As agreed with her fashion consultants, Cerise wore a black skirt that she borrowed from Simone. She also borrowed her purple and black hoodie and a pair of black leggings. She found some black ankle socks and wore her Converse over them. Under the hoodie she wore a purple tank top.
“So you’re going as Simone tonight?” asked Julie when Cerise came downstairs.
“Please,” scoffed Simone. “I would never wear Converse.”
Both Julie and Simone were in costume, as they each had parties to attend. They were both dressed as more extreme versions of themselves, with Simone in hardcore goth gear and Julie dressed as a devil.
“Bye, mom!” Cerise screamed as she opened the door and walked outside.
Angela had never mentioned the fact that Cerise had missed curfew the night of Karine’s party and in an attempt to avoid the issue altogether Cerise had said she’d be going to Jay’s house tonight to watch scary movies.
Cerise stood on her driveway and waited for Terry. He’d sent her an email confirming that he was coming at 7 so she made sure to be outside before then. She didn’t want him to have to get out of the car and ring the doorbell. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her family to know she was dating him, but somehow keeping the information secret for now helped her prevent jinxing the budding relationship.
She could hear laughter emanating from the direction of Jay’s house and she walked across the lawn to investigate. The garage door was open and Cerise peered inside.
The boys were building something. A wooden sled was covered in a grey blanket and Vani was duct-taping a cardboard box. There were large, round flaps on each side of the box and the front held two eye holes as well as a tube-like protrusion.
“I take it this is the elephant,” said Cerise.
The boys spun around and Vani grinned, holding the cardboard box up high and then lowering it onto his head. It wasn’t a very good costume, but it was at least recognizable.
“Awesome, right?” Vani’s voice was muffled under the mask.
“Why was this such a big secret?”
“’Cause Jay’s a fag,” said Willy.
Jay punched him in the gut.
“I mean he’s got a small ville,” said Willy, deflecting a second punch.
“So I take it you guys all get inside this um… costume and go around trick or treating in it?”
“You’re a genius!” exclaimed Vani.
“I can’t believe you guys still pass Halloween!” Cerise laughed in awe.
Karl adjusted his glasses. “No one can tell how old we are when we’re in the elephant.”
“Although, people are starting to catch on,” said Willy. “I mean, we do it every year, people know it’s us.”
“People love it! It’s tradition!” said the elephant head.
“It’s just to be funny,” shrugged Jay.
“Oh my god! It sounds like so much fun!” said Cerise.
“Really? You don’t think it’s lame?” asked Willy.
“It’s not lame, it’s awesome!” said Vani, swinging his arms out at Willy.
“Yeah, it is awesome,” agreed Cerise. “I wish you guys had told me earlier. I could’ve joined in!”
“Yeah but you can’t,” said Jay. “’Cause you have to go hang out with Terry Trebi…fucking jerk and drool all over him and shit.”
Cerise glared at Jay and tried to think of a retort, but nothing came to mind.
Terry pulled up to Cerise’s house and peered at it, trying to see if she was looking out of a window or something. Should he honk the car or actually go ring the doorbell? Terry wasn’t a fan of meeting girls’ parents but that was mostly because he always knew he wouldn’t be sticking around long enough for it to be worthwhile. With Cerise he thought he might actually care enough to go to the trouble.
Fortunately he didn’t have to worry about it because Cerise ran out from the neighbour’s garage. She waved at some people and Terry slowly drove forward a bit so he could see inside the garage. It was those nerd guys Cerise always hung out with. Was she actually neighbours with one of them? That could prove to be annoying. But if all went well then Cerise would hopefully stop hanging out with those losers from now on.
Terry stopped the car and watched as Cerise opened the passenger side door and climbed inside. She was wearing a short skirt. Nice. He’d never seen her legs before. Too bad it was cold out and she had to cover them up with leggings. Still cute though. He waited for her to put on her seatbelt and they sped off to Pointe-Claire.
Cerise got carded by the bouncer at the bar and realized that she should have anticipated this turn of events. But even if she’d thought about it, she wouldn’t have known what to do. She didn’t have a laminator or anything. She looked over at Terry and he immediately understood.
“She’s with me,” Terry said to the bouncer.
Terry had greeted the bouncer by name and the man had replied in kind, so obviously Terry was a regular here and it was apparently unimportant that he was under eighteen. But Cerise wasn’t sure if being ‘with him’ would be enough to get her in. The bouncer raised an eyebrow and looked Cerise up and down.
“What year were you born?” he said with a smirk.
“1992,” she replied without missing a beat.
