Lexi's Love & War

Chapter 15

Halloween landed on a Monday this year, leaving NYU students to hold parties on the weekend leading up to it. So, Lexi had planned to attend Isaac and his roommates' house party late Friday night. She found herself looking forward to the get-together. Admittedly, she was more excited to see Isaac again, rather than attending the party itself. She had texted him off and on since their date but hadn't seen each other in-person. Between their respective course loads and Lexi's job, they'd been too busy to hang out again.

Lexi fixed her black sequin headband before examining her costume in her bedroom mirror. She'd decided to dress up as a flapper, complete with a little black dress, red pumps, and her hair in curls. She'd initially decided to add some matte red lipstick but changed her mind at the last minute. As she smoothed on some lip balm, her hands began to shake. She'd only changed her mind about that little detail on the off chance that Isaac would kiss— something she'd never thought of before.

No, relax, she chastised. Don't worry about what could happen; just enjoy yourself.

Satisfied, she grabbed her clutch and left her bedroom to find Nikita. She was waiting at the door while playing on her phone. She had dressed as a New York Giants football player, complete with traditional eye black.

"Sorry for making you wait."

Nikita glanced up. "It's okay. That's a cool costume."

"Thanks," Lexi replied. "Let's go now."

The friends walked the short distance from their apartment complex to the guys' house. Felipe greeted them before letting them inside to join the party. It was more packed than the last party, thanks to each guy having invited a few more friends from their respective programs. But Lexi didn't mind too much. She just focused on having a good time with her closest friends.

"Damn, you look fine!" Felipe exclaimed.

"Dude, quit it!" Nikita snapped. "What if Isaac heard you?"

But Lexi didn't seem too concerned. "Felipe knows his place, so it's fine. Speaking of, where is Isaac?"

Felipe shrugged as he adjusted the jacket of his Frankenstein costume. "He's either in his bedroom or in the bathroom— I don't know for sure. Want a drink?"

Lexi shook her head. "No, thank you."

DeShawn suddenly appeared in a vampire costume. "Hey, guys! It's great to see you teo!"

"Thanks! Tonight's gonna be fun," Lexi remarked.

"I need a drink, though," Nikita proclaimed. She gave Felipe a disappointed look. "Why don't you already have one for me?"

"I didn't want to assume that you wanted one," Felipe argued. "Jesus, sorry for being nice, Nikita!"

Lexi rolled her eyes with a giggle. She'd seen their banter off and on at many a party, so she knew they were only teasing.

DeShawn also shrugged it off. "You two are weird."

"Tell me about it," Lexi added. "I'll see you guys later if that's okay."

"Of course it's okay," DeShawn said. "Have fun, alright?"

"Don't do anything he would do!" Nikita shouted while jeering her thumb towards Felipe. He scoffed in response before heading off to the kitchen to grab some drinks.

Lexi happened to follow him close behind. "You two seem quite close."

"Yeah, we've known each other since high school," Felipe revealed. "We had a couple of classes together at first, but we didn't really know each other. We didn't become friends until junior year when we both took computer programming. We were forced to be lab partners, but we soon learned that we like a lot of the same things. Nikita seems cold when you first meet her, but she's an awesome friend."