Chapter 2

Once Friday came around Heidi found herself nervous. She stood behind the coffee bar at The Book and the Bean playing with her braids. Hiro walked out of the backroom with a fresh bag of beans, cut open the bag, poured out his desired amount into the grinder and hit on, turning it into a fine espresso powder. He was dressed as a ninja.

"Hiro I laugh every time I look at you." She said with a giggle. "You need to keep the mask and hood on."

"Oh, sorry." He apologized as he pulled the black face mask up over his mouth and nose and drew the Styrofoam sword from the sheath on his back. "Better?"

"Much." Heidi said as she fished out the espresso powder and pressed it tightly into the espresso machine.

"So do you have plans tonight?" Hiro asked as he started restocking the stir sticks, napkins, and sugar packets. "If not, you're welcome to come out with me? Me and some friends are gonna watch some scary movies at a friend's place. You can be my plus one?"

"Thanks Hiro, but I'm actually going to a Halloween party with Ren tonight." She told him as she felt the fluttering of nervousness in her stomach. Only an hour until Ren was supposed to pick her up from the Coffee shop. She had spent forever trying to figure out what costume she should wear to the party. She wanted something that was cute and flattering, but not the stereotypical sexy look that girls always use for Halloween. She ended up choosing Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

"Oh, the guy from the other day?" He asked, as he walked around the counter into the main lobby, picking up several books from the tables and placing them back on the shelves.

"The one and the same." Heidi said with a grin.

"He seemed nice enough." Hiro noted, leaning up against the counter. "So are you two like a thing?"

"No, we aren’t a thing; we’re still just getting to know each other." Heidi said quietly, hiding a smile.

"Well, if he's ever a jerk, I'll beat him up for you. You're too good a person to have a jackass for a boyfriend." Hiro told her, pulling out his toy sword again.

"He isn't a jackass or my boyfriend." Heidi reminded him.

"I give it a week." Hiro said with a sly grin, peering over his shoulder as the bell above the door chimed. "Speak of the devil." He muttered as Ren walked into the shop in a surgeon's scrubs.

"Ren, you're early!" Heidi said in excitement as he came closer to the bar.

"Yeah, I guess I got sort of excited and jumped the gun, I figured I'd come hang with you for a little bit beforehand." He explained as he leaned over the counter with Hiro.

"Heidi, your boy is already here, so there's no use in hanging around here for an hour, you guys get going, I can close up by myself." Hiro offered.

"Are you sure?" Heidi asked, standing up straight.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, you guys go have fun! Happy Halloween!" He said with a grin. Heidi quickly stepped out from behind the counter and into the back room where she clocked out and grabbed her bag, excited that her night was able to start early.

"All ready?" Ren asked as she stepped back out onto the floor. She nodded as he held open the door for her and they stepped out into the brisk October night air.

"You make a really good Dorothy" He told her with a grin as they walked towards the car.

"Thanks! I'm digging the surgeon look, who doesn't love a man in scrubs?" She replied as he opened the car door for her. She slid into the front seat waving hi to a shirtless Pharaoh who sat in the back of the car once again.

"Oh my god, you’re the Wendy's girl!" Pharaoh laughed in disbelief.

"I am not! I'm Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz." She argued back.

"Nope, you're Wendys. Dorothy has dark hair and it isn't in braids." He said, holding up a finger as he looked up a picture of the Wendy's logo on his phone, holding it out for her to see.

"Oh my god I'm the Wendy's girl." Heidi muttered as she had to agree with Pharaoh, who laughed in triumph at his victory.

"Anyway, why don't you have a shirt on?!" Heidi asked as Ren slid into the driver's seat and started up the car.

"I'm a Pharaoh." Pharaoh said as if it were obvious. "This way everyone can see how awesome I was. Look at my abs." He said as he flipped on the light in the car, waving his hands over himself as if inviting her to look upon his splendor. He wore heavy makeup, outlining his eyes, and heavy metal jewelry. She had to admit, he looked very kingly.

"Careful Pharaoh, I don't know if Heidi can handle so much of you." Ren said with a laugh as he pulled out into the street. Pharaoh flipped the light back off and leaned forward in the seat, reaching in-between the two of them for the auxiliary cord. He plugged his phone into it and switched on his music, bobbing his head to the beat of the music as they drove through the night. Heidi couldn't help but smile as she felt the bass of his music pounding through the car. It certainly wasn't her type of music, but she found herself enjoying it as Pharaoh sang along with it and danced dramatically in the back seat. Even Ren started singing along with the fast paced music, feeding into Pharaoh's entertainment. Their mood was so infectious that if she knew the words to the song, she probably would have been singing along with them too. Pharaoh leaned back up in between the seats and held out a small flask to Heidi, prodding her in the arm with it.

"Come on Wendys, pre-game with me!" He commanded, offering the metal flask.

"What is it?" Heidi asked as she took the flask from him, holding it up to her nose, praying it wasn't vodka.

"Whiskey, don't tell me you're afraid of a little..." He stopped as she tilted the flask back, taking a good sized shot of burning liquid.

"Oh hell yes!" Pharaoh exclaimed as she passed the flask back.

"Ren this one is a good one and you need to chase her. If you don't, I will." Pharaoh joked, elbowing Ren in the side.

Ren smiled, glancing over at Heidi before turning his eyes back to the road.

"We're here." He told them as he slowed, pulling the car over a few houses down from a large two story house. People sat outside on the porch with drinks in hand, decked out to the nines in various costumes. Heidi could hear the music from there.

