Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Twenty-Four

*This chapter contains multimedia relevant to the plot*

Halloween fell on a Tuesday.

Which didn't stop Jenna from throwing her traditional party, just for football players, cheerleaders and other sports varsity teams.

Carter had asked Johnny about his plans on Monday. He said he and Lydia had a tradition to watch Halloween-themed movies on the holiday. 

Their time at the library after school had been the least productive, that week. Filled with lingering glances and inevitable smiles. And an embarrassingly reduced amount of studying involved. Neither of them cared, though.

Tony would be working on Halloween night and Carter's mom was going to join him at the Ristorante. Carter was also surprised to learn the house would be empty, as Mike had offered to take Charlie trick-or-treating, and Frankie and Bella both had plans to stay at a friend's house, while Luca had made an insistent case to be allowed to go to Jenna's party with Carter. The two of them would not be staying for dinner, since Jenna had promised to order industrial amounts of pizza.

After getting ready, Carter walked into the kitchen, where Bella sat at the table with Spiderman-Charlie and a groomed up Luca, while Mike and Frankie moved around the stove.

Upon meeting the family, he expected the Santoro siblings to be mayhem in a kitchen—being who they were, in a space where there was a collection of appliances that combined gas, radiation and fire. He learned very early on, though, that they all seemed to have received their dad's magical cooking gene. Except for Bella, who usually sat back on Charlie-watching duty.

"Are we leaving?" Luca asked.

"As soon as Seth gets here," Carter answered.

It didn't take long. Seth texted Carter in a few minutes saying he was at their door and they left as the Santoros' kitchen finally started to smell of homemade pesto sauce. 

Jenna's wasn't packed this time. She had a big house and she only invited athletes on Halloween. It had started as something she did freshmen year just for their year's players and cheerleaders, after they didn't get invited for the upperclassmen party. The year after that, after word had spread, her party was the event to go.

Costumes were optional, pizzas were abundant and alcohol was mandatory. That's all there was to these parties. A bunch of sportsmen and cheerleaders finding yet another excuse to drink and be drunk. On a school day, this time. 

Carter returned grins and cheering greetings as he walked in, but he squirmed away each time someone offered him a drink, trying to pass it along to either Jenna or Joey. Mostly because he always got tipsy—or full-on wasted—on the account of those drinks people slipped into his hands or shoved under his nose. Carter didn't usually like turning things down, but he didn't want to get drunk on that particular night. Mostly because he planned to spend it texting Johnny.

Which was why he found himself sitting on Jenna's marble doorsteps, phone in his hands and smile on his face, a couple of hours after he arrived.