Be Cruel, Only To Be Kind
That night in the theatre, it was easy to tell that everyone’s mind was elsewhere. Most of us were planning to attend Kelsey’s party, and more than a few actors arrived with Halloween costumes in hand, not wanting to waste a second of time between curtain call and party. I wasn’t quite as anxious, but the enthusiasm in the building was kind of infectious. By the end of the second act, I could feel myself growing more and more excited – although I may have been mostly looking forward to seeing Zac again.
As soon as the house lights came up and we took our bow, you could feel the entire cast snapping back to reality. We all rushed from the stage and to the dressing rooms. As soon as I passed through the door, I grabbed my purse and pulled out my cell phone, sending Zac a quick text to let him know I would be back in the dorm in a few minutes.
Once I got Zac’s reply, letting me know that he was already in my room getting into costume, I rushed to take off my Ophelia costume. I felt a little guilty about that, because I knew I would be in serious trouble if I ripped it, but luckily I didn’t. With my costume hanging securely on its hanger again, I turned to the mirror and began pulling my fancy hairdo down. Luckily, I didn’t need to do much to my hair and makeup to transition from Ophelia to Dorothy – just put those curls into pigtails and slap on some red lipstick. I could do both of those things easily in the dressing room.
“Victoria, are you going to Kelsey’s party?” Cecily asked.
“That’s the plan,” I replied, cautiously glancing at her reflection in the makeup mirror. Christin stood behind her, still changing out of her costume. I thought I saw her shoulders tense, but I couldn’t be certain.
“Is your boyfriend – what’s his name? – going, too?”
I winced. I knew Cecily didn’t mean any harm. She couldn’t know what was going on. I nodded slightly. “Yeah, he’s getting into his costume right now. I should probably go check on him.”
Like the coward I was, I scooped up my makeup, dumped it into my purse and hurried out of the dressing room before anything else could be said. I scurried out of the theatre building as quickly as I could, even bypassing the few audience members who were still lingering in the lobby. I passed dozens of other students in costume as I made my way across campus to Johnson, where I knew Zac was waiting in my room.
Just as I expected, I swung open the door to my room and found Zac sitting in Justine’s desk chair, already wearing the furry bodysuit part of his costume. The wig that came with the costume wasn’t very pretty, so we decided just to fluff up his own hair, playing up the fact that, while it was short, it had a certain lion mane quality already. Justine was already dressed in her costume – Strawberry Shortcake – and was poised in front of Zac with a makeup palette.
I had to giggle at the nervous look Zac shot me when I walked in. “Putting your face on?”
“Something like that,” he mumbled, trying not to scrunch up his face as Justine began dabbing on reddish brown makeup to match his costume.
As much as I wanted to just stand and watch that, I knew the party had already started and I wasn’t even in my costume yet. I turned away to retrieve it from the closet, slipping into the shirt and jumper quickly. My mom had made the costume, in addition to Justine’s, so they were far higher quality than what I expected most other girls at the party to be wearing. Then again, it was a theatre party, so I was also certain we wouldn’t be the only people pulling out all the stops. I slipped my feet into the socks and slippers, then turned back to Zac and Justine to see how they were progressing.
“How bad do I look?” Zac asked, frowning.
“You look adorable,” I replied, holding my arm out to him. “Come on. Let’s go see the wizard. Or get drunk. Whichever.”
Zac and Justine locked arms with me and we set off across campus. There were dozens of other students in costume still milling around, heading off to one party or another. It certainly seemed most of them were walking in the same general direction as we were, though. That made me a little nervous, but I knew I was going to have not only Zac, but all of my friends, with me. The party would be just fine.
Sure enough, the front lawn and porch of Kelsey’s house were teeming with people in costumes. I thought I recognized a few faces, but it was difficult to say. Everyone else had definitely gone all out with the costumes – there were scary ones, innovative ones, artistic ones and everything in between. Zac, Justine and I wiggled our way through the crowd and into the house, where the crowd was, if possible, even thicker.
“Toria! Justine!” A female voice called out, and after looking around, I matched it to Whitley.
She, Evan, Taylor and Joseph had managed to find a comfy spot on the couch – well, and the floor in front of the couch. We squeezed our way through the crowd to reach them. Justine wiggled onto the couch with Whitley and Evan, while Zac and I cuddled in the floor next to the other happy couple. The four of them were all dressed as zombies; it didn’t seem overly creative at first, but the makeup was exceptional. They had even managed to cover Whitley’s brace with papier-mache rotting flesh.
“Here, drink up,” Taylor said, passing Zac a huge convenience store soda cup.
Zac raised an eyebrow, but did as Taylor said. I could tell by the way he squirmed that the cup most definitely did not contain only soda. With an apologetic smirk, Zac handed the cup to me and I took a swig as well. There was a tangy, banana aftertaste to it, but it wasn’t unpleasant. Leave it to Taylor to bring a stealthily fruity drink.
