A Year in the Life of an American Teenager

Chapter 7

Kendall sat on her bed, putting her Halloween costume together, while her dad watched the Panthers game downstairs in the living room. Her mom was fixing a quick dinner for Kendall before she had to leave for Miranda's Halloween party, which started at 7, but she wanted the girls to come half and hour early to get pictures and drop off their sleepover stuff, since Miranda had invited them to stay for the night.

Miranda had told the girls to bring other friends if they preferred, so Kendall decided to bring Shauna. They settled on being Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. She had also texted Michael and called Ellie to invite them, and they had agreed.

Kendall put her costume on, and studied herself in the mirror.

Cowboy hat? Check. Vest? Check. Yellow shirt? Check. Red bandanna? Check. Blue jeans with a belt buckle? Check. And finally, cowboy boots with "Andy" written on the bottom of the one shoe? Check and check. She was ready.

When she went downstairs to show her parents, they both erupted into laughter, telling her how much they loved the costume. By the time Kendall had finished eating, Shauna had walked into the house, wearing her Buzz Lightyear costume, making Kendall's parents have another laughing attack.

She was wearing a white shirt with felt pieces glued on to represent the various buttons Buzz had, with a lavender pencil skirt and white leggings underneath. She had painted one piece of cardboard to look like Buzz's wings, which were safety-pinned on her back, and she completed the look with her neon green Vans.

The whole look made her dyed auburn hair look more red and her eyes look more green than brown, so she looked great overall. All her ear piercings went with the whole look, so she didn't even have to remove them.

After Kendall's mom took pictures, Shauna looked at Kendall with a serious facial expression and suddenly exclaimed, "To infinity, AND BEYOND!" pointing to the door and running out to her car, with Kendall then following her friend's example moments after. They both got into Shauna's car, laughing hysterically at their obnoxious behavior, and then Kendall gasped, "How old are we again?"

Shauna laughed again, and she hit Kendall's arm playfully and said, "Haven't you been told to act your shoe size and not your actual age?"

Kendall giggled and said, "I guess I'm eight years old then."

"I'm seven and a half," Shauna admitted, making themselves burst into giggles again, as she started driving to Miranda's.

~

"And, let's take one more, just in case!" Mrs. Allen said, holding up her camera again.

"Oh, because I probably look terrible in the other 50 photos she took," Shauna said sarcastically through her teeth, quiet enough for only Kendall to hear.

Kendall giggled, and they posed once more with the other girls.

When Kendall and Shauna had entered Miranda's house, they weren't surprised to see the other girls dressed in skimpy outfits they called "costumes".

Miranda was in a tiny red, strapless form-fitting dress with black high heels. Plastic red devil horns were on her head, and she wore deep red blush and bright red lip stick, the whole color scheme making her blue eyes stand out.

Clare was in a tight brown tank top and brown pencil skirt, with brown face paint styled for her to look like a bear. She had little brown cub ears sticking out of her white blonde hair, which was straightened. The whole look made her appear thinner than she usually looked, which freaked out Kendall a little bit.

Laura was in a low-cut, form fitting, short black dress with a fake police badge pinned on her chest. She wore high black boots and a fake police hat, and she was holding a plastic gun. Her hair was in a loose braid, which was styled to the side.