“Finally, they’re here. What took you so long?” asked Bianca with an irritated expression, looking at Xavier.
“I’m sorry. We take a long time to put on makeup. We are not used to it,” Xavier said, trying to calm Bianca down.
Luke was surprised that Xavier didn’t blame him, since it was his fault, they were late. Even though it was only fifteen minutes.
Bianca was wearing a skeleton costume. Her face had makeup simulating a skull. It looked great on her thanks to her bald hairstyle. Luke couldn’t believe that a girl would shave her head as a hairstyle.
“Come on. I don’t want to be late,” Bianca said, taking Xavier by the hand and hurrying to the dance. She didn’t want to lose her presence.
“Luke, you look great! The real Count Dracula, but more handsome!” said Enid with a big smile and shyness at the last part.
“Thanks…” said Luke, scratching his cheek, “The costume is thanks to you. It’s very well done,” he added, and Enid smiled.
Luke looked at Enid. The girl was wearing a worn white Victorian dress with some torn parts that gave her a more sinister appearance.
She was wearing a white cloak with some holes in it. Makeup that made her paler than normal as well as Luke. Dark shadows around her eyes and neat vampire fangs. Her lips were painted a very striking blood red with her pale skin.
Enid was disguised as Lucy Westenra a young girl who becomes a vampire because of Dracula and is under his influence. Unlike Xavier and Bianca, they both dressed up in the same theme.
“You look great too,” Luke added.
“Thanks! Look this is where you bit me,” said Enid, stretching her neck. Luke saw two bite marks on her neck.
“Oh, it’s very well done,” said Luke, walking up to Enid’s neck and looking at it closely. Enid felt Luke’s breathing close to her and began to feel nervous, “Let’s go. We don’t want to be any later,” she said as she started walking, and Luke followed her.
“Why was Bianca in your dorm?” asked Luke as he walked next to Enid. According to what Xavier told him they would split up, but before they left Bianca texted him telling him she was in Enid’s dorm so they went together.
“She said it was to meet a friend, but I know that’s an excuse. There are two reasons why she came to my dorm,” said Enid as her spark of gossip and school drama ignited.
“What reasons?” asked Luke, though he knew Enid would tell him since once she starts talking, she doesn’t stop.
“The first one is you,” said Enid, pointing her finger at Luke. Her nails were painted black. A color she didn’t really like, but she had to because of the costume she was wearing.
“Me?” asked Luke confused, “She didn’t even say hello to me,” he added.
“Bianca is very proud. She’s like Nevermore royalty, but I’m sure like everyone else she’s interested in Nevermore’s most famous student,” replied Enid.
So much fame was Carrie’s fault. A book he plagiarized that made him have over a hundred thousand followers on every social media. Added to his famous last name among outcasts was too flashy, no matter how horrible he acts with everyone except Enid.
Considering his fame on social media and in general he could be considered the most famous student at Nevermore.
Enid felt pride for some reason in being the closest person to Luke. However, she didn’t approach Luke because of his fame. She did it because she was attracted to his personality which scared everyone else away.
She created a personal blog and could have asked Luke to publicize it, but she never asked him to do so. With a simple mention of Luke on his social media, her blog would grow by leaps and bounds, but she decided to work and grow it on her own.
“The second one?” asked Luke.
“Sabrina Jones. Bianca’s direct competition. There are sparks between them over who will be our year’s Nevermore queen. They are the most popular students in our year,” replied Enid enthusiastically. She was very fond of gossip.
“Is Sabrina in your dorm?” asked Luke, and Enid nodded. So, far Sabrina had never contacted him to ask for the favor he owed her.
“It was too scary to be alone with Bianca. Her queenly aura is suffocating,” said Enid, shivering as she remembered the fifteen minutes she had to spend with Bianca in silence.
“You’d make a better queen,” said Luke.
“Me, queen? No kidding,” Enid said, waving her hand in denial.
“I’m not kidding. Your personality is much better than Bianca’s. You treat everyone nicely, and most importantly… you’re a hundred times cuter than that bald skull,” Luke said with difficulty. It was the first time he had ever said something so embarrassing.
He had to add an insult to make it not so embarrassing.
‘A hundred times cuter? That’s a lot,’ Enid thought, feeling her cheeks flush. Luckily, thanks to it being night Luke didn’t notice.
“Puf…” Enid started to laugh at Luke’s last sentence.
“What are you laughing at? I’m not kidding,” Luke said.
“You’re the only person who would dare call Bianca a bald skull. First of all, skulls don’t have hair,” said Enid and started laughing.
“Well, it’s true. She must have picked that costume because she already saved herself a lot of work. She didn’t have to buy a wig,” Luke said with a slight smile, and Enid, who was controlling her laughter started laughing again.
Luke watched as Enid laughed. He didn’t want her to stop. She looked cuter than usual. He had never felt anything like that. Between jokes and laughter, they reached the outside of the hall where the party was being held.
The entrance to the hall had many decorations. Dim lights flashed intermittently, casting ghostly shadows that danced on the walls lined with fake cobwebs.
Carved pumpkins, lit from within with flickering candles, led the way with their orange glow, revealing grotesque faces carved into their orange skins.
An archway of twisted branches and dried leaves marked the entrance to the hall, guarded by sculptures of gruesome monsters.
“Creepy,” Enid said fearfully, hugging Luke’s arm.
Dark curtains, decorated with bat and skull motifs, separated the main hallway from the parlor, momentarily concealing the party that awaited on the other side.
“They sure put some effort into the decorations. I thought you’d be braver, Lucy,” Luke joked.
“Scary things aren’t my thing. I prefer vivid colors and cheerful things,” said Enid, who wouldn’t leave Luke’s side.
“What? How do you like it, Carrie? It’s too gory,” said Luke confused.
“Carrie is indeed gory, but it didn’t scare me. She’s like a psychic outcast who ends up meeting
a tragic fate. The story captivated me. Same with the works of Dracula or Frankenstein,” said Enid, trying to explain her point.
“Mm, I get it. You’re scared of scarier monsters like the faceless or the Hyde, right?” said
Luke, and Enid nodded several times.
While Carrie, Dracula, or Frankenstein may be considered in the realm of horror to Luke they didn’t elicit a fear that kept him awake at night.
That could be triggered by works like It. Where Pennywise appears, a terrifying clown that tormented many people or The Ring. There appears a girl with long dark, and disheveled hair with pale and emaciated skin. Dressed in a long, faded white dress.
“Just seeing their faces gives me the creeps,” Enid whispered close to Luke’s ear. She didn’t want a faceless person to hear her and hurt their feelings.
“Yeah. You don’t know if they’re looking at you or talking,” nodded Luke as he walked beside Enid towards the curtain.
They passed through the dark curtains and saw the room where the party was being held. Dim lights, tinted in shades of orange, purple, and green, cast dancing shadows on the walls adorned with cobwebs and paper bats.
In the dark corners, illuminated pumpkins glow with a ghostly glow, their crooked smiles lending a terrifying atmosphere.
The ceiling is covered by a canopy of black, shimmering webs, dotted with stars and moons that glow in the dark. Mechanical spiders dangle from invisible threads, moving slowly as if on the lookout for their next prey.
In the center of the hall was a large dance floor illuminated by twinkling lights filled with Nevermore students enjoying themselves.
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