The seven of us sat there for a long time passing the giant cup of soda and magic banana whatever back and forth for ages, hardly even speaking. The party raged on around us, but we were in our own little bubble and it was wonderful. It wasn’t just the alcohol; it was the company. We were the perfect little group, for all our weirdness and awkwardness. For once, I had a group. I had friends. And not just friends – I had Zac, too. The word boyfriend was hardly even adequate to describe how wonderful he was, I decided.
“Aww, man,” Zac said, pouting as he lifted the lid of the cup. “We’re out.”
Taylor chuckled. “We had another one on the way over here. But I’m sure you guys can find something in the kitchen if you want another drink…”
Zac glanced at me and I nodded. My head was a little warm and fuzzy, but I knew I was hardly even tipsy. Another drink sounded wonderful, although I doubted we would find anything that lived up to Taylor’s, apparently, great mixing skills.
Hand in hand, Zac and I made our way into the kitchen. I couldn’t help briefly flashing back to the last time we were together in that room. It made me a little ill, but I tried not to let that show. Things were different now. Now we were together and I was mixing up two rum and cokes for us while Zac brushed against my side none to subtly. I definitely didn’t mind at all, although I would have preferred to get a room before things got any more touchy feely. I turned to hand him his drink and tell him exactly that, but I didn’t have time to get the words out.
“Well, look who’s here.”
I knew even before I saw her face exactly who those words had come from. Christin. And even though I didn’t want to, I spun around and faced her head on, my grip on my drink as tight as it could possibly be without spilling it everywhere. “Yes, I believe you were in the dressing room when I said I was coming to the party.”
“Sorry, wasn’t listening,” she said with a fake smile and a ridiculously exaggerated toss of her hair. She was dressed as a… well, I wasn’t really sure. A slutty something. Maybe just a slut. “And I definitely didn’t hear that you were bringing him.”
I gaped and Zac nearly spit out the sip of his drink he had taken – probably to keep himself from saying anything to Christin. He swallowed it down and looked nervously at me, clearly hoping I would make the next move. I gulped down a quick and large amount of my drink, hoping to give myself some fast moving liquid courage before I finally spoke. “Well, I definitely did say I was bringing him. And I’m pretty sure I said he was my boyfriend, too.”
“I thought you finally wised up and dumped him?” She asked, and I could tell by the glassy look in her eyes that she was not remotely sober. The way she was closing in on Zac, practically circling him like a predator about to devour their prey, kind of hinted at it, too. “Or did you wise up and dump her?”
Somehow, over the few months I had known him, I had developed this sixth sense where Zac was concerned. He was normally a calm, easy going guy, but when he got angry, it was just this side of terrifying. And I could sense it coming. When he downed the rest of his drink and tossed the cup over his shoulder, I knew. And when he shot me a quick look before turning to face Christin, I instinctively backed away, not wanting to be collateral damage.
“Actually, we both wised up,” Zac said, drawing sarcastic little quotation marks around the last two words. “We wised up and realized that letting someone like you break us up was the stupidest thing we could possibly do. So yes, I am her boyfriend. And I am not anything to you. Never was, never will be.”
Christin’s confidence seemed to falter, but only for a second before she stepped in even closer to Zac. She didn’t seem to notice the way he flinched and snarled at the closeness. “Oh, but I was something to you once, wasn’t I? You can’t deny that.”
“Oh, you were something once, and only once,” Zac replied. “You were the girl I kissed when I was drunk as hell, angry and stupid. I would have made out with any girl who threw herself at me, but it just happened to be you. And I wasn’t dating Toria then, so how fucking dare you insinuate that I would cheat on her. Next time, try your little games on someone who’s actually as stupid as you seem to think we are and maybe you’ll have a little more luck. But sorry. You’re nothing to me now, and Toria is everything.”
I could see Christin actually crumbling in front of us. I wondered if anyone had ever dared to stand up to her before and tell her that she couldn’t have everything she wanted. From the way she was trembling and seemingly on the verge of tears, I had to assume this was a first. But she was still an actress. In seconds, she had pulled herself together, stood up to her full height and plastered on a blank look that betrayed no emotions at all. With a tiny little squeak, the sound just barely giving away that she felt anything at all, she turned on her heel and walked away from us.
Once she was out of sight, Zac seemed to shrink back down to his normal, unassuming self. It was funny to watch, in a way. He turned to face me and I could see from the apprehension on his face that he was waiting for my judgment. I gave an exaggerated sigh and smiled at him. “My hero.”
“Yeah?” He asked, wrinkling up his nose – which was even an more adorable move than usual with the black nose and whiskers drawn on.
I nodded, wrapping my arms around him. “Absolutely. I don’t know why, but I just can’t deal with her. So thank you.”
He leaned down and kissed me, and I couldn’t resist the urge to keep my eyes open. He just looked too adorable in that costume, with his face painted like a little lion. Not a cowardly one, though; that might have been the costume, but my Zac was not cowardly at all. And he was my Zac. Staring up at him in that kitchen, even a little tipsy, I knew I wasn’t going to doubt again how I felt about him.