I wake up at around half-eight on Halloween morning, which is quite good for me, especially on a Saturday. I'd told Saffi and Aimee that I would help them put up the decorations for Halloween party this evening. So, after dressing in comfy grey jersey shorts and a green sweatshirt, I head downstairs for a quick breakfast and then meet Maddie and Aimee at the supply closet to load the decoration boxes into the dining hall. We take inspiration from Harry Potter with the hanging candles, which we decide to hang from the ceiling.
I am the only one willing to go up the ladder, so it's my job to attach the candles to the ceiling, whilst the other two tie the candles securely with an invisible string.
"What do you think the boys will dress up as then?" Aimee asks.
Asher and Nick told us last night that they will be going as a famous double act for Halloween but wouldn't tell us who, they want to keep it a surprise.
"I reckon Mario and Luigi," Saffi says.
"Really? I think maybe Woody and Buzz... or something stupid like ketchup and mustard," Aimee replies.
"Oh no, no, no," Saffi continues, "I know it'll be something stupid but stupid enough to go as condiments? I don't think they have enough confidence to do that... what do you think, Miyah?"
"I was thinking maybe Shaggy and Scooby. I can definitely imagine Nick as Scooby Doo."
Aimee laughs "Oh, totally, that's such a good guess! I can so imagine that."
"I can't and I hope that's not the case. If he dresses like Scooby Doo then I won't be going near him for the entire evening..."
We carry on stringing and hanging the candles, guessing what our other friends will wear before moving on to the next task. We have fake cobwebs, bunting, orange fairy lights and sticky bats for the walls.
Finally, it's time to decorate the tables. Candelabras are scattered alongside plastic skulls, pumpkins, rubber spiders, and spider web placemats.
Aimee is organising everything on one side of the hall, while Saffi approaches me as I'm setting the tables on the other. "Hey, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation with Asher on the hay-bales yesterday." Uh oh, I knew where this was going... "are you having guy trouble?" She asks, a well-intentioned concern in her voice. The question stings a little as I've never struggled with this sort of problem, especially not with two at the same time.
"Oh, um, not really, I don't think."
She nods. "Alright. I just overheard that you met up with Seth right? To return the book?"
"Oh right, yeah I did."
She continues, "I don't mean to pry, but is there something more than friendship? Between you and Seth, that is?"
I hesitate to answer, "No, no at all," I lie. I'm not entirely sure...
She breathes a sigh of relief. "Ok, I'm just worried about Asher. Maybe I'm being a little overprotective, but he's been through a lot. Of course, I know you wouldn't want to hurt him... but I just wanted to double-check... for his sake."
I understand where she's coming from so I don't take her comments to heart. "It's ok, Saf. Seth and I are just friends," I assure her, "I promise I wouldn't hurt Asher."
*
It comes to the time in the afternoon when students start to get ready for the party. In our room, Saffi and I lay our costumes on our beds. Saffi has chosen to dress up as Cher from Clueless, complete with a yellow plaid co-ord with white socks, a blonde wig and a fluffy pink pen. She's going to look amazing. As for me, I decided to keep my costume a surprise like the boys. As I lay it out on the bed, Saffi bounds over, eager to see what I've chosen to be.
"What's that? Are you going as a vampire?" She guesses.
I chuckle, "No, not quite."
"A fairy?"
"You're getting warmer." I reveal a red skirt, knee-high white socks, a short-sleeved white shirt, a small wicker basket and a red cape.
Maddie gasps, "Oh my goodness! You're going as little Red Riding Hood!"
"Yeah! Do you like it?"
"It's fantastic! I'm jealous."
After we change into our costumes, the other girls come to our room for a quick photoshoot before we head downstairs to meet the guys. There's a chorus of excited screams as each girl sees the others in their costumes. Aimee's Alice in wonderland, Hollie makes a fantastic Wonder Woman, and Jamie is Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean. We take enough photos to make us run late, so we head down the grand staircase, beautifully decorated with fake cobwebs and orange fairy lights, to the guys who are waiting at the dining hall entrance.
"Miyah, you were right!" Aimee exclaims.
"About what?"
"What the boys would dress as!" She points excitedly. It's a little hard to see in the dim light, but sure enough, the boys are dressed as Shaggy and Scooby Doo.
"Haha! So, which one's Scooby Doo?" I ask, squinting to make out their faces.
"Oh my gosh. Nick is Scooby Doo..." Saffi says in dismay. "Nothing will look worse than Cher dancing with Scooby Doo..." I pat her on the back sympathetically, trying not to laugh.
"Hello, ladies," Nick greets us at the bottom of the staircase, striking a pose against the banister. "You like it, Saf?" He twirls around so she can see the whole dog costume, his long tail inadvertently hitting her.
"Nick! Did you have to be a big brown dog?" She cries, "people will be staring at us! We'll never live this down!"
Asher chimes in, "Now, now, Saf, "It's not entirely his fault. I offered to be Scooby, but he was so excited and insisted on being the 'big brown dog'"
Saffi rolls her eyes and playfully hits them both. "Ugh, let's get this over with." She says sulkily, linking her arm through Nick's, and reluctantly, Nick drags her into the hall.
The others follow, and Asher offers me his arm, asking, "Little Red Riding Hood?"
"Yeah. What do you think?" It's my turn to twirl to show off my flowy skirt.
"I love it," he smiles and looks me over carefully, "you look gorgeous." I stop twirling and blush as I pull my red hood back up, which had fallen during the twirl.
