While Ricky headed home for the night, Ben was pulling up outside Adrian's house. He parked and grabbed a plastic bag filled with junk food as he climbed out. When he rang the doorbell, Adrian answered it with a smile.
"Hey, Benny. Come on in," she said, taking a step back so he could enter and she could close the door behind him. "What's in the bag?" Ben gave her a mischievous smirk.
"Movie watching essentials," he replied, making his way to the kitchen where he set the bag out onto the table. He began pulling items out and setting them on the table after he showed them to her. "We've got popcorn, several different kinds of soda, Twizzlers, Whoppers, Airheads and Reese's pieces. The perfect combination of chocolate, sugar and salty goodness," he told her with a smile. Adrian laughed with delight.
"This is great, Ben!" She gave him a hug. "Tonight's gonna be awesome!" They worked together to pop the popcorn and load up the rest of their goodies onto trays and then headed towards the living room.
"So which movie do you wanna watch first?" Ben asked as he knelt in front of the DVD player where Adrian had stacked several movies.
"Let's start with Chucky," she said, putting a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
"Chucky it is." Ben loaded up the movie and then turned off the lights before joining her on the couch. Adrian hit play and their eyes became glued to the TV.
At Grant High Grace was talking to one of her fellow committee members about the balloons while Grant sat patiently at one of the round tables that had been set up around the room, watching his girlfriend with a lazy smile.
"So Albert said some of the balloons on the last archway came loose and they had to re-secure them. But it'll be done by the time the dance officially opens." The girl Grace was speaking to nodded just as another girl dressed as a flight attendant ran across the gym floor calling out to her.
"Penny! Penny!" The flight attendant bent over slightly to catch her breath when she reached them. Grace and Penny waited for the girl to explain what the emergency was. "We've got a problem! The cart the photographer was using to move all his equipment inside broke. We need to grab a couple of the guys to help him finish moving or he won't be set up in time!" the flight attendant wailed. Grace put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Take a deep breath and then try to relax, Georgia." Grace gave her a reassuring smile. "That's why we're here early." The committee members worked together to put the finishing touches on the dance and all systems were go when students began to arrive at 8:00. Grace and Georgia worked the greeting table. Grace took students' tickets and stamped their hands to show they'd already paid while Georgia sold tickets to any students who had decided to attend at the last minute and needed to purchase a ticket. Inside, the gym had been decorated to resemble a haunted castle, complete with black lights and fog from a fog machine giving everything an eerie vibe. There was a photo station where students could pay $5.00 to have their picture taken with one of three haunted-themed backdrops and their choice of props from three large plastic bins; pictures could be picked up at the end of the night. There were several buffet tables filled with finger foods, sugary deserts and punch, the punch being carefully guarded by two teachers so no one could try and spike it. By 8:15 quite a few teens had shown up with a large number of them rocking out to the music the DJ was playing. Two other committee members came out to relieve Grace and Georgia so they could go enjoy the dance. Grace found Grant sitting at a table talking to Alice and Henry, who were dressed as Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle.
"Hey guys," she said a little loudly, to be heard over the music. Alice and Henry nodded in her direction and then Grace turned to look at Grant, inclining her head towards the dance area. He got up and took her hand and the headed out to join their school mates in shaking their groove things. At the buffet table Ashley and Griffin were loading their plates up with junk food.
"I thought you were gonna eat before the dance?" he asked with surprise when he saw how many sweets Ashley was piling on her plate.
"I did," she informed him. "Now I'm eating dessert." She popped a Jolly Rancher in her mouth and headed towards the punch. She noticed cans of soda in a tub of ice at the end of the table and opted for a Dr. Pepper instead. Griffin got himself a cup of punch and then they looked around for an empty table to sit at, attempting to readjust his fake Quasimodo hump that had shifted too far to one side. A task made more difficult by the fact he had a plate of food in one hand and a cup of punch in the other. At the photo station Lauren and Jesse were waiting in line to get their picture taken, having agreed they'd rather get a picture before dancing or eating messed up their pirate costumes.
"Dibs on that pirate hook," Jesse said to Lauren, pointing to said prop lying near the top of one of the prop bins. She laughed at her boyfriend's enthusiasm.
"Dibs noted," she informed him with amusement. While they waited in line, Madison and Justin entered the gym dressed as Raggedy Ann and Andy.
"So where do you wanna start?" Justin asked her. "Pictures, food or dancing?" Madison glanced around at the three options.
"Definitely pictures," she said happily, grabbing Justin's hand and dragging him towards the photo station, Justin smiling behind her. Not simply because he found her moments of having a take-charge attitude endearing but also because walking behind his girlfriend gave him the opportunity to check out her backside shamelessly.
