The party was well underway by the time Lance realized there might be a problem. As he mingled with the guests (making sure that they didn’t break anything), he noticed that some of them were acting odd. People were stumbling from room to room and shouting at each other.
“Hey, great party.” Max said, coming up to Lance and placing a hand on his shoulder. Lance stumbled when Max put all of his weight on him. Then Max took a gulp from the plastic cup in his hand. He spilled some of the amber liquid on his Maple Leaf's jersey.
Lance stared into the cup. “Is that beer?”
“Yeah.” Max laughed. He took another gulp. “Pete brought it.”
Great. Lance helped Max to sit down on the couch. Then he went looking for Pete. He had specifically locked all of Ralph’s booze away where nobody would find it because he didn’t want anyone drinking. Lance was against underage drinking, and he was now set on giving Pete an earful.
As Lance passed the front door, it opened a crack. He paused to look over, a little paranoid that it would be the cops. It didn’t help that his own costume was that of a police officer.
A girl poked her head around the door. For a moment Lance thought she was a trick-or-treater. Then the girl looked at him and a nervous smile spread on her face. Lance chuckled and walked toward the door. It was Holly.
“Hey.” He greeted her, pulling the door open. “I’m glad you could--”
Lance fell silent when he saw the person standing behind Holly. From the boy’s hair, he knew that it was Fletcher, even with the thin cloth mask that ran across his eyes. Lance felt his breath catch as he took in the rest of the costume, which consisted of a pair of black shorts and a black sleeveless turtleneck. The costume was completed with a pair of large, fluffy cat ears.
“Hi.” Fletcher nodded at him. He tugged at his mask a little.
Lance nodded back. “Um… come in.” He stepped out of the way and let the two of them walk into the house. Then he closed the door after them.
“Lance!”
Lance jumped when a body was thrown up against his back. Then a pair of arms wrapped around his neck, a plastic cup held in each hand. He looked over his shoulder to see Nicole smiling at him with half lidded eyes. She was dressed as the same thing she had been for Halloween since the sixth grade, a playboy bunny.
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Nicole said, slurring her words a little. She slipped around to Lance’s front and handed him one of the plastic cups. “Pete told me to give this to you. He said you weren’t enjoying the party to its full potential.” She laughed and leaned on his shoulder. Then she looked at Holly, who was staring at her. “Hey, cool costume.”
Lance glanced at Holly. He hadn’t really noticed the colourful leotard she was wearing. It was covered in swirls of red maple leaves. Lance thought it looked familiar, but he couldn’t place it.
“Thanks.” Holly said, looking down at her costume. “I made it myself.”
“Really?” Nicole left Lance’s side to peer intently at the detail on Holly’s costume. “It’s really well done, and looks like the real thing.”
“Um… Thank you.” Holly looked a little uncomfortable as Nicole poked at the maple leaves on her chest. “I’ve worked on it since the Olympics ended.”
Lance snapped his fingers. Of course. Now he knew where he had seen the outfit. Nicole had made him watch the gymnastics segment of the Olympics over the summer. It was the Canadian women’s leotard.
“Come on.” Nicole grabbed Holly’s hand. “Let’s get you something to drink. You have to show off that costume.”
Lance watched as his girlfriend led Holly away. It was hard to believe that Nicole did nothing but badmouth Holly when they were at school. He looked down at the cup in his hands. Is it because she’s wasted?
“Is she okay?” Lance glanced at Fletcher, who was looking after Nicole and his sister. He looked worried. “She looks like she’s drunk.”
“Um…” Lance shrugged his shoulders. “I think she’s had a little bit to drink, but she should be fine.” He took a sip from the cup Nicole had handed him. For some reason, standing there with Fletcher made him nervous. He decided that he needed a bit of ‘liquid courage’.
As he and Fletcher walked through the crowd of people, he quickly drained the cup. When they came across Pete, he asked for a second one. It didn’t take long for his nerves to calm and his brain to feel light and as fuzzy as Fletcher’s cat ears.
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