Soul Breaker

Chapter 12

Halloween was closing in and the dance was just around the corner. I had a date with a very cute foreign student from England. Michael was surprised at my choice but seemed indifferent towards it. It was the exact opposite of how I wanted him to be, which was jealous.

The dance landed on a Saturday, which meant Halloween was on a Saturday and no doubt many teens would be out late after the dance, maybe at parties. Rae and Riley seemed to be getting closer, Michael and Anna were still an item, and Jayson and I were still on the friendship train, the way I want it to stay, but Jayson seemed to be thinking otherwise. He comes over every so often, claiming to want to hang out and get to know each other better, but I’ve picked up a few things from my sessions with Rae to know want he really wants. And what he wants is way past the friendship range.

It was a week before the dance. Rae and I were doing some late costume shopping at the Rack by the little farmer’s market near the mall. It had costumes ranging from grim reaper to flamboyant dresses. We were looking for something that screamed overly-frilled-princess-dress. Rae explained that a costume party is a way to dress sexy in a cosplay outfit. I could sport the beckoning-witch outfit or the devilish-demon costume, but I picked to be a simple princess. Despite all her protests, Rae agreed. She said that some boys like the soft type of girl; it makes them want to protect them even more.

“Do you think Michael likes those types of girls?” I asked. I thought about how fragile Anna seemed. She was petite, cute, nice, and delicate, everything a boy could ever ask for, while I’m so indecisive and…not her.

“Oh, please! You’ve seen all of his girlfriends. They vary every month,” Rae answered and picked out a faery costume. It was very tinker bell-ish. “You would look so good in this.” She held it up in front of me and squealed. “We’re getting this.” And she went to go ring it up. We walked out of the store without looking for Rae’s costume because she was a pair with Riley. They were going as Zorro and Elena Montero. Why that? Don’t look at me…

“Then why hasn’t he made a move yet?” I began getting more depressed at the thought of him not being interested. It’s just like when I was still chubby, he never considered me a candidate to one day become his girlfriend. Maybe there was something wrong with me.

“I don’t know. Have you tried seducing him into bed?” She elbowed my side and I glared.

“No, I haven’t,” I said with a hard edge to my voice.

“Kandy, relax already. You’re freaking out over nothing. He’s totally interested,” she reassured me, “You should’ve seen the look on his face when I told him you had a date. It was totally classic.” She laughed a bit then got in the car.

“What did he look like?” I asked, curious.

“It was like this…” She turned her face towards me and froze in shock, then went back to normal. “It didn’t last very long, but it was there.” Maybe there was still some hope left for me yet.

She started the ignition and eased out of the parking spot. We got home fifteen minutes later and my mom was sitting in the living room. Dad was working late again, the twins weren’t here, and Kenny brought some friends home. They were gathered around the pizza that was on the dining table. When they saw us come in their eyes widened and their mouths hung slightly ajar.

“Who are they?” One of them whispered to Kenny. He only shrugged and took a bite of pizza, suppressing a smile. I introduced myself politely and excused myself into the living room. My mother was watching the news. I sat down with her and watched. The news anchors were reporting a series of kidnapping attempts and they gave a warning that there was a stalker loose on the streets. I wasn’t that interested in all that so I went back to the kitchen. Rae was sitting with the boys, eating a slice of pizza. The boys stood gawking at her as she teased them unconsciously by seductively stringing the cheese into her mouth. I shook my head, and dug in the fridge for some orange juice. It was only two of Kenny’s friends but, man could they eat. They went through two boxes of pizza and were working on their third, with the help of Rae of course. One of the boys came up to the counter and began shamelessly flirting.