The Fall of Candy Corn (22 page)

18

The night of Kurt's Halloween party arrived. Candace admired herself in her mirror and then picked up the phone and called Tamara. “I love you even more now. The makeup goes perfectly with the outfit.”

“Told you,” Tamara said. “I gotta run. My parents and I just took our seats, and the play's about to start. Have fun and call me in the morning.”

“I will,” Candace promised. She hung up the phone and did a slow turn. It was odd. Kurt was the only one she knew at The Zone who hadn't said anything about her recent adventures. She wasn't sure why, but she was trying not to let it get to her.

“I love what you did with my hair,” she called out to her mother.

Her mom came into the room. “Well it seemed to me that a Greek goddess should have intricately braided hair around her laurel leaves.”

“You were right. It's perfect. Thank you.”

“You're welcome. We haven't had much of a chance to talk,” her mom said, sitting down on her bed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I'm still a bit jumpy, but I'm doing okay,” Candace said.

“Your father and I are very proud of you. We're still upset that you didn't tell us what was going on, but we are very, very proud.”

“Thanks,” Candace said, giving her mom a quick hug.

“You know, I've been watching you the last several months. You're becoming quite a woman.”

Candace blushed. That was high praise coming from her mom who didn't usually wax so sentimental.

“I think you're really beginning to find your way.”

“It's starting to feel like that, but I still think I have a long way to go,” Candace admitted.

“But you'll get there, I'm sure of that. You're much more mature than I was at your age.”

“Really?”

“Really. Have fun tonight. Just remember to call if you need us.”

“I will,” Candace promised.

The doorbell rang. “That's Kurt,” Candace said, suddenly feeling breathless with excitement.

“Knock him dead, sweetie,” her mom said.

“I will.”

Downstairs she heard her dad open the door and greet Kurt. She paused and then left her room and walked down the stairs as regally as she could. She had half expected to see Kurt dressed like a historical character. Instead she was surprised to see that he had opted for dressing like a mime.

“You look great,” he said appreciatively when she reached the door.

“Thanks. So, can you actually mime?” she asked.

He pantomimed trying to get out of a box.

“Okay, enough. I see that you can.”

He smiled. “You know, a mime is a terrible thing to waste.”

She groaned.

“Have fun,” her dad told her before kissing her cheek.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Once inside the car, she turned to Kurt. “So, you really like my costume?”

“Love it. Which goddess are you?” he asked.

She thought he must be teasing. “Which one do you think?”

He looked serious. “Hmmm . . . are you Hera, the wife of Zeus?”

“No.”

“Artemis?”

“No,” she said, starting to feel irritated.

“Then who?”

“Aphrodite.”

“Oh, of course, the goddess of love. I like it.”

“You should. That was the first romantic dinner we shared . . . at Aphrodite's.”

“Sorry! I totally should have picked up on that. My bad.”

“That's okay. You'll just have to make it up to me.”

“I can certainly do that.”

“So, who's going to be at the party?” she asked.

“Well, my roommates and I are throwing it, so a lot of the people are friends we have in common. But a few are just friends of one of them, and then you're the only person they don't know.”

“Well, then, I'm honored,” she said. “I haven't met your roommates before.”

“They're great guys,” Kurt said.

“So what are we going to do? Play games? Dance?”

“Probably hang out, socialize, talk a lot. There'll probably be music at some point, and where there's music there's usually dancing.”

“You should have warned me so I could brush up on my conversation skills,” she said.

“I think you speak the language of love perfectly.”

And you're forgiven, she thought.

A few minutes later they arrived at Kurt's apartment. She walked inside and felt a bit of excitement. So, this was where Kurt lived. He introduced her to his roommates.

“Brian, Jim, this is my girlfriend, Candace.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Brian said.

Jim just nodded at her.

“It's good to meet both of you,” Candace said.

Jim nodded again, and then the two moved off. Guess I didn't have to worry too much about what we were going to talk about, she thought.

More people came through the front door, and they moved out of the way. “Let me give you a quick tour,” Kurt said.

“Okay.”

“So, this is obviously the living room.”

He headed down a hallway, and she followed. “This is the bathroom,” he said, waving to it as they walked by. They passed a couple closed doors and at the end of the hall Kurt opened the third and stepped inside. “And this is my room,” he said.

Candace stepped inside and couldn't help but feel a little self-conscious. There were a couple of movie posters up on the walls, a bed in the one corner, and a desk jammed into the opposite corner. The desk was piled high with textbooks, and a computer whirred loudly.

Before she could say anything, someone shouted Kurt's name. She followed him back out into the hallway and into the living room. He then spent five minutes introducing her to various people whose names and faces blurred together. Candace eventually found a seat on one of the sofas, and Kurt wandered off to greet some more people.

“Wanna drink?” one of Kurt's roommates, she thought it was Jim, asked her. He was holding out a cup that smelled strongly of alcohol.

Candace wrinkled her nose. “No, thank you.”

“Not thirsty, or a prude?” he asked.

“Are you drunk?” she countered.

“I hope so.”

“Hey, Jim, bring that drink over here,” a girl who looked younger than Candace called.

Jim stood up and headed over toward her.

“What's wrong?” Kurt asked, reappearing. “You look like you just smelled a skunk or something.”

“You didn't tell me you were going to be serving alcohol,” Candace said.

Kurt shrugged. “I'm not serving it. My roommates are. They're both over twenty-one.”

“Yeah, but not everyone who's drinking is,” Candace pointed out.

Kurt shrugged again. “Neither of us is drinking, so what's the big deal?”

