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Saturday, October 31
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Saturday came around, and with it came Halloween. Jessie’s classmate was throwing a party that was supposed to start around 7, but Paris was supposed to come over around 6 so the two girls could have around an hour to go trick-or-treating before Marcus took them to the party. Jessie was in her room, changing into her costume, while Marcus waited out in the living room. He didn’t know what it was, but Jessie had told him that she’d made it herself, and wanted to get his opinion on it. He didn’t know what to expect; since she was going to be heading to a party he figured she’d go with something simple. But when she opened her door and stepped out into the hallway, he nearly gasped at what she was wearing.
A white, spaghetti strap crop top adorned her chest, and it was just low cut enough that Marcus noticed that her budding breasts just barely peeking over the top. Wrapped around her hips was a pleated, floral mini skirt, also in white, the edges of which flowed against her upper thighs as she walked towards her dad. Translucent white nylons with a pretty, laced trim ascended up her long legs, ending just above her knee, and silver heels decorated her feet, slowly clacking on the wooden floor as she came closer. She had styled her shining brown hair, with it straightened near the top but keeping it wavy past her shoulders. And of course, to complete the look, she had on a quaint pair of feathery wings behind her, with a golden halo crowning her head. Stopping several feet in front of her dad, who was beyond stunned at how all-out she had gone, she posed for him with a charming grin. “So Daddy, what do you think I am?” she asked.
“An… angel,” he answered softly. “Are… you’re an angel, right? I’m assuming it’s not a trick question,” he said, laughing nervously as the man took in how much skin his young, teenage daughter was showing off. The clear, pale surface of her body matched the bright and immaculate colors of her costume.
“You got it!” she exclaimed. “I’m glad you like it,” she said, and hurried forward to hug her dad against her thighs, his face pressing against her flowery skirt. Well, I didn’t actually say that I liked it, he told himself.
“Yeah, well… are you sure it isn’t… a bit much?” But as soon as he had asked her, he immediately regretted it.
Jessie frowned and took a step back. “What do you mean ‘a bit much,’ Daddy?” She looked down at herself and twisted from side to side, examining her slender body. “You mean like slutty? Are you body-shaming your own daughter?” She wasn’t sure if she should cry or get angry. “This is a crop top, Daddy, not a bra. And I got this skirt at H&M!”
“Whoah whoah, OK, slow down,” Marcus cautioned. He had meant that he thought she was showing off a bit too much, but clearly that had upset her. Maybe I’m overreacting? It’s just surprising is all, he mused, scanning up and down her body. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her dress like this before. “I meant, like… it’s just very elaborate,” he lied, hoping she’d buy his new story. “I don’t want you to go to all that trouble just to get your white clothes dirty outside when you go trick or treating. Or for any expensive fabrics to get ruined at the party.”
Jessie relaxed, believing his reversal and assuming he was just being a little dumb again. “It’ll be fine, Daddy. I’m going trick or treating, not mud-wrestling. This stuff isn’t even that expensive.”
“Oh yeah, right,” he laughed nervously, “OK. I mean, yeah, as long as you’re fine with it, I guess, they’re your clothes.”
She anxiously laughed as well. “For a second I really thought you were trying to like body-shame me though. Like, after everything you said last week about me being beautiful in my own skin? And then I was just like, ‘wait, I should be an angel for Halloween. I could probably look so good in white.’ And then boom!” She motioned her hands along her body, “I do!”
Wait, so she tailored her outfit around what I said about it being OK that she’s pale? “So you did try and factor your… skin into it then?” he asked.
She raised her eyebrow suspiciously, “I mean, yeah… I think I look really cute in this, Daddy. What was I supposed to wear, a baggy white hoodie and white sweatpants? Sometimes you have to show a little bit of ‘skin’ or whatever, it’s not like—I mean, the way that… it’s just fashion, showing off your body is a part of it sometimes, that doesn’t make it bad or gross or weird or sexual or anything. And you just said it was fine what I was wearing?” She crossed her arms, and he could feel her judgmental, somewhat hurt tone in her voice.
