had stuck by her side throughout the years, and there was no way that Vic could've been unaware of the effects on his reputation. The two of them were the most hated people out of the entire student body- so much so that even they grew to despise each other by the end of sophomore year. Now they sat on opposite sides of the cafeteria and opted to go solo on every class activity requiring a partner.

Vic had ruined his own social life, and for what? To avoid hurting Amber's feelings? As much as Kat wanted to judge him for it, she couldn't help but have some amount of admiration for his loyal nature.

With all of that in consideration, who knows why the hell he was interested in attending the party- if not for the chance of scoring some free alcohol.

"Hey," Vic said. His blank expression was wavering. Whatever barrier he was trying to hold up was starting to come crashing down. He seemed determined to avoid fully addressing her, as if pretending that he had no recollection of Kat Harvey was the key to making it through the night.

Zach opened the passenger door and held it in place. Kat stood in a daze, failing to realize that he was prompting her to take the seat until Zach cleared his throat and nodded his head in an even more obvious gesture. Kat still hesitated. She hoped that if she stood there long enough with stiffened posture that Zach would eventually get the message that she would rather hitchhike than sit next to Vic at this time, but he wasn't getting it. Kat sighed, forced a polite smile, and dipped herself in a joking curtsey before climbing in.

* * *

The drive wasn't terribly awkward. It helped that the radio was half-broken, leaving the volume stuck at a moderately loud volume as Vic's Greatest Halloween Hits cassette played a rather pitchy rendition of The Monster Mash. It left little room for small talk, as long as they wanted to avoid straining their voices to yell over the radio. Kat had never been more grateful to be subjected to such mediocre music.

They arrived at a private doc, in an area that would've been comparable to an isolated area in a horror movie if it hadn't been for the obscene amount of lights and Halloween decor strung across every beam and light pole in sight. The other side of the harbor was also lit up by clusters of boats, where you could hear the distant music and shouts of people who were somehow already hammered before sunset.

Kat had never seen a house boat before, at least not up close, and sure enough, it was quite literally a house floating on the water. It was about the size of any ordinary, modest suburban home, but still not quite the ideal size for the amount of guests who had shown.

Amber had apparently been prepared for an influx. The H-shaped pier that anchored the houseboat was spotted with plenty of deck chairs, coolers, and trays of finger foods. Every available corner had a massive speaker, all of which were synchronized to blast music at just the right volume, suitable for either dancing or socializing.

"Coming through!" a voice yelled from behind. Kat felt a tug at her waist as Zach scooped her out of the way of two boys as they plowed through, rolling two massive beer kegs like steamrollers across the pavement.

Once the coast was clear, Kat looked at Zach and felt her cheeks burn at the sight of her hand against his chest. His hand was still placed by her hip. She could've stayed like this for so much longer if it hadn't been for the fact that they were still standing in the parking lot with Vic at an awkward proximity. Zach's lips were close enough to her that he could've planted a kiss on her cheek, and Kat could've sworn that he was beginning to do so.