The bouncer nodded and let her in. The bar was in an old building, just like everything else in Pointe-Claire village. The walls were wood paneling and there were aging wooden beams crisscrossing the ceiling. There was a staircase leading up to a mezzanine of sorts and it held foosball tables and the like. There were a few half-assed Halloween decorations lying around, mostly small pumpkins and cobwebs around the bar. The place was crowded and the music was loud so Terry leaned in to Cerise to speak to her.
“You were pretty quick with that date.”
“My sister’s eighteen so I said her birthdate.”
“You could have used her ID,” he suggested.
“We look nothing alike.”
“Oh no? She’s not so pretty?”
Cerise smiled up at Terry and he smiled back, taking her hand and leading her over to a table occupied by his friends. They all had pints of beer in front of them.
“Hey you guys, this is Cerise.” Terry released her hand and touched the small of her back.
Cerise smiled and tried not to look scared shitless.
Terry went on. “This is Karine, Andrew, Steve, Erica and Christina.”
“Hey Cherry bomb,” Andrew smirked.
Cerise smiled tightly while the others stared at her.
“So can I get you a drink?” Terry asked.
“Sure,” she agreed.
“Beer?” he asked.
“Ok.”
“What kind?”
Cerise wracked her brain but was unable to think of even a single brand of beer. “Um, anything’s fine. Whatever you’re having.”
“K, cool. I’ll be right back.”
Terry stroked her back and then walked towards the bar. Cerise looked down at the table while its occupants kept staring at her silently. There was only one empty chair at the table, sitting between Karine and Andrew and it was draped over with a jacket. Everyone at the table had their jackets slung over the backs of their chairs except for Karine, so obviously it was her’s. Cerise looked at Karine and noticed that she was wearing a blouse that Cerise herself owned but in a different colour. What an amazing stroke of luck!
“I like your shirt, Karine,” Cerise smiled. “I have one just like it but in blue.”
Karine looked utterly disgusted and Erica even laughed.
“Yeah well it’s Halloween so I thought I’d dress up as a poseur.”
They all laughed as Cerise’s face fell. How completely humiliating. Why did they all hate her so much anyway? It was totally unfair. She looked over to the bar but couldn’t see Terry. She dug her hands into her jacket pockets and looked around the room, finally settling her gaze on a TV screen showing some sort of sporting event.
“Come on Steve, let’s dance,” Karine grabbed Steven’s hand and pulled him up.
“Good idea,” said Erica, grabbing Andrew.
Christina also got up and they all walked away to dance at the back of the bar. Cerise sat down in the chair that held Karine’s jacket and dumped the offending garment onto the chair Karine had occupied. She slipped out of her own jacket and let it slump down behind her back. Terry came along holding two glasses of beer. He set one down in front of Cerise and took the chair that Andrew had been using.
“How much do I owe you?” said Cerise, taking her beer.
“Don’t worry about it,” Terry smiled. “Where’d everybody go?” He pulled off his jacket and then took a gulp of his beer.
“They went to dance.”
Terry nodded and took another sip of his drink.
“I don’t think they like me very much,” said Cerise as she traced a drip of condensation on her glass.
“They just need to get to know you,” Terry smiled and took another swig.
Cerise looked at her drink and brought it to her lips. She hated the smell of beer and the taste was even worse. She took a small sip and tried not to make a face as she put the glass back down.
“You don’t drink much do you?” Terry smiled in amusement.
“Not really,” she admitted.
Terry smiled warmly and leaned back in his chair. He draped his arm over the back of her chair and she sat back. She looked at him and saw that he was gazing at her in fascination. She could feel her cheeks warming up and knew she must be turning bright red. She took hold of her hoodie and flipped it over her head, then stuck her hands inside the hood, ostensibly smoothing out her hair.
Terry gently pulled the hood off her head. “Don’t hide,” he said with a smile.
Cerise giggled awkwardly, her cheeks still flushed. God, how embarrassing.
“Do you guys realize how late it is? All the good candy will be gone!” said Vani in frustration.
“This isn’t about the candy,” replied Willy.
They all stared at him.
“As if you would do this if it wasn’t for the candy, you bitch-titted freak!” yelled Vani.
“Seriously!” agreed Karl. “You have no dedication, Willy! You haven’t done shit all night! Now let’s frakking get this show on the road while there’s still a few kids out there!”
Vani put the elephant head back on and took the front position. Karl was in back of him, holding the front of the sled. Jay was next and Willy took up the rear. The grey blanket draped down around them and Willy used clothes pins to keep it closed in the back. Vani did the same to close the front, but left a space for his hands to stick out and hold the candy bag.
“Stop touching me!” commanded Jay, as Willy bumped into him.
“There’s no space! What do you want me to do?”
