Sadie barely stays ahead of Todd

I turn around so quick, away from Todd and toward Louis, that I nearly knock the beers out of Louis’ hands. Louis has to take a half step back and laughs it off with a casual “Whoa, be careful or you’ll have the beer all over your costume!”

I **** a smile on my face that’s a complete lie and take one of the beers from Louis. He clinks his bottle to mine just before I take a long swig. Looking it, I can see I’ve emptied the long neck and am already into the fat part of the bottle and scold myself as I already know I don’t want to drink to much too quickly. Being dizzy and tipsy isn’t going to help me avoid Todd.

I go over my options in my head. I could get Louis to simply leave. We don’t’ have to end the date, but just get him to take me away from the bar. But that’s going to throw up all kinds of red flags to him as the whole reason we dressed in these costumes was to come to this party. I could turn and face my fears, see if Todd actually recognizes me. But what happens if he does? He’s cocky enough to approach me even though I’m with Louis and that would be more of an awkward conversation than I’d like to have with either of them. We could stay at the party and simply avoid Todd. It’s not a huge location but it’s big enough that we don’t have to be near each other. And while my pink hair might attract his attention, it’s so stiff and made up by Marci that I doubt he’s going to immediately assume it’s me. But how good of a time am I going to have if I’m constantly stressed about Todd and searching around, making sure he’s not getting close?

The choices become irrelevant when I peek over my shoulder and see that Todd is heading this way. He’s not bee lining it toward Louis and me, but he’s coming this direction with the door to his back. I can’t get us out of here without getting closer to Todd, so that leaves walking further away. Hooking my arm in Louis’ I start to walk away. Louis says something, but they’ve started up some music and even if it wasn’t difficult to hear him over that din, I’m just not paying him full attention. Instead, I’m just looking down to keep our path between all the chairs and tables clear and moving away from Todd. When I see a couple tables set up with pamphlets and sign up sheets I recognize that I’ve taken us over to the costume contest sign up area.

The woman at the table, dressed up as a sexy Cleopatra, smiles up at us as she flaunts her own cleavage to Louis and asks if we’d like to sign up for individual or couples competition. I peek over my shoulder again and hear Louis ask what the differences are and learn that the prizes are more than double for the couples competition and they have more tasks to compete in in order to narrow the field down to the top three. Of course, everything the couples do would be together and she giggles a bit as she says that it’s really fun and sexy for the entrants.

When I see that Todd has joined the small que behind us, only two people between us, I snap back to put my fake smile back on as I look at Cleopatra. Louis gives my arm a squeeze and starts answering for us. “Well, we’re just friends so while the couples thing sounds like fun, I guess we’ll sign up for the individual…”

I suddenly get the image of Louis and I getting separated during a costume competition game and ending up right next to Todd because we’re both on the individual side. I panic, squeezing Louis’ arm more forcefully as I talk over him, “No, we’ll do the couples competition!”

I don’t even let the lady say more as I pull the clipboard over and sign both our names up. She makes a mark on our wristbands indicating that we’re couple number 11 and wishes us luck. Louis pays our entry fee of fifty dollars, and we move away from the sign-up table. It’s getting more crowded in the bar and to stay close to Louis means pressing more and more up against him but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make as I absolutely don’t want to get caught away from him.

When we get to the edge of the dance floor with the DJ finishing setting up his booth Louis turns me to face him. He looks happy but has a questioning look on his face. “Hey, I love being a couple with you, but I figured you wouldn’t want to do it if it was sexy. It kind of sounds romantic. Are you sure?”

I look up at Louis and wince internally. I know I’m now playing on the knife’s edge. I want, I need, to stay close to Louis but doing so is giving him the very signs I said I wouldn’t be giving him. Signs that say I want something more romantic. Now I have to find a way to keep him close but not too close. Looking off to the side I stammer an answer out, not quite believing my own lie. “Well, um… I just didn’t want to get paired up with some other random guy. This sounds like… um… fun if we do it, like, together and not, you know, separate.”

I try to sell it with another beaming smile that I’m afraid covers my lower face but not my eyes and feel that I’ve at least halfway convinced Louis. “That’s fine by me. More hanging out with you is just what the Pokémon doctor ordered!”

I try to laugh at Louis’ joke but see around his arm that Todd has finished signing up and has started to move toward us again. I’d say that he’s following us, but the building is only so big and he took the easiest path away from the tables, just like I did. Turning my back toward Todd I pull Louis along as I hear the DJ cut off the music and turn the speakers up loud, “All right people, let’s get this party started. Let’s all get together out on the dance floor where your heads will roll!!”

As the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s song starts filling the room, I see that I’ve dragged us out onto the dance floor. Stopping, I try to see what best exit there is, but my search is cut off when Louis turns me to face him showing me his mile wide grin, “I’d love to dance Sadie!”

And as couples start filling the dance floor, I groan inwardly realizing I just gave another sign to Louis. Another romantic sign. But seeing Todd standing on the edge alone enjoying the dancing scene, I submit to the situation and start dancing. It takes half of the song for me to get Todd out of my head and another thirty seconds to get the stiffness out of my body, but when Louis pulls me close and leans in to whisper in my ear, I finally relax a bit. He’s right and I nod at his reminder that we’ve danced ‘together’ before. “Hey, go easy on me. This isn’t a video game and I already know you’re a better dancer than me!”

I’d have thought remembering the time spent on Dance Dance Revolution, of feeling under the spotlight and exposed, dancing along side Louis with a butt plug hitting all my right buttons, would stress me out even more. But honestly, I’m a way different person than I was even those few weeks ago. More than half of my stress then was being seen as Princess BabyDoll in public. Now, that’s second nature. Being seen by all those around us as a sexy Nurse Joy with my Brock didn’t even register as a bother now.

