Onze - Eleven
Every party that Fay found himself at was usually nearly identical to the last. They all had some sort of immersive lighting and overly large speakers. There were people passed out in questionable corners, most doors locked to hide the kinky things that were happening behind them. They were always carbon copies all the way down to the music choice.
Except this one. Halloween parties quickly became his favorite now that he participated in them. Everyone was dressed up, some people's identities were completely hidden away behind masks or intense makeup. The music had a more eerie vibe to it, the vibrations pouring into the house and personifying life into it. Not to mention the bowls of candy hidden around the house. Fay was utterly in love with it.
"Hey, Fay!" Cal stumbled into him, already drunk off of his ass. He had a giddy smile on his face and appeared to be enjoying himself. "Why do they always say trick or treat? What if someone gives them a bad trick? Why not just say treat?"
Fay listened to his friend slur the words together, not sure what Cal was even talking about or why. It was the ramblings of a drunk person. Fay held both of his elbows to keep him from falling flat on his ass. "Because it's tradition, I think."
"But doesn't that mean that someone has the right to trick you since you give them the option?" He continued to talk, leaving Fay amused. He didn't know what brought Cal to that subject, but it was definitely hilarious.
"I suppose so." Fay replied, walking them away from the dancing masses to try and give them a bit more room to breathe.
"How do you say trick or treat in French?" Cal suddenly asked, the subject change making Fay laugh a bit.
"We don't say trick or treat. A lot of us say either candies or a spell, or mischief or sweets." Fay explained, not bothering to be very precise with his words since Cal was most likely too drunk to remember them anyway.
"Which one do you say?" He asked.
"Neither, since I've never gone trick or treating." Fay chuckled, finding it funny that Cal forgot already. "But most people I knew said mischief or sweets."
"But what is it in French?" Cal drawled demandingly. Fay helped take him to an empty spot on the couch, trying to keep him from falling.
"Bêtises ou friandises." Fay quickly told him, stepping away and looking around. "Now stay here while I get you some water. If you keep drinking you're just going to end up making yourself sick."
He heard Cal protest a bit, but he didn't bother to stick around and hear most of it. Fay took off, weaving his way through the crowd at a fast pace. If he ended up taking too long, then Cal would just wander off and give himself alcohol poisoning. Normally he would have had Eisley watch after him while he fetched the water, but last he checked she went off with some guy.
There were so many costumes filling up the expensive house, that it was almost intimidating. It was like a choir of ghouls, all surrounding a helpless Fay. But he pushed the thought away, searching for the kitchen.
Whenever he found himself at a party in a house that he had never been in before, it was always a feat to try to navigate. Especially when they were larger in size, which that one was. It took longer than he would have liked, but he eventually stumbled upon a nice-looking kitchen. It was occupied by four kids getting stoned in the corner.
When he approached the sink, Fay made sure to check that it hadn't been messed with at all. High school parties were reckless and dumb, so checking sinks to see if anything happened to them was a required sort of thing. Fay poured the unknown liquid out of his red solo cup, doing his best to wash it all out.
Filling it up with water once it was clean enough, he turned to leave. That was when another group of teenagers flooded into the room. It didn't take long for Fay to recognized them, since he knew everyone in the school. They were the group that most popular kids called the rejects.
Fay never understood that. He didn't understand why certain groups had certain labels. Nothing about them made them seem like rejects other than the fact that they weren't popular. Which Fay thought was a good thing, since most popular students let the title go straight to their heads.
"Hey, Fay." Mia smiled up at him, a silver halo that was made of some wire hovering over her head. She had black lipstick on and a cute white dress. Mia was a very friendly person, so it wasn't shocking that they had talked before.
"Hey, Mia." He smiled at her, Tom, and Jordan both following behind. Tom had a devil costume on in contrast to Mia's angel costume. Jordan didn't seem to have any costume at all.
"Nice costume. Who are you supposed to be?" Tom asked, snaking an arm around Mia's waste. They had an off and on relationship for as long as Fay knew them.
"Heather Chandler, from Heathers." Fay told them. He was awkwardly glancing past them, knowing that he needed to get back to Cal before something happened to him. "I like your costumes too."
"Thanks." Mia smiled brightly.
That was when Eden walked in. He had the same face paint on that Fay had seen him in earlier. His hair was hidden beneath a black hood, and he had his hands tucked lazily into his pockets. Fay thought that the makeup suited him, though he didn't know if it was meant to be something specific. It just looked like a skeleton of some sort.
"I need to get going." Fay quickly told them all, attempting to move around them before he got distracted again. Cal was probably long gone by then.
"Wait." Eden said quietly, grabbing onto Fay's wrist.
Startled, Fay furrowed his brow. He had no idea why Eden would ask for him to stop. Had he done something? He couldn't think of anything that he had done that would warrant Eden stopping him. Fay tilted his head to the side, signaling that he was listening.
Jordan, Mia, and Tom were all watching curiously, wondering what Eden was doing. They hadn't known that the two ever interacted, similarly to how Fay's friends didn't know either. It wasn't that it was particularly shocking that they knew each other, since Fay knew everyone, but it was shocking to watch Eden stop Fay and not have it go the other way around.
