How To Rule Your High School

Chapter 17: Halloween - The One Night Per Year...

It came as no surprise to me that what happened that Friday night drastically changed the way I saw Ethan. I don't know that I'd go so far as to call him a friend, but he'd awakened something reckless in me that didn't really care if I was seen talking to him at school. Like today between history and math, I actually left Deanna when I saw Ethan lurking at his locker. I still don't know if she saw me walk away towards class with him, but I suddenly cared a whole lot less what people said. After Will's party and all the bullshit with my parents, Ethan's words had struck home. Why did I hang around with people who considered my appearance my only strength?

Ethan must've realized that his story had gotten through to me, because while we used to walk by each other anonymously in the cafeteria, now we would nod or even exchange a few words in passing. Needless to say Courtney threw a hissy-fit the first time he did it when she was around, but I snapped at her to shut up and get over it.  Since it was incredibly rare for us to snap at each other, she clammed up pretty fast. I just hoped she wouldn't overanalyze anything.

But I was facing a pretty daunting A-Lister hurdle in the future. While I felt like I had one foot in and one foot out of the group, it just to happened that Halloween was around the corner. And if there's one holiday that A-listers celebrate like no other, it's Halloween. Every year the MacIntyres would host an all-out Halloween party that very heavily relied on the "Halloween is the one night a year that a girl can dress like a total slut and no one can say anything about it" rule. Every year without fail it was a crazy drunken fun affair, with most people ending up passed out on sofas and waking up the next morning in someone else's costume.

And I really hope I don't have to clarify that I have never ever woken up in someone else's costume, nor do I ever intend to.

"MADISON!" came a shriek from somewhere down the hall. Ripped from my lunchtime reverie as I stared blankly into my locker, I saw Courtney bee-lining for me. My iPad had been buzzing all morning with iMessages from her, but an iPad is a lot harder to check under your desk in class than a phone.

"Courtie darling!" I smiled, snapping my locker shut.

"Maddie, ohmigod it's horrible!" she wailed, then spontaneously exploded into a fit of tears. I blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what was happening.

"Courtie! Courtie, what's wrong?" I asked, lowering my voice in an attempt to get her to stifle her wails. People were staring and not in a good way.

"I...we...Olivier...over...for real..." were the few words I could understand through the blubbering sobs as I led her to the bathroom and away from the stares.

"Wait, what?" I asked, when we were finally shut away from the prying student body eyes. The few girls lurking in the bathroom made a quick getaway when I fixed them with my best Vicky Carrington look.

"Olivier...found out...about Kyle..." she managed, sniffling and ripping off a few paper towels in an attempt to blot down her face.

"Kyle...as in VanDale? What are you talking about?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Kyle..." Courtney said slowly, fixing me with a sheepish look.

"And how long has this been going on for?" I demanded, planting my hands on my hips. She winced.

"Oh, you know..." Courtney said, avoiding my gaze so she could blow her nose.

"Courtney Rebecca Thorne, what happened?" I sighed, ripping her a few more paper towels. She shuddered a shob and shrugged.

"That's the thing...nothing. But he broke up with me because of it..." she said, staring at herself in the mirror.  She took a few shaky breaths, bracing herself against the sink.