By 9:00 the party was in full swing. There was a steady line at the photo station, the teachers and parent volunteers had replenished the snack and beverage supply, and the dance area was full but not uncomfortably packed. Apparently quite a few teens at Grant High felt they were too old to trick-or-treat for Halloween but were willing to take any excuse to party. Madison, Justin, Jesse and Lauren were resting at a table and chatting when a song came on that Madison and Lauren loved. Madison squealed and turned to Justin while Lauren smiled brightly at Jesse.
"I love this song! Let's dance!" Madison took Justin's hand and attempted to tug him out of his seat but he didn't get up.
"I need to rest a bit more, sweetie. I'll dance the next one."
"Me too," Jesse said, giving Lauren an apologetic smile. Lauren shrugged and grabbed Madison's hand instead and the two girls made their way to the dance area without their boyfriends. Justin chuckled as they scampered off.
"Sometimes I don't know if I can keep up with that girl," he said shaking his head slightly with a smirk on his face.
"I know what you mean," Jesse agreed, smiling as he watched his girlfriend dancing like she didn't have a care in the world. "But I'm willing to try." The two boys looked at each other and shared a smile, bonding a little more over their interesting girlfriends.
Back at Adrian's she and Ben were on their second movie, Bride of Chucky, when Ruben came home. Hearing the TV but seeing the lights off, he quietly made his way towards the living room to investigate. Seeing Adrian and Ben staring intently at the TV screen while absentmindedly stuffing popcorn into their mouths made him laugh. Unfortunately, he was standing directly behind them when he laughed and it startled Adrian, who shrieked and let go of the large bowl that was holding their popcorn, spilling it on the carpet and causing Ruben to laugh even more. Ben grabbed the remote and paused the movie while Adrian looked over her shoulder with alarm, narrowing her eyes with irritation when she saw her father.
"Dad! Seriously!?" Ruben smiled apologetically at her.
"Sorry, Adrian. I came home and heard the TV on with all the lights off. And when I found you two engrossed in your movie it just struck me as so ordinary. And given how unordinary our family's been in the past, I found that kinda funny," he explained, a smile still on his face.
"Well, funny man, now we need more popcorn." Adrian made a move to try and stand up.
"No, let me, since it's my fault and all." Ruben picked up the empty bowl and scooped the popcorn back into it before carrying it to the kitchen to dump it out and make a fresh batch.
"This seems like a good time for a bathroom break," Ben announced as he stood up. He stood in front of Adrian and held out his arms so she could grasp his hands. Once she did so he helped her stand up.
"Thanks, Benny," she said with a smile before making her way to the downstairs bathroom while Ben went to use the upstairs one. Next door at the Juergens house, George was in the living room with Anne watching the news when he heard a knock on the front door. He rose to answer it and found Ricky standing there holding a plastic bag.
"Hey, Ricky. What brings you by so late?" George asked as he stepped back so Ricky could enter.
"I brought a surprise for Amy," he admitted sheepishly, causing George to look at him curiously.
"What kind of surprise?"
"I feel bad that she couldn't go out tonight and enjoy Halloween so I brought Halloween to her.
"That's so sweet, Ricky," Anne said with a smile as she rose from the couch to greet him. Ricky headed upstairs while George and Anne returned to their spots on the couch to finish catching up on the news. Upstairs Ricky found Amy sitting on her bed rubbing John's back. She looked up with confusion when she saw him.
"What are you doing here?" she whispered. Ricky sat next to her on the bed.
"I have a surprise for you," he whispered back, giving her a sheepish smile and holding up the plastic bag for a moment. "How's he doing?"
"Okay. I just gave him some more Tylenol." She sighed. "His fever just doesn't wanna break." Feeling John's body relax from deep sleep, Amy stood up and gently placed him in the middle of her bed with his head on her pillows. "So what's the surprise?" Ricky rose and walked over to her desk, sliding her textbooks over a little. He opened the bag and removed a small plastic container of Halloween-decorated cookies, two small bottles of Hawaiian punch, and a small bag of 3 Musketeers bars. Amy smiled when she saw them.
"I felt bad that you didn't get to go out for Halloween so I brought Halloween to you." Amy cupped his face and kissed him for this thoughtful gesture. Ricky transferred their treats to the floor and then he and Amy sat down. They quietly chatted while they ate cookies and chocolate and drank punch. Once they'd eaten all the cookies and candy they'd wanted to, Ricky moved the rest back to Amy's desk and then took out his smart phone. He took an iPod speaker out of the bag and plugged his phone into it. He set the volume low and then turned around to offer Amy his hand so he could help her up. "I'm not a good dancer but a Halloween dance should have some dancing. Amy smiled as Ricky turned on his phone and then took her hand. The two of them had their very own Halloween dance right there in her bedroom.