"What?" Fay asked.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Eden asked quietly, earning even more questioning expressions from his friends.
Fay glanced down at the red solo cup, feeling guilty for not bringing it to Cal while he still had the chance. Fay knew that in his drunken state, Cal would have wandered off by then, doing God knows what. But then again, Eden never asked for anything. Not that Fay was aware of, anyway. Knowing that Eden didn't seem to be the most stable person out there, Fay nodded.
He followed silently as Eden led him out of the kitchen and into a hallway. It was dark and dingy, people doing things that Fay wanted to erase from memory in the corners. However, he ignored all of that, focusing on what Eden could possibly want from him.
"What is it?" Fay asked once they came to a stop, wondering what would cause him an audience right then.
"I just..." Eden paused for a moment, deciding on his words. When he seemed to have found what he wanted to say, he looked directly into Fay's eyes. "Can you not tell anyone about Destiny?"
Fay raised a brow, confused as to what Eden meant by that. Fay knew that something had to of been up, since Destiny didn't look like him and she was introduced by her first name, but he still had no idea what.
"Why?" He asked slowly, trying to piece things together but failing miserably.
"Just..." Eden sighed. "Just don't tell anyone about her or that you know her, okay? And your friends, if they ask, she's just my mom, got it?"
Saying that only left Fay more confused. Why on earth would he be so concerned about people knowing who Destiny was? There was clearly something more going on. He wanted to pry, he wanted to know the mystery that was Eden Ramsey, but he knew that it wasn't his place. So he asked the only question that sounded reasonable.
"I'll do that, but only if you tell me who she is to you." Fay said. "You're confusing the hell out of me."
Eden paused, glancing around subtly before sighing to himself yet again. He leant against the wall, thinking about his words for a particularly long moment. "Destiny is my foster mom."
Fay looked at Eden for a long moment. Everything that used to be right there on display was now hidden beneath several layers of black and white makeup. Even though Fay couldn't properly see Eden's tired eyes and blank expression, he knew that they were there. He knew that Eden Ramsey was a concave of mysteries that Fay couldn't even begin to traverse. Deep down, Fay didn't even know if he should try.
"Earth to Fay." Eden said when Fay never replied. "You won't tell anyone, right?"
He had too many questions. He wanted to know why, he wanted to know what made Eden into the boy that he was. "Can I ask why?"
Eden's green eyes stayed on Fay's brown ones for a long while. Then finally, he averted his gaze and said, "Because my dad is in jail, okay? Now will you please do as I ask and forget about this conversation?"
There was a moment where they both sat silently. The party raged on around them, music pouring in from nearby rooms, people shouting and yelling about incoherent things. Fay kept his lips pressed together as he thought about Eden. Even though he wanted to know more, he didn't pry. If Eden didn't want Fay to tell anyone about Destiny, then that probably meant that it was a hard topic for him.
"Oh, yeah." Eden suddenly spoke up again, causing Fay to startle. He tilted his head once more, waiting to listen to what else Eden may say. "Wanted to ask for your number."
That took Fay aback. Not only did he not expect for Eden to want to talk to him at all, but he also definitely didn't expect for Eden to want to exchange numbers. They weren't friends, so why would he want that?
Eden smirked, rolling his eyes at Fay's reaction. "Calm down. I figured if you ever want a hook up, just send me a text." When Fay continued to just stare at him blankly, Eden added, "Unless you don't want to-"
"No." Fay jumped in a bit quicker than he intended. It honestly sounded nice to him, having someone that he could hook up with no strings attached. "Here."
He dug into his pocket and produced his phone, creating a new contact before handing it to him. Eden seemed content with Fay's reply, typing numbers in. "At my old school there were a lot more gay people. Here it seems to be just us."
"I'm sure you know by now that isn't true." Fay said. "We're just the only ones willing to come out." Fay thought about every boy that he had slept with in the past few years. There were boys on the football team, boys on the chess club, boys who didn't do any extracurricular activities at all. There were a lot more closeted people in that school than people seemed to think. Some of them were labeled as nobodies, others were important figures.
"That's true." Even though Fay didn't know it, Eden was thinking about Rory. He was wondering what it was that kept him from coming out. Everyone had a reason, and Eden used to have one of his own. "There."
The phone case sparkled under the lowlight as Fay glanced down to see the contact.
Eden 😏
It allowed for a laugh to fall from Fay's glossed lips as he rolled his eyes and dropped his phone back into the pocket of his skirt. As he did so, he jumped when he realized there was still a red solo cup in his hand filled with water.
"Enculé." Fay swore as he realized how long he had taken to get back to Cal. He felt like shit knowing that Cal was probably throwing up by then. "I have to go."
Before Eden could reply, Fay was already off and rushing into the busiest room in the house, searching desperately for his drunk friend. The music continued to play and bodies continued to dance. Fay's mind quickly moved away from Eden and onto other things.
Joining his friends back in the kitchen, Eden made up an excuse as to why he needed to speak with Fay. They quickly moved onto another topic, and Eden declined their offer of candy.