“How about heroes and villains?” Devon offers. “I know it’s been done before, but with the recent onslaught of comic book films being released, at least it’ll be on trend. Which means, there’s bound to be more to choose from costume wise.”
“I’m happy with that,” I agree. “In fact, I’m sure I saw some costumes in the mall the other day, which we can pick up for us. Assuming you’re all happy for us to choose for you?”
“Yes please. You’d be saving us a whole heap of time,” Jude says. “Especially since we’ve got a couple of games coming up, so it’ll be cutting it tight for us to try and get something.”
“No problem. Leave it with us.”
“No screwing us over though, Thea. And especially you, Mills,” Nolan warns us. Millie gives him a wink in response.
“You can trust us, honey,” she tells him, and we grab our purses and leave the house.
It turns out the costume shop has a ton of costumes for our theme and so we’re a little spoiled for choice on what to get. It’s proof that it pays to be organized and I’m thankful we’re not scrambling for last minute costumes and having to settle for whatever dregs are left. Millie settles for an all-in-one black catsuit together with cat ears and tail on the basis she’s going as Catwoman. I opt for a cute Wonder Woman outfit which comes with truth rope and cuffs. As for the boys, the choice was fairly easy. We picked a Joker outfit for Jude, Captain America for Devon, and Thor for Nolan. Millie had great pleasure in picking Nolan’s out for him, saying the long-haired wig and knee-high boots will suit him. I’m not entirely sure he’d agree, but knowing Nolan, he’ll take the challenge and rock the heck out of it.
“Sooo, without wanting to talk about the elephant—or elephants—in the room, but are we getting costumes for the broody one and the boyfriend?” Millie asks.
I raise my eyebrows at her before responding. “Kyler, your guess is as good as mine. Adam, no. Apparently, he has to work all weekend so can’t drive up.”
The truth is, I’ve not seen Adam since the housewarming party. Sure, we’ve spoken on the phone and FaceTimed, but it’s not the same as seeing him face to face. It’s not as if I can drive to see him, seeing as I don’t have my own car. I feel funny about asking one of the boys if I can borrow theirs, especially as they are so busy all the time and need to transport their huge amount of hockey gear everywhere. Besides, it’s not as if I haven’t asked Adam to come and visit. I have, many times. But each time, I always get an “I’m not sure” or an “I’ve got to finish a project this weekend” and I’m left with a non-committal maybe and a last-minute cancellation. I’m not sure when things started to change between us, but it’s obvious they have. We’re not the same Thea and Adam we were in Silver Lake and the thought saddens me.
“Uh-oh, is there trouble in paradise?” Millie continues.
“He’s just busy. His dad made him head of his own team and they’re working on this huge project. There’s some kind of town council meeting taking place in a few weeks and Adam has to prepare the whole thing. Hopefully when it’s done, he’ll have more time. Besides, I’m going home at Thanksgiving, so I’ll be able to spend some time with him then.”
“And Mr. Broody? What about him?”
“Whatabouthim?” I say and as soon as I’ve said it, I realize it comes out a bit snappy.
Millie doesn’t take the bait and continues. “Do we need to get a costume for him, too?”
“I doubt it. He probably doesn’t even realize we’re having a party, since he’s never at home. I don’t know, Mills, my time thinking about Kyler Rose is over. He can do his own thing, which is fine by me.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“What? Yes, of course I am. I’m fine with it,” I quickly tell her.
“Sure, okay. You keep telling yourself thatRoss,” she says, referring to the episode ofFriendswe watched the other nightwhere Ross insists he’s fine with Rachel and Joey dating when he clearly isn’t. “In the meantime, I’ll just be here, waiting to hear what you truly want to say about Kyler Rose.”
“There’s honestly nothing to say. He’s never at home, I don’t see him much on campus. He’s a ghost who ghosts people. So, fine. One less mouth to feed and worry about.”
Except it’s not, because I still make enough food for him and plate up a portion every night, even though the majority of the time the plate goes untouched, and the food goes to waste.
I don’t say anything further for fear of saying too much and giving Millie the wrong idea. We wait for the shop assistant to bag all our costumes and hand them over to us after we’ve paid. Once finished, we buy a few decorations for the house, and some plastic bowls for the candy we’ll have for trick or treaters. The guys are in charge of buying those, and no doubt they’ll have gone to town in Walmart buying the special Halloween bags they always have on sale.
We decide to have some lunch at the mall before going back to the house to start decorating. Sitting down in the restaurant area, Millie opts for a burger and fries, and I have a wrap and a salad. I’m just about to take a sip of my soda when Millie gasps and drops a handful of fries back onto her plate.
“Holy shit-on-a-stick!” she exclaims.
“What?” I say, looking around, wondering what on earth she’s seen.
“Don’t look now, but Kyler is over there and he’s not alone.”
I discreetly look over my shoulder to where Millie is indicating. She’s right, Kyler is standing outside a toy store, near to where we are sitting, and he’s definitely not by himself. Sitting on his shoulders is a little girl, maybe about three or four-years-old in age, wearing jeans, a cute little T-shirt, and blue sneakers. But this isn’t what shocks me the most. What shocks me is the fact this little girl, laughing away without a care in the world, is the spitting image of the man whose shoulders she is sitting on. Right down to the color of her long dark hair, which is haphazardly tied up on each side of her head. Kyler reaches up and gently tickles her sides and the little girl bursts into uncontrollable laughter and it’s the most adorable thing I’ve seen. He’s like a completely different person. He looks so relaxed andhappy. It’s clear she’s the light of his life the way he’s acting around her.
Kyler picks her up off his shoulders and places her on the ground, crouching down next to her with his arm around her. I watch, mesmerized, as she points to something in the window—a little pink and light-blue Spiderman costume with accompanying mask. It’s obviously something the manufacturers have introduced to appeal to their young female fans. Kyler asks her something and she nods enthusiastically. He stands up and takes her hand before letting her lead him into the shop. Looks like this little girl is going to have the best costume this Halloween.
“Wow,” Millie says, interrupting my train of thought. “She looks exactly like him.”
“Yeah, she does,” I murmur, not taking my eyes off the store they went into.