The next morning, Janis, Damien, Phoebe and Cady met up in the hallway before school to discuss further plans.
"Shouldn't you hold off for now? I mean, she's probably barely tried the bars yet." Phoebe said, trying to defer the others from doing anything at least for the next little while.
"True." Janis agreed, Phoebe was relieved. "Do you guys wanna come over to mine tonight and watch scary movies?" She offered, since it was Halloween.
"I can't sorry, I have to be Aaron's designated driver for this party tonight." Phoebe somewhat lied.
"Me neither, Aaron invited me to the party." Cady also said.
"I still can't get over how you like my brother." Phoebe cringed. "Like, you'd be cute together I guess, but as someone who has to live with him it'd be against my morals to let you put yourself through that." Cady fake smiled at Phoebe; her resentment for Regina grew over the days, she planned to make her move at the party tonight, knowing Regina would be too careful of her image to actually hang out with Phoebe.
-
-
-
In PE, Regina asked again if Phoebe was going to the Halloween party to make sure and Phoebe replied with a nod. Regina smiled, excited for the night.
"Do you need a lift there or home?" The blonde asked.
"No thanks, I'm heading there with Aaron and Cady. But, I might need a ride home depending on where the night takes us." She hinted.
"Be careful of that Cady, I'm pretty sure she has like a massive crush on you. She's always staring at you and is jealous towards me. Come to think of it, that's probably why she's trying to take me down, so she has you all to herself." Regina thought out loud.
"Pfft," Phoebe scoffed, "She doesn't have a crush on me. She has a massive crush on Aaron, she told me herself! And she probably wants to take you down because he's 'your property'." She put air quotes around the last two words.
"Not anymore he's not. I've moved onto the hotter Samuels sibling now." Regina flirted and nudged Phoebe's arm. Phoebe grinned, flustered at Regina's flirtiness.
-
-
-
Soon enough, it was time for the Halloween party. Phoebe raced around the house in a panic, frantically looking for a prop for her costume.
"Whoa, slow down!" Aaron laughed as Phoebe zoomed past him.
Phoebe halted to a stop, "Have you seen the foam pirate sword anywhere? I need it for my costume."
"Aye, matey! It be in the kids costume storage box in the attic." Aaron said in a pirate impression.
Phoebe just snickered at her cringey older brother, "Thanks!"
"No problem! Oh, and we leave in 5 minutes, kapeesh?" Aaron yelled after her.
"Yeah, yeah." Phoebe shouted as she entered the attic.
Luckily, the costume chest was near the front as they had recently lent some of the items to their younger cousins. Phoebe ransacked the chest, searching for the foam sword she needed to complete the pirate look. Finally, she found it and pulled it out, then haphazardly returning the things she had pulled out back into the chest. She raced downstairs, where Aaron had already begun walking out of the front door, and quickly followed, locking the door behind them.
For once, Phoebe drove. They first headed to Cady's house as Aaron had promised her a ride. Phoebe honked the horn as they pulled up, followed by Cady quickly emerging from her front door wearing an intricate costume, complete with an old wedding dress and wig. "Wow, you look great! Very scary!" Phoebe complimented, as Aaron pretended to be jumpscared. Cady grinned.
"So do you, Phoebe! Are you a pirate?" Cady complimented back.
"A sexy pirate." Phoebe replied in a sultry voice, giggling and posing 'sexily'. Cady blushed; luckily, no one could see through her thick layer of white face paint.
"Wait, what are you supposed to be Cady?" Aaron asked.
"Oh, uh, an ex wife." Cady stuttered, embarrassed at her choice of costume compared to Phoebes.
"Oh, hahaha! I get it! Good one!" Aaron said.
"Thanks." Cady replied.
-
-
-
As the three pulled up to the party, Phoebe suddenly got nervous. She was now extremely self conscious in her revealing outfit. Aaron and Cady had since gone into the party, but Phoebe was frozen at the wheel, nervous to go in.
"What are you waiting for? You look so hot." Reginas recognisable voice sounded from the sidewalk next to the car. Phoebe turned her head and her jaw dropped; Regina looked like an actual angel in her silver feathered dress that hugged her body just right and and her huge angel wings. Phoebe stared at her like that for a moment before Regina speaking again knocked her out of her thoughts.
"Hey, quit staring! Let's head inside." Regina said, reaching her arm out for Phoebe to take. They walked up the driveway with their arms linked until they got to the front door, where they pulled apart to enter separately, to still make it seem like they weren't dating.