Shit, she’s right. He might’ve lied about what he meant just a minute ago, but now with his new truth out in the open, he couldn’t just change it back to what he originally meant and get upset over her clothing choices again. She’d realize that he had lied to her, and he couldn’t do that so blatantly as her parent. He had chosen to change his mind to calm her down, thinking that she meant something else, and now he had to stick with it. “Yeah, it is honey.” He managed a smile up at her, and gave her another hug around her legs, “You look great.” He turned around to the kitchen, wanting to move past the subject now. “Anyways, I’m gonna eat some dinner before Paris gets here and you two leave, you want some leftovers?” He scooped some of last night’s dinner onto a plate and put it in the microwave.
She shook her head, “No, I was planning on eating at the party. I’ll sit with you til Paris gets here though.” The microwave beeped, and Marcus took the warmed up meal out and went over to the table to sit down. No sooner had he started eating than Jessie came to join him at the seat next to her dad. They sat in silence for a few minutes while Jessie checked her phone, browsing through her Instagram feed to check up on her friends’ activities and parties of their own so far. Impatient as she waited for Paris, she set her phone on the table and looked down at her shoes. “How cool are these stilettos though?” she asked, raising them up and setting her feet on her dad’s lap while he was still eating. She rolled her ankles back and forth, drawing attention to the gleaming, two-inch heels. “They were only like 15 bucks too. But I am not looking forward to wearing them all night,” she chuckled.
Jess sure is getting comfy with her feet around me lately, he thought. I know she’s always been a pretty touchy feely person, but jeez. “Well you don’t have to wear them,” he told her. “Or have them on my lap while I’m eating,” he said, looking at her more sternly now, and she giggled and removed them for the time being.
“Just wanted you to see them. And yes, I do have to wear them. They complete the look. However my ankles feel at the end of the night will have been worth it!” she proudly boasted. Just then, the doorbell rang, and she quickly got up and hurried to the door as best she could in her new shoes. She threw the door open, where her best friend was waiting by the door. Paris was dressed a bit more conservatively, but still looked cute in her pink and blue mermaid outfit, fabric scales running all around her body.
“Oh my god, you look even better in person,” Paris exclaimed, eyes wide as she took in Jessie’s outfit while her best friend posed for her.
“Ugh, but you look just as good too,” Jessie whined, stroking her hand along the side of Paris’ costume to feel her sparkling scales.
“Sorry I’m a little late,” Paris sighed, “but it’s already past 6, we should head out right away if we still wanna get some candy before heading to the party.” She took this moment to look past Jessie to her friend’s dad who was still seated at the table, finishing his dinner. “Hi Mr. Tilden!” she called, waving at him. He waved back, his mouth full. “Your dad’s still taking us, right?” she whispered.
“Yeah yeah, of course.” She turned back around to Marcus. “Daddy, we need to go, it’s 6:07!”
Her dad swallowed his last bit of food and stood up to take his plate and silverware to the sink. “I thought the party was at 7, how far away is this place?”
Jessie’s eyes went wide, and her head darted back and forth between her dad and her friend. “Wait, shit, I almost forgot.” She started to run towards the hallway to head to her room, but forgot she was in heels and landed funnily, almost stumbling over before catching herself. “Aaaahh!” she squealed, giggling as the excitement started to coarse through her body and almost cause her to slip. She kicked off the heels, and her feet pounded anxiously along the floor as she eagerly ran to her room. Marcus and Paris listened as Jessie rummaged through a few things in her room, before the feverish pitter patter of her feet came thumping back down the hallway. “Daddy Daddy Daddy Daddy,” she said, her voice growing louder, before she emerged back out into the living room, holding up some kind of red and yellow clothes within a package. “It’s your costume, I got it for you,” she said matter-of-factly, and handed a store-bought outfit to her father. It was an Iron Man suit, complete with a cotton mask even. And right there on the plastic cover: For Babies: 1-2 years old. “I looked up the measurements on the back, it’ll fit you perfectly.” Marcus was speechless. Both because he didn’t know why his daughter had bought him a costume, but also because he really, really didn’t want to wear clothes that were practically designed for infants. “You kept talking about how much you like to spend time with me, especially after you got laid off, so I figured you could come with us.”