We walk into the hall, and it's transformed by the dim, enchanting glow of the fairy lights and small table lamps, creating a magical, eerie glow. The tables have been pushed to the edges, creating a spacious dance floor in the middle. One table has been decked out with creatively themed food and drink, the drinks being served in cauldrons with dry ice to make it look like a steaming potion. There are finger hotdogs, ghostly chocolate-covered strawberries, monster burgers, jelly cups with eyeballs, beheaded gingerbread men, and coffin-shaped pies.
"Shall we go get a drink to start?" Asher asks,
"Yeah, sure, I'll go get them. You get a table." I reply as I make my way to the steaming cauldrons,
"Hey, would you like cherry or orange?" The familiar voice catches me by surprise.
"Seth? Wha... What are you doing here?" I exclaim, my voice a little too loud, causing people to turn in our direction.
He is dressed as a vampire and smiles warmly at me but I can't give him one in return,
"Oh my gosh, I didn't recognise you, hey Miyah, nice costume."
I stand swaying uncomfortably, "Seth, what are you doing here?" I manage to blurt out but my tone could have come off a little harsh. I'm genuinely happy to see him but scared Saffi, Asher, or the others would see me over here talking to him.
"Oh, um, I volunteered for the year to help with catering at events."
"And you didn't tell me?"
Seth shrugs it off, "What's the big deal, Miyah? Aren't you happy to see me?"
I pause for a second to get myself together, "Yeah... sorry, just a little surprised. You being here just caught me off guard."
"Yeah, don't worry; I'm not stalking you or anything. I signed up before we even met."
"But you didn't mention it..."
"Yeah, sorry, I forgot. Completely slipped my mind. I signed up at the end of last year and only remembered when I got the email on Wednesday, the day after we met up."
"Oh. Right, I see." I say, "I'll take two cherries, please."
"Huh? Oh, right, the drinks." He starts to ladle the drinks from the cauldron.
"So you had to get dressed up?" I ask, trying to be a little more friendly.
Seth grins, his eyes focused on the drinks, "Yeah, it's all part of the fun, I guess." He hands me the drinks, and I take a sip. "How about a dance later? I get a five-minute break halfway through," he suggests as I take a sip of my drink. I nearly choke and almost spill it down my costume. He quickly hands me a napkin, laughing, "Are you alright? I promise I'm not that bad of a dancer."
Truth is, I do want to dance with Seth; I think it could be fun, he's a great guy and I genuinely enjoy his company, which is the only reason I reply, "Yeah, sure, I'll come find you."With that, I walk away and return to the table where my friends are but I didn't really consider before I said yes... if Saffi sees me, she'll think I was lying earlier. And if Asher sees, he'll think I'm not interested in him even though I'd spent all that time with him and I can't deny flirting.
I hand Asher his drink, and he smiles, "Thanks. You up for a dance later?"
I return his smile, trying to ignore the knot in my stomach, "Yeah, sure, sounds great."
As luck would have it, that the song we start dancing to is a slow one. Initially, it's a little awkward, placing my hands around Asher's neck and his on my lower back. But once the music starts, I can't help but melt into his touch and I rest my head gently on his shoulder as we start to sway. It's stupid, I would never call this dancing, we're just swaying back and forth whilst holding each other, but I wouldn't change a thing.
The song finishes and changes to a more upbeat one, one where we can actually dance with each other. Asher's surprisingly a pretty good dancer, so I just follow his lead as he twirls me around and spins me in and out, both of us laughing and thoroughly enjoying ourselves. After three dances, we return to our table breathless but very happy.
We decide that if we want to do anymore dancing then it's definitely time for food. The food is delicious, and I manage to avoid Seth's eye while queueing up and luckily none of the others recognise him. The girls and I have a few dances together, completely taking over the dance floor whilst Asher and Nick are doing stupid but hilarious dance moves that they have apparently been practising for over a week, which have us all in stitches. At around ten, I think I should try and find Seth and relieve him from his duties. I pick the timing pretty well, as most of the group are resting their legs or getting another drink so I approach him at the food table, he's looking so bored, which makes me giggle.
"If you don't enjoy doing it, why did you sign up to help?" I ask.
He looks up and smiles, "Looks good on an application. Have you come to save me?"
"Yeah, would you like to dance?" I hold out my hand. He puts the ladle down and walks round the table to take it. I lead him into the corner furthest away from the group so there's small chance of them seeing us dancing. Thankfully Seth doesn't seem to notice, and we start dancing.
"I was watching you," he says, meeting my eye, "not in a creepy way, just watching you and your friends dancing. You seem close."
"Yeah we are. They're good people."
"That's good." He pauses as if he isn't sure if he should say what he'll say next, "you were dancing with that one guy a lot. Is there something going on between you two? I don't want to get in the way of anything."
I take a minute to reply, but when I do I say, "I don't know yet, possibly." And that's the best answer I can come up with.
"So I still have a chance then. That's good." I look at him and then look down again, in all honesty, a little uncomfortable and he seems to sense this, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. I like you Miyah. I know it hasn't been long, but I feel a connection between us. I hope you don't think of me as weird or desperate."
I look up again at him, "Hey, it's okay. I don't think of you like that at all. I feel like my emotions are a little all over the place, I just need to take some time to sort out everything in my that's going on."
"Yeah, yeah, of course, I totally get that. But hey, don't let this affect our friendship, yeah? Even if you come to decide you don't like me like that, I still want to be friends. You're an interesting person Miyah." I thank him, and we carry on dancing before he has to go back to serving the drinks.
I go to bed that evening happy but confused. I really, really liked Asher and love spending time with him. But, could there be something with Seth? I don't think so, but if he sees something here, should I?
I had danced with two guys that evening, and now I feel pressured to choose between them.