The final bell rang and Neil bolted out of his classroom to meet up with Max and Nikki. They had plans to get ready for the party that night at Neil's apartment, and they were going to walk there together. Neil pushed open the front doors of his school and shivered. Their high school was stuffy, so they didn't need heaters in the Fall, but that made it so the transition between indoors and outdoors was extreme. Halloween had approached quickly that year. For their friend group, Halloween brought peace among them. They forgot any drama and turned into spooky beings. Max waved Neil over.
"Hey dude, you ready to go?" Max and Neil did a handshake and Nikki rolled her eyes.
Neil nodded. "Yep."
"I'm so excited!" Nikki exclaimed, and with that, they began walking.
"So," Neil started, "What did you guys decide to be?"
"I'm being a sexy dog. Like Gretchen from Mean Girls," Nikki smirked, and Max sneezed. "Oh, hail Satan babe."
Neil snorted. "Jesus Christ."
Max wheezed. "Says the Jew."
"Fuck off," Neil scoffed.
With that, the three were all hysterically laughing until they reached Neil's place. Neil held open the door for his friends and they all set down their bags, and Neil turned on Frankenweenie, their favorite movie to make fun of. (Max liked that it had 'weenie' in the name.)
"Hey, do you guys remember that guy Preston was dating last year?" Neil asked.
"Henry?" Nikki tilted her head.
Neil nodded. "That's the one."
Max raised an eyebrow. "Why are you asking?"
"Oh, well Preston was telling me he moved back to town," Neil said. "And he found Jesus or something, and he was saying homophobic stuff during their French class."
Nikki snorted. "That's actually really sad. But it's damn funny."
"Oh wait... he's in my PE class. He called me a fag yesterday," Max chuckled. "Funny, because I get more pussy than he ever will."
"What did you say back to him?" Neil asked.
Max chuckled again. "I said, 'Funny, because I get more pussy than you ever will.' Coach Steve yelled at me. It was great."
"Do you guys think people at school are to scared to bring up that he dated Preston?" Nikki wondered.
"Nah... it's just awkward," Max replied.
Neil agreed. "Yeah. Anyways, hurry up. We gotta be out of here at six if we're gonna buy candy."
Max and Nikki nodded and finished getting ready.
They finished getting ready and they headed out. They walked six blocks to the CVS and bought shit tons of candy. Neil, being the responsible boy he was, bought the candy and gave his friends the talk. 'Don't do anything stupid while you're fucked up.'
It was a nice night. It wasn't too cold, it was only around 60. They decided to walk to the place their party was at. Max intertwined his fingers with Nikki's. Neil felt lonely. They noticed the hundreds of kids passing them, trick or treating. They saw dozens of FORTNITE costumes, but also saw some plain costumes, like Disney Princesses or Superheros. Nikki received some disgusted looks from parents, while little boys came up to Max and said how cool he looked in his Mad Max costume. Babies and toddlers pointed at Neil and giggled at his Shark onesie. Although, Neil was always stared at by small children.
After wandering around for an hour, they finally found the building. It was on the opposite side of the street they had thought, and Max called Neil an idiot. They rang the buzzer and were let in by Kaylee Parish, the host. Nikki placed the bags of candy on the dining room table and pulled Neil and Max over to the drinks.
"Fellas... I haven't drank in 4 months. Are you in?" Nikki smirked.
Neil and Max glanced at each other, and Neil shrugged. "I'm in."
"Yeah, me too," Max said.
Nikki tossed up the devil horns and handed shots to Neil and Max. "3, 2, 1." They drank, and that was the start of a very long night. After the shot, Nerris tapped on Max's shoulder.
"Yo!" Max fist bumped Nerris and she had clearly already had a lot to drink.
Nerris threw her arms around Harrison. "My boyfriend is the best. I fuckin love him.. He's gonna drive me home."
Max flashed a thumbs up. "Cool." He turned around to say something to Neil, but noticed Neil was already gone. He stood up on a nearby chair to scan the room for Neil, and spotted him talking to guys. Max sighed, and tried to look for Nikki.
Neil found himself chatting it up with a cute guy from another school. His name was Aaron, and he was beautiful. Neil could barely even listen to his voice, he was just staring at his beautiful face. They had nothing in common though. Aaron was a jock who played football, and Neil was... Neil. Neil sat there, drinking, pretending to still be engaged.
