Chapter 25

Evelyn

Halloween night is quickly approaching, so we’ve been going to costume parties for the past few weeks. I’ve had to get incredibly creative with my looks, but tonight I’ve finally just done the costume I’ve been wanting to do.

“I still don’t know why you didn’t want to do the group costume tonight,” Olivia complains as we walk into tonight’s party. “It would have been really fun!”

Ava puts a hand on my roommate’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Liv. Like Evelyn said, we’ll dress up as the Powerpuff Girls tomorrow! Besides, we’re still doing Disney tonight!”

Olivia sighs. “I was just excited. But you still look great, Evelyn.”

I smile at my friends. “Well, you two look great, too.”

Tonight, Ava is dressed up as Tinkerbell, while Olivia decided to dress up as Ariel from Little Mermaid.

I’m dressed as my favorite character from my childhood. I wonder how many people are going to be able to guess who I am. If there’s one thing everyone’s bound to do, it’s ask me who the hell I’ve dressed up as tonight.

Since the costume parties have started, I haven’t gone one night without having to explain a costume. But tonight, I hope people won’t ask too many questions. It’s pretty obvious who I am, after all.

“I’m getting a drink. Who’s thirsty?” Ava asks, sauntering off to find the alcohol. Olivia follows her, and I meander around the room. The two will find me in no time. I stick out like a sore thumb, after all.

I see people I recognize from classes and the dining halls waving hello as I pass.

But I’m looking for someone tonight.

Sebastian invited the three of us to this party tonight. He’s friends with the host and insisted we’d have a good time at this house.

So far, the DJ that they have playing is really good, and there are dozens of people spread out in the two-story home. I’ve never been here before, but so far, I’m enjoying the vibes.

And then, I see Sebastian talking to someone near the stairs. His friend is almost as tall as my stepbrother, and he laughs at something he says.

I push my way through before ending up near the two of them, and I wave to Sebastian to get his attention.

“Ah, there you are,” he says, taking a drink. “Andy, this is Evelyn, the girl I told you I was inviting tonight.”

Andy is dressed as a football player. It even includes a helmet!

The man nods to me. “Welcome, Evelyn, to my party. If Sebastian Cain is putting in a good word for someone, then I assume you must be cool.”

He holds out his hand for me to shake, and I do so before Andy says, “Excuse me, I have a party to host.”

I look at my stepbrother and his costume, trying to remember the name of the character he’s dressed up as.

“What’s that look?” He questions me, tilting his head to the side.

“I’m trying to figure out who you are,” I admit.

“My costume? You don’t know?” He teases.

“I do! I just can’t place it.”

“Well, let me spare you the questions. I’m Iron Man, the superhero.”

The name registers in my head, and I begin nodding. “The Marvel guy?”

He smirks again. “Bingo. Now, who the hell are you supposed to be?”

I look down at my costume and raise an eyebrow. “What, you don’t know who this is?”

“No, I do not, and that is why I’m asking you.”

I shake my head. “Not even a single guess?”

“I’m about to leave, Evelyn. Tell me who you are.”

I laugh out loud, having to grab my stomach to stop the cackling from growing too loud. “Okay, okay! I’m Boo from Monsters Inc.!”

He studies me for a moment, trying to piece what I’ve said together. He suddenly opens his eyes wide. “Oh! The little girl!”

I giggle. “Yes, her.”

He raises an eyebrow but doesn’t stop smiling at me. “And why did you choose a small child as your costume tonight?”

“Who said there’s a reason?” I ask him, though he continues to stare with that eyebrow and smile. Of course, he sees right through me at any chance he gets.

“Because I know you, Evelyn Walters. And you don’t do things at random. There’s always a reason.”

I didn’t plan on telling anyone my reasoning tonight. In fact, Boo is a character I’ve held onto for my costume for a long time. I may be much older, but the little girl still resonates with me.

“When I was really young, my mom used to put on Monsters Inc. all the time. It was my favorite movie. I used to pretend I was Boo, running around the hotel calling out ‘Kitty!’ like Sully was there.”

