Head Over Leather #Wattys2017

XV. Halloween

"Okay, girls. It's a little late to shop for costumes but we'll do the best we can." Riley smiles brightly, clapping her hands together enthusiastically, causing her hair to bounce slightly. The rest of the week passed by pretty quickly with little to no excitement and I soon found myself shopping with the girls for Riley's Halloween party. Or 'small get together' as she calls it.

"Usually we'd be at home eating junk and watching Netflix." Jess leans over, whispering to me, her doe eyes darting around the store. I let out a quiet chuckle in response, nudging her to lighten up, before making my way to the back of the store. From what I could see, a majority of what was left was either for children or something that a YouTuber would create as a DIY costume.

"God, there's nothing slutty left." Mia groans under her breath, as she stops beside me, black painted fingers grazing the material of each costume. My mouth forms an 'o' at her blatantness, but there's other things on my mind than to comment on it.

"So, what's up with you and Ryder?" I bring up casually, eyes refusing to look at her and hands busying themselves with the rack of costumes. Mia clears her throat, movement stilling, as she rests her elbow on the rack and turns to me.

"We're friends."

"Just friends?"

"In freshman year, he texted me that he had to tell me something. Me, being the naive girl at the time, thought that meant he was going to confess his love for me. So I told him that I also had something to tell him. When we met up, I ran and kissed him. When I pulled back, he blurted out that the news he had was that he had a girlfriend." Mia shrugs, as if it wasn't a big deal, running a hand through her thick blond hair, holding it there for a moment.

"Ryder, being the good guy he is, told his girlfriend and naturally she was pissed but ended up understanding since I didn't know he was with her. They stayed together for a while then broke up when she moved. We haven't talked about the kiss since and we also don't talk about the times we end up hooking up at parties." She finishes, eyebrows raised and an expression that was asking 'happy now?'

"Complicated."

"Tell me about it."

We spend more time exploring the store, trying on random costumes, before finally giving up and situating ourselves against a wall in defeat. Riley bounds over giddily arms filled with various articles of clothing, while Eva drags her feet almost as if she was hoping to avoid any interaction with me. Eva watches me for a moment, before turning to Riley, ruffling through the clothes and finally holding up a two piece pirate costume. The top half is an off-shoulder cropped blouse with a lace up front, while the bottom half was a black mini skirt paired with a red sash around it.

How could I possibly wear this?

"Ethan loves Halloween. He loves a girl in a hot costume even more. If you're gonna win, at least try." She states emotionlessly, no hint of a smile on her face. I take the costume from her in hesitation, nodding as I do so, wondering why she had a sudden change of heart. It wasn't so long ago that she was telling me Ethan would never fall in love with me.
Maybe I'm growing on her.

"Thanks, Eva." Despite her expression, I offer her a smile, before glancing back at the costume. This was going to be interesting.

***
As I push open the door to Riley's house, I can't help but feel slightly self conscious. It was without a doubt the most revealing thing I've ever worn and the only thing that seemed appropriate was the medium sized pirate hat sat neatly on my head. I even wore knee black boots to tone down the costume, but it still didn't stop a few whistles and comments being thrown as I pass through the crowd.

Strangely enough, despite their complete opposite personalities, Eva and Riley had become our very own personal stylists yesterday. We all got decent costumes, many of which were something straight out of Mean Girls.

My eyes scan the crowd for Ethan, only to find him leaning against the drinks table, chatting with Ryder. A black police hat is placed neatly on his head, followed by the police uniform, with the shirt being left unbuttoned at the top revealing part of his chest. I can't help but stare for a moment, thinking that he could easily win the game if he wore that everyday. As I take a deep breath, I make my way over to him, watching as he lets out a laugh. His head turns when Ryder nudges him and his eyes widen once he spots me.

"Hey officer." I smirk proudly, watching as Ethan parts his mouth, tongue clicking and eyes trailing down my body. Despite his reaction helping to boost my self confidence, I can still feel a faint blush spreading across my cheeks.

"Ryder, leave." Ethan finally states, voice slightly hoarse. Ryder rolls his eyes, letting out a sigh before moving through the crowd, probably to find Mia. Ethan catches his bottom lip between his teeth, hand grazing the exposed skin on my stomach and pulling me close. He leans down, lips dangerously close to mine, before tilting to meet my ear.

"I think I'm definitely going to make use of my handcuffs tonight." A shiver runs down my spine at his words, my hand reaching to griphis shirt. He pulls back with a smirk, before leaning down and pressing a soft, yet demanding kiss to my lips. I grin against his lips, snaking my arms around his neck and pulling him down closer to me.

"Hey hornballs." Mia interrupts and I pull away, both blushing and irritated. I hadn't spent alone time with Ethan since I was at his house and it was driving me crazy, but it wasn't like I was going to admit it. Riley soon joins Mia with a bright smile on her face as per usual and the Minnie Mouse costume only added to her positivity.

"Hey guys! Welcome to the small get together." I laugh at the phrase, glancing around at the large crowd of drunk teenagers. Sure, Riley. Turning back to Ethan, I find him staring down at me, blue eyes twinkling with mischief. I roll my eyes at him, before glancing back towards the crowd, wondering where Jess was.

As a remix of 'Girls Your Age' starts blasting through the speakers, everything came to a slow. Heads turned, a light murmur arose, and there she was. Long, dark, curled locks cascading down her shoulders and dressed in a revealing devil costume paired with red thigh high heeled boots. A smirk was spreading across her red glossed lips as she made sure to make eye contact with each and everyone who was staring at her. That definitely wasn't Jess.

"Who's the devil?" Mia finally asks, eyebrow raising and hand lifting to tip back the contents of her shot glass. For a moment, no one spoke until Riley lets out a shaky breath,

"My sister."

***
So Rachel Walker finally makes an appearance...you'll get more of a glimpse of her next chapter, but beware that with Rachel comes drama. Thanks for reading!