Chapter 17: A Stupid Mistake

"What do you mean you have nothing sexy?" Hannah asked me, pushing my clothes aside in my closet and digging for something she would never find. "I don't have a costume that you will approve of. All of my stuff is older and… innocent for lack of a better term," I said, shrugging. I would not spend any money on something I would wear once a year and feel guilty about wasting money on. "I mean, one costume can't hurt," Hannah pushed. She didn't mean to, but she forgot not everyone had money or a job. "I just can't afford it this year. I'll wear what I wore the other day. All black and cat ears. It's simple," I said, plopping on my bed. "This Halloween party is so much more than a typical party. It's the one time a year girls can show off what they have without being called a slut. Don't you want Chase to get a sneak peek?" She raised her eyebrow while simultaneously catching my interest. "Still not worth the money, but nice try," I said, and she moaned. "Well, lucky for you I brought three different costumes to choose from. Whichever one I don't go with, you can pick between the other two." She grabbed some material from her duffle. She laid each option out on my bed. "Okay, what do you have?" I asked intrigued. I couldn't imagine why she thought to bring three different costumes. "I have a short Snow White outfit, superhot if you ask me; a sexy butterfly; and then a sexy grim reaper." She grinned, feeling the fabric of each one. "You look crazy right now," I said as I watched her fawn over the outfits. If you put the word sexy in front of anything, these high school girls would buy it, excluding me. "I think I'll go with Snow White," she said. She picked it up and spun around with it. "You're nuts, Hannah." I laughed at her. She did fit the princess mold. "Okay, what about you? Butterfly or grim reaper?" she asked. "Those are so random, I guess… grim reaper. I've never even heard of that possibility," I said. It also just didn't fit, but at least I could laugh at it. Mom knocked on the door. "Hey, girls, what have we decided? Hold them up!" We both held up our outfits. Hannah was grinning ear to ear, and I looked super uncomfortable. "Oh wow. Aria, you will be wearing leggings under that, right?" she asked, looking at the short black robe that hit just above the knee. There was no point in arguing, especially since I truly didn't think this was a smart choice. "Definitely, Mom, it's going to be cold, and this is too short for me," I said. She smiled. "I'll bring you two up some apple cider. How does that sound?" she asked and disappeared, not waiting for an answer. "Thanks, Ms. G!" Hannah shouted and mouthed at me, "You're not wearing leggings." I nodded. I knew she wouldn't let me, but it was needed just to get out of the house. I shimmied into the outfit. It was extremely tight in the chest area, showing cleavage I didn't know I had. The bottom of the robe was flirty but also short. If I moved the wrong way, it was very visual. "Okay, it is almost eight. You ready to go?" she asked. I finished putting on my leggings just to leave the house. "Yeah, let's go." I took a quick peek at my makeup in the mirror. I had heavy black eye shadow, eyeliner, and the works. I looked like a grim reaper, that was for sure, but the revealing clothing helped it level out the creep factor. Mom didn't even see us leave. She left a post-it note on the door since she was on a call with grandma. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at Chase's house. The party was wild. Everyone was dancing in their costumes, punch was getting sloshed all over the place, and it stunk of booze in some places. Emma was home with a few friends who were loving hanging out with the upperclassmen. I waved at her. "So where is your loverboy?" Hannah asked, pouring herself a drink. She already had received a few compliments on her outfit. "I have no idea. Probably with his friends goofing off." I shrugged and took a sip of punch mixed with something else. I winced. It was terrible. Why did these people like this stuff? "Ariaaaaa!" A male voice drew out my name as long as possible. I turned to see Chase and his friends. They were all laughing. "Oh, hey." He leaned into me, and I could smell the alcohol radiating off his breath. "Wow, you've been drinking a lot, huh?" I asked. He was laughing, and his eyes were half-open. "You look hot as hell, girl!" he shouted, picking me up and spinning me in the air. "Uh, thanks," I said as he set me down. Hannah was looking him up and down in disgust. He was even too drunk for her. "I love how short this robe is on you. What are you? The death bringer? Uh, what is it called?" he asked himself. Luke piped up. "The grim reaper! Very sick," he said, that being the first compliment ever received from him. "Thanks, it was her idea." I pointed at Hannah, who got a high five from Luke. "You are delicious." He leaned in and grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the crowd. He started kissing my neck and running his hand up my leg. I pushed his hand down. "You are trashed, Chase. I'm not making out with you in front of everyone," I said, and he looked disappointed. "I'm not that drunk," he said, pouting. "Oh, I think you are. You're never this touchy-feely in front of people, and I like that. I don't want everyone to know our business and make assumptions," I explained, knowing a sober Chase would be more than agreeable to this. He pushed himself off the wall and away from me. "Whatever, I'll show you I'm not drunk," he mumbled. That couldn't be good. I headed back outside to Hannah. "How bad is he?" she asked. "Pretty bad, but he'll sort himself out, I'm sure," I said, not trying to care too much. "Coocoo!" A scream came from the roof. Everyone at the party looked up. "Holy sh*t," Luke said. "Oh my god, you can't be serious," I said, looking at Hannah with my mouth wide open. It felt like I swallowed a bug. I chugged the rest of my drink. "Chase! Get down from there. Mom and Dad are going to kill you!" Emma shouted. He waved his arms. For a second, it looked like he was going to tumble off the roof. "Jump, jump, jump!" Luke started a chant that circulated the crowd. Chase was positioned so that if he jumped right, he would make it in the deep end of the pool, but he was also drunk. I didn't think these odds were good. "No! Do not jump!" I yelled, but he couldn't hear me over the encouragement he was receiving from everyone else. "Yeah!" he yelled and jumped off the roof. Everything went silent until there was a loud splash, and he resurfaced. Everyone cheered, except for me, Hannah, and Emma. "What an idiot," I said to myself. "I recorded it." Hannah started to laugh. "What a moron," she said. I was glad someone agreed with me. He could have gotten hurt. Why should this surprise me? He was impulsive. He had a few good days and then did something completely reckless and stupid. I set my cup on the table next to me. I grabbed Hannah's arm. "Take me home," I said. She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good too. Let's roll," she said. If I wasn't so mad at Chase, I would have been shocked she agreed so quickly to leave. We watched Chase get out of the pool, soaking wet in his clothes. He wasn't wearing a costume. That was not his thing. Everyone around him was giving him high fives. In minutes, the video of him was all over social media. Some random girl ran up to him and kissed him. He grabbed her waist, kissed her back, and let her go. He continued to give more high fives. "Okay, screw him. I'm out," I said. Hannah scowled at him, and we headed out. "Aria, he's an idiot. Let him sober up," Emma said and hugged me. "He is an idiot, and I hope he remembers all of tonight in the morning. Be careful," I said and hugged her back. Once Hannah and I got in the car, I burst into tears. He was such an idiot, and so was I for thinking I could do this. The anger radiated through me, and I wanted to punch something.