Page 56 of Love Me Not
I kept walking, realizing that we were once again being seen in public, and I could only imagine how quickly the news would race through the grapevine. The idea of being the center of gossip still bothered me, but there were no rules about teachers fraternizing outside of work hours. Trey and I weren’t doing anything wrong. We were just… hanging out.
Semantics could sometimes work in your favor.
Chapter Fourteen
One of the many reasons I never pursued acting professionally was because I don’t enjoy wearing costumes. While other students were excited come wardrobe day, when they’d get the full workup for their characters—hair, makeup, and clothing—I dreaded the ordeal. The poking and prodding, and for certain characters there would be the added prosthetics.
Acting requires a level of play that never came naturally to me. You are literally playing dress up and pretend. Those are childhood games for a reason. I was in love with the language and expressing emotions through language, but I was not in love with the physicality of performing.
My disdain for costumes carried over into the one holiday a year when this was also a requirement. Halloween. Whenever possible I avoided dressing up, but Hullabaloo was putting on a kids’ festival and Josie volunteered the rest of us to help run the games. I tried to convince them that I could run a game in my regular clothes, but they used the It’s for the kids argument and I had to cave.
Thankfully, they didn’t insist on final approval of the costume, so I went with the next best thing.
“Lindsey Pavolski, that’s cheating.” Josie slammed her hands onto hips, causing the frilly wings on her back to flutter. “You agreed to dress up.”
“I am dressed up. School teacher is a valid Halloween costume.”
“That’s what you wear to work every day.”
In my defense, this was not what I wore every day. Not all of it, anyway. “I bought this cat cardigan specifically for tonight, and I rarely wear my hair in a bun.” Spinning, I added, “I even put an apple-shaped eraser on the pencil stuck in my hair.”
Tinkerbell turned sarcastic. “What was I thinking? You’re practically unrecognizable.”
“Games go live in fifteen minutes,” Miles said as he joined us. Dressed in green from head to toe, he’d fully committed to the aesthetic, which suited him, really. The man who only threw children’s parties dressed as the boy who never grew up. “Thanks for coming, Lindsey.”
“You’re welcome.”
They’d done a great job decorating the area in front of the office. We were right on Grandview on Mount Washington, which offered an amazing view of downtown across the river. Workers were flooding off the incline, hustling home to either give out candy, get their kids ready to collect some, or to turn off all the lights and hide from the trick or treaters.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” Josie asked him.
“About what?”
She gestured toward me. “About her costume.”
Miles tilted his head. “You’re a teacher, right?”
“Yes,” I confirmed.
“The kids will get that. Good idea.”
Josie huffed and rolled her eyes as Megan and Ryan arrived. The moment she saw them, she threw her hands in the air. “You guys, too? You’re all cheaters.”
“What?” Megan said.
“You’re just wearing your regular softball uniforms. Those aren’t costumes.”
“Costumes are just clothes worn out of context,” Ryan pointed out. Very big-brained of him. “We aren’t at a game, so instead of uniforms, they’re costumes.”
If Josie huffed any harder she was going to shake those wings right off her back. “You’re totally missing the spirit of the holiday.”
“Are we late?” Becca asked, rushing toward us in a blue and white checkered dress with an odd shaped puppy strapped to her chest.
“Finally,” Josie said. “Someone in a real costume.”
“Is that Noah under there?” I stepped closer and lifted one ear. The little one looked snug and warm in the terrier costume.
“He’s Toto,” Becca said. “Jacob is parking the car.”