Chapter Ten

“Do I really look okay in this costume?”

Claire self-consciously tugged at the hem of her skirt as it was a lot shorter than what she was comfortable wearing. Ever since they decided to go to the Halloween party, Jess has been stoked about the costumes, so she didn’t want to let her down by refusing to wear what she came up with, which turned out to be a Japanese-style maid costume.

Jess, being a cute Asian-American, had no trouble looking good in it.

“Yeah, of course, you do”, Jess replied as she adjusted her headpiece. “I wouldn’t choose this if you wouldn’t look good wearing it”

Two hours ago, Jess came over to her house with a ginormous gym bag filled with clothes, accessories, and makeup, and ever since then, the two have been preparing for the party. She was too excited that Claire didn’t have even a second of rest after a day’s work at the library.

“But…” she mumbled. “Isn’t this too short?”

Jess paused from fixing her hair and stood up in front of her before examining her from head to toe. After a few seconds of silence, her thoughtful frown turned to an assuring smile.

“Nope! Not at all”, she said. “You’re just not used to wearing skirts, that’s all”

Claire sighed in surrender. Ethan was supposed to pick them up any minute now and the thought of him seeing her in a maid costume caused an unpleasant feeling in her stomach.  She figured that he was probably going to tease her all night.

So for good measure, she checked herself in her full-length mirror. Jess was the one who fixed her hair and makeup earlier. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail but she purposely left out her curtain bangs and a few strands of baby hair. She only wore minimal makeup— just enough to cover the bags underneath her eyes and her blemishes while enhancing her features.

She admitted that she didn’t look too shabby. However, the frilly dress was her problem. Although she wore socks that stopped until her thighs, the length of the skirt (or rather the lack of it) bothered her. She didn’t think she would be able to move freely later at the party with the fear of accidentally flashing everyone.

A few minutes later, they heard a car honk outside, so they headed out. When they got outside, after bidding farewell to her mother, they spotted a Lamborghini parked in front of the apartment building. Ethan, in a Dracula costume, was leaning against the passenger-side door with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Ethan, hi!” Jess skipped across the lawn to reach him while waving a hand. “I hope you didn’t have any difficulty finding this address”

“I didn’t”, Ethan shrugged and moved to open the doors for them. “I dropped Claire off a few times before”

Jess turned to face her slowly, with a teasing smile. “Huh”

Claire dismissed her by waving a hand at her.

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When they arrived at the venue a few minutes later, Ethan was immediately bombarded with greetings and compliments from the attendees. Jess, being the cutesy confident girl that she was, also caught the attention of many.

Claire tugged at the hem of her skirt again, suddenly feeling small and insignificant next to them. She was starting to think that it was probably not a good idea to come after all when Ethan threw an arm around her shoulders.

“Hey, this is Claire”

She looked up and realized that they have reached one of the tables set up in the front yard which was occupied by the boys that she noticed Ethan hangs out with. A number of heaters were set up around the area so despite it being quite a cold night, it was comfortable to stay outside. Hesitantly, she raised a hand to wave at them in greeting and smiled.

“And this is her friend, Jess”, Ethan continued, patting Jess on her shoulder. “Our costumes match somehow, don’t you think? Count Dracula and his maids”

The guys laughed, but it wasn’t insulting. Then, they both greeted the two by taking turns in shaking their hands and giving them friendly smiles. Claire thought that they weren’t as arrogant as how most students at school made them sound like. And by the looks of it, they seem to be unaware that they befriended Ethan because she was his after-school tutor.

“Seems about right”, one of the guys agreed, laughing heartily. “You girls look cute”

After that, they were offered drinks and were even welcomed to sit at their table. Claire didn’t want to admit that she never had any alcoholic drinks before, but she accepted what she was given anyway. At one point, Jess looked at her in concern but she waved it off with an assuring smile.

As expected, her best friend was able to fit in immediately.

“Hey”, Ethan, who was sitting next to her, whispered in her ear. “Stop tugging at your skirt. You look great”

She looked up to meet his eyes and immediately regretted it as their faces were only a few inches apart. She felt warmth creep up her cheeks and she quickly tore her gaze off Ethan’s dimpled smile, fixating it on the cup in her hand instead. If she didn’t know any better, she would’ve thought that it was water.

“Thanks”, she replied. Being true to her words, she let go of the hem of her skirt. “I’m just not used to wearing skirts like this”

“I can tell”, he chuckled.

Claire raised her cup and took a sip. She expected the cold drink to taste bitter-sweet, but it wasn’t near her imagination at all, it was so bitter and strong that it stung her tastebuds. After a huge gulp, she grimaced and frowned at her cup, as if scolding it for the unpleasant surprise.

“What’s in this thing?” she asked Ethan, still glaring at her cup.

“Oh, I think that’s gin and tonic”, he replied, laughing at her expression. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah yeah, I’m okay”

“You really don’t have to force yourself”

Claire didn’t bother replying and downed the rest of the contents of the cup. Then, she slammed the cup on the table. With a feeling of accomplishment, she turned to her right, where Ethan sat, and smiled. “I’m okay. See?”

“Whoa, Claire”, one of the guys, whom she had long forgotten his name, said as he raised both hands in surrender.

She turned to them and gave them a smile. “I just wanted to do that”

The table was then filled with laughter. Another guy with blonde hair sitting next to Jess grabbed the cup and immediately refilled it. When it was placed in front of her, she noticed that the drink was different than before.

