The Grim Reaper Effect

-F O R T Y - F I V E-

I smiled at her. She seemed genuine. Her large blue eyes were eager like she was ready to take notes. Just seeing her so happy about something other than popularity was enough to bring me to tears. Without warning, I threw my arms around her and squeezed her to me. Though she was caught off guard, she hugged me back. I could tell she was confused, so I pulled back quickly, taking a breath.

"Sorry, it's just so nice to hear someone actually consider me for something other than being the 'popular girl' or Micah's ex," I sighed. "I got through my senior year by thinking of every day as my last. Friends are nice too, but only the true ones. You need that support sometimes. Also, the most important thing is your grades. Nothing else will matter afterward."

"Really? That's it?"

"I doubt you'll have a boyfriend that gets mad at you because you said he wasn't allowed to cheat, then tries to hurt you because you're happy," I shrugged, before grabbing the crown. "If you do, dump him immediately and leave. It's not worth the trouble. I have to go but thank you for being such a good person. Well, from what I can tell. I hope my advice helps!"

"Before you go," She placed a hand on my shoulder. "We all knew you as more than just some popular girl with a boyfriend. Mackenzie, you weren't popular because of Micah. You were popular because you're a good person with a big heart and we all saw that. If anyone deserves to be happy, it's you."

With that, she sent me one last smile before walking away. I stood there for a second, replaying her words over in my head.

You were popular because you're a good person.

I smiled to myself before hurrying off to find Griffin. He was no doubt picking up the wrong things and confusing himself. As I rounded a corner, someone in all black jumped in front of me, yelling. I let out a scream before taking off in the opposite direction. Seconds later, I realized I was in a costume shop and it was probably just some kid in a costume.

I spun around to see Griffin collapsed on the floor, on the verge of tears from laughing so hard. He was in the Grim Reaper costume he despised so much. I rolled my eyes at him, throwing the crown. It hit him square in the head, stopping him mid-laugh. He frowned, sitting up.

"One year later and you're still an ass," I huffed, going to retrieve my crown.

He feigned hurt, "That's not fair! It's Halloween! Don't you guys do this sort of thing?"

"To little kids!"

He stood up, grabbing my crown in the process, "Well, you're a kid compared to me. You're also short in comparison to me-"

I rolled my eyes again before leaving him to check out. Before I could get far, his arms were around my waist, stopping me in place. I stood my ground, crossing my arms over my chest. He chuckled, and I could feel the soft rumble of his chest.

"I'm sorry," He offered. "Let's get back to the task at hand."

-*-

Hours later, I was dressed up in my costume. The skirt was homemade. There were red, white, and black strips with small black hearts going down the front. I paired it with a black V-neck shirt and knee-high white socks. My heels were sleek and black. The crown sat atop of my head, slightly tilted to the side.

My lips had a red heart in the middle. Lindsay helped make my eyes just dramatic enough to go with the outfit. She did a black smoky eye with red liner. As a nice final touch, she added a red heart under my left eye and a black one under the other. She then outlined both with gold eyeliner. It was perfect.

She was The Cat in the Hat. She was in a black bodysuit with black heels to match. She had a red and white hat on her head. There was also a red bowtie around her neck. Her makeup consisted of black eyeliner and red lipstick. She went over her lashes a few times with mascara. The most dramatic thing was thickly filling in her eyebrows. She didn't want to be too flashy with her face this year.