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“Is it mandatory?”
“I’m planning a theme costume with my date. We’re supposed to wear something spacy.”
Alexi grimaced. “Of course you are.” He turned to Quinn when he added the last bit. “Just drop the costume by my bedroom.”
Mia clapped. “Cool. What about you, Lauren? What are you going as?”
“A bird, unless you want to do a group theme instead?”
“That’d be fun, like a group date,” Quinn said, his eyes on her. “What do you have in mind?”
“Something Texan.” Mia had seen Alexi reading a sci-fi novel more than once. He preferred it to the classics. “This close to Houston…. totally space…the final frontier…Star Trek.”
***
Halloween festivities started in the game room. Mia sat on their couch draped with towels. She held Alexi’s pumpkin on her lap, angled the knife, and carved its lid. “Come lift the top,” she said when he entered the room. She pointed toward the pumpkin’s pale brown stem.
Alexi sat beside her, and she handed him the whole thing. He angled the pumpkin different directions, assessing the spherical goodness. Mia put down the knife and hit play on the remote control. Eerie music emerged from the television’s speakers as innocent polyester-wearing teens came on the TV screen. No doubt there would be a prom or basement scene soon. Their unsuspecting demeanors were the perfect start for the classic Halloween horror movie. “Place the pumpkin’s insides in that bowl with the ones from my pumpkin, Cook will want to roast them for us.”
“I’m sure she will.” Alexi grabbed the stem and wiggled out the lid. Inside, the walls were covered with yellowish strings and large beige seeds. He wrinkled his nose a bit at the pulpy smell. “You want to eat these?”
She nodded. “Salty, sweet, cinnamon, garlic. We’ll do a variety. You’ll love it.”
“We’ll see.”
“You’ll love it.” Mia repeated. Her hand covered his, and he let her plunge it through the top of the pumpkin to the damp, stringy interior. She squished his fingers against the side. “Scoop.” Mia wiped her hand on the towel, lifted her pumpkin, set it on her lap and intently punched a stencil into the outside of the orange shell.
Joellen came in, cleared the coffee table of debris and laid down fresh cutting paper and candles.
This was how to do holidays. Fun, fun, fun, and staff cleaned up the mess. “Thanks.” When her parents returned, they wouldn’t appreciate her new habits. She’d gotten a text from Mom this morning from somewhere off the coast of Australia, the whole other side of the world. Mom had seen all her carved pumpkins before now. This would be the first one she’d missed. The pang of homesickness had surprised her. It had hit her after the second week of them being gone, but she’d become busy with school and had put it aside. Now that the holidays were here, it was stirring up again. Mom and Dad wouldn’t be back in time for Thanksgiving either. They’d be eating some weird chef food instead of Mom food.
She patted her pumpkin. She needed to get a picture of the final product and text it to Mom. Alexi touched the back of her neck. He was so sweet. He was probably way more homesick than her. She scooted closer. “I put your costume in your closet. Meet me in here when you’re dressed.”
“Which Star Trek character are you?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” She grinned. “Your patience will be rewarded.”
“You know mine, Captain Kirk.”
“Yeah, I had to know since you guys weren’t going to voluntarily choose costumes. We didn’t want to end up with four Spocks.”
“Kristnaldo’s going as the movie’s bad guy, Nero.”
“I think he’s confusing him with that crazy historic Roman emperor. He was too Italian-excited about it all. We’ll know tonight when he shows up in either a Star Trek space suit or a Roman toga.”
***
Mia showered, pinned up her hair then put on the curly red wig. Next, she dressed in a bikini and covered her face in green face paint. That done, she used the intercom to call Hope for help with the body paint.
Hope arrived with three shades of green and an artist’s eye. She held them up to Mia’s face, tilted her head, and then selected one. The can rattled when Hope shook it, the green paint releasing with a hiss. Hope started at her toes and sprayed her way up.
When she was done, Mia covered the bikini with shorts, a tank top, and a filmy robe. Transformation into Gaila, the Orion green-skinned slave girl who captured Kirk’s attention, complete.
Hope stepped back, giggling. “I’ll meet you in the foyer with the camera.”
Mia entered the recreation room and scanned it for Captain Kirk. He hadn’t arrived. She adjusted the atmosphere. Lights off. Better. Now the only light came from the candle-lit pumpkins. The jack-o’-lantern faces looked great. One goblin and one alien glowed back at her. She went over to the stereo and turned on haunted Halloween classics. Perfect.
Alexi’s door opened. He walked over to the pumpkins and sat on the couch admiring the work. “These are cool.”
