Page 88 of Without Bound
The rest of the crew slowly filter, all wearing costumes. Cami is the Wilson to Vaughan’s Chuck with herbelly exposed through a t-shirt and painted white with the infamous red hand face, and a pair of red high heeled booties.
Vivian walks in with a full on peach costume. She wears a round apparatus covered in peach covered felt. A head band fashioned with a giant green felt leaf sits on her head, and she has red heels on her feet. Nix is right behind her dressed as a box of Fruity Pebble cereal. The time these two put into creating their giant boxes is really something.
CeCe appears dressed as black cat –a very pregnant black cat– and she wears a diamond collar around her neck, and I’m pretty sure it’s real. The only thing not black on her are the red heels on her feet.
I’m starting to see a theme amongst the gals and make a note to ask them about it later.
Luca, as usual, is right next to CeCe. He holds her hand and isn’t quite as dressed up as the rest of us. And by not quite as dressed up I mean not at all. He wears a pair of what are no doubt ridiculously expensive jeans, what looks like a green cashmere sweater and brown loafers. It’s no different from what he wears when we are all just hanging out on any given night. It’s his casual look.
I sometimes wonder if he owns a pair of sneakers or sweatpants.
Cami’s brother and sister-in-law show up, having left their daughter with her parents, and a few of the workers from the ranch. There’s only one person who is missing. And as if my thoughts summoned her, my butterfly appears. And she is quite literally a butterfly.
She floats down the stairs in a lavender dress that looks like layer upon layer of sheer gauze. The dress is short and is held up by two tiny straps that look like they could barely hold air, much less all of that material.
Her feet are adorned in shoes that look to be made of rhinestones and they wrap and tie all the way up her legs. Half of her hair is pulled away from her face and is decorated in small flowers. The most mesmerizing part of her costume are the elaborate and enormous butterfly wings.
They’re iridescent, so every time she moves, the colors shift and change, from light purple to a beautiful turquoise. Intricate detail is painted in black and I don’t know how in the hell those things are attached to her.
She watches me with a twinkle in her eyes and I literally want to drop to my knees and worship every step she takes. The girls all rush up to her and begin talking about all of the details. I don’t give a shit about her eyeshadow or what earrings she’s going to wear. All I want to know is when can we get the fuck out of here because I need her in my arms immediately.
She makes her way to everyone, saying hello and talking about their costume until she gets to me. I gulp down my anxiousness and try to build some moisture in my suddenly parched mouth.
“You look…spectacular, Anais,” I gush then lean in quickly to whisper, “You are a real life dream, and I wish I could tell everyone you’re mine.”
I straighten my spine and fix my face. We have yet to tell Viv and Nix about us because, well, I guess it just hasn’t been the right time. There’s always studying to do, schedules to be made, classes to attend, meetings to head. There just hasn’t been a right time.
“Thank you. And you’re a…” Her big brown eyes wander up and down my body, taking in every detail. “A bunch of ghosts?”
Everyone else laughs at her guess, then Vaughan says, “He’s Kleenex. Bish, tell her your punchline.” I shake my head frantically, my eyes practically popping out of their sockets. “C’mon man. Tell her.”
The rest of them chime in, encouraging me with their words and taunts.
With a sigh, I hang my head and my shoulders sag. “I’m Kleenex…blow me,” I mumble.
The room falls silent for a moment, then a burst of laughter breaks free. Anais snorts and swipes at her eyes as tears of hilarity fall. She’s bent over, her arm cradling her side, and she can hardly catch her breath.
“Okay. We getit. Bad costume,” I mutter and cross my arms over my chest.
Anais stands up and takes deep breaths in and out.
“I-I’m sorry. That is just really…good,” she cracks. “Do you mind if I borrow one of these?”
She reaches out and plucks a tissue from my shirt and begins patting her face dry.
“You’d be great to have at a wedding or funeral or maybe even walk around during cold season,” she adds and I can’t help but smile.
“You little brat,” I tease then dig my fingers into the side that I know is her weakness.
We laugh and wiggle around, forgetting that there are people around us, and play like we’ve done so many times. The clearing of a throat stops us in our tracks and we hastily separate, scrambling as far away as we can get.
We look up to find the faces of our friends closely watching us, most with gaping mouths and only one with a scathing look. Surprisingly it’s not Nix. CeCe, still the lone disapproving friend, stands with her jaw clenched. I just don’t understand what her problem is, and it really pisses me off. Not to mention stabs at my heart.
“Well, um, I better get going. I need to get back to campus.” Anais smooths out her dress and straightens her wings.
Speaking of said heart, it falls with disappointment. I knew she’d be going out with her friends tonight and I really encouraged it. She’s young and should spend a night like this out with friends her age and not a bunch of people who want to be in bed by eleven. But now that the time has come, I’m really regretting my insistence that she go.
She takes the bag that is sitting near her feet –that I didn’t even notice because I was so transfixed by her– and tries to slug it over her shoulder.
