"I wanna die, just let me die!" Frank groans the next morning. We're camped out in the den, half watching Saturday morning cartoons and half complaining about our hangovers. "Oh God, my brain is trying to crawl out of my skull by my eye sockets."
"Morbid!" LynZ cries and shoves a throw pillow over Frank's face. My head is in her lap and she strokes my hair as a groan moves past my lips. "I know, Gee-baby."
"I'm never drinking again," I vow and Frank agrees, his voice muffled through the pillow.
"God, I don't even remember last night," Frank admits. "Did I hook up with anyone?"
"Gee," LynZ tells him and Frank moves the pillow off of his face a bit to look at me. "I mean, you kissed him for barely a second."
"Seriously?" Frank asks and I nod.
"LynZ practically disowned you," I say and immediately realize that it was the wrong thing to say.
"I thought you said you were cool with it," Frank says, shooting LynZ a death glare.
"I am! What I'm not cool with is you kissing my best friend!" LynZ says, defending herself.
"Wait, cool with what?" I ask.
"Our Frankie here is a flamer!" LynZ exclaims happily.
"A what now?" I ask.
"A flaming homosexual," Frank clarifies and I nod. "Well, I'm a flamer when I'm drunk. I'm usually very low-key."
"I had no idea," I admit.
"That's the point," Frank says.
After a bit of silence, I summon up all of my courage and say "Mikey doesn't want me hanging out with you guys anymore."
"Big whoop," LynZ says flippantly, picking at her fingernails.
"Um, yeah 'big whoop'," I say. "He said that he wouldn't tell Mom that I hit him if I quit hanging out with you guys."
"So, what? You'll get grounded for a bit and then you'll be off the hook!" Frank says.
"Frank, it's not that simple," I say. "I'm still on suicide watch and they'll make me go back to the hospital."
"Oh, shit," LynZ says. "That's bad."
"No kidding," I spit and wince at the splitting headache that runs though my head.
"Okay, he said 'us', referring to LynZ and me, right?" Frank asks and I nod again. "Solution: hang out with Halsey and Andy and Ray instead. They're always around us, so you'll be around us too. Problem solved."
"What if he sees me with you guys?" I ask.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," LynZ says. "I think very well on my feet."
"Okay," I say shakily. "This could work."
"Gee, don't worry," LynZ says, running my hair through her fingers. "As long as you're with us, you'll be golden."

---

*One Week Later*
I wake up to Mikey saying something across the room. "Yeah, I'll be there," he says at a whisper and I peek through my eyelashes at him across the room. He's laying on his bed, his phone cradled between his ear and shoulder. "Do you think I would do that? I'm not an idiot, Vic."
After a bit of silence, Mikey whispers "I just told her to stay away from him. Then, the little bastard punched me." Oh my God, he's talking about LynZ and me. "I did?" I watch as he runs his hand down his face. "I did. I completely forgot about that. Well, that explains some things.
"I'm not retelling that story," Mikey whispers. "Anyway, Gee can wake up any second. I don't want him overhearing that." Overhearing what?! I want to know! I scream in my head but I say nothing. "Yeah, tonight... I already told you I'd be there! God, listen for once!"
I've heard enough. I shift my position, trying to act like I'm waking up and Mikey says "Oh, Gee's waking up. Later." I sit up and run my eyes as Mikey slides his phone onto the bedside table. "'Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he says.
"Who were you talking to?" I mumble, acting like I didn't hear his name.
"Vic," Mikey tells me. At least he's talking to me. "He was making sure I'm coming to his Halloween party tonight."
"Cool," I say and turn on the lamp next to my bed. "I'll probably be hanging out here." Of course that's not what my intention is, but Mikey can't know what I'm really gonna do.
"You're not gonna go trick-or-treating?" Mikey asks, turning on his own lamp. I shake my head.
"Probably not." I say. Another lie. Frank and I agreed that we would for his birthday. "I might. I'm not sure."

