Unravel My Heart

Darth Vader And The Ghoul

"It's the most wonderful time of the year! " Maria sang as she twirled into the room. Immediately, she was greeted with a pillow to the face.
"Don't just barge like that, you weirdo!" Sonia said. She closed her laptop as her little sister sat on the bed, bearing a huge grin that threatened to rip her face in half.  "Why are you smiling like that?"
Maria could barely contain herself. She had been holding her breath for two weeks, peeking out the window every day for the delivery van, scaring and frustrating the hell out of the DHL tracking system all to get to this point.
Which is why she had to yell, in plain and broken down words,
"MY COSTUME HAS ARRIVED!"
Sonia's face was underwhelmed to say the least. She opened her laptop, slipped in her earphones and resumed what she was doing.
"Congrats," she said. "I guess that means you're going to Miller's costume shindig then?"
Maria nodded furiously, her shaved head bobbing up and down.
"You're so hyper. So I guess you're going to confess to him as well, right?" she added.
Maria paused, mid-bob and could feel her face grow hot. Sonia laughed.
"Ha ha, you're blotchy."
Maria covered her face in her hands.
"I haven't decided on that yet."
"Yes, you have," Sonia said "two weeks ago, when he invited you."
"Yeah, but he's...he's Miller!" Maria exclaimed, furious at her sister's nonchalance.
Sonia rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I think you're the only one who hypes him up like that."
Miller West was everything to Maria. Ever since that day in gym when he saved her from getting pummelled by a stray volleyball. It was the coolest thing she had ever seen.
It had been two years since that happened, but it was still fresh in her memory. She wondered if Miller remembered it too. Or at least remembered her. They had only spoken on few occasions since then and she thought it was high time he knew how she felt about him.
She wanted to finally let him know her true feelings. And this party was her one and possibly only chance to do so. The shy girl in her didn't know if she would be able to gather up the courage to confess again.
And she had only two days left.

At school the next day, Maria made it a point to greet Miller as she passed him in the hallway. Just to remind him she existed.
He smiled and responded, "Hi!"
In class, she showed a picture of the costume to her friend, Chris.
"That's it?"
"Yeah. It came in yesterday."
"Its dope," Chris said. "good luck, horror queen."
It was really no secret that Maria liked horror movies. She could tell stories, debate, role play and recommend anything that falls under the horror genre. She was popular among the students that were into the dark genre. Like Christina Wallace, her best friend. They had a Halloween tradition of watching one horror movie per day for the entire month of October.
It was beautiful.
"I don't recognize this costume," Chris said. "who is she?"
But every horror buff had their secrets.
"You'll see..." Maria smiled to herself then yelped as Chris pinched her hard. "OW!"
"Not my fault your hair's too short to pull," she said. "and don't try to be cryptic with me. You can try it with others, but not me. Got it? Now tell me!"
"Never!" Maria yelled as she bolted out of the door, only to stop in her tracks when she nearly ran into Miller, who was on his way in. She looked up to meet his gaze with the same shocked face he was making. She was so close to his face that she could make out the color of his eyes and count his freckles. She didn't dare breathe.
"Hey Miller!" Chris said, quickly yanking Maria away. "Don't mind this idiot. She never watches where she's going."
Miller blinked as if gathering his bearings. Then he looked away for a while, training his gaze on something at the end of the hallway. Maria couldn't see his face.
"It's fine," he looked back and was now smiling. That smile that was able to melt hamsters and resurrect dead bunnies. At least in the inner workings of Maria's mind. "you guys are always so energetic. Where does it come from?"
"It's cause Chris keeps trying to kill me." Maria said. "Look at her! That's not energy, that's bloodlust!"
"Well, whatever murderous aura you two have, make sure you bring it to the party," he laughed as he said that. Then he looked at Maria. "You're still coming right?"
"Yeah, we are." Maria nodded, looking down.
"Okay, cool. See you later then." he picked up a note that he had forgotten and left.
"I'm proud," Chris said. "You actually spoke to him for almost a minute. And you were funny!"
Maria couldn't hear what Chris was saying. All she could think about was how serious he looked when he asked if she still coming to his party.
He wants me there! she mentally squealed.
"We'll destroy that party." she whispered, clutching her hand to her chest.
                                          🍁
"Five hours to the party," Chris said. "Begin preparations."
Maria played music from her phone while it charged and they began the procedure that used every time they went to a convention.
She put on her red circle lens over her brown eyes and blinked them into place. Then she applied makeup before getting into the costume: long dark leggings, and short sleeve top and a white dress with lace trim.
"Seriously, dude, what are you supposed to be?"
Maria looked in the mirror and clipped the bangs to the side. Then she put on the shock red glasses.
"Ready."
The party was a masquerade, which meant every one had to wear a mask no matter what their costumes were. With the thick rims and long, purple hair, she was unrecognizable. Next to her, Chris was Melanie Martinez in a dual colored wig and white lace mask that complemented her baby doll dress. She looked perfectly unstable.
"In a sea of anonymity, how will you find Miller?"
The DJ was one of Miller's friends. He was the only one not wearing a mask. He was playing bop after bop, so much so that Maria decided to postpone her quest and dance with her best friend.
"Forget Miller for like 20 minutes okay? These songs are popping!" she dragged Chris to the dance floor where they did their best to not work up a sweat, which was next to impossible.
Chris seemed to be getting the worst of it, due to the sheer volume of her wig.
"I'm sweating too much, sis!" she yelled into Maria's ear. "I'm going to the bathroom."
Maria nodded and stopped moving as Chris shoved her way out of the room. She was going to find the nearest couch to crash and regain energy when she started getting swept into a wave of erratic dancers.
Oh boy.
They tossed her back and forth until she crashed into someone who helped her by holding her in place.
"Miller?" she said looking up into the eyes of -
"Darth Vader?"
It was a perfect costume, complete with lit up buttons on the panel and the helmet guaranteed total anonymity.
"Um, sorry," a muffled male voice replied. He started to turn away, then turned back and did a double take. "Rize?"
Maria's eyes widened in admiration at this person.
"You're Rize aren't you?" he gasped. "You even got the blood stains on!"
Maria knew she much have looked weird smiling with two lines of blood dripping down the corners of her mouth.
"Thank you for noticing." she said.
"You got all the details right," Darth said, trying to look at her but the throng of people dancing made it difficult. "I'm sorry, but do you mind coming to the kitchen? Just so I can see you better?"
Maria was contemplating it when she got a text from Chris.

It read: I heard Miller is dressed as prince charming. Good luck.