Preston sat with Nerris and Harrison on the couch across from Neil and Aaron. Preston scoffed and crossed his legs.
"What?" Nerris asked.
Preston rolled his eyes. "Neil's been gay for what, a week? And he's already getting hit on by guys. I didn't get hit on for two years after I came out."
"Yeah, but that's cause you were in 7th grade. Neil's in 11th," Harrison piped in.
"Shut up," Preston snapped back.
Harrison pinched the bridge of his nose. "Whatever."
Three figures entered the room. They seemed to glow in the darkness, and no one knew who these three people were. Time stopped when they entered, and one of them spoke.
"Ugh, Tabii, how could you make us come here? This place is a dump."
Nikki, Neil, Max, Preston, Nerris, and Harrison all gasped.
"Holy. Shit." Max's jaw dropped.
An hour had passed, and everyone was extremely fucked up. Neil couldn't even walk straight, nor think straight. Preston was even more agitated at the fact that Neil was getting guys already, and Nerris gave some sound advice.
"Girl... just... go up to him and kiss him. That'll show himmmm," she hummed her m and trailed off.
Preston nodded agresssively. "Fuck yeah.. I'm gonna go fuckin uhh.. Kiss him. Yeah. Thanks Nerris."
Nerris finger gunned him. "No problem bro!"
Preston exhaled out all his nerves. He strutted up to Neil, grabbed his face, and kissed him. Preston pulled back with an amount of confidence he'd never had before, and Neil stood there, stunned. They stared at each other for a moment, until Neil pulled Preston in for another kiss, this time holding it for longer. Preston smirked, and pulled Neil by the wrist to a bedroom.
"Hey Nikki, where the fuck is Neil? I haven't seen him all night," Max said.
Nikki shrugged. "Nerris said he's hooking up with Preston."
Max's eyes widened. "What the hell? Really?"
"I guess so," Nikki said. "Honestly, good for them both. They need it."
"Do you think they're gonna fuck?" Max worriedly asked.
Nikki shook her head. "This is Neil's first ever sexual experience. It'd be weird if they did."
Max sighed with relief. "Thank god. I was worried my boy was gonna get fucked."
"Bold of you to assume he's a bottom," Nikki smirked.
Max scoffed. "Have you ever met Neil? He's such a twink."
"He's a twunk, Max. Like David, except gay," Nikki rolled her eyes.
Max shrugged. "Honestly, they both act like bottoms. Him and Preston, I mean."
Nikki tilted her head. "But Neil is so tall. And he has muscles."
"I guess he was more of a bottom when he was twelve but-"
"Oh my gosh. Is that... Nikki?" Sasha butt into their conversation.
Nikki put on her best fake smile. "Hey, girl."
"I haven't seen you in like, forever. You look good," Sasha smiled.
Nikki giggled. "Thanks. You look great too. I mean, that costume is really flattering."
"You like it? I made it, and I made Tabii and Erin's costumes," Sasha bragged. She was wearing a Black Widow costume, Tabii was dressed as Scarlett Witch, and Erin was Gamora. They looked great. Very... sexy.
"Shit, that's awesome. That's a place where flower scouts came in handy, amirite?" Nikki giggled and Sasha laughed along.
"Yeah, I think I might want to sew as my profession when I'm older. Like, be a designer or something," Sasha replied.
Nikki nodded, impressed. "Wow. I'm the exact opposite. I just wanna play volleyball."
Sasha sighed. "Sports scare the shit out of me. Except croquet. It's quaint and I love it."
"Ya know Sasha, I've spent all my life hating you because of something you did when you were nine. And I'm learning now that I was wrong. You're really nice," Nikki said.
Sasha smiled. "Well, I did like, this super cool detoxification thing and I've been a better person ever since."
"I didn't even know you lived in this area," Nikki changed the subject.
"Oh, I go to private school with Tabii and Erin," She flipped her hair. "I gotta go catch up with them. Good talking to you!"
Nikki waved goodbye and turned around. Max stood there, stunned.
"What the fuck, Nik?" He laughed.
Nikki shrugged. "I have no clue. She's so nice now. I don't get it. She was such a bitch our entire lives."
"I mean... people change?"
"I guess," Nikki said.
The party was over, and the house was thrashed. The chaos that had ensued over the course of the past four hours was awful, and Kaylee Parish's parents were in for a treat when they got home.