Stiles knows exactly what that means, but after hearing the way Mac said it, wishes he didn’t.
Party Aftermath:
The Candy Corn Caper
Time:The morning after the BALLS Halloween party
Location:The gym—now silent, fog machine finally dead, glitter scattered like regret.
Music:Blessedly off.
Riggs is the first to notice. He’s showered, shaved, and no longer sporting a costume as he approaches the gym for his morning workout. As he passes the vending machine, he stops dead in his tracks and does a double take.
Empty slot.
Label reads: “C6 – Candy Corn. 75¢”
Gone.
He squints. “No. Nooope. This wasfulllast night. I know because I yelled at it for being seasonal trash.”
He whips out his phone and starts texting the group chat:
“Someone jacked the candy corn. I’m starting an investigation.”
THE SUSPECTS
1. Stiles
– Found asleep in the BALLS locker room. Still in the hot dog costume. Woke up mid-scream.
– “Why would I steal candy corn? I was themeatlast night. I hadresponsibilities.”
– Suspicious because he’s very defensive for someone allegedly asleep through the after party.
2. McCormick
– Passed out on a weight bench, still in the bun costume, with three mustard packets stuck to his face.
– “I passed out after the dance battle. The last thing I remember is Valor licking my mustard.”
– Suspicious because he has literal candy corn stuck to his sock.
3. Nash
–Drinking Gatorade. Looks suspiciously hydrated.
– “I wouldn’t eat candy corn if the world was ending and it was my last carbohydrate. That stuff tastes like candle vomit.”
– Suspicious because his cat, Valor, is found with a tiny plastic baggie ofexactly thirteen piecesof candy corn hidden under the bleachers.
4. Jax
– Still in his pilot helmet. Claims he “slept in the pharaoh’s chariot” (it was just Pharo’s truck).
– “I was doing flight drills. I can’t snack and pilot.”
– Suspicious because he used the vending machinesix timeslast night and kept muttering “for the mission.”
