The last leaves fell from the tree in my yard as the cool October breeze slid through the branches, knocking them loose. I was standing amongst them, rake in hand, as the first Trick-or-Treaters walked past me to grab candy from the bowl on my porch. "Nice costumes, guys," I told them as they walked away with their spoils.
"Thanks," said the diminutive Pirate Captain as he, Spider-man and Mario headed off to the next house. I turned and went back to raking. Oh, the joy of homeownership, I thought wryly. I wasn't even a homeowner, just a 21-year-old in college living in my parents' house while my parents spent their winters in Florida. They'd left last week, planning on visiting home at Thanksgiving. In the meantime, I was responsible for the house and yard maintenance including, but not limited to, raking leaves and shoveling snow.
I kept at it, slowly clearing the lawn and bagging up the leaves. I didn't see the point, but I'd been given specific jobs and I'm certain my parents were checking on their doorbell camera to make sure they were getting done. I heard footsteps crunching the leaves on the curb and turned, expecting to see more costumed kids continuing their pursuit of sugar.
"Hey Liam," said my neighbor, Alyssa, with a wave as I turned around. Alyssa was a year younger than me, attending the same community college I was. I'd had a crush on her for years. She was walking her dog, a Golden Retriever named Apollo.
"Happy Halloween," I said back. "How's it going?" Alyssa stopped, letting Apollo sniff his way around the plants my parents had around the mailbox. She was wearing a loose sweatshirt and baggy jeans, good lounging clothes. She was pretty, if in a nerdy sort of way, and I'd been attracted to her for as long as I could remember. We'd hung out plenty as teenagers, but I'd never pursued her, primarily because she only dated girls.
"Not bad, just hanging around until a party tonight, what are you up to?" she responded. Her dark hair fluttered in the breeze as she watched her dog moseying about.
"Nothing much, just chores. My usual Halloween party isn't happening this year, my friend who throws it is out of town. Figured I'd end up watching a Halloween movie or two when I finished. Is Ellie going with you?" I leaned on my rake as some more kids came walking up the drive.
"Ellie and I broke up. About a month ago," said Alyssa.
"I'm sorry," I said. Ellie had been around for a couple of years. She was nice, and always seemed pretty cool when we hung out together. "That sucks. You all good?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's getting easier. She transferred to the University downstate, and we made it about a month-long distance before we decided to call it off. What about you, no girls around?" asked Alyssa.
"Not for a while, unfortunately, been on a bit of a dry spell," I responded.
"Why don't you come with me to the party later? It's just off campus, going to be a bunch of people our age, lots of cheap beer and bad decisions, you know the deal," she laughed. I thought about it, and decided it was preferable to spending the night on the couch eating too much candy.
"Alright, yeah," I said, then hesitated. "Costume party, right? I'll have to throw something together."
"Yeah," she said. "You're a history nerd, right? You'll like mine."
"What is it?" I asked curiously.
"You'll just have to wait and see. I'll come back over here around 7? You drive, I'm hoping somebody takes me home tonight," she said with a wink as she led Apollo back toward her house. All I could do was wish she wasn't a lesbian. Oh well, I thought to myself. Maybe I'd meet someone else at this party.
***
I looked in the mirror, checking my appearance before going to answer the doorbell. I'd thrown on a costume I'd worn senior year of high school. I had a short toga (more of a tunic) with a purple sash and an olive wreath on my head. I thought it looked pretty good for a last-minute party invitation. I ran downstairs and answered the door.
Alyssa waved her fingers at me as I opened it, looking like an absolute vision. I'd known for years she was pretty, but tonight she looked... hot as fuck. There was no other way to say it. She was wearing a sexy Cleopatra costume, complete with an Egyptian Pharaoh's headdress. The costume consisted of a white cloth top with gold piping that was little more than a bra, and a white cloth miniskirt that hugged her hips tightly, with a gold mesh cape that draped over her arms and fell down her back. I stared, speechless, and she giggled.
"I take it you approve of the costume," she said with a smile. She looked me up and down, then frowned for a moment, and then grinned. "Guess we won't be hooking up with random strangers tonight, everyone is going to think we're a couple, Julius."
"Augustus. And shit. I had no idea, I don't really have another costume laying around," I said.
"Nerd. I do, but I look fucking hot in this, so I'm not changing. It is what it is, I guess," she said with a smirk. "You ready to go? If everyone thinks we're a couple we'll just have to sleep with each other tonight, I guess." She grinned mischievously.
"Tease," I said, wishing it could be true. She just wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, then laughed.
I dumped some more candy into the bowl on my porch for any straggling kids. "Should be good now," I said, deliberately trying not to look at her ample chest as it strained against the fabric of her costume.
"Let's go then," she said, and turned to walk to my car. Her heeled golden sandals clicked on the walkway as she stepped down from my porch. I watched her hips sway as she walked, her round butt swaying enticingly in its tight cloth wrapping.
We drove the short distance to campus, Alyssa laughing at my jokes and teasing me about random stuff from our teen years the whole way. She was being open and flirtatious, and I was glad she was able to go out and have fun after her breakup. A couple of times she put her hand on my arm or shoulder, and I found myself desperately wishing things could be different between us.
When we got there, she directed me down a side street where a bunch of college students rented houses. Most people who went to the local community college lived at home, but a few streets around campus were rentals for people who wanted to get "the college experience."
"So, whose party is this?" I asked.
"A couple girls in my biology classes," she said. "They're really nice, I made friends with a couple of them and I'm pretty sure their roommate wants to fuck me, but I'm not really interested." I coughed, trying to cover my surprise at her forwardness. She giggled again; a sweet laugh that filled the car. "Feel free to step in and help me out if you see me talking to a short blonde named Sarah, deal?"
