(James brings up the conversation he and Roxy had last October, here!)
Though it was packed to the brim with just about every item of clothing imaginable in a multitude of different styles and colors, James just couldn't seem to find anything in his closet he was satisfied with wearing on Halloween.
He and Roxy had spent the last hour going through what felt like an endless amount of combinations, taking him everywhere on the spectrum from American Psycho to space matador, but nothing seemed to please him.
As she lay on his bed, scrolling through her socials, he was busy hanging everything back up to prevent his clean clothing from wrinkling.
"You really don't celebrate Halloween?" Her boyfriend asked, for the umpteenth time that afternoon, as he wrestled one of his button-up shirts onto the plastic clutched between his fingers. "I know you said last year you don't, but I figured after all... this," he gestured to the mess they'd made of his room, "It might have inspired you to want to dress up with me."
And she would, any other day of the year, just not on October 31st, when the boys insisted on having their annual costume party.
That night, she needed to focus on keeping herself safe as a supernatural being. She couldn't very well do that at a party swimming with people who could easily be prayed on by other creatures of the night.
It would be bad news for the witch if something from beyond the veil managed to snatch her on the night when the divide between the human world and the spirit world blurred. Anything from her songbook - and secret family spellbook - falling into the wrong hands, to full on possession of her body, and by extension magical powers, could spell disaster for her and her friends.
"Sorry, superstar," The witch shook her head, still on her phone so she didn't have to look at his face while she lied to him. "Like I told you, I'm a huge scaredy cat. Just the thought of one of those creepy rubber masks makes me want to curl up in a ball and cry."
Plastic hit plastic as he put away a handful of hangers on the wooden rack in his closet. "Even if I'm there to watch out for you? And keep you safe from anything with claws, fangs, or butcher knives?"
"I'm afraid so-"
"It's just... I don't know... I guess I thought you'd be into that cute couple stuff like I am."
Roxy almost dropped her phone onto her face from the physical pain booming in her chest; She rolled onto her side, facing toward the apartment wall instead of James. Fingers tracing the words on the lyric sheet he had on his wall for the song "Boyfriend," she sighed, "Maybe another time, okay?"
Footsteps pausing as he listened, Roxy didn't need to be looking at him to know the look he got when things didn't go his way. The mopey way his eyelids drooped, his lips puckered into a pout, and his hair swept over his eyes... Beautiful and sorrowful all at the same time. Perfect for the occasion he so desperately wanted to celebrate with his girlfriend.
"...Okay." His voice was small. "If you ever change your mind, just know I'll be ready."