"God I love Halloween." Pharaoh muttered with a grin on his face as several girls in tight short costumes walked towards the house. Heidi smiled as Ren slipped his hand into hers as he led her towards the house. 

Once they were inside, Heidi began to feel uncomfortable. The house was packed; the inside of the house was noticeably warmer from all the warm bodies, even though all the windows were open to let in the cool air. Several people acknowledged Ren's arrival, holding up their drinks in greeting. Heidi noticed as several girls also watched closely as Ren pulled her through the crowd, still holding her hand tightly.

"If I time this right, I bet I can sleep with at least 8 of these girls tonight." Pharaoh said speaking into her ear, so that only she could hear.

"Well, good luck with your goals." Heidi said with a laugh. Sure he was an asshole and a douchebag, but he was funny and nice in his own way.

"Can I get you a drink?" Ren asked above the noise, turning to her. She nodded, giving him a smile as he held up a finger and released her hand, slipping into the crowd.

"So, if you're good here, I'm gonna go talk to some people." Pharaoh told her as he took another swig of his whiskey. "Welcome to the life outside of being a bookworm. Enjoy it!"

And then she was alone in a crowd of people. She looked around awkwardly, hoping to see anybody that she might know, but her circle of people were a bit more tame than this. She would have been shocked to see anybody that she recognized. She sighed when she realized that she was a fish out of water.

"Hey."

She turned to the voice who called out for her attention to find a young man in a Robin Hood costume standing behind her.

"Hello." She said politely.

"You came with Ren Bray here right? Are you two together? Cause if not, I'd love to get to know you a little bit better." He offered, flashing her a white smile.

"Oh. Um." She stuttered, not sure what to say. Technically they weren't together, but he did hold her hand the entire way there. She didn't really know what they were.

Suddenly Ren appeared by her side, once again taking her hand in his.

"Hey, sorry that took so long." He said handing her the drink, and looking back up at the boy in the green hood, but not before placing a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, Jon." he said with a grin on his face as Heidi blushed brightly next to him. “I didn’t know you knew Heidi?”

"Hey Ren, we actually just met." The boy in the hood said with disappointment clear on his face. "Anyway, enjoy the party. Happy Halloween." He said before slipping back into the crowd.

"Ren what on earth was that?" Heidi asked, still smiling.

"Sorry about that, I didn't know how else to tell him to go away without being rude." He explained giving her an apologetic look. "Was that ok with you?"

Heidi nodded as he continued.

"I know this sounds ridiculously cliché, but can we go someplace a little quieter?" He asked. "I think I saw a back porch attached to the kitchen?"

"Cliché sounds wonderful right now actually." She said with a smile.

Together they pushed through the crowd out to a small porch on the back of the house. The canopy had string lights wrapped around the posts and strung overhead, lighting up the sitting area where a porch swing hung. To her relief, they were the only ones there. They both sat down on the swing, her hand still in his.

"Thanks for coming with me by the way." Ren started as he absentmindedly swung them back and forth. "I wasn't really in the mood for a party when Pharaoh asked, but I figured if I could convince you to come it would be worth it."

"I'm glad I came." Heidi said truthfully.

"Yeah? Cause this totally doesn't seem like your scene." Ren said with a grin.

"Yeah, you're right there, I'm not the biggest party girl, but I'm glad to be here with you." She told him quietly. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes quickly glancing down at her lips before kissing her gently. The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but to Heidi it was perfect. When he pulled away, he was grinning from ear to ear, clearly happy with how his night was going.

"Sorry." He said apologizing. "I feel like such a hypocrite, on Wednesday I was telling Pharaoh how I wanted to take everything slowly and just kind of ease into everything with you, but here I am kissing you on the back porch like three days after we met."

"That's alright." Heidi admitted, as he rested his forehead against hers. "You were talking to Pharaoh about me?"

Ren laughed a little to himself, remembering the moment.

"Yeah, Pharaoh was giving me shit about not kissing you on day one. But I like you, so I don't want to do anything to fast and make you think I'm out for something else."

"Don't worry, you don't strike me as the type." She assured him.

"Oh good." He joked, his voice filled with false relief. "But in all seriousness, before I came back with your drink, that guy, Jon was asking if we were together; is that an option you might want to look at?" He asked, giving her a hopeful look. Right as she was about to say yes, the back door opened up, flooding the back porch with music from inside as a blonde girl poked her head out, smiling when she saw Ren.

"Hey! Ren! I've been looking all over for you!" She exclaimed, looking from Ren to Heidi and then back to Ren.

"Am I interrupting something? I just wanted to talk to you for a minute."

"Hey Kate." He said flatly. "Now isn't really the best time."

"Oh, but it'll only take a minute." Kate pleaded, looking from Ren to Heidi, "Could you give us just a bit? It won't take long, I promise!"

"Oh, um. Yeah, sure." Heidi said reluctantly as she stood and smiled down to Ren. "I'll go see what Pharaoh is up to."

"Heidi, you don't have to go." He said reassuringly.

"No, it's alright, just come find me whenever you're done." She said with a smile. Her heart felt heavy for some reason as she stepped into the house, closing the door behind her. Awkwardly she went from room to room, looking for Pharaoh, sighing when she found him making out with a dark haired girl dressed as Minnie mouse in the corner. Not wanting to interrupt, she slipped out the front door, thinking about taking a quick walk and enjoying the cold night.