It was Halloween night. My roommates were going all out for our party. They put up banners, dressed up in costumes, you name it. Me? I was trying to avoid it all. But of course, Jenny was insisting everyone participate.
Shane Wellner | Rawr
“Everyone has to dress up,” Jenny told us. “We’re going to impress Greek row.”
Basically, we were going to impress Jenny’s boyfriend Mike and his fraternity brothers. If Jenny’s party was a bust, it would reflect badly on her.
After the decorations were in place, I tried to reason with Jenny. I had to work on my term paper and didn’t have time for the party anyway. I held my breath and waited for her response.
Jenny, in her typical fashion, told me if I didn’t dress up, she would file a complaint to the Dean of Students, whose son happened to be Mike.
So I hastily bought a pair of vampire teeth and dressed in black. Orders were orders.
Jenny tasked me with welcoming guests into the house. A lot of people, Mike and his boys included, told me they thought my costume was “cheap.”
As one would imagine, I was getting sick of this, especially after someone else showed up in a much better vampire costume. I snuck away while Jenny was busy with Mike’s buddies and sat on a bench outside of a fraternity house.
“Looks like you’re having a rough night.”
I looked up, and there was a girl in a gown, a tall hat and green face paint staring down on me sympathetically.
“Mind if I join you?” she asked.
I motioned to the bench. She sat down. “I’m Sarah,” she said.
“Felicia,” I muttered.
“You don’t like your sorority president, do you?” Sarah asked.
I looked at her. Her gaze was piercing. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was … almost settling.
“How did you know that?”
Sarah simply shrugged. I sighed.
“Jenny thinks she’s on top of the world. She thinks she can boss everyone around. I wish I could teach her a lesson, but she has connections that come in handy when she wants something.”
“What if you could teach her a lesson?”
I looked back at her. She smiled.
“I have connections too,” she said and gestured to her green face. “This isn’t a costume. I’m a witch, and I have spell that would help you out.”
Maybe it was the fact that I was beaten down by Jenny, but I actually believed her. “You’re a witch?”
“I’ll prove it to you. I have a spell that can only be performed on Halloween. It turns someone into whatever they’re dressed as. In your case, you would turn into a vampire.”
That got me thinking. Could I, Felicia Garrish, an ordinary college freshman, be a vampire? I pictured it, mouthing off my thoughts to Sarah. “Sharp teeth, no sunlight, drinking blood?”
“Don’t forget immortality,” Sarah smirked.
And right then, it got interesting.
“You would do that for me?” I asked sincerely. “You would turn me into a vampire?”
Sarah grinned.
“I only get this opportunity once a year. I’m very selective about who I use the spell on. I’ve turned people into mermaids, werewolves, one time, it was a girl dressed as an ice queen. I looked for people who would benefit from the change. You’re one of them Felicia. What do you say?”
Later, I returned to the party, scoping for Jenny. I caught her by the punch bowl, flirting with someone who wasn’t Mike. I told her there was an emergency in my room. She groaned and followed me upstairs. When we got to my room, I locked the door and enjoyed my dinner.
That was my last Halloween as a normal girl.