Valle Granja Adult Costume Party
 
 Admit One!
 
 October 29
 
 I blinked, then turned it over. On the back there was a bit of information about what the party benefitted, and something scrawled in brightly colored ink.
 
 Hope to see you there. —Sean
 
 I chuckled. Apparently I had made enough of an impression for him to send the ticket to the benefit party. Well, I hadn’t had existing plans, and a costume party could be a good chance to network.
 
 I just had to figure out a costume.
 
 ∞∞∞
 
 “What about this?” Justin asked, holding up what looked like a prom dress.
 
 I blinked in confusion. “I’m looking for a costume, not… formalwear choices for a teenage girl.”
 
 “Come on,” he said. “You’d rock it. Dye and shred it and go as some avant garde art piece.”
 
 “I make art, not perform it.”
 
 “It’s a costume party.”
 
 “Still not my style. But go for it if you want. I’ll help you destroy and alter it.”
 
 He held the dress against his chest. “I dunno if I could pull it off.”
 
 I walked over and pinched it against his sides. “Eh, we could make it work.”
 
 “What would I even be?”
 
 I shrugged. “Does it matter? Just tell people you’re a threat to outdated gender stereotypes.”
 
 Justin started laughing. “God that would piss people off.”
 
 “Do it,” I urged.
 
 “I might.”
 
 “Good. Now help me look.”
 
 Hangars clacked as I moved shirts along the rack, hoping that something would catch my eye.
 
 “I still don’t know why we came to a thrift store to find you a costume,” Justin said from behind me.
 
 “Because what’s the fun in getting something ready-made?” I asked. “Sure I could go as a sexy whatever, or I could have fun with it.”
 
 “If you go as a sexy whatever, you at least might get a special treat at the end of the night,” he teased, emphasizing ‘special treat.’
 
 I shiver ran through me. While I knew in my heart that I had a fated mate out there, it had also been some time since I’d last taken a knot, and a man has needs.
 
 “That silence is more telling than you realize,” Justin jabbed.
 
 “Still not happening.”
 
 “Well you’re no fun,” he huffed. There was a pause during which a few more hangars clacked, then, “God, this is awful. Who would wear this?”