Drake, these are my friends.” She seemed about to name off all of them,
then decided against it.
“You’ll
learn all their names later. I’ll be back.” And she vanished into the crowd. We
stood awkwardly for a while. The witch hummed under her breath and swayed. Her
eyes were a little out of focus.
“So,”
wolf-boy said. “Some ugly dwarf—”
“Quasimodo,”
Cody said.
“Right,
Quasi a la mode, a mad scientist? And...Jackie Chan, or something.”
“That’s
pretty cool,” a vampire said, feeling the fabric of my sleeve. “Not really
scary, but it’s cool.”
“I
thought you could be anything,” I said. “Do you have to be scary?”
“Um,
no, that is definitely not the point,” the swaying witch wonder slurred. “ I always dress to be slutty—”
“Have
you tried the punch?” the wolf-boy asked. He pointed to a cauldron on a pumpkin
covered table. People were ladling a colored drink into more of those red cups.
“Try
it,” one vampire pressed.
“Why?”
Matt asked. The vampire threw him a dirty look.
“Because
I made it and it’s good, that’s why.”
“Very
good,” the witch agreed, slopping part of her cup onto Cody. I shrugged.
“Sure,
whatever.” I walked over and ladled some out. Cody did too but Matt hung back
as though smelling something suspicious. I wondered if he had ever tasted
alcohol before. I hadn’t tried any since I was a kid and my parents caught me
trying some Arag, the traditional Bhutanese alcoholic beverage, behind a shop
when I was supposed to be with Sonam. I had kind of lost my curiosity towards
anything alcoholic since then.
I took a drink. Vampire girl #1 watched
me. It wasn’t bad. Tangy and sweet with a unique aftertaste.
“Good,”
I said. Wolf-boy and vampire #2 were talking about somebody dating somebody
else, classes they hated, and Sykes escaping. Before I could zero in on that
particular piece of the conversation they had returned to talking trash about
professors.
I
kept drinking. I glanced at Cody to see what he was doing but he was locked
into the conversation and threw in a comment every now and then.
I
had no idea how long we stood there. I drank absentmindedly. Vampire #1
refilled my cup. The punch was good,
I wasn’t kidding about that. But after maybe an hour of listening to stupid
stuff and drinking punch I started to feel weird. Dizzy almost. It wasn’t a
really bad feeling. Kind of…kind of nice. I looked over at Cody but he seemed
farther away than he should have been.
“You
okay there, martial arts man?” Vampire #1 asked. She was grinning slightly,
showing her fake fangs.
I
waved my arm. “I’m good.” But my lips were just a tad slow. I could vaguely
hear Melanie’s voice as she pushed her way through the pulsing bodies back
towards us.
“Sorry!
Sorry! Whew! You would never believe what I had to stop. These two guys took a
plastic devil’s pitchfork and were shoving it up—” she stopped as Cody
lightly swayed into her. “What—? Drake?” I was still standing all stoic
as she looked closely at me.
“He’s
fine,” vampire #1 said. She was right. I was so very fine. Melanie spotted the cup in my hand and rounded on
vampire girl.
“What
the hell, Jen? How much did he drink? Cody?” Cody had fallen to a cross-legged
position on the floor. I think he’d drank more than I had. Matt had wandered
off a while ago, and suddenly wandering off sounded like a good idea. I felt
great. I didn’t want to be cooped up inside feeling this great. This needed to
be shared.
When
Melanie wasn’t looking (“Do you have any idea how much trouble we can get into
if someone from the Lab sees this?”) I slipped past a Star Trek guy and
somebody Matt had told me was Captain America before I was free to the street
outside. I turned left and walked.
The
fresh air made me feel better. A little bit of the film began to lift from my
eyes but my head still spun so I kept going.
The
streets wound and swirled together in a
then decided against it.
“You’ll
learn all their names later. I’ll be back.” And she vanished into the crowd. We
stood awkwardly for a while. The witch hummed under her breath and swayed. Her
eyes were a little out of focus.
“So,”
wolf-boy said. “Some ugly dwarf—”
“Quasimodo,”
Cody said.
“Right,
Quasi a la mode, a mad scientist? And...Jackie Chan, or something.”
“That’s
pretty cool,” a vampire said, feeling the fabric of my sleeve. “Not really
scary, but it’s cool.”
“I
thought you could be anything,” I said. “Do you have to be scary?”
“Um,
no, that is definitely not the point,” the swaying witch wonder slurred. “ I always dress to be slutty—”
“Have
you tried the punch?” the wolf-boy asked. He pointed to a cauldron on a pumpkin
covered table. People were ladling a colored drink into more of those red cups.
“Try
it,” one vampire pressed.
“Why?”
Matt asked. The vampire threw him a dirty look.
“Because
I made it and it’s good, that’s why.”
“Very
good,” the witch agreed, slopping part of her cup onto Cody. I shrugged.
“Sure,
whatever.” I walked over and ladled some out. Cody did too but Matt hung back
as though smelling something suspicious. I wondered if he had ever tasted
alcohol before. I hadn’t tried any since I was a kid and my parents caught me
trying some Arag, the traditional Bhutanese alcoholic beverage, behind a shop
when I was supposed to be with Sonam. I had kind of lost my curiosity towards
anything alcoholic since then.
I took a drink. Vampire girl #1 watched
me. It wasn’t bad. Tangy and sweet with a unique aftertaste.
“Good,”
I said. Wolf-boy and vampire #2 were talking about somebody dating somebody
else, classes they hated, and Sykes escaping. Before I could zero in on that
particular piece of the conversation they had returned to talking trash about
professors.
I
kept drinking. I glanced at Cody to see what he was doing but he was locked
into the conversation and threw in a comment every now and then.
I
had no idea how long we stood there. I drank absentmindedly. Vampire #1
refilled my cup. The punch was good,
I wasn’t kidding about that. But after maybe an hour of listening to stupid
stuff and drinking punch I started to feel weird. Dizzy almost. It wasn’t a
really bad feeling. Kind of…kind of nice. I looked over at Cody but he seemed
farther away than he should have been.
“You
okay there, martial arts man?” Vampire #1 asked. She was grinning slightly,
showing her fake fangs.
I
waved my arm. “I’m good.” But my lips were just a tad slow. I could vaguely
hear Melanie’s voice as she pushed her way through the pulsing bodies back
towards us.
“Sorry!
Sorry! Whew! You would never believe what I had to stop. These two guys took a
plastic devil’s pitchfork and were shoving it up—” she stopped as Cody
lightly swayed into her. “What—? Drake?” I was still standing all stoic
as she looked closely at me.
“He’s
fine,” vampire #1 said. She was right. I was so very fine. Melanie spotted the cup in my hand and rounded on
vampire girl.
“What
the hell, Jen? How much did he drink? Cody?” Cody had fallen to a cross-legged
position on the floor. I think he’d drank more than I had. Matt had wandered
off a while ago, and suddenly wandering off sounded like a good idea. I felt
great. I didn’t want to be cooped up inside feeling this great. This needed to
be shared.
When
Melanie wasn’t looking (“Do you have any idea how much trouble we can get into
if someone from the Lab sees this?”) I slipped past a Star Trek guy and
somebody Matt had told me was Captain America before I was free to the street
outside. I turned left and walked.
The
fresh air made me feel better. A little bit of the film began to lift from my
eyes but my head still spun so I kept going.
The
streets wound and swirled together in a
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