Chapter 14: The Halloween Ball

Micester High wasn’t just a school; it was the town’s leisure and community centre—funded by Liddington-Phipps, of course. Every year, five charity balls were held in the school’s massive sports hall. The Halloween, Christmas, and Valentine’s balls were all themed. The late Spring and late Summer balls didn’t have themes but were the largest and most lavish.

The Balls themselves were meant to be for over-eighteens only, but in reality, most of the kids from years eleven, twelve, and thirteen attended, although I hadn’t gone to all of them over the past couple of years. I took Kelly to The Valentine’s Ball when we were together but skipped it last year after we split up. The Christmas Ball was always fun in a group, and I went to The Spring Ball one year and The Summer Ball the next since it was too expensive for someone like me to attend both.

The Halloween Ball was the only fancy-dress ball of the year. I didn’t normally bother with it. Halloween, in general, isn’t my thing, and neither is dressing up. So, I hadn’t booked my costume in advance and ended up going as a vampire. Not very imaginative, I know, but there wasn’t much choice left in the costume shop when I stopped by on Saturday morning. It was either that, a pirate, or a cowboy.

Clarissa picked me up at seven. I saw the car pull up outside through the lounge window. In truth, I’d been watching and waiting for her. I rushed upstairs to grab my wallet and had just got back down when she rapped on the door.

I took a deep breath and opened it. “Holy shit!”

When I realised what I’d said, I added, “Sorry, it’s just ... Wow!”

Standing in the doorway was a stunning little red devil. Her usually wavy, honey-blonde hair was sleek and straight, and two little red horns perched atop her head. The tight, red, knee-length dress featured a frayed hem, while a cut-out section in the middle of her chest offered a teasing glimpse of cleavage. She had her left hand on her hip and swung her devil’s tail with her right. Her legs looked fantastic in flesh-coloured tights that shimmered in the light with each movement, and her red heels perfectly matched the rest of her outfit.

“Ready?” she asked.

“I am if you are.”

“Oh, I am. Come on, let’s go.”

We left the car parked on the kerb outside my house and walked to the school, because we knew it would be difficult to find a parking spot there. As we set off, Clarissa linked her arm with mine and gave me her brightest, most dazzling smile.

A multitude of others were walking to The Ball as well, though for a different reason than us—the Westmouthshire Police didn’t tolerate drink-driving. The sight of various witches, warlocks, and countless other creatures of the night wandering through the streets of this rural town was frankly bizarre. But not as bizarre as a sports hall full of them.

The sports hall measured approximately one hundred by one hundred and fifty feet—easily the largest indoor space in the town aside from the factory. It featured four entrances: two fire escapes on the external walls, one door leading to the men’s changing room, and another that opened to a corridor leading to the women’s changing room and the rest of the school, including the licensed bar. Yes, Micester High had a licensed bar—like I said, it was the town’s community centre as well. It’s not as though the bar was ever open during school hours or anything (although there were days when I’d wished it was).

We entered through one of the two fire escapes.

Once inside, Clarissa scanned the room, clearly looking for someone. Large circular tables, around which ten people could comfortably fit, filled half of the room. A single row of these tables lined two walls in the other half of the hall, leaving a spacious area for dancing in front of the stage on the far wall, just in front of the door to the men’s changing room.

Some band from Walminster that I’d never heard of was providing the entertainment.

“There they are,” Clarissa said, pointing to a table on the edge of the dance floor. She took my hand and strode over, not dragging me along, but making it clear where she wanted to go. Even before we reached the table, I could see Grace and Emily sitting next to each other, leaning close and talking animatedly. They were both wearing red devil outfits, too. On either side of their private conference-for-two sat two young men I didn’t recognise. They appeared to be in their early twenties. A couple sat on the opposite side of the table, sharing a joke, but I didn’t recognise them either.

“Hey,” Clarissa said. “You saved us seats, right?”

Grace looked around the room, then said to Emily, “Did you hear anything, Em? I thought I did, but I must have been mistaken.”

“No. I didn’t hear anything.”

“Guys!”

Grace and Emily continued their conversation, but at a volume that we could hear. “Can you believe that Rissa is coming with that Townie? What is she thinking?”

“I know!” said Emily “Apparently, her mother had set her up a date with Tom Chapman, but she chose to go with what’s-his-name instead.”

“I swear, Em, she’s losing it. She really is.”

Clarissa took my hand and said, “Let’s get a drink.”

As we walked to the bar, I asked, “Did they just blank you because of me? ‘Cause if you’d—”

“Don’t even suggest it, Paul Robertson. You are my date, and if those two don’t like it, then tough. Actually, I think that was more to do with my snubbing Tom than with you specifically.”

“Tom who?”

“Tom Chapman.”

I gave her a blank look. “You said that name as if it should mean something to me.”

“He’s George Chapman’s son.”

My expression didn’t change.

“George Chapman runs the factory. He has done ever since ... You know. Tom graduated from university in the summer and began a management training program at the factory in September. Mum set up the date and told me about it yesterday. She wasn’t best pleased when I told her I’d already made arrangements.”

“But why are Grace and Emily upset about it? It doesn’t really affect them, does it?”

“I don’t think they’re upset so much as annoyed. Grace didn’t speak to me all day yesterday, and Ems only spoke to me to tell me that, because there were only two of them now, they wouldn’t be able to get a limo. I think they’re more annoyed about that than anything else.”

“That seems pretty petty.”

“Yeah. But that’s Grace. Did you see their dates? They are two of the other management trainees from the factory. I was supposed to get Tom, and from what I heard, the other two tossed a coin to decide who got the first pick from Grace and Ems.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

“Tell me about it.”

We ordered drinks when we got to the bar, and I took out my wallet.

“Put that away,” Clarissa said. “This one’s on me.” She smiled and took a tiny red purse from the red bag slung over her shoulder. “Actually, they’re all on me.”

“Clarissa, I couldn’t let you—”

“Yes, you can. I know this is going to sound snobby, but it’s not like I can’t afford it.”

“And you think I can’t?”

She blushed. “I didn’t say that.”

“But you assumed it. Look, I work. Okay? I can pay my way. And I intend to.”

She nodded sheepishly.

“So, I’ll get the next ones. All right?”

“Okay.” She smiled. “Sorry, Paul. I didn’t mean—”

“Forget it. No offence taken. Let’s just enjoy the night.”

She nodded again. “Good plan.”

As we walked back to the hall, she said, “You know, I wouldn’t mind Mum trying to fix me up, but I’ve never even had a conversation with Tom. Never.”

Back in the sports hall, we stood by the entrance, trying to decide what to do. Obviously, Grace and Emily didn’t want anything to do with us. Fortunately, I spotted Kevin and Lauren sitting at a table towards the back of the room. Kevin saw me and waved me over.

“Come on,” I said. “If I’m not good enough for your friends, you’re certainly good enough for mine.”

“Paul, you are good—”

“I was joking. If those two want to act like that, then let them; but we don’t have to let it spoil our night.”

“Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go.”

Despite Kevin and Lauren being the only ones at the table, six of the other eight chairs had half-full glasses in front of them.

“I didn’t know if you’d be sitting with ‘The High Princesses’ or not, no offence, Clarissa, but I saved you seats anyway just in case.”

“Excellent, thanks, Kev.” I didn’t particularly like the look of distaste on Lauren’s face as she took in Clarissa, but I didn’t say anything.

“No probs, mate. Park your gluteus for a bit. The others are out on the floor, but we needed someone to keep the table.”