The big deal was she didn't like seeing people getting drunk. She had been to dinners and parties with her parents where people drank, but not like this. She saw one girl in the corner drunk out of her mind, making out with some guy who kept asking her what her name was. Her parents had let her taste the occasional drink when she was younger, and she'd tried just enough to know that she hated the taste. Even if that weren't the case, though, she wouldn't drink until she was twenty-one, and she certainly wouldn't drink to the point where she did things she wouldn't do otherwise.

She stood up and walked out onto the balcony, badly in need of some fresh air. Kurt followed her and stood next to her, gazing out across the parking lot for a minute. “Look, if you don't want to be here, we can go somewhere else.”

“I wouldn't want to make you leave your party,” she said.

He didn't answer that, and she felt disappointed. She wanted to go. She wanted him to go too. Not because he felt like he had to go with her, but because he didn't like the behavior of the people there anymore than she did. She couldn't even begin to imagine what another half hour of drinking would reduce some of them to.

Kurt's other roommate staggered onto the balcony. “Dude, you're missing all the fun. Come on.”

“Just a minute,” Kurt said, looking irritated.

“Go ahead,” Candace said. “I'm tired and a bit cranky. Sorry. I think I'm just going to head home.”

“I'll drive you,” Kurt said.

She found it significant that he didn't protest. She wasn't sure if that was because he respected her wish to go or if it was because he would be relieved if she did. “I've already been a pain. I don't want you to miss your party,” she said. “I can call Tam and get a ride.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. I'll see you later?”

“You bet.”

He bent down and gave her a swift kiss before heading back inside. Candace lingered on the balcony for a moment before going back into the apartment and making her way to the front door. She slipped outside and walked down to the parking lot, flipping open her phone.

It was only then that she remembered that Tamara was at a play with her parents.

“Great.” She thought of calling her parents. They'd come get her in a heartbeat, but she wasn't in the mood to tell them why she was leaving the party early. Another thought occurred to her.

“Hello?” Josh answered on the second ring.

“Hey, it's Candace.”

“Hey! What's up? How's Kurt's party?”

“Not exactly my speed. Listen, I know this is a huge favor to ask, but is there any way you could pick me up?”

“Of course. Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I'm in the parking lot.”

“I'll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Thanks,” she said.

He made it there in twelve. “Thank you so much,” Candace said as she got into his car.

“Don't worry about it. You look great, by the way. Let me guess. Aphrodite, the goddess of love?”

“Very good,” Candace said, checking out his costume. “I have to say, though, your Superman costume is impressive.”

“What costume?” he asked.

“True. You certainly rescued me.”

“So, where to?”

“I don't know,” she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No.”

“Neither have I. Let's get something.”

“Works for me.”

“So, what happened?”

“I don't want to talk about it,” she said.

“That's cool.”

There was silence for a moment, and then she couldn't help herself. “There was alcohol at the party.”

“Oh.”

She knew from the tone of his voice that he understood and that she wouldn't have to tell him anything else. Somehow that made it easier to open up.

“There were people drinking who were under twenty-one. Worse, some of them were pretty drunk.”

“It's sad that so many people think they have to drink to have fun. In reality the best parties are the ones where everyone stays sober,” Josh said.

“That's how I feel. I mean, it's not fun to watch some girl my age, plastered out of her mind, getting felt up by a guy she doesn't even know.”

“That's not cool,” Josh said. “Did Kurt tell the guy to back off?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“At least not while I was there,” Candace said. “Maybe he did after I left.”

They pulled into the parking lot of a Denny's. Candace turned to look at Josh. “Aren't you afraid people will discover your secret identity?”

“No. I've managed to fool a lot of people for a long time. Besides, you're the only one who knows, and you're not going to tell.”

“Nope. I'll never tell anyone that you're Clark Kent,” she said jokingly.

He smiled at her in a way that let her know that he appreciated the joke, but that even more he appreciated the fact that she did know his one real secret and that she would never tell anyone.

“Speaking of secrets, you still owe me one,” he told her.

“I guess I do.” She sighed. “The one secret I've got right now is that I sometimes worry that there's no real future with Kurt.”

“I'm sorry,” he said.

She shrugged. “Let's get some dinner.”

A minute later she laughed when she caught their reflections in a mirror. “Aphrodite and Superman went into a Denny's,” she said.

“And they said to the waitress . . .”

“I don't know, but there has to be a good punch line in there somewhere,” Candace said.

“And yet, somehow I don't think that was it,” Josh said.

They were quickly seated, and Candace was further amused to note that they were not the only patrons in costume. At least half the people in the restaurant were dressed up. “It's getting to be a regular freak show in here,” she heard one of the waitresses joke to another.

After they had ordered, Candace asked Josh, “Do you think I was being too sensitive about the party?”

He shook his head. “I would have left too. I've never been accused of being overly sensitive, so go figure.”

“I just hope I didn't embarrass Kurt by leaving so abruptly,” she said.

“Hey, as I see it, he's the one that should be embarrassed for taking you some place that made you uncomfortable,” Josh said. “It's his problem. Not yours.”

Across the room someone dropped a tray, and dishes hit the floor with a crash. Candace jumped several inches off her seat and yelped. Josh looked at her, startled.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, sorry. My nerves are just a bit fried.”

He nodded. “Totally understandable with everything that's happened. Something happens to people during Scare. There's a lot of stimuli, people lunging out of the dark, loud noises, all of that. It can make some people a bit jumpy and they don't have half the excuses you have.”

“Just call me some people.”

“That's one thing I would never call you. You are unique, special. I still can't believe how you chased down Will like that. That was truly awesome. Crazy, but awesome.”