As Phoebe walked in, she was met with Gretchen giving a lecture to Cady about how she was literally slut-shaming the rest of them by wearing that costume. Phoebe snickered, then headed to the kitchen for a drink. Since she was the designated driver for the night, she could only stick to soda disappointingly, though she could've really used a drink to calm her nerves.
As Phoebe stood in the corner, sipping on her soda, she began to realise just how antisocial she had been these past few years, and seriously regretted it as she now had no one to talk to. Every now and then, her and Regina would share glances but never spoke as Regina was too busy mingling and hanging out with her group of friends as she didn't think it was a good idea to hang out in public together. Phoebe should have been offended by this, but she wanted Regina so bad she didn't care what the catch was.
Cady, who had been watching Phoebe alone in the corner for a while, decided this was her chance. She tipsily walked over to the brunette, having had a couple drinks by then, and slurred "Hi."
"...Hi?"
"Listen, I know you like Regina but you are wayyy too good for her. I personally think you should date me instead." She spilled.
"Is that so?" Phoebe said, amused and uncomfortable.
"Yep." Cady spoke, popping the 'p', and began inching closer to Phoebe. Phoebe, uncomfortable, kept backing away from Cady until her back hit the corner. Unluckily for her, Cady was the same size as her but also far stronger and put her arms either side of the brunette. Phoebe tried to turn away and escape Cady's entrapment, but she couldn't. Cady leaned in, pressing her lips to Phoebe's. Phoebe clenched her eyes and mouth shut, doing everything in her power to pull away from the adamant redhead.
*Smack*
A sudden force sent Cady dropping to the ground, clutching the side of her face. The music suddenly came to a halt as the whole house went silent, everyone turning to watch the scene before them. Phoebe slowly opened her eyes, meeting with Regina's. She now was genuinely looking even more like an angel, saving Phoebe. Phoebe began to apologise to Regina, though Regina just shushed her, sending her a small knowing smile. She then turned her attention to Cady, who was cowering on the floor.
"What are you doing? She obviously didn't like that. Didn't you see her trying to get away?" Regina berated.
"No, she liked it." Cady said, Phoebe rolled her eyes, she most certainly did not, "You're just jealous because you have a massive crush on her and you don't want anyone else to have her."
Regina fumed, screwing up her face in anger. She hesitated, wondering whether she should lie and deflect or expose herself. The crowd gasped in disbelief, wondering why Regina was hesitant to shut Cady down.
"You bitch!" Phoebe yelled at Cady before Regina had the chance to respond, "I can't believe you'd lead my brother on like that just to get to me! That's low. I don't like you at all, especially after what you just pulled. You forced yourself onto me and made me feel disgusting."
"Oh, sorry." Cady quietly said, turning around to leave. Aaron stared at Cady, hurt, as she walked past him, refusing to look him in the eye.
"Is it true Regina? Do you like Phoebe?" Gretchen questioned, a hint of jealousy in her voice.
Regina rolled her eyes, "Fine, yes." The crowd gasped again, "But if any of you even think of spreading nasty rumours or calling us homophobic names, I will ruin your lives." She said, making a slicing motion with her thumb against her neck, "Just because I'm into girls now doesn't mean I've gotten nicer or more understanding." Some people in the crowd nodded fearfully.
"Let's go," She said to Phoebe, taking her hand and leading her out to her car.
Phoebe laughed in disbelief, "I can't believe that just happened."
"I know," Regina responded, unsure of how to feel.
"Hey, I'm really sorry." Phoebe said, placing a comforting hand on Regina's shoulder, "I know you didn't want it to come out like that. And I'm really sorry Cady kissed me. Trust me, I tried everything in my power to push her away but she was too forceful."
"It's okay, we couldn't control it. And I know you wouldn't have actually kissed her. I was watching you from afar," she admitted, "and saw how uncomfortable you looked when Cady approached you. Anyways, I told you Cady had a crush on to." Regina looked over to Phoebe and smirked. Phoebe frowned at her, annoyed that the blonde was right. Regina then started up the car.
"Where are we going? And are you okay to drive? You haven't drunk anything, right?" Phoebe rattled off.
"To mine, I thought you could maybe sleep over there tonight? You know, now we're basically out we can do whatever we want. And yes, I've only had soft drink, don't worry!" Regina reassured.
"Oh, okay." Phoebe smiled. And with that, Regina sped off to her house.