“Keep being useless, like always!” yelled Karl.
“Stop tipping it!” said Jay.
“I’m trying!” whined Willy. “How come Vani always gets to be the head?”
“Because I have super mega dedication, that’s why!”
“No,” said Karl. “It’s because Vani is too short to hold up the sled you wacktard.”
“Hey, I’m still growing. I totally grew like, at least a centimeter this summer.”
“A centimeter?” scoffed Willy. “It doesn’t count unless it’s an inch.”
“Are you frakking serious?” screeched Karl, whirling around and shoving Jay’s head to the side so he could stare at Willy. “Why the fogies in this country are still using the Imperial system to denote height is beyond me but the least we, as a new generation of non-Americans can do is use metric like civilized people!”
“Oh really?” said Willy angrily. “Do you know your height in metric?”
“A hundred eighty-three centimeters!” Karl shot back. “And I know your weight in metric too! One thousand kilograms!”
Willy considered this for a moment while Jay and Vani laughed. Then he shot out an arm and tried to punch Karl in the face. Karl swung to the left and the sled came toppling down, bringing the boys down with it. Vani screeched in annoyance and waved his fists at the others while shouting through the mask.
Terry had finished his beer and started drinking the remains of his friends’ pints while Cerise’s glass was still 90% full. He thought about drinking hers since she obviously didn’t really want it but he left it alone, not wanting to embarrass her. She didn’t look very comfortable and kept fiddling with her hoodie. She rarely made eye-contact with him and kept looking over to the TV, though she never actually watched it for more than a second. Terry suggested they go play pool and Cerise smiled as she nodded in agreement.
Terry explained the game and stood behind Cerise while showing her which balls to shoot for. He held her body and bent her over the table, showing her how to hold the pool cue. It was just like in a movie. Terry had always wanted to be able to show a girl how to play pool but all the girls he usually hung out with already knew.
As Cerise bent over the table, her hoodie and shirt rode up and a thin band of flesh was exposed above her skirt. Terry placed his hand on her hip and allowed his thumb to stroke her skin. Her butt pressed up against his groin as she aimed the pool cue. Shit, she was hot. She hit the ball but missed the pocket and she pouted as she stretched up, looking at Terry in disappointment.
She was so incredibly cute. Terry quickly repositioned the balls and insisted she try again. She happily agreed and he retook his position behind her, placing his hands over hers as she gripped the pool cue. Her hands were so small and cute and her skin was incredibly soft. If only she would take off her hoodie. This time the shot was successful.
“It worked!” Cerise giggled with glee.
She turned around and hugged Terry with her left arm while gripping the pool cue with her right. Holy shit, it felt good to hold her. Maybe too good. Terry could feel himself becoming a little too aroused than was appropriate for a public place. He walked to the other side of the table and then crouched down and surveyed it.
“Ok, how ‘bout now go for...” He pretended to examine the table while he quickly stuffed his hand down his pants and adjusted his erection so it wouldn’t be so visible. Once this task was accomplished he finished his sentence, pointing out which ball she should try to hit next.
He let her make this attempt alone, and she missed but she asked to try again and he kept repositioning the balls until she made it. She laughed in delight and Terry smiled appreciatively. She was seriously the most adorable human female in the history of the Universe.
In the end, Karine hadn’t gone to Steven’s game against Loyola. Terry had picked her up and they’d gone downtown but they’d ended up at a bar instead. She told Steven that she’d had to pick up a coworker’s shift at the last minute. She now asked him how the game had gone.
“We won,” he said.
“Awesome!” she declared, giving him a kiss.
“Yeah, it was good, you should’a been there.”
“Yeah, sorry,” she shrugged and kissed him again. “I’ll go to the next one,” she promised.
Their dancing devolved into somewhat rhythmic grinding while they made out.
The costume was put back in place and Jay was ordered to get the music going. His ipod was in his pocket and it was attached to a small speaker which he’d fastened to his belt with ever trusty duct tape.
“I still don’t see why I have to be in the back,” sulked Willy.
“’Cause Jojo isn’t here anymore,” explained Karl.
Vani complained that the sled was too high and they must look like a mutated elephant so Karl and Jay were ordered to hunch over.
“Don’t stick your ass in my crotch!” complained Willy.
“Trust me, that’s the last thing I wanna do,” said Jay. “Maybe Vani should wear stilts.”
“Shut the frakk up, losers!” said Vani. “Now let’s go! Pump up the volume diggity dog!”
Jay turned up the music and they sung along as they waddled outside.
“Kung-fu do what you do to me, I haven’t been the same since my teenaged lobotomy…”
“Left!” shouted Vani and they all turned down the driveway.