“…to, you mean, you want me to go trick-or-treating with you guys?” he asked. That wasn’t so weird in itself, he figured Jessie would’ve felt a bit old for that now, but plenty of parents tagged along with their kids while traversing the neighborhoods for candy.
Jessie shook her head. “I mean, yeah, kind of. But I got this costume specifically because it has a mask to cover your face, so nobody has to see who you really are, or realize you’re like, twenty-something years older than me and everyone else. Then you can sneak along with us to Veronica’s party tonight with all the other kids in our class!”
Originally, Marcus walked hand-in-hand between the two teenage girls, and the trio looked no different than the various other trick-or-treaters who seemed to be forced to take a younger sibling or relative along for the annual candy hunt. Nobody knew that it was actually the two younger ones escorting the older one, and not the other way around. At first, Marcus wore the mask that came as a part of the costume, since Jessie and Paris both thought he looked ‘sooooo cute’ wearing the full set. But every time he would go up to houses with the two girls, everyone who answered would d’aw at him and tell him in a singsongy voice that he looked adorable. For the first few houses, he’d correct them by taking off the mask, and let them know he was ‘the parent,’ which led to a few apologetic or awkward encounters. But eventually he just gave up and took a candy, not saying anything, and dumping it into Jessie’s or Paris’ bags as soon as they turned around to leave. From there on out, he decided he’d carry the mask until they were done. At least his condition was common enough that adults wouldn’t make any comments anymore after seeing his adult face, and were able to put two and two together with Marcus in the context of the two teenage girls. But adults weren’t the only ones answering the door. The final straw came for the shrunken man when a front door was opened by a little girl who couldn’t have been older than 7, struggling to carry her family’s bowl of candy for guests. Seeing he was barely as tall as the young girl’s shoulders, Marcus was immediately taken aback by the reminder of just how diminutive his size really was in the world. But as soon as she laid eyes on little two-and-a-half foot Marcus wearing what looked like the same attire from the movies her older brother liked to watch, she cooed at how sweet he was through her chocolate-stained, toothless grin, despite her being the child and him being the full grown one. After that encounter, Marcus said his feet were tired and they should start to loop back home anyways so they could head to their friend’s, not wanting to reveal the real truth of him being consistently embarrassed time and time again that night. “Well we were planning on being a little late anyways,” Jessie said. “But if your feet are getting sore, you can ride on my shoulders like I used to do with you when I was a kid.”
So as they crossed over to the other side of the road and began to head back in the other direction, except now with Jessie’s dad straddling her neck while he rode atop her. And he was fully aware of how much that only made him look like a kid even further, so he kept his mask off for the remainder of their trick or treating. Jessie had to take her halo off too, which she had her dad carry in his hand along with his mask, and instructed him to be mindful of not messing up her hair. His other arm rested atop her head, and he soon slouched forward, resting his chain on her head too. The faint smell of lilac shampoo wafted into his nose, surprisingly pleasant, as she and Paris debated about Halloween in between their stops at houses. As much as he didn’t like being small, or feeling like a child… he took a mental snapshot of this moment. The pleasant smells, the laughter and hollers of children with their treats, getting to go out on a kind of adventure with his daughter.
But eventually they arrived back at the house, and Jessie squatted on the ground outside their driveway so he could hop off her shoulders. “I’ll get in the car,” he told them, “while you guys can go and put your candy away til we get back and use the bathroom if you need to.” The two girls said OK and headed in while he climbed into the front seat of his car. “And make sure to lock the front door on your way out!” he called after them, and shut the car door.
* * * * * *
“I’ve gotta admit, I’m a little nervous,” Marcus confessed, both hands on the steering wheel as he drove the three of them towards the middle school party that he was so hesitantly attending. “I still don’t get why you wanted me to come, Jess. I mean, I said yes since you said you wanted to spend some time with me and thought it’d be fun, and you even went to the trouble of actually getting me a costume.” He gestured down at the toddler-sized superhero getup he still had on. “But really, what am I gonna do? I can’t take my mask off, I probably can’t even talk to anyone. There’s a reason you got something with a mask, you didn’t want anyone to know you brought your dad to the party, right?”
