Halloween26 Ch 2

Carla decides to spare Stef the embarrassment of whatever Stef’s about to say next and speaks up first. “You guys already rent out all the scary ones?”

“Yeah, a bunch,” Mary replies. “But there’s a lot more. There’s tons of them.”

Carla can’t hide a hint of annoyance; these two were really hired because they’re hot and good at smiling. They don’t care about movies at all. Carla doesn't care either, but she’s convinced she’d have been a better hire. Still, there’s no money in being mad about it. And Mary and Jess have always been nothing but sweet to her. Their vicious side is reserved for girls like Tiffany Platt, who is now at Yale.

“What are you guys doing later?” To Stef’s credit, that is incredibly brave. It also comes out sounding convincingly casual and innocent.

Mary and Jess exchange a look, and Stef swallows cartoonishly as Mary casually tucks her hair back behind her ear. There’s a hint of hesitation and discomfort in the reply. “Uh, you know. We’re gonna go to Kappa.”

Stef’s face doesn’t crumple, but her smile flickers. There’s no surprise here, and Carla did try to warn her. Are Jess and Mary seriously not going to make any plans for Halloween? Of course they’re going to go to the party at the frat house by the square. That’s where everyone cool will be.

It doesn’t need to be said; nothing prevents Carla, Stef, and Ellen from showing up at that party. But it’s not for them. It’s for the college guys with broad shoulders and the hot freshmen like Jess and Mary with perfect hair. Carla might be able to sneak in if Mary or Jess took pity and gave her a makeover, but she has a dick. It’s not widely known, but it’s not a secret either. Even she doesn’t belong at Kappa parties.

“Pour one out for us,” Carla says, deftly easing some of the tension from the moment.

Mary gratefully leans against the counter, arms folded, inadvertently pushing her boobs together in a provocative way. Carla sees Billie’s look, and Stef’s body language somehow tightens even more. “Sure. What are you guys doing?”

“We were gonna go mug kids for candy, but I guess we’ll just watch a scary movie,” Ellen says. That’s pretty smooth, for her.

“Yeah, you got that, uh, the one with the TV. That nobody’ll shut up about?” Carla asks.

Mary sucks her breath in.

“Reengu! Reengu!” Jess says with a laugh. “Eddie keeps coming in here and reminding everyone it’s a remake of Reeeengu!”

Mary looks apologetic. “Yeah, but we just rented the last one to… someone.”

“That person is me. I’m sorry,” Billie says, drumming her fingers on the white VHS case on the counter. “I didn’t know it was the last one.”

“That movie’s hot right now,” Jess says, nodding sagely. “I like Scream better.”

“I like Jason,” Mary adds. “Jason doesn’t kill dogs. But the Halloween guy does. He’s bad.”

“You get that, guys? Michael Myers is bad. You heard it here first,” Jess says. “You know all those killers just chase people exactly our age. We should boycott those movies.”