Page 190 of Let the Game Begin
I wore a golden Venetian mask made of lace over my eyes. It was mysterious and seductive and left the bottom half of my face clearly visible. Alyssa herself had applied my cherry-red lipstick, highlighting the shape of my mouth.
My hair fell in a long auburn sheet down my back; it had taken Alyssa more than two hours with a straightener to do it. My hair had gotten so long—I’d need to cut it sooner rather than later. I wore a stiff corset with straps. It was a tight fit, designed to shape the body into a womanly silhouette. It was black with gold embroidery, and it was embellished with little gems in the same colors. The skirt, which was rather short, was made of black satin and also featured sumptuous lace and gold embroidery, perfectly matching the top half of the costume.
I also wore a pair of high heels designed to streamline my figure and expose my legs, which were covered only by a pair of sheer black tights.
“But I’m not a witch or a monster or anything Halloween-y,” I pointed out, examining my reflection in the mirror.
Alyssa came over to me, resting her hands on my shoulders and giving me the kind of sly smile that told me this costume had been selected precisely to avoid looking like any of those Halloween creatures.
“You’re gorgeous, and you know yourloveris also going to be at this party. It’ll be good for him to see what he’s missing out on while he’s being a dick and ignoring you,” she answered, pulling on her black coat to protect against the cold
Since she already knew all about me and Neil, I’d told her about that night in the pool and about the complete indifference Neil had shown me afterward. I had omitted a few details, though, like him drawing the shell and pearl on my hip.
It had been such a strange feeling, knowing that he was engaging with me without any physical or emotional barriers. It was made all the more unique because I knew that he didn’t feel those same things with the blonds in the pool house.
After hours hidden away in my room, we finished getting ready andwent downstairs where we found Logan on the sofa waiting for us. He had been watching something on TV but his eyes immediately snapped to his girlfriend, roving over her with desire, and perhaps a little hint of jealousy.
“I’m begging you: steer clear of horny assholes.” He pulled a worried face, and Alyssa bent down to press a chaste, reassuring kiss on his lips. Then, Logan looked at me and his eyebrows flew up in surprise.
“Wow, Selene, you’re…” he hesitated. “I mean…you don’t even look like yourself,” he finished, sounding astonished. I went red and managed a shy “thanks,” which earned me a satisfied look from Alyssa, the architect of everything.
“We’re heading out, don’t wait up.” Alyssa went to the front door, and I followed her with my coat thrown over one arm. We were taking her car to the spooky house party. We met our friends outside the enormous gate in front of the stately residence, which from the outside looked like one of those abandoned estates where someone would go ghost hunting in a movie. A row of illuminated pumpkins along the walkway leading to the door completed the scene.
I wasn’t exactly calm. I had a strange feeling inside, something that kept me from relaxing the way I would have liked—something that kept me on my toes. Though I had no idea why I should be. It was just a Halloween house party, nothing to fear, even if the house itself was a little macabre and eerie-feeling.
I looked out over the sea of people around me. The party had been highly anticipated in the last week, and there had been a lot of publicity surrounding it. That was how it always worked: the rich basketball star rented a mansion big enough to hold an enormous crowd and then invited his buddies, who invited their buddies, who invited other buddies, and so on and so forth. It kept spreading through DMs, posts on Instagram, and group chats until it was the most talked-about event on campus.
“What’s your costume, Selene? You shine like a star, doll.” Cory turned his attention to me as we walked into the party, focusing particularly on my exposed legs beneath my excessively short skirt. I felt uncomfortable, and I could already feel the looks from everyone in their masks.
“I don’t actually know, either.” I shrugged and cracked a small smile,examining my friends’ costumes instead. Julie had come as a vampire, wearing an ankle-length dress in black and red. Jake was a pirate, exposing some of the tattoos on his arms, while Adam was wearing a sophisticated velvet cloak and a whiteV for Vendettamask. Cory, on the other hand…well, Cory was…
“Are you a magnet?” I cocked my head to get a better look at his outfit: a black pair of pants and a shirt with an enormous red and silver horseshoe-shaped…thing around his neck. Yeah, it had to be a magnet.
“You got it. Though tonight I’m hoping to be more of a pussy magnet.” Only the guys laughed at his joke, while Alyssa, Julie, and I exchanged looks. It seemed our male friends had only one thing on their minds tonight: sex, sex, and more sex.
“Oh God, don’t start with that. Let’s go!” Julie grumbled, leading us toward the entrance. I walked down the paved pathway, trying not to trip while Alyssa held on to me because her heels were even more dizzyingly high than my own.
Once we got inside the luxurious manor, we found it all decked out for Halloween. I was a little bit in awe. The walls were illuminated by the suggestive play of light, turning them a fiery red. It gave life to the frescos on the high ceiling. They were so high that I had to bend my neck back to admire them. In the background, the DJ’s mixer hummed softly.
We were greeted at the door by a girl in what appeared to be a sexy bunny costume and she took our coats and personal items.
“Damn, there’s so many people here.” Cory strolled delightedly into the crowd while Julie took Adam’s hand and Jake glanced around, evaluating his prospects for the evening.
Alyssa took me by the hand and led me along with her to check out the cavernous main room where a tall staircase led to the upper floors.
“Wow, this place is incredible,” she whispered into my ear over the music that echoed off the imposing walls. We stopped at a table laden with food and took note of the meticulous attention that had been paid to every last detail. Everything was appropriately monstrous: Halloween-themed deviled eggs, little toasts cut into the shape of tombstones, breadstick witch’s brooms, tartlets shaped like skulls, puff-pastry mummies, fried pumpkinpieces. There were even a number of fake spiders and other bugs hidden among the desserts and frozen in the ices cubes for drinks.
Over in the bar area, cocktail glasses were filled with liquids that varied in color from fiery red to blue and black. It made the idea of drinking them considerably less appealing.
“Blech,” I said in answer to Alyssa’s suggestion that I try one. She pinched a glass between her fingers and threw it back all in one gulp, leaving just an ice cube at the bottom with a…cockroach encased in it.
“Yum.” She licked her lips and I shook my head, amused. She was definitely braver than I was. Shortly thereafter, Adam, Julie, and the rest of the group joined us, and everyone managed to drink the stuff, except for me who was imagining those fake spiders crawling along my bare arms.
“Welcome to the big Halloween bash!” The DJ, situated on a mezzanine festooned with cobwebs and stick-on bloody footprints, called out, drawing our attention. He was dressed as a skeleton, holding the microphone in one hand while he used the other to rapidly adjust the mixer. Guests started approaching him, whooping and complimenting his choice of music, which was doing a lot to create an all-around creepy atmosphere that was genuinely unsettling. After a few more ominous notes floated out into the large space, everyone began to dance—it was a creepy mix of monsters, ghosts, assorted scary creatures, animals from some shadowy forest, alarmingly realistic vinyl masks, and costumes straight out of the worst horror movies of the last century.
“Come on! Let’s get dancing!” Cory leaped into the fray, followed by Jake and Adam, who wasn’t willing to leave Julie alone for even a second. Suddenly, Alyssa started elbowing me hard in the side until I spotted a small group dressed as ghouls in blood-soaked hospital gowns. They looked like they’d come out of some haunted insane asylum. Looking at them, I realized just how out of place my costume was for this kind of party, and I shuffled awkwardly.
“Stop freaking out. You look great, and he’s going to notice that any time now.” Alyssa’s voice made me cast out a glance for the “him” in question. I spotted him right away, clear among the crush of indistinct bodies.