I look down at the pink t-shirt dress I’m wearing, my white shoes reflecting one of the lights. “I guess being surrounded by adults all the time made me relate just a little bit more to this human in a world of monsters.”

That sentence seems to find something in Sebastian. He stands up straighter.

“Is that how you saw yourself? Someone surrounded by monsters?”

I shrug. “I was young. My mom was all I had back then. If I wanted her nearby, then I had to go find her. Otherwise, it was a sea of strangers.”

“But Boo wasn’t afraid of the monsters,” he insists.

I’m shocked for a second, surprised by Sebastian’s response. He’s listening to me so intensely I’m sure nothing could break his concentration on me.

“No,” I admit. “She wasn’t really. But I still feel a little bit like that lost little girl finding her way around. She didn’t belong. But neither did I.”

He looks around the party thoughtfully before he sticks out his hand to me.

“What are you doing?” I ask him.

“We’re going to dance.”

My eyes widen at his words. “No, we’re not.”

He moves his hand closer. “Evelyn,” he pushes. “You just told me you still look for comfort in a sea of strangers in a small girl from a Pixar movie. You and I are going to dance around this party so I can show you not to be afraid of things you don’t know.”

Am I hearing him right? Is this actually Sebastian standing in front of me at this moment?

“Who are you and what have you done with my stepbrother?” I try to joke. But it doesn’t deter the man in front of me.

“I’m someone who understands how to find a place to cope in characters you treasure, Princess. How when you can’t rely on the world around you, you turn to stories and characters and the world of make-believe. When things got hard, you retreated back to this time. So now, we’re going to dance and push those past memories out so you can make new ones.”

Okay, there’s nothing I can do about that. I have no response and no more fight left in me. I take his hand, and he immediately spins me around twice toward the dance floor.

Sebastian hands me his drink, insisting I take a sip. When I do, I’m surprised by how good it tastes.

“What is this?” I ask, handing back the cup.

“It’s called a grasshopper or a dirty girl scout.”

“A what?!”

He lets out a fun laugh. “A mixed drink! I mixed a batch before coming. Felt like I needed a break from whiskey, beer, bourbon, and tequila.”

“But that’s no fun,” I wink.

“Maybe not,” he agrees.

As we dance, I let myself feel the rhythm in the music and don’t say much other than laugh when Sebastian twirls me around or does a funny extra dance.

Ava and Olivia see us dancing together and leave us be, which I’m half grateful for and half nervous about because I know later I’ll have to answer a thousand questions from my roommate and Ava.

This secret is just growing harder to keep at this point.

“I have a question,” I say, not much later.

“And?”

“You were really confident in knowing Boo was my comfort character.”

“Indeed.”

“And you understand what the feeling of hiding behind a childhood safety net is like.”

He nods.

“So, who is that for you?” I finally ask.

Sebastian keeps moving back and forth but seems to shut down just a bit. And I get my answer immediately.

“Iron Man is your safety net,” I say.

“He is.”

“You don’t have to explain—” I start, but Sebastian shakes his head at me.

“Just like you saw the world around you as those monsters? I saw the world around me filled with grief.”

I don’t know what to say to that, so instead, I wait as we keep swaying back and forth together. The room around us seems so much quieter as we talk.

“Superhero characters, like Iron Man, take the pain, sadness, and grief, and they use it to save others who are in need. Sometimes, when life is, well, difficult, it’s nice to imagine that these heroes are out there and ready to save you at a moment’s notice.”

My heart cracks at these words, and I feel a shift inside of this man. Is he really so afraid of things going wrong that he has to imagine fake heroes out there?

“These people I look up to in my comic book stories are ones I see in myself. I see them take the parts they hate about themselves and use it to help others. Help those who are lost and hurt.”

I wish I could grab his cheeks and tell him the truth. That there are those out there who do care for him. That I care for Sebastian.

But instead, my heart screams out to be heard at the party. Everyone around us is deaf to the cries and pain.

But I take Sebastian’s hand in mine again, squeezing it tight so that he knows I’m here.

And I won’t leave him alone in this way again.