She didn’t ask what the drink was. Based on the smell, she knew it was rum. It was the kind that her father always drank and by the end of the night, he would reek of it. She suddenly felt angry at the memory of her father so she grabbed the cup, and similar to what she did just a few minutes ago, she brought it to her lips and drank until it was empty.

The guys whistled. Even Jess looked happy that she looked like she was starting to have fun.

“Okay”, Ethan said, silencing the group. Then, he grabbed her arm, forcing her to stand up. “Let’s go”

Claire slammed the cup on the table once more. “Hey, Greg. Fill this up, okay?”

She wasn’t sure if she got the name right but surely, she remembered that somebody named Greg was sitting with her at the table. However, she immediately dismissed the thought. When Ethan finally managed to make her stand up, she realized that she was already getting a little bit dizzy.

Ethan led her into the house and as soon as they entered, loud pop music blasted in her ears, there were colorful neon streaks of lights dancing to the music, and people were packed in the dance floor, which made Claire even dizzier. She reached out and held the sleeve of Ethan’s shirt, scared that she might either get lost or pass out before she did.

When Ethan felt her tug at his sleeve, he untied his cape with one hand and let it fall into a heap on the floor before wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close. The last time he did so, Claire got flustered and pushed him away, but tonight, she didn’t care— she was just grateful that he was trying to keep her from falling down.

“I’m sorry, just hold on”, he whispered in her ear. He then led her through the crowd, supporting her with a strong arm. “I don’t want to leave you somewhere while I get you a glass of water so you’re coming with me to the kitchen”

Claire didn’t fully understand what Ethan was saying since music was blaring in her ears, but she nodded anyway as if she did, before mumbling a quiet ‘okay’.

When they got to the kitchen, there were fewer people and the music subsided a little since it was quite far from the makeshift dancefloor in the living room. Ethan made her sit on one of the stools by the island before grabbing a glass and filling it up with water.

“Thanks”, she said when he handed her the glass. In a matter of seconds, she was able to drink the whole thing. “I’m dizzy”

“Of course, you idiot”, Ethan told her sternly, but when she looked up at him, he was smiling at her from across the kitchen island with his chin resting on his palm. “You downed all that cocktail like it was water”

Under the influence of alcohol, Ethan’s dimpled smile and piercing green eyes had a really bad effect on her— worse than usual. And she didn’t like it one bit. So, groaning, she turned her head to her right, looking for something else to look at. Then she spotted the ajar kitchen door leading to the garden in the backyard.

From a small glimpse, Claire could tell that it was well-groomed. Wordlessly, she hopped off from her seat and took small steps towards the door.

“I don’t think Luke wants people out there”, Ethan told her. But he made no effort to stop her so she opened the door wider anyway. “Apparently, his mom is very strict about keeping her garden neat”

Claire stepped out of the door and she felt Ethan follow her. The door closed with a click and all of the sudden, the music was no longer heard. The leaves of the plants were turning to different shades of rust and yellow, and string lights were hung everywhere, giving the garden an ethereal glow. There was a gazebo at the center, too, with a small round table and a couple of chairs.

“Yeah”, she mumbled. “It was a good choice to keep this area out of bounds”

“And yet we’re here”, he chuckled.

“I didn’t ask you to follow me”

“I didn’t want to leave you alone”, he replied. “There might be perverted guys around here. You shouldn’t be wandering around by yourself”

Claire felt the cold breeze in her exposed neck and she shivered. She warmed a hand with her breath and cupped her nape.

“You should just let down your hair if it’s that cold”

Before Claire could react, Ethan gently pulled her hair tie with a finger and her hair fell down to her shoulders. It did help to warm up her nape, but since she was blushing, she figured that at this point, her cheeks must’ve been warmer. Ethan then stepped in front of her and started fixing her hair.

“W-What are you—“

“Claire”, he whispered, taking another step closer to her. His hand stopped moving to fix her hair, but it hovered there, slightly caressing her cheek.

She wasn’t sure if it was the effect of alcohol but her stomach started to feel odd. Her heartbeat sped up and its thumping rang in her ears. She wondered if, at this distance, Ethan could hear it. Blood crept up from her neck to her cheeks and the tips of her ears. Despite the cold breeze, she felt warm and fuzzy.

“Ethan?” she mumbled and realized that her throat felt dry. She looked up and met his eyes. His gaze was different— it wasn’t teasing nor amused. She never saw Ethan look at her this way before so she didn’t know what emotions swam through those familiar green orbs.

With one final step, Ethan closed the distance between them. He placed a hand at the small of her back and another behind her head, pressing her against him. Then, he nuzzled his nose in her hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo.

“Is s-something… wrong?” she asked, but she got no reply.

Then suddenly, Ethan leaned down and bit her neck, which caused her to push him away in both shock and irritation. She rubbed the area where he had bitten her. “What was that for?!”

He laughed so hard that his eyes started to tear up, completely ignoring the annoyed glare she was giving him. “I’m Count Dracula. I live off of blood”

She wanted to get mad at him, but she was angrier at herself instead. She thought that they were having a moment and let herself get carried away. She could still feel herself blushing and her pulse showed no signs of slowing down so, without another word, she turned around and left, closing the kitchen door behind her.

“Stupid Ethan”