With the Kings’ assistance, I choose a mermaid costume. Only gloves accompany the skin-tight leotard. Crystal offers me high heels, but I settle for flats. I’ve never liked high heels and if I wear them, I’ll end up falling and twisting her ankle.

While Adam covers my face in swirling colors that compliment the metallics in the costume, Crystal curls my hair. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her my hair will need a sea of hairspray to hold body, but she quickly realizes the truth. Somehow, Crystal wrangles my locks into submission, though I warn her, my hair will be flat half-way through the party.

“We’ll just have to slow dance then,” Crystal whispers in my ear, and a chill scurries up my spine.

He can’t have heard his wife, but Adam smirks like has.

“Beautiful,” the Kings say in unison once they complete their tasks a few minutes later.

Adam turns me to face the bedroom’s floor-length mirror. I can’t believe how good the Kings have made me look, especially Adam’s attention to detail. Due to his careful hand, delicate scales frame my eyes and dust my bare shoulders. He’s performed magic on my lips and they now look plump.

I don’t know if I resemble a mermaid, but I sure appear otherworldly.

“You guys are incredible,” I gush and kiss both the Kings’ cheeks before I realize what I’ve done. I step back so fast I almost stumble. “Uh, thank you.”

The Kings glance at each other before smiling at me. “You’re welcome,” they respond as one.

“So, uh...” I start for the bedroom door. “I’ll just let you guys get ready.”

I don’t wait for their comment and run down to the first floor. There, to keep my mind from my embarrassment, I help the caterer set up. I discover Crystal ordered mini fish tacos and lemon cheesecake bites, two of my favorite foods I causally told Crystal about months ago.

The sight of the simple party food flatters me more than it should, but I can’t help it. Not even my mother, with her excellent memory, can remember my likes and dislikes with food since they don’t coincide with hers.

By the time all the food is arranged, and the drinks are chilling, the Kings make their entrance. Crystal looks like a painting brought to life in her tight, Grecian-inspired dress and sandals. Subtle shimmer makeup draws attention to her high cheekbones and round eyes, and she’s even put some on her chest to emphasize her cleavage. Adam has decided to dress like a fireman, though one about to be photographed for a sexy calendar. His lanky body doesn’t have the hard muscles of those models, but the costume emphasizes his pleasing shape nonetheless.

The Kings strike silly poses when they see me eyeing them.

“How do we look?” Adam asks.

I chuckle. “Wonderful.”

Crystal tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Of course, we do.” She smiles, and then races to me. She points at the food. “Have you tried anything yet?”

I shake my head. “I’d thought I’d wait until everyone else arrives.”

Crystal picks up a stuffed mushroom and pops it into her mouth. “Why? I never do,” she says while chewing.

Adam appears beside us and rolls his eyes at his wife. “Ah, the most proper of gracious hostesses.”

Crystal sticks her tongue out at him. “Hey, I paid for this. I should be able to—”

The doorbell rings (it’s been changed to The Munsters theme song for the occasion).

Crystal smirks. “Besides, the party’s started.”

***

In quick session, the party hits full swing. Though the Kings only invited twenty of their closest friends, the first floor seems full of people, yet never feels crowded. Various Halloween music can be heard, except in the living room. There, everything has been cleared away to leave a bare dance floor, and music intended to make bodies move blares. After a few mixed drinks, many couples display their dance skill or lack of.

For the first hour, the Kings introduce me to all their friends. Many offer me warm smiles and kind words about my costume. One woman dressed like a tattered Raggedy Ann doll, though, examines me like she would a roach she just crushed with her shoe, then flicks her attention to the Kings.

“Have you heard about Jenna?”

Crystal chokes on her drink.

Adam glares at the woman. “No, and we don’t care.” He steers me and Crystal away from the horrid bitch. When enough distance has been made, he checks his wife. “Are you okay?”

Crystal waves him away. “I just—It’s been a while since—I’m okay.”

“I’m going to get you some water, okay?”

“If it’ll make you feel better.”

“Yeah.” Adam looks at me. “Can I get you anything?”

“One of those apple drinks would be nice.”

Adam leaves.