My dance moves smooth out and by the end of the song Louis and I are in sync, moving, gyrating, and dancing together. The DJ cues up Lady Gaga’s Bloody Mary next and while some girl dressed as Wednesday from the Netflix show steals the spotlight, Louis and I still end up having a good time. Haunted by Beyonce fills the room next. As it’s a slow dance and not quite the mood I want to establish with Louis I start to guide us off the floor. I head to the side without Todd, but four feet away from the edge I see that Todd has moved and found a table. He’s now there, sitting and staring right at us. Gripping Louis’ arm I spin away from Todd and do the only thing that might look natural, I start slow dancing.

I haven’t done a lot of slow dancing. Just a bit as Nick and none as Sadie. So, feeling Louis take my hand in his, feeling him move his other hand to the small of my back, feeling him pull us close together and start swaying back and forth, is a whole new experience. Not wanting us to look awkward, I put my hand up behind his neck and smile up at him. Louis leads us with a cool confidence that I find both calming and, if I’m honest, quite attractive. My worry about Todd melts even further as I know that Louis will keep me safe. More so, he’s not taking advantage of the situation. It’d be so easy for him to press my body right up against his, but while we’re very close to each other there is a distinct inch between the tips of my breasts and his chest.

The DJ seems to really be getting into the slow dances as Ghost by Halsey, Love Song for a Vampire by Annie Lennox, and an oddly romantic feeling Creep by Radiohead followed. Every time I looked over and saw Todd, I just renewed my energy into dancing with Louis which seemed to make him very very happy.

When the next fast song came up, I peeked and didn’t see Todd at his table. When I searched further, I saw him heading to the restrooms and realized this might be the opportunity I needed. After dancing with Louis, even though we’d be giving up the entry fee into the couples costume competition, I figure we can make a clean get away and it not feel too strange like we just got here. I give Louis’ hand a squeeze and start making my way to the door. Louis gets where I’m headed and steps in front of me, clearing a path through the crowd.

It's hard to see around Louis and through the throngs of people, but I can see something happening at the door. Louis slows and when the DJ cuts the song off halfway through, we both turn toward the dance floor to see what’s going on. The DJ calls out an announcement, and I have to bite the inside of my cheek to stop from screaming in frustration. “Hey everybody, just to let you know there’s a little car fire going on in the parking lot. The fire department has their hose going in front of our door, so they’re asking us to close it off. No worries though, everybody gets a free drink as we know you’ll all want to stay inside all night long!”

When the music starts back up Louis turns me toward him and tilts his head toward the bar, asking silently if I want to go get another drink. Knowing we’re stuck in here for at least the next few minutes I nod my approval and we go get our free drink. Instead of asking what we want, the busy bartender makes us two quick Halloween themed shots, layered to look like candy corn, and moves off. I pick up the shot, tap it to Louis’ glass, and knock it back. Considering that it looked like the sickly-sweet candy, it comes across quite harsh and I end up coughing a bit. Louis is there, clearing his throat as well, to pat me on the back and turn me back toward the crowd.

When I hear the “…’scuse me” as someone brushes past us, I freeze as I immediately recognize Todd’s voice. It certainly doesn’t calm me down when I feel him turn and take the space right next to me to lean in and wait for his own free drink. At the same time the music ends, making the whole place feel quiet… and like my own voice would be easily heard this close to Todd… as the DJ announces that all competitors for the costume contest should line up to get their photos taken. Individuals on the left, couples on the right.

This time it’s Louis that grips my hand and starts guiding me over to the other side of the dance floor. I follow along happily as it’s away from Todd where he has to line up for his individual photo. When we’re in line Louis stands behind me and wraps his arms around my waist. Leaning forward he whispers in my ear, “Hey, I have a good idea for a pose that will show off our costumes. You still have your Pokéball, right?”

I tilt my head to look right up at Louis, seeing his face look right down at me. Reaching into my pocket, I pull out the pink panted Pokéball, realizing now that I’d made it into a Love ball, and show it to Louis. He responds by playfully winking and murmuring “Perfect!”

Most of the couples are simply standing side by side in front of the photographer. The photographer, for his part, is mowing through the couples as fast as he can go, offering no advice on how to pose. Instead, he just waits for them to line up, snaps the photo, and waves them to the side. So, when we’re next, I follow Louis’ lead and let him pose me. We both know that turning to the side instead of facing the camera straight on is far more appealing, so I’m turned three quarters away from the camera. He has me holding out the Pokéball toward him while he kneels in front of me. I’m caught off guard and genuinely laugh when he pulls out two paper hearts with double sided tape on their backs, and sticks them to his eyes, giving him the cartoon look of having hearts beat out of his eye sockets.

Without any warning the photographer snaps the photo and waves us off his little podium. As Louis stands up and I turn to step off the podium, however, I see Todd just finishing up with his photo. And he’s looking right at us. Worse, I’m fairly sure I see partial recognition in his eyes. As though he’s not looking at a random couple but knows who is under the costumes. Turning way from him I bump into Louis, who is still trying to get the heats off of his eyes. I see that the photographer is again impatiently waving us off the podium and it strikes me how I can get more time here, hopefully away from Todd.

Putting my hands on Louis’ chest, I pull his hands away from the hearts and tell him quietly to follow my lead. While holding his hands I look at the photographer and say “One more photo!” Without waiting for a response, I move up onto my toes and kiss Louis. Louis stiffens up for a moment before responding and kissing me back. It’s clear he’s taken this as a sign as he doesn’t hold back and pours his amours feelings into my lips and mouth.