I spotted Jagger. I waved him over.
"So when can we see what you are up to?" I asked Jagger. I was longing to get any information about it that I could before Halloween night came. I wanted to be in the know.
"You'll see on Halloween," he said with a sultry voice. "And not a day before. You want to be scared, don't you?"
"Will it be open to everyone?" I asked.
"You mean you? Or vampires?"
"I mean all of us."
"It will be open to the locals. I think that includes you. Will you be coming?" he asked Stormy.
"I'm hoping to go trick-or-treating," she said.
"What? You have to come here and see me!" Luna said.
"I know," she said. "But I'm going trick-or-treating with some friends."
"Friends?" she asked. "And who would they be?"
"Uh, just some kids I met." It was unclear why she wasn't telling Luna who they were. I figured perhaps because one of them was my brother and she didn't want Luna to feel competitive with me.
"Well, if you're not coming to the Crypt, then we should at least shop together and help pick out Halloween costumes."
"But what about Raven?" Stormy asked.
"Raven? I'm not sure that's a good idea. She'd be a third wheel," she whispered.
Stormy squirmed. I could tell she was struggling with including me in her and Luna's adventure.
"I think we vampire girls should stick together," Luna said, her pink lips triumphantly stretching across her porcelain face.
Stormy took a breath and looked up at Luna. "I think it will be fun to shop together, but I want to go with Raven as well." Luna's smile turned into a frown. She was stunned by Stormy's declaration. "Well," she said, "I think we'll talk more about this later," she said. "I have to go see Romeo." Then Luna spun away from us and headed to the bar.
"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings," Stormy said, looking at me. "I was just being honest."
"I think she'll get over it," I said, secretly knowing she wouldn't.
Chapter 11 Prada-Bees
The following day at school, the students were abuzz about Jagger's haunted house.
"Jagger is going to have a haunted house at the Crypt. I can't wait. I know it will be a real scream!" I heard a Prada-bee say in the hallway.
"I know I'll faint for sure," her friend squealed as they grabbed books from their lockers.
"Well, maybe Trevor can catch you," another teased.
"Don't you know?" the first girl, Heather, asked. "He's been hanging out with that skank - the one with over-dyed scarlet hair and tattoos instead of jewelry."
"Oh yes, that's old news. But I was hoping it wasn't true. You nold m" wknow how he is. Fixated on Raven. I think he likes that new girl just so he can feel like he's dating her."
"Nuh-uh!" the first one said.
"Yes."
"What do you think you'll go as?"
"I don't know. I really didn't have an idea for this year."
"We should go as Raven," the first one said loud enough for me to hear.
"What?"
"We can get tattoos and streak our hair."
"Gross!"
"And wear black lipstick."
"We'll look like we're dead."
"Isn't that the point? It's Halloween."
The second one sighed. "Trevor seems to be, like, in love with her."
"I wonder how he'll feel about me if I dress like her."
"You think?"
"He likes Raven. He keeps dragging that scarlet-hair chick to games. I think he really digs that look."
"That look - or Raven's look."
"Whatever. You want to go out with Trevor, don't you?"
"Duh!"
The first one took her friend's affirmative answer as motivation and headed to me.
Becky and I were grabbing textbooks from our locker.
"Hi, Becky," the first one said.
"Hi, Becky," the other said.
"Hi, Heather," Becky responded politely. "Hi, Courtney."
"Uh, Raven," Heather began. "Where do you get your clothes?"
"Off of dead people?" Courtney mumbled with a laugh.
"Ssh!" Heather said to her. "No, really, I want to know."
I wasn't sure what to say. I knew on the one hand they were trying to make fun of me. And then on the other hand, if they wanted to see how the other half lived, they might actually like it.
"We want to go goth this year. Any hints?" Heather continued.
I didn't want to divulge my secrets to them. They wore what they did to be "in." I wore what I did because it was me. It was my soul. It was my being.
Last year I went as a tennis player. And a tennis player should be able to dress as a goth. It was, after all, Halloween.
But I didn't feel like making it too easy on