A/N: This chapter is from Tessa's point of view and is supposed to represent an entry in her diary. I write my diaries in a sort-of story form, so I thought it was fun to imagine that Tessa did too. It was originally supposed to be 1 part but it was too long so I broke it into 2. Enjoy!!
Walking into work the very next day, I was met with a barrage of employees in various masks and colored headbands.
Confusion registered on my face as I looked around the office to take in the new decorations: spider webs, skeletons, and a whole bunch of ghosts. I quickly checked my phone for the first time that day, shocked to learn that I had completely forgotten today was Halloween.
"Hey boo-tiful!" Kim rushed over to me with a plastic pumpkin full of candy and an ear-to-ear smile. "Grab anything you want, there's no nuts in them so they're safe for you to eat. Any fun plans tonight?"
I smiled back, grabbing a chocolate bar and shrugging my shoulders. "I guess I've been so busy I completely forgot. No plans yet."
The secretary winked before her eyes shifted to the pantry. Hardin was preparing a cup of coffee, unaware of both of our stares. "There's still some time, maybe that'll change by the end of the day."
With a piece of candy hanging out of my mouth, I hummed in agreement. Perhaps it would, but I didn't want to force it.
Luckily enough, Hardin caught up to me as I was getting lunch in the cafeteria. He approached me with a grin as I shoved my tray along the buffet bar. "Not grabbing any of the shitty Halloween themed desserts today?"
I tried to hide my excitement by feigning indifference. "Hm. Guess not."
He picked up an apple that was smothered with caramel to look like a pumpkin. "Are you sure? This one looks pretty awful...as far as deserts go at least. Looks like something you'd be into."
I shoved him lightly, a smile breaking through my lips despite my best efforts. "Stop it. You have no idea what I'm into." After he waltzed past me with his sandwich, I reached back to grab the apple before he could see.
Hardin paid for his lunch, slipping the cashier an extra few bucks to covertly cover my order as well. "Hmm, I know something I think you might be into." He said, smirking at the apple on my tray as he led me to an empty table and pulled out two chairs.
"What's that, new co-workers disturbing my quiet lunch?" I joked, and he waved me off.
"I thought you might want to come to our show tonight." Hardin trained both of his eyes on me, the intensity almost making me sweat. "We're playing a house party at some guy's mansion. It's not a date per-se, but it'd be nice to have you there I guess." He tapered off towards the end, refusing to look me in the eye.
Everything inside me was screaming 'yes,' but I was still a little salty about his inability to date despite the fair reasoning. "Hmm...maybe." I answered, enjoying the way the corners of his mouth dipped into a slight frown.
Clearing his throat, he busied himself with biting into his sub. Eventually, he stood. "Well. Good ole' Steph has all the info. Swing by if you want." When I nodded without looking up from my food, he began to leave. "Enjoy your quiet lunch."
It was my turn to frown, and I wondered if I was coming off too cold. Sure, he made a point to tell me it wasn't a date. But that didn't mean he wouldn't change his mind. "Fine!" I called across the cafeteria. "See you there."
As he waved over his shoulder, I thought I saw him break into a grin once again.
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The party turned out to be everything I had imagined a One Direction Halloween performance to be and more. Fans, friends, and other bands were floating around the backyard of the enormous mansion, dancing and partying to their heart's content.
As with most Halloween parties, all of the girls had a lot in their cups and very little on their bodies. The amount of cat costumes I'd seen that night had reached an astronomical number, and I was glad I followed my gut and branched out.
"Aren't you glad I convinced you not to be a cat again this year?" Steph elbowed me in the ribs playfully as we walked in together.
"I only threatened you with the cat costume so you would agree to do a couples costume with me." I groaned, pushing out my lip as I observed the costume she chose against my protests. "Tristan has the flu, I figured you'd be fine being the Rue to my Jules, but nope. You had to be 'Sexy Meghan Markle.' Who's even going to guess that?"
Steph rolled her eyes, searching for the drink table. "Nobody even watches Euphoria. It's easy to see you're a cute, sexy angel, but Rue's Halloween costume is not sexy."
"I think women in suits are hot." I encouraged, but Steph wasn't listening. As I tried to get her attention, it looked as if she had seen a ghost. "What's up?"
"Shit." She hid her face in the crook of her arm as she slid behind a pillar. "Jackson Miller is here. I owe that bastard like 60 bucks for weed."
It was my turn to roll my eyes. "What happened to all that money Eugene gave you when you were still seeing him?"
"I spent it on weed!" Steph lamented. "I'm sorry. I gotta get out of here for a few minutes till I can think of an excuse." With that, she dipped inside and left me standing by the pool.
Just then, Nate and Logan strode towards me with a couple glasses of whiskey in hand. "Hey Tessa!" Nate embraced me in a quick hug before pushing one of the glasses into my hand. "What are you doing all alone?" His Joker costume was pretty spot on, and for some reason it made me imagine Hardin as a gender bent version of Harley Quinn.
Shaking the image from my mind, I waved to Logan and took the glass. "I was just here with..." I scanned the crowd for Steph, hoping she would've come back for me, but there was no sign of her. "Never mind."
Looking Logan over for the first time, I tried to stifle a giggle as I realized what his costume was. "Are you Billie Eilish?"
Nate and I both laughed as he nodded proudly, showing off his black contacts and grey wig. "You can't tell me her music video for 'Bury a Friend' wasn't sick as Hell."
"It was." Nate agreed. "Nice angel costume. Kinda funny, actually." He clinked his glass against mine before looking around. "Hardin was around here somewhere...let me go get him and we can all hang before we go on later."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I scoffed, slightly offended, but he was already gone.
Logan took my arm and pulled me towards the dance floor. "While we wait, let's see if someone will pay me to do that backbend Billie did in the video."
After a couple of songs, we saw Nate coming back to the dance floor empty handed. Logan tried to flag him down, but Zed--also dressed as The Joker--came out of the woodwork to intercept.
"What the fuck, Zed!" We heard Nate yell across the dance floor. "I told you I was dressing up as Arthur Fleck!" He threw his hands up in the air and stormed back where he came from.
"Yikes, that was awkward." Scrubbing the back of his neck, Logan called to Zed. "You just had to have a better costume and one-up our front man."
Zed sneered at his bandmate and took a drink from my glass. "Why don't you go check on him? Make sure he doesn't cry his makeup off before our set."
Swiping his hand across his face in disappointment, Logan reluctantly agreed. "Fine...just stay here and we'll meet you." With that, the drummer ran to chase after his singer.
I felt a little uncomfortable being around Zed without Hardin nearby, but as