I touch Crystal’s arm. Her face has yet to regain color, and her eyes glisten with tears. I wish I could get my hands on that woman, and Jenna, for the two of them making Crystal feel so terrible.

“What a friend,” I snarl before I can stop myself.

“I should have known Lila would say something.”

“Why invite her then?”

Crystal shrugs. “Wishful thinking that she wouldn’t.” She takes two deep breaths. “Sorry.”

“For?”

“It’s been months, and I shouldn’t have reacted like that.” Crystal frowns. “It’s not even like I want Jenna back or anything. Most days I don’t think about her. But Lila asks one question, and it upsets me.”

“Setbacks are expected. You did date her for a long time.”

Crystal shakes her head. “It’s not that.” Her gaze drops to the floor. “I just don’t want...you to think...I still care about Jenna.”

The statement floors me, but Adam arrives before I can sort through how it makes me feel, and how I should respond. He watches us sip our drinks, then we talk to more of the Kings’ friends. Crystal acts as though she didn’t make that confession, but she holds my hand the entire time.

I try to pay attention to the conversations the Kings drag me into, but my mind can’t focus on anything other than Crystal’s previous statement. Why would it matter what I think of Crystal still caring about Jenna? Is it possible I haven’t imagined the Kings’ flirting the past weeks? Did that kiss mean more than Crystal let on?

Should I ask? What about flirting? To an extent, I have been, but it hasn’t been intentional. Should I try? Would it be inappropriate to do at their party? What if I embarrass them in front of their friends?

With my thoughts elsewhere, I don’t notice a woman in a Phoenix costume trip until the last second. I can’t move away fast enough, and the woman’s drink splashes over the front of my leotard. Ice works its way down my cleavage, and I yelp.

“Oh, shit!” the woman cries.

“No! No, it’s fine,” I say as I squirm. The ice has traveled from my breasts to rest around my bellybutton.

“I got this,” Crystal says and tugs me toward the downstairs bathroom. Once there, she shuts the door and grabs the hand towel hanging on a rack by the sink. “Let me get that.”

“Okay.”

Crystal dabs at the liquid on my front. Luckily, the woman wasn’t drinking any alcohol, just flavored seltzer water. I’ll smell like blackberries for the rest of the night, but I won’t mind.

Crystal finishes and points at my cleavage. “I thought I saw—Do you want me to—I mean—Here.” She shoves the towel into my grasp. “I guess I’ll let you...get the rest.”

I take Crystal’s hand and stop her exit. “Why, uh, does my opinion about how you feel about Jenna matter so much?”

Crystal’s gaze rests on my chin. “Well, because of how she treated you...”

“What about—” I swallow hard. If I utter my next question, there’s no going back. But I can’t continue in limbo any longer. “Did that kiss mean anything?”

Crystal mouths “that kiss” and closes her eyes. “Yes.”

My heart skips a beat. “Seriously?”

Crystal nods, her eyes still shut. “I’d been thinking about you a lot, long before Jenna left. That’s why I felt so guilty. I’d thought I’d pushed her away, but our relationship had been on the rocks for some time. I know I shouldn’t have kissed you then.” Crystal’s eyes open, and a soft smile shadows her lips. “But I’m so glad I did.”

My head spins. No, this must be a dream. Maybe I still nap in my car on that backroad. Crystal didn’t just admit what I’ve wanted to hear for weeks.

Yet I can’t deny the truth when Crystal kisses me. Even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined Crystal’s soft, sure lips in such detail. The kiss steals my breath, and it’s every bit as wonderful as our first.

Once my initial surprise wears off, I return the intensity, and Crystal moans. The sound shoots a jolt of warmth to my lower stomach and encourages my hands to roam Crystal’s body. Crystal presses against me and tangles her fingers in my hair.

Just then the door opens, and a man fumbling with his zipper bursts inside. We jump apart. The man looks between us, blushes as he mumbles an apology, and leaves.

Crystal giggles.

I clear my throat and smooth down my hair. “I think we’ve been gone, um, a little too...yeah.”

Crystal checks her makeup in the mirror before intertwining her fingers with mine. “Let’s party.”