Page 58 of No Capes
When we re-enter Hallowfest, I beeline for the bathroom to assess the state of my dress. Judging by its muddy train, the ensemble must be appalling. I turn to say something to D.S. to gauge where we’d be leaving things, but he’s already disappeared.
“Mads.” Kristen squeals behind me. “Where have you been? The boys ditched me and I need to talk.” She notes my soaked clothes. “Okay, tell me what happened.”
She pulls me into the bathroom off the side of the ballroom. It’s a single-person bathroom, but it has a hand-dryerandtowels, perhaps for emergencies like this one. There’s no mirror, so I don’t see the pumpkin the rain turned me into, which is probably for the best. Over the loud blast of the air-dryer, I fill her in.
Kristen flushes and giggles, wobbling while we talk. She’s not totally out of it, but she shouldn’t drive. “I’m obsessed with this. Dark Static ishere?”
“He said Phil has a task for him.”
“Of course. It’s not Hallowfest without drama. Speaking of, Fox, Damian, and Aaron all ditched me when we found the punch. What the heck, Madeline? I thought Aaron was here for me.”
“Sorry, Kris,” I say, on multiple levels. “You can always be my date.”
When my dress is as dry as we can get it, we finally re-enter the ballroom. “I need to meet Dark Static,” Kristen says, a little too loudly.
We stay on the perimeter to have some space to ourselves and to avoid the scrutiny of people who would be offended by my outfit. Kristen, off her balance, knocks right into someone. “Oh, sorry.”
We’re met by a guy in a blue mask, holding a half-eaten plate of cake. Fox Levine. He runs his gaze over my damp dress.
“You got caught in that lightning storm, didn’t you?” he asks, like I failed some kind of test.
“You went outside?” Kristen asks, either to pretend like she didn’t know where I was, or because she forgot everything we’d just talked about. “Without me?”
“Yeah, Mads,” Fox says, half mocking Kristen and half mocking me. “What were you doing outside? Without us?”
I resist the urge to stick out my tongue. “I was looking for Arielle. I thought she might be in the garden.”
“Funny,” says Fox. “I thought you hated talking to your sister.”
Panic rises in my lungs as Fox eats his cake.
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen Arielle in a while.” Kristen ogles Fox’s plate. “I want some cake.”
“Bring me some, please,” I say, as she once again leaves me standing with Fox.
Fox lifts an eyebrow. “She’s having fun.”
“Leave her alone, Fox. She just couldn’t tolerate you guys ditching her.”
“Moi?I’m not the one who went outside.” He scrapes a bit of frosting off his plate. “Don’t fret. You didn’t miss anything that exciting. It’s the same tiring thing every year. Overly decorated, too much food, and people who only attend to show off that they scored an invitation. Except, this year, you came.”
“Your point?” I ask.Is Kristen almost back?
“This is the first year someone’s gone outside in a lightning storm and returned to an elegant ballroom wearing a dress that is completely trashed. Guests must think you’re the entertainment.”
I refuse to let him get to me. “Yeah? And what do you think, Fox?”
Fox gestures around the room. “I love when people ask me what I think. Usually, I just have to barge in on conversations and say it, anyway. But when someone gives me the opportunity to shed my bright light on the conversation, it’s the best day ever.”
I start to turn on my heel and walk away, to find Kristen or Dark Static or maybe even Arielle, like I’d claimed.
“I don’t think you were looking for Arielle,” says Fox. I’m set to ignore him for the rest of the night until he adds, “You were with that Super, weren’t you?”
I spin to face him. “What?”
“A few days ago, when you were walking to the pool, I heard you scream. When I drove to the entrance, he was there, and you were gone.”
“Wait.” I stop. “You saw that?”