---

"Hell yes we are!" Frank cries. I sink farther into the couch and groan.
"Why?" I whine. I'm sorely regretting this decision of agreeing to do this.
"Because I am 18 and therefore I am an adult and I am telling you that we need to go trick-or-treating," Frank argues.
"You're not 18 yet, dipshit," LynZ says, sitting down next to me. "Still got a few more hours."
"You know, LynZ, I don't actually know how old you are," I comment.
"I'm 17. Birthday's May 21," she says. "Coincidentally, that's the day that prom is this year. I haven't gone since freshman year and it was hell."
"I went last year," Frank says. "It was not fun at all. I kept requesting for the D.J to play Black Sabbath and he just looked at me like I was crazy."
"So, we're dressing up tonight?" LynZ asks. Frank nods and I groan again. "Why're you complaining, Gee?"
"We are going to go beg strangers for candy! Am I the only one who sees the problem here?" I cry. "And besides, I don't have a costume."
"Oh, that's fine. We'll get you something," Frank says.
"If we are, we don't have much time," LynZ says, looking at the clock on the wall. It displays the time 7:45.
"Let me go get on my costume, then I'll help you," Frank says and jets upstairs to his room. LynZ watches him race up the stairs and the moment he's gone, she says "Come with me."
She grabs my hand and pulls me up from my place on the couch. She drags me up the stairs and into her room, closing and locking the door behind her. "Frank doesn't know yet," she says and goes over to her closet, opening it as she talks. "But I drew him something for his birthday." She pulls out her backpack and takes her sketchbook out. She opens it to a certain page and shows it to me.
It's a drawing of a dog, small and gray. "This is Sweet Pea. She's at the dog shelter and Frank practically lusts over this poor dog. She's old as shit, though, so the shelter isn't adopting her out," LynZ explains. "It took me a long time. Do you like it?"
"She looks like a koala," I point out and LynZ laughs.
"Yeah. Nobody's sure what breed she is or if she's even a dog. She could be an opossum. Maybe even a rotten eggplant. No one knows." She says, shrugging.
"It's really good," I say. "Why—why did you bring me up to your room?"
"Oh, yeah. I want your help picking of my costume," she says and retreats back into her closet. She comes back a few seconds later with two outfits and I scrutinize them.
The first one is made up of a white button down shirt, a black vest, a black necktie, a short green plaid skirt, and black socks. The second one has a black tank top, a red embellished vest, a red plaid skirt, and skin-colored fishnet tights. "I can't decide. Which one?" She asks.
"Umm..." I say and swallow. "I don't know."
"Gee!" LynZ whines, bouncing a bit. "I need your help!"
"I—I guess the one with the green skirt," I say. "Why didn't you get Frank to help you pick out your outfit?"
She doesn't answer me, opting instead to pull her Guns N' Roses shirt over her head, exposing her galaxy print bra. I start to look away but she says "Gee, you've seen me in my underwear before. Not to mention that it wasn't a pair that left much to the imagination."
I nod and look up, sniffing a bit. She has the white shirt on already, buttoning it up. The sleeves are rolled up over her elbows, and I realize that LynZ looks very good in button-down shirts. She quickly finishing getting dressed, pulling her black boots on over her socks. She pulls her golden-brown hair into two ponytails on her head and says "I wish I could dye my hair black."
"LynZ? Gee? The hell are you guys?" Frank's voice bleeds through the walls. LynZ goes over and unlocks her bedroom door, letting it squeak open. I sit down on the edge of her messy bed and LynZ yells "We're in here!"
Frank enters the room and my eyes widen. "Holy shit..." I mumble and laugh a bit. He has on a black and white pinstripe suit and a white dress shirt, with a black bow-tie that looks like a cat. He has on the skeleton gloves, with a makeup sponge in-between his fingers. Half of his face has white makeup on it, making him look deathly pale. It's slightly hilarious.
"I'm Jack Skellington!" Frank cries, throwing his arms into the air. He looks at LynZ and asks "What-slash-who the hell are you?"
"I'm a... I'm a... I'm not sure," LynZ says. She looks down at her skirt and says "Maybe a schoolgirl?"
Frank exclaims and starts to jumps around his sister's room excitedly. "I've got it! I've figured it out!" He yells and grabs my arm, dragging me out of LynZ's room. He drags me into his room and starts tearing through his closet. He tosses me a pair of black jeans and a black button down, instructing me to put them on. Shrugging, I strip down and put on Frank's clothes. He shoved a leather jacket into my arms and I pull it on.
Frank stops moving for a second and says "Button it up all the way." I do the final button and he crosses the room, mumbling under his breath. He searches his desk for a second and LynZ comes in, smiling slightly. "Do you know what this is about?" I ask and she shakes her head.
Frank comes back over to me, carrying a strip of white card-stock paper. He messes with the collar of my shirt and sticks the paper in, covering the top most button. He steps back to admire his handiwork and says "Alright, costume's sorted."
"What the hell am I supposed to be?" I ask and go to the bathroom in the hallway to look at my outfit. As soon as I catch my reflection, I say "Holy shit, I'm a freaking man of the cloth. What the hell, Frank?"
"You and LynZ could go together as... Something. I don't know," Frank says. I go back into his room and find him taking his pillow out of the red pillowcase.
"Why're you so jumpy?" I ask.
"Gerard, I want— need— Nerds," Frank deadpans. He looks at me and I hold back a laugh at his ridiculous makeup.
"Dude, finish putting on your skull paint," I say and Frank furrows his dark eyebrows. He drops his pillowcase and pushes past LynZ and me to get to the bathroom.
"We could 'go together as something'?" I ask and LynZ shrugs.
"Frank is eccentric when it comes to Halloween and I'm sure that the candy doesn't help," she says. "I don't know why."
Frank comes back into the room and I see that he's finished his makeup. He's added thick black eyeliner and he says "Alright, let's go!"
Shrugging, LynZ grabs my hand and follows after Frank, who's left the room already.
20 minutes later, LynZ and I are debating what our 'joint costume' is. "We could be an immoral relationship," LynZ says. "An underage girl and a priest."
"Isn't that kind of risky?" I ask. "Won't it anger some people?"
"That is the whole point I made you a priest," Frank says, rolling his eyes. "Now be in an immoral relationship with my sister."
LynZ giggles. "C'mon, Gee! It's Halloween! Please?" She begs and pokes her bottom lip out a bit. Damn, she looks cute doing that.
I sigh and wrap my arm around her shoulders, pulling her into my body. LynZ smiles widely and puts her hand on top of mine. Frank looks off to his side like he's in The Office and says "Okay, know this: you didn't bring your pillowcases— you don't get candy."
"That is completely fine with me," LynZ says as we approach the first house. Frank Knicks in the door and LynZ pulls my arm around her waist. My fingers press into her hip and she looks at me, turning her head up a bit.
She leans up on her toes and connects her lips with mine as the door opens. I take no notice of the woman on the other side and I move my hands to her face as she puts her hands to my hair, tugging a bit. I gasp and I feel her smile.
"LynZ. LynZ. Hey, LynZ," Frank says and LynZ pulls away and looks at him. "If you two were capable of keeping your paws off each other, you would've heard me say that we can leave this house."
She smiles and detaches herself from me, keeping my arm around her waist. "Sorry," she says and all three of us walk away from the house.