“Yeah, but that’s what’ll make it fun,” Jessie replied, not even having to pause to think of her answer. “It’s like, risky.”
“Did you say risqué?” he asked, unable to hear her fully over the sound of the road. He certainly hoped that’s not what she said.
“Risky, Daddy, it’s risky having you come along, that’s what’ll make it exciting. It’ll be like, a game to keep your identity a secret.”
“You could tell everyone he’s your little cousin who you had to watch for the night,” Paris chimed in. She wasn’t usually as prone to mischief and pranks like Jessie was, but she would tag along with her friend’s ideas when they were together. “And you can say that he gets really shy around large crowds too.”
Jessie’s eyes widened and she gasped, looking back at her friend excitedly, “Paris, oh my god! That’s perfect, that’s literally like the best possible alibi.” She turned back to her dad, “I like Paris’ idea, I think she’s right. You can just hang out around me the whole time if you want.”
I hardly even want to be going in the first place. “It still feels a bit strange though,” he grimaced. “An adult like me, hanging out around a bunch of people your age?”
Jessie rolled her eyes, “God, Daddy, why do you need to make everything so weird all the time. First off, you’re my guest, and I should be able to bring whoever I want. If you were a stranger then maybe it’d be a different story, but I’m inviting you, so it’s not. And second, her parents are probably gonna be there anyways, so like, it’s almost like you’re a chaperone or something. Basically: it’s only weird if you make it weird. So just like, please don’t make it weird, mkay?”
He thought about what she said for a little bit. “Actually, yeah, maybe I can just spend the night with the parents and talk with them.”
Jessie let out a thunderous groan, “UUGHH! Why do you have to be so impossible!” Paris giggled in the backseat, having witnessed plenty of stupid little arguments between Jessie and her dad before. But Marcus decided to drop the subject altogether. They were already on their way to the house anyways, so there wasn’t any point in continuing to talk about it.
The house in question was nearly half an hour away from the Tilden’s residence. While Jessie and her dad lived in a modest, one-story house in the suburbs, her friend lived in a nice, upper class neighbor in the city’s hills. Why the hell is a girl whose parents can afford to live in an area like this going to a public school? Marcus wondered as he glanced out the window at the gorgeous views of downtown. There were almost no cars parked along the streets, since most of the houses either had large garages or large driveways, but Marcus pulled up alongside the curb a few houses away from their destination. “If you don’t want anyone to know I’m your dad, then I can’t park in their driveway, since I’m assuming all the other parents are just dropping their kids off. And you also don’t want anyone seeing me getting out of the driver’s seat.”
“Good thinking, Daddy,” his daughter said, and got out of the car, with Paris and Marcus following suit. It was already starting to get chilly out, a combination of the fall evenings get darker sooner, as well as the heightened elevation they were at. “Shit, we should get inside,” Jessie said, rubbing her bare elbows to try and warm them up as goosebumps began to appear on her skin. She glanced jealously at her dad’s Ironman costume, which was conveniently insulating him from the cold air.
“I hope nobody can tell this was made for babies,” Marcus mumbled to himself as he slipped the mask down over his face, preparing to go incognito for the next several hours.
“Daddy! Stop complaining, seriously,” Jessie pouted, stomping her heels in frustration as she turned around to confront her dad. “That’s why I got you an Ironman costume and not like, Peppa the Pig or something.” Her dad stopped in his tracks to keep from running into her legs.
He didn’t look up at her, but knew she was right about how much he had been complaining ever since they left. Here he was, the parent, the adult. He was supposed to be the mature one. “Sorry, you’re right,” he replied, waited for her to turn back around and continue heading towards the house. But his daughter stood firm. Clearly she wasn’t done making her point.
