Monster Mash [Ginny and Friends]

[L.C. Milliner]

*--outfit

One of the best things about having friends- you aren’t even settled in, but they’ve already found you and are dragging you somewhere else entirely. Never mind that you have to talk to the landlady about disappearing for a solid month without warning, or the sudden realization hitting you that you have no money or a job to fuel it, friends are friends. Not to mention that the friends you don’t see often are always the best to hang out with. It was God’s twisted sense of humor shining through.

Ever since the cookie baking incident last December, L.C. had been trying to connect with her friend Ginny more, but thanks to her excursion to NYC, she lost contact again. That made for an interesting conversation when she saw her again, but they had settled things, and plans were made for Halloween. L.C. was a firm believer in free candy and scaring people; at the carnival Halloween was always met with cheer because it was the last of the holidays where there were special performances before the month long break where the performers would disband to go ‘home’. (That month long break was normally spent with Magda when L.C. was young, in abandoned parking lots and old trailer lots.) Plus, on Halloween L.C. would run out after the show and grab as much candy as she could. Making herself sick off of sweets was a yearly tradition, almost.

Now L.C. and her friend were going to head out to the Halloween store in the mall to find some decent costumes. Ginny may have said something about bringing someone, the other girl honestly didn’t remember. L.C. was too focused on her mission: to keep Ginny away from any and all Zelda, Princess Peach, and various other blonde video game girl costumes. (Unless there was a Rikku costume from Final Fantasy, and that was only because the mere thought of the hairstyling would be enough to deter Ginny’s interest.) Maybe she could get away with something simple, like Alice from the wonderland books, or a zombie-fairy-cheerleader-bride. Whatever was ‘in’ that season, she would try. She just hoped it wouldn’t be anything too revealing. It seemed like costume skirts were getting shorter and shorter each year.

Waiting on one of the plentiful benches, L.C. sighed and fidgeted, wishing that she had stayed instead of going to NYC with Milly. She was so far behind on everything, and it was reckless. Not to mention that she had lost her best friend and inherited a dog instead; a dog that was currently in her apartment, which she had finally gotten ahold of again. The landlady didn’t even know she left, crazy old woman. Sighing, L.C. ran a hand through her hair and picked at the tips, debating on dying it again for the holiday. It was a viable option, in any case.

[Ginny Campbell]

Ginny hadn't heard from L.C. in months, since before The Talk and the ensuing disaster that had torn apart her friendships at Hammel. It was rather annoying, really, with people expecting her to stop talking to Mia over this; she wasn't going to choose between her friends like that. She hadn't been sure whether L.C. held it against her or was simply busy, but attempts at dialing her number had always resulted in the answering machine, and she'd given up. She had her own life to worry about, with college courses and the endless drama regarding Hammel and telling off annoying jocks.

And then, suddenly, L.C. had returned to Pilot Ridge. She'd been visiting her father when she saw the other girl disappearing into the apartment complex she lived in, but as she'd also been in the car with him she hadn't been able to stop. Instead she'd waited until she was at his cabin before immediately calling, rejoicing when her friend picked up the phone, and berating her for not giving any warning before disappearing. And when L.C. had mentioned New York she had laughed and asked why on earth she wouldn't have told Ginny she was living there, when that was where the Campbell clan originated from. Her mother and step-father were in New York (not in the City, but in the state) and she had copious amounts of relatives on all sides in New York, some even in the City. She would have visited had she known.

But it was too late now. To make up for months of silence she had coerced her friend into shopping with her for Halloween costumes.

She fully planned on looking at the video game characters, L.C.'s wishes be damned.

She had invited some other friends to meet them, as well, because she firmly believed in 'The more, the merrier' as a life philosophy when it came to people.

"L.C.!!" She waved frantically as the other girl came into view, bounding over to the bench she was waiting on. "Omigod, did you see?! Hot Topic has Sailor Moon costumes? Think I can pull of the guardian of justice?"

She studied the other girl for a moment before adding, "Or you could rock the pretty soldier look, totes. How long've you been waiting? I had to escape from the dads, they were kind of grrrrr, don't be out all night, like I'm not an adult."

[Max Rose]

The girl who bounded up after Ginny would hardly be called in an adult in most countries. Sure, Max was technically eighteen, and had the body of an adult, and a tendency toward bawdy humor that bordered in sailor language, but all that clearly meant that she'd stopped mentally aging at fourteen. License number be damned.

"What's the point in looking like a soldier of justice unless you're going to be a sexy warrior?" asked Max. She was already craning her neck, trying to see into various shops, scoping out the best deals. Like they weren't all going to wind up in Hot Topic or one of the costumes shops that had popped up. It was inevitable. "I'm still thinking of just bullying slash teasing slash flirting with Isaac until he coughs up another original or something. But yeah, you both could be twin Sailor Moons, if, you know, you wanna look fourteen."

Max was all grins though, looking from one girl to another. Naturally she'd met Ginny before. it was highly unlikely that someone who frequented Hammel as often as Ginny wouldn't have met into someone as noticeable as Max. It was even slightly possible that Max had had the luck (or vice versa) to have encountered LC before. The other girl hadn't been around lately, and Max sometimes had the memory of a gold fish.

That hardly stopped her from staring, her eyes wide and her imagination already running away with her. There were tons of costume ideas.

"I'm Max," she said. She tilted her head. "You're LC, right? Ginny," she turned, "this LC, right? Because she kinda looks familiar and stuff. LC, tell me we've met before," another head swivel, "because otherwise I'm gonna get sad. And likely glomp you. Actually, glomping's probably gonna happen anyway, but don't let that stop the truth."