---

"Okay, Frank," LynZ says, sitting down. She's ditched her whole outfit except for the button down, which hangs a bit below her butt. She's moved her hair into a single knot on top of her head and she says "This took me a few months to make, so..."
She hands Frank a manila envelope and he tears into it quickly. He too has taken off his costume, exchanging it for his red plaid pajama bottoms and a black hoodie. The weirdo has kept his gloves on, though. He pulls out the drawing of Sweet Pea and exclaims "LynZ! Holy shit, it's Sweet Pea-ter!"
"I know!" LynZ cries and hugs Frank tightly. "Oh, happy birthday, Frankie!"
"I didn't get you anything," I admit, looking down at the floor. I've changed back into my own jeans, and I've put my red t-shirt and black sweatshirt back on as well. "Sorry, dude."
"It's completely fine," Frank says and places the drawing next to him. He yawns and looks at the clock next to his bed. I glance at it as well and see that it's nearly midnight.
"Shit! I have to get home!" I cry and stand up. "My curfew's 12:00!"
"I'll drive you home," LynZ says and searches Frank's bedroom floor for a second. She grabs her skirt that was abandoned next to Frank's suit and pulls it on, quickly putting on her socks and boots afterward. She grabs the jacket I wore earlier tonight and snatches Frank's car keys off of his desk.
"If you wreck Pansy, I'll never forgive you!" Frank calls to us as we speed down the stairs. We quickly sneak out of the house and drive to the other side of town.
About halfway home, LynZ speaks. "Umm..." She starts and swallows. "Can I tell you something?"
I shift in my seat and nod, turning my head slightly to look at her. "Alright, here go's." She says and sighs. "I have a boyfriend."

Notes