I do a double-take. Oliver’s Wren?
“In the monstrous flesh,” Wren says with a wink.
“Wren, this is Celeste, Jude, and Nikki,” monster-Oliver says in his normal voice, which sounds absolutely ridiculous coming from his current disguise. “Everyone, this is Wren.”
“I’ve heard so much about all of you,” Wren says in a lower, more natural voice that I can only assume is their own. “I love that we’re meeting for the first time like this. It’ll be so funny to see what you all look like in real life.”
“Agreed,” I say with a nervous laugh. It’s impossible even to discern Wren under all the makeup, but Oliver said they werestaying until tomorrow afternoon, so hopefully we’ll have time to interact out of costume.
“And look at you two!” Oliver remarks, eyeing Nikki and me up and down. “Are you a specific Barbie from the movie?”
Nikki shakes her head and holds out her arms to show off her vast array of tattoos. “I’m Tattoo Barbie, which doesn’t exist, but it should, right?”
“Definitely!” Oliver replies with a grin. “Looks badass. And Jude, your Ken is superb.”
I flash a suave smile and strike a pose from the film, prompting the tassels from my fringed leather vest to swing gloriously. “Thank you, thank you.”
Soon, Celeste and Wren start discussing Celeste’s costume and makeup, and I keep nursing my drink. I’ve already grown accustomed to the taste of the rum, but I’m not sure whether that’s a good or a bad sign.
“What’s that?” Oliver asks me, pointing to my plastic cup.
“Rum and Coke,” I reply, going to take another small sip. “It’s not too bad.”
“Can I try some?”
I hesitate. “Are you sure it won’t mess up all of that?” I ask, gesturing widely to his face.
Oliver chuckles. “That’s what straws are for.”
I pass my cup to him, watching with amusement as he maneuvers the straw past his revolting facial hair. He promptly recoils and sputters, shaking his head as he hands it back to me. “Oh, god, that’s really heavy on the rum, dude.Blech!”
“That’s how the drink is made, Mustache,” Nikki interjects. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it when you grow up.”
Oliver’s expression is unreadable under all the prosthetics and makeup, but I can sense his discomfort. I shoot Nikki a look and shake my head, hoping to signal that she should cool it. She downs a huge gulp of her drink without another word.
“Hey, there’s Caleb and Theo!” Wren exclaims, pointing past us into the living room.
I follow where they’re pointing and nearly swoon. Theo and Caleb are both in British boys’ school uniforms, and Caleb’s usually curly copper locks are straightened and parted to the side. To any queer with Netflix access, their costumes are instantly recognizable. “Oh, my God.Heartstopper!? I’m going to scream!”
Nikki and Celeste gush over them, too, and the boys can’t stop smiling and thanking us.
“It was really a no-brainer,” Caleb replies. “I’m honestly shocked we haven’t done it already.”
“Well, we haven’t really done much for Halloween the past couple of years,” Theo explains. “The only couple costume we did before this was Ed and Stede fromOur Flag Means Deathlast year.”
A loud gasp escapes my lungs, and all eyes turn to me. “I’m—I’m sorry, I just adore that show, and I meet so few other people in real life that do! I need to see pictures right this second.”
Theo grins excitedly. “Hell yeah! We love it too! I’ll pull them up right now.”
As Theo scrolls through his phone, Nikki places a hand on my waist. “I need a refill. Do you want anything?”
I shake my head. “Nope, I’m sipping slowly like you told me.”
“Good gi—I mean, good…Jude.” She makes a face, shakes her head, then walks away without another word.
Before I have time to process whatever that was, Oliver reappears by my side, orange cup in hand. “So, you’re familiar withOur Flag?”
“Extremely,” I answer emphatically. “You haven’t seen my bedroom, but I have several framed pieces of fan art on my wall. Jim was everything to me. They still are, really.”
