Chapter 45
"Harry, we have to start planning our Halloween costumes now. Otherwise, all of the good ones will be gone."
"Do we even have to dress up? Why can't we just go as Gardenia and Harry? That'd be pretty neat, I think."
"It's a costume party, Harry. That requires a costume. Do you have any suggestions? Turn right here," she gestured, and I followed her instructions.
"I don't know. Do we have to match though? I feel like that's kind of corny."
We pulled into the drive that led to the costume shop, and I parked the car, turning it off and following Gardenia out of the car.
"Obviously, Harry. I actually have a boyfriend for once, and we are so dressing as a couple."
"Well, you can't dress as a couple if you don't have a boyfriend, right? Gardenia, I think it's time we have a talk."
"You better be joking, or I am going to key your car."
"That's rude."
"So is trying to break up with me just to get out of dressing up on Halloween. Man up."
We entered the store, and I glanced around, completely overwhelmed at all of the costumes.
"How about Mario and Luigi?" I suggested, looking up at the first couple costume I saw. That was something that I honestly wouldn't mind being. To my dismay, Gardenia shook her head.
"I'm sure there will be like ten of those there. We need something unique."
"Oh, I could be Harry Potter. And you could be Hermione," I pointed out, and she shook her head.
"First of all, Harry and Hermione don't even end up together. Like at all. So what kind of couples' costume is that? If you were thinking logically, I would be Ginny."
"Maybe that was supposed to be hinting at something. Like you're my Hermione, not Ginny. AKA we are actually only just friends, and not a couple."
"Your jokes are terrible today. They're usually at least decent on some days, but today they're just awful."
"Cheers."
After me suggesting many costumes and her dismissing them, she finally found what she calls 'the one'. She ran over to the giant flower costume.
"I just thought of the most brilliant idea. One of us could be a flower, and the other could be like the water, you know? Because water helps flowers to grow."
I didn't particularly like the costume, but I did like the idea of it, and the meaning behind it. And Gardenia's brilliant smile had me agreeing immediately.
There wasn't anything water like as a costume available in the store, so we decided we'd try to get crafty and create our own costume. I hoped that Gardenia was artistic, because I sure as hell wasn't.
The massive flower costume took up most of the space in the backseat of my car, and I could barely see as I drove us to a restaurant to get lunch.
"How do you suggest we create the costume?" I asked her, after we ordered our meals. She shrugged, pulling out her phone, to look up ideas, I assumed.
"There isn't much online for inspiration. We're just going to have to wing it."
"You're going to have to wing it. I have no idea how to do anything crafty. I'll end up ruining it."
"I'm sure you wouldn't, but I can do it all if you want. We'll have to go to a craft store, though, to get stuff to make it. We'd need something round to look like the pot, and then we'd need to figure out a way to make a spout, you know? And you could maybe wear blue, to resemble water. Hey, your arm could be the spout, really. I'm not sure how that would work and you may have to hold your arm up the entire time, but we could try it."
"We could use like a trash bin, you know? Like one of those bigger, metal ones? And cut it somehow, so I could step into it. I'm not sure how we'd get it to stay on, though. Maybe hook some straps onto it somehow?"
"Yes, that's brilliant, Harry! I gotta google how to cut metal, though. I don't think scissors could do very much."
Once we finished discussing our costume plans and eating, we made our way to the craft store. Gardenia made sure we went down each and every aisle, scouring for things that could make our costume look 'super realistic and super cool'. I didn't mind, and I suggested we buy blue streamers, that would come out of the spout, so it looked like streaming water.
The ride home was the worst part. If I thought it was hard before, it was now near impossible to see outside of my back window, because my back seat currently held a garbage bin, a massive flower costume, as well as some other bits and bobs necessary to create our costume. I only hoped that nothing would happen behind me worth seeing, such as an ambulance coming through, or a police car pulling me over. I could see out of my side mirrors, though, which was a positive.
Once we got to my house, we sat everything out in the living room and immediately got to work. After Gardenia's research, we learned it would be easier to buy a plastic garbage can and just spray it with spray paint that looks like metal. We borrowed Robin's saw to cut the garbage can up so that it would fit my body correctly, and poked some holes in it to hold the strings, which were blue to match the shirt I would be wearing under it. We were able to finish that, and spray paint the garbage can in a few hours, so we set it outside to dry overnight and we could work on it again tomorrow.
Gardenia was too tired to make the awful trek across the street to her house, so she just fell asleep at mine. I played with her hair, smiling as my hands felt crusted spray paint that she accidentally got into it. Even though I was less than enthusiastic for this Halloween party, and to be dressing up for it, I cannot wait to see how happy she is that night. I can't wait to help her finish the rest of the costume, and make a whole new batch of memories with her. I can't wait to make her laugh when it's finally finished, because of how ridiculous I'm sure to look wearing it. I can't wait to just spend every day making her as happy as I possibly can.
