Before that night, I'd never really thought about how much things could change once high school ended. I guess part of the reason this idea eluded me was that I'd chosen a college away from my hometown, and other than my best friend Jay, I hadn't kept in contact with hardly anyone else from those days. So on the surface, everything seemed the same. Jay still worked for his dad's construction company as he always had, and to be honest, for me anyway, college wasn't much different than high school. It was just a new group of people doing the same old things. This is why when I had a chance to go home for Halloween weekend, I naively expected it to be like old times.
My classes had ended at noon that Friday, and after a couple of hours spent driving, I was glad to be home for a few days finally, but I was also itching to find out what Halloween festivities were happening that Saturday. Jay would know for sure, but it'd still be a little while before he got off work. Until then, I'd spend some time visiting and having dinner with my parents.
A little while later, the phone rang as I was lounging around in my old room. It was Jay.
"Hey, man. You remember Rachel from back in the day, right?" he asked without even bothering with a hello. "Well she's having a sizable shindig tomorrow night and knowing her, there'll be quite the selection of ladies present. You interested?"
I was more than interested. Rachel had been one of the hottest girls in our class, and the thought of seeing her wearing some kind of sexy costume definitely had my attention.
"Sounds like a plan, Stan," I told my friend enthusiastically. "Name the time and place."
"Her house around seven. And Rich?"
"Yeah?" I asked curiously.
"Leave that fucked up costume of yours at home," Jay said with utmost seriousness. "You know... The one you were wearing when you popped out of your mom."
"Fuck you, dude," I responded as I hung up on him mid-laugh.
"What an ass," I said shaking my head and wondering what the most efficient way to kill a person would be. Something would come to me I was sure, but in the meantime, I also couldn't help but imagine how Rachel and some of the other girls from high school might look after three years.
***
The following evening, I pulled up in front of Rachel's house, and judging from the number of cars parked around, the party was going to be packed. Eventually finding a parking space, I got out of my truck, made my way to the front door, and began waiting for Jay. As usual, he was almost ten minutes late.
"I thought I told you to leave that shit at home, man," the jackass, who was dressed up as a zombie, said as he walked up.
"Yeah, yeah. It's nice to see you too, dick," I shot back at him.
Grinning like a madman, Jay grasped my hand and pulled me in for what he called a "bro hug."
"Good to see you, my friend. Good to see you. But seriously, where's your costume?"
"You're looking at it," I answered while opening my jacket to reveal the Michael Myers shirt I wore. "I came as a broke college student who could barely afford this t-shirt much less a costume."
Jay chuckled and shook his head.
"Scariest shit I've seen all night," he replied as I gave him the finger. "But it's all good. Come on, bro."
Opening the door, we entered the party.
Upon first look, I saw a lot of familiar faces, but there were plenty of new ones as well, and thankfully I was not the only one without a costume.
"Hey, there's Rachel. Let's go say hi," Jay yelled over the screaming vocals of Ozzy Osbourne.
Giving my bud a thumbs up, I followed him over to a group of people standing at a drink-laden table. As we approached, I recognized our host who was dressed in a Bark at the Moon shirt and faded jeans. We spent a few minutes exchanging the usual pleasantries with Rachel and her friends, but as we did so, I couldn't help but feel a little shaken.
While Rachel was still an attractive and friendly person, she had an almost weary and aged look about her. Obviously, the three years since high school hadn't been very kind to her, and once we took our leave from the group, I asked Jay about it. He told me that Rachel had gotten married pretty quickly after graduation, but things had gone badly for her. Apparently, there'd been a lot of drama involving drugs and cheating, and it culminated in a nasty divorce. In the end, all of it had taken a pretty bad toll on the once bubbly girl, and hearing of the circumstances that had befallen Rachel left me feeling a little bummed out.
"Don't sweat it, Rich," Jay said, picking up on my thoughts. "Life happens differently for people sometimes."
"I guess," I said finally. "Just sucks to hear is all."
"I hear you, man," he continued. "But it is what it is. Come on. Let's see who else we can find."
Following Jay's lead, we spent the next hour or so making our rounds through the party, and while it was great seeing old friends and meeting new ones, I soon began to get bored with things. Part of me wanted to stay and hang out with my friends, but at the same time, for whatever reason I wasn't enjoying myself very much. For a few minutes, I struggled with indecision before finally deciding to cut my losses and go home. Maybe there was a good horror movie on TV I could watch. With my mind firmly made up, I turned to tell Jay I was heading out when I noticed a woman standing off to herself looking equally as bored as I was.
At that moment, I could honestly say she was the most gorgeous lady I'd seen so far at the party, and like me, she'd not worn a costume. Instead, a skintight, red top, black jeans, and, knee-high leather boots adorned her thickly built figure that was by no means chubby. Her top struggled to contain an ample bust and her jeans showed off what looked like a firm, round ass. The woman's jet-black hair was done up in a messy bun, and it along with her black lipstick and nail polish contrasted with her pale complexion perfectly. The piercings in her nose and eyebrow completed the picture and gave her a sort of millennial Elvira vibe.
In the past, the gothic look had never really appealed to me, but there was no denying how stunning she looked. She held my eyes like glue and I was still watching her a moment later when I vaguely heard Jay say something.
"Huh?" I asked stupidly sparing only a short glance at my friend.
"I asked if you wanted another beer," he said with annoyance.
"Oh, uh sure," I replied distractedly. "Jay, who is that?"
Following my gaze, he looked once at the girl, and then back at me while grinning.
"You mean Morticia Addams over there?" Jay asked with restrained laughter. "Dude, surely you recognize her?"
"Obviously not, wise-ass," I scolded him. "Who is it?"
"Well... I guess she has changed a lot since high school," Jay continued teasingly. "Rich, that's Judy Dawson."
I stared harder at the girl trying to connect the person that I'd known to the person I now saw and finally recognition dawned.
Judy had been one of those awkward girls every school seems to have. She'd been kind of frumpy with unruly, mousy, brown hair and a mouth full of braces. Even as a senior, she still wore the plastic choker bands usually reserved for middle school girls who are trying to be edgy, and she was never seen without some sort of supernatural romance book like
Twilight
. Needless to say, she wasn't very popular back then, and I couldn't believe how much she'd changed. Even with the gothic appearance, it was obvious she'd really blossomed into a gorgeous woman.
As I continued to study Judy, my friend stared at me in disbelief.
"No way, seriously?" he said eventually. "Don't tell me you have the hots for her?"
"What's wrong with that?" I asked looking at Jay with disdain. "Look at her. Even all gothed out, you can't tell me that she doesn't look smoking hot."
Jay studied Judy for a good minute as if he were Sherlock Holmes then shrugged.
"I mean... I guess she's not that bad-looking, but dude, it's still Judy Dawson. And besides, from what I hear, she kind of has a bit of a reputation now."
