You Are Something Else, Juniper Zwinggi

Chapter 8

After weeks of begging and of me giving conditions and rules to follow, Emily got the Halloween party she wanted. She had flyers made up with a disclaimer about preparing a ride home if alcohol is consumed (one of my rules). Miles pulled some strings and had a few kegs ordered and went to the liquor store. Emily and I got the food and decorations. We spent all of Thursday night and Friday decorating before the party that night. I'd texted Jake about it but he'd been doing double rotations at the zoo since our beach day so I hadn't seen him very much in two weeks. 

"Is Jake going to make it?" Emily asked, poking her head into my bathroom as I got ready.

"He said he'd try," I said. "He's been picking up extra shifts at the zoo so he can have Thanksgiving and Christmas off."

"Babe! Where do you want the kegs?!" we heard Miles yell from downstairs.

"Back porch!" Emily yelled and then brought her attention back to me.

They'd gotten to the terms of endearment stage and it was so cute. I'd had a couple of short term boyfriends in high school but nothing serious. Miles and Emily were on their way to something serious and I couldn't help but feel a little jealous. I'd witnessed a couple of fights between them but they always made up after, they always admitted their wrongs and I wondered why other people found it so hard to do that. I guess if you found the right one it's easier.

"How are you already finished?" I asked looking at her shocked. She'd gone with a Greek Goddess costume, a white toga dress with a gold belt and sash. Her blonde hair was braided and wrapped around her head like a halo. She'd added a gold olive branch crown and a gold cuff around her bicep. There was gold glitter around her eyes and on her cheeks as a highlighter.

I'd spent a better part of an hour just doing one eye for my Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra look. We'd spent hours on Pinterest and Amazon trying to find the best costume ideas. Since we were hosting this party we wanted to look like we knew what we were doing. There was a replica of one of Elizabeth Taylor's iconic outfits from Cleopatra on Amazon and I snagged it for cheap. It was a pretty, sleeveless sequined dress with a pale green cape going over one of my shoulders. The gold headdress was included and it dangled over my hair. I'd forgone the wig since my hair was too thick to fit under one. There was a gold and blue Anubis neck cover for dogs on sale so I got it for Luka. Since he was going to be my date, we may as well match. 

Emily and I decided to take shifts at the door taking people's keys. I took the first shift. A lot of people had taken Uber or Lyft, only a few people actually put their keys in the bag. Some were in costume and some weren't. I saw some horrible costumes but there were some that were great. By eleven the party was in full swing and fewer and fewer people were coming in. Each time someone came up onto the porch I hoped it was Jake. I knew he was working but I still hoped he'd come by at least for a little while.

"Do you know where Jake Fisher is?" a girl asked as she dropped her keys into the bag. I hadn't seen her before but of course we'd invited more than just vet med students so I didn't know everyone who'd walked through the door. She was dressed in a gold, sparkly flapper dress with a gold headband and white feather poking out the top. She was leggy, gorgeous, black haired, and olive skinned. I immediately felt intimidated and I usually didn't let people get to me like that, especially when they hadn't said or done anything to make me feel that way.

"I don't think he's here. I haven't seen him," I said truthfully. The front door was the only point of entry and I hadn't seen him all night. She was the first person to ask me that so I assumed he had asked her to come and wasn't there yet. "I'll tell him to find you when I see him."

"Cool, thanks," she said and walked away into the crowd before I could ask her her name.

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