“You’re supposed to be my shy little cousin, right? Because we can’t risk you talking and people thinking you sound like an adult, remember? Daddy? Can you look at me?” He looked up at her to see her with her eyebrows furrowed, looking down to him disapprovingly with her hands on her hips. But what also caught his eye was her shirt. Her soft, white crop top was now accompanied by two hardened nipples, poking through the thin fabric above him, growing steadily more prominent as they reacted to the cold. Why isn’t she wearing a bra? he wondered, but Jessie kept speaking. “Thank you.” Her expression softened now that he was returning her gaze. “So can you just like, keep quiet until the party’s over? Like I’m not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but just like—“ she steadied her hands in front of her, fingers splayed, making a kind of ‘chill out’ motion. She was almost regretting bringing her dad in the first place if he was going to be this much of an issue. He opened his mouth, intent to make a comment about her shirt’s lack of modesty, but she quickly bent down and rushed her pointer finger to his lips, shushing him. “Whatever it is, it can probably wait til after the party. Unless it’s an emergency?” She stood up straight again, hands back on her hips as she cocked her head expectantly, waiting to see if he’d speak up or not. Should I still say something? She’ll probably just complain again about how nosy I’m being, and we already came all the way here, I don’t wanna turn all the way around and drive her home. And Paris too, who’s been a delight all night and hasn’t done anything wrong. Besides, maybe she is wearing a bra. Can nipples poke through them? He didn’t know, of course, since he’d never worn one. I guess it doesn’t—
“Great,” Jessie concluded, interrupting his thoughts and turning back around to head back to the party. Paris had been clasping her hands awkwardly in front of her, her lips pursed while she watched their minor kerfuffle. She didn’t think Jessie was being mean, but she was certainly being brash. If Paris talked to her own parents like that, she wouldn’t be surprised if she got in trouble. But clearly Jessie’s relationship with her dad was a lot more casual than she had remembered. So Marcus followed dutifully behind his daughter, obediently staying quiet while she clacked her way along the sidewalk in her heels, her hips swaying faintly from side to side in front of him.
The three of them arrived at the house, although simply calling it a ‘house’ was downplaying just how massive the mansion was, and the property it was on. It took several minutes to get there from where Marcus parked because of how far apart the properties were on the gorgeous, hill-top neighborhood. There were lights on outside the house and in the yard, with a few boys running around dressed as zombies or other monsters. Various colored lights lit up the windows inside the house, and he could even hear music playing from the outdoor speakers. If this is how someone throws a party as a middle schooler, I can’t imagine what this place will be like when she’s a senior in high school, Marcus thought as they walked down the driveway towards the house. In reality, the host’s mom had been throwing massive, elaborate parties for her kids ever since they were barely old enough to talk. But that didn’t diminish from how impressive of a celebration was being put on. There was even a giant, inflatable spider on the roof, that must’ve been at least twenty feet long, staring down at incoming guests. And only for Halloween too. It’s not even someone’s birthday. Or New Year’s. “Jeez, does she throw parties like this all the time?” Paris asked, echoing Marcus’ thoughts. Jessie swung open the front door with an excited smile on her face, revealing a crowd of dozens of kids in costumes, dancing and eating and drinking while Blinding Lights played in the background. Or really, it played everywhere. There must’ve been speakers in every room echoing the music. Fake cobwebs were strung along the ceilings and doors, while skeletons with glow-up lights stood posed at various intervals throughout the expansive residence. Marcus felt a little jealous even. Shit, I wish people in my class threw parties like this when I was 13. I didn’t even go to anything this cool when I was in college. But as he scoured the house, taking it all in, his eyes came to stop on a head that stood above the rest. A girl, standing in the kitchen, looking out over the party like he was, but with more confidence than curiosity. She must be the host. And that was when he recognized her: it was the same girl that Jessie had shown him on her phone last week. The girl whose tens of thousands of followers made Marcus assume she was a celebrity, and not just a classmate of Jessie’s. The girl whose selfie showed off her large chest and made Marcus feel uneasy when he realized how young she was. The girl who Marcus’ daughter had said she was jealous of, and wished her own boobs could be as large as one day. Veronica.
As her eyes continued to scan the crowd while Marcus watched, they stopped suddenly on the front door, where he and Jessie and Paris had just entered. Her mouth opened slightly, her cool demeanor breaking as a subtle look of surprise overcame her. Marcus gulped, a sense of uneasiness creeping into his stomach. Because from across the crowd of people, she was staring unmistakably, right, exactly at him. And she smiled.