Chapter 49

Grace and I walked around the Halloween store trying to figure out Halloween costumes. The guys were leaving it up to us to come up with them. We were throwing out ideas as we passed costumes. Suddenly we both saw the same costume and started to laugh. I made a phone call to Max to find out if he had a costume yet. When he said he didn’t we told him he didn’t have to worry about buying one.

We got what we could at the Halloween store and then made our way around town picking up the rest of the supplies necessary. Thus started the debate about who was going to be what. We sat at her apartment with the costumes set in a line on the floor discussing who would be best as what.

After a little deliberation we were giggling with excitement when we had it figured out. The guys were probably going to hate us, but they were going to have to deal with it. I grabbed the costumes for Max, Sidney, and I and headed out with Grace keeping Jordan’s.

I had to get home to keep watch over Tamara while she interviewed Sidney. When I glanced at the clock I realized that I had just enough time to swing by Max’s and drop off his costume. I pulled up and carried it to his door. He opened the door with a smile and a curious expression when he saw me.

“So what do you have planned for me?” he asked as I stepped in through the doorway. I pulled his costume out of the bag and held it up. He began to laugh when he saw what I was holding.

“You like?” I asked, laughing along with him. He merely laughed in response.

“Please tell me Crosby’s going to look like an asshole,” he begged.

“Is there any way he can’t?” I returned. He laughed again and I left him with his costume and headed home.

I pulled into the driveway and into the garage. I grabbed our stuff out of the trunk of the car and carried the bags inside. Once I was in the house I heard voices and knew that Tamara was already there. I carried the bags to the living room where they were sitting. I was happy to see that Sidney was sitting in the chair away from where Tamara was seated on the couch. He looked up and smiled when he saw me.

“Hey, Tanner,” he said. Tamara glanced over and scowled at me.

“Hey guys. Sorry to interrupt,” I apologized.

“Are those Halloween costumes?” Sidney asked. I nodded and pulled them out of the bags. He groaned when he saw what they were. “Are you serious with those?”

“You should see Max,” I joked. He laughed in understanding. “Okay, I’ll let you two get back to it.”

I carried the bags upstairs and put the costumes in the closet. Then I headed back downstairs and into the office which was right next to the living room. I left the door open so I could hear the conversation going on between them. I shook my head and rolled my eyes too many times to count. Tamara kept getting off topic and asking Sidney personal questions.

I pretended to be working on a paper when I heard them finish. I glanced out through the door as they walked past to the front door. Tamara thanked Sidney for letting her use him for her paper and he was polite enough to thank her back. I got up from my seat to walk out when I heard the front door open. Just as I made it into the hallway I watched Tamara throw her arms around Sidney in a hug.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise. She was certainly in no hurry to let go of him. I felt anger bubble up in me as she very slowly pulled away from him while he struggled to untangle himself from her arms. She didn’t notice me standing there and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek. I was about to say something when Sidney jerked his head back and took a step away from her. She gave him one last smile before walking out.

“What the fuck was that?” I hissed out when the door was closed behind her.

“I didn’t do anything,” Sidney started. I let out a growl of anger.

“I know, I saw the whole thing. Who the hell does she think she is?!” Sidney sighed.

“Just let it go, Tanner, please,” he begged. I glared at him. Let it go? Really? Would he just let it go if some guy was hardcore hitting on me?

“No, Sidney, this is getting ridiculous. It’s gone from ignoring me, to dressing like a whore, to hugging and kissing you. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now,” I argued.

“What do you want me to do? It’s not like I’m hanging out with her. I did an interview with her for a school project,” he said. I shook my head.

“No, you didn’t. I could hear it all. She asked you more questions about yourself and your likes and dislikes than about any injury you’ve had.”

“Because I could see that coming,” he spat sarcastically. I saw this conversation heading downhill quickly and took a deep breath to try and calm myself.

“I know, I’m sorry. She’s just driving me crazy.” He walked over and pulled me into a hug.

“I’m sorry too. I’ll turn her down for anything she asks from now on, okay?” I nodded and angled my face up to his. He kissed me and we both let the topic drop.

A few days later Grace, Jordan, and Max met us at our house so we could all walk into the team’s Halloween party together. We put the finishing touches on the costumes, grabbed our prop and headed out. Once there we paused outside the door and put the cardboard box we’d cut and painted around the five of us. Then we burst through the door honking the horn we’d bought for it. The place erupted in laughter as we ran in with Sidney continuously blasting the horn. Once we reached the middle of the room we paused for effect.

“Nice Mystery Machine!” Marc called out to us. Sidney gave another honk and Max barked like the dog he was before we pulled the makeshift van off of us.

“Aw, Fred and Daphne, you look so cute!” Vero exclaimed to Sidney and I.

“I thought Velma would be too smart to date Shaggy,” Kris Letang joked, aiming it at Grace and Jordan.

“How about a Scooby treat?” Tyler Kennedy asked as he handed Max a beer.

“Rank roo,” Max replied in his best Scooby voice.

We all grabbed drinks and proceeded to spend the entire night drinking and hanging out. Games of flip cup and beer pong broke out as the night went on. Overall it was a great night full of laughter and jokes. At some point Max had started corralling people inside the Mystery Machine as he “drove” it around recklessly, running into just about everything in sight, and then blaming it on having paws instead of hands.

By the time we left that night our costumes were disheveled, the Mystery Machine was in pieces, and we had a lot of great memories we were sure to only remember when we looked through the many pictures that had been taken. When Sidney and I fell into bed later that night I fully expected a repeat of the morning I’d had after my birthday. I wasn’t let down.

Sidney didn’t even wait for me to bring up needing greasy home fries before grabbing the car keys and leading me to the car. We walked into the diner that was quickly becoming our favorite breakfast spot and had breakfast. I ate almost half of my Belgian waffle and order of home fries before passing it along to Sidney like I always did.

As we sat there eating I noticed how familiar it was all getting. It was nice to fall back into a normal routine. For the first time in almost a year I was healthy and my only worry was finishing school. Despite it all something was gnawing at me that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I tried to push the thought away and be grateful for everything, but I couldn’t completely do it. Call it woman's intuition, instinct, or whatever you want, but there was something. What was it that was bugging me?