Upside Down

Five

Halloween night is not something me and my family used to celebrate. I mean, yeah I went out as a kid, collected my candy, and are enough that night to give me a wicked stomachache. But at some point, we all lost interest in it and October 31 just because a regular old day in the Sweeney-Kash house.

Here, it's totally different.

Everyone is required to dress up. Even the adults who probably shouldn't be dressing up anymore. Hillary and my dad apparently throw this wild party at the house while the kids go out trick-or-treating with Logan.

I stand in the mirror of the bathroom staring at myself in this costume. Hillary bought it for me when she found out I was coming to live with them. I don't know how I am supposed to feel about it. I guess it's nice that she thought of me but I'm also insulted that this is how she thinks of me.

This costume isn't me.

Definitely not me.

But hey, Halloween is all about dressing up and transforming into something you aren't on the other 364 days of the year, right?

I exit the bathroom and turn into my room. I grab my phone and scroll through the notifications. Kara sits on her bed watching me in awe. "You are the prettiest bunny I have ever seen!" I turn around and laugh at her compliment. Summer, sitting next to her on the bed, agrees.

"I'm probably the most uncomfortable one you've ever seen too." I smile as Kara stands up and reaches her hands up to touch my fake ears.

"So soft."

Logan peers into the room. "Wow. You guys um, you look great." He leans in the door frame  in his suit and tie and averts his eyes from me. "A vampire and a mermaid, huh? You guys look cute." He turns his eyes back to me and smiles. "Mom says to be downstairs in twenty minutes," he says as he exits the room.

"Yeah, no." I shake my head. That interaction was enough to make me want to change out of this. "I'm not wearing this." I search my box of clothes beside my bed that I have yet to unpack for some black leggings to throw over top of my exposed legs.

Finding the perfect pair, I slide them up my legs and breathe a sigh of relief, feeling better about how much skin I am no longer showing.

"How do I look?"

"Like a pretty and comfortable bunny!" Summer and Kara bounce around the room pretending to be bunnies.

"Now now, calm down. I don't think vampires and mermaids should be bouncing around like bunnies! That's my job!" I pretend to scold them and join them in bouncing around our little room.

"What's with all the banging in here?" Peter stumbles in, looking like he just woke up. Tilly pushes past Peter in her witch costume and joins us.

"We are playing bunny!" Summer exclaims.

"Well, keep it down. I'm trying to sleep." Peter demands.

"Is that part of your costume?" Hillary joins us in the room.

"Is what?" He replies.

"Your attitude?" Hillary asks rhetorically. Peter mumbles something under his breathe and returns to his room. "Go get your costume on. 15 minutes to pictures." Hillary turns towards us and smiles. "Oh, come here girls. Give me a hug!" She squeals as the three young girls rush into her arms. "You guys look adorable!"

"I'm not adorable! I'm scary!" Kara, the vampire, hisses at her mother. 

Same Kara, same.

"Oh, that you are dear. Come on, let's go get your makeup on!" Hillary stands and guides the girls out of the room. "Oh, Avery honey,"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah?"

"Logan asked me to send you downstairs. He wanted to talk to you or something. I'm not sure about what." She smiles and guides the girls into her room.

I walk downstairs and search for Logan. I finally find him all by himself in the den. "What's up? Hillary said you wanted to talk to me?"

He turns around and his eyes widen. I think I scared him. "Yeah um, wait. Why'd you change?" He asks.

"Oh, um." I let out a nervous laugh. "I was a little uncomfortable showing that much skin." I admit, trying to cover up even more now that he has mentioned it.

"Oh, that's a shame. You looked good."

I can feel blood rushing to my cheeks. I just hope that the room is dark enough that he can't see it. That would be embarrassing. "Thanks. I guess. Is that what you called me down here to say? That you liked my costume?"

"No, listen. Um. I wanted to see if you wanted to stay for the party instead of going trick-or-treating?"

"I'm not going to know anyone there but my dad. I figured at least if I went out with the kids, I could get some candy or find a cute guy bunny or something." I joke but I'm not really kidding. Staying here and sitting in the corner at a party where I don't like the hosts and don't know any of the guests just doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

"You'll know me," he shrugs and moves closer.

"I thought you were also taking them all out to get some candy? I hear people in this neighborhood give out the big chocolate bars." I continue to joke.

"Did Mason tell you that? His idea of big chocolate bars is the little Hershey bar with four squares of chocolate on it." Logan laughs. "And besides, I convinced my mom into letting Peter take them out this year so I could stay for the party."

I nod slowly. "Okay."

"Okay everyone! It's time for pictures!" Hillary yells to gather everyone in the kitchen.

AN: I'm really excited about this chapter. I love Halloween. 👻🖤🕸🎃The chapter is so long that I had to split it into three parts!

Please don't forget to vote and comment so that I know what you think.

Question: what do you think about the characters now that you have had some more time with them?

I'm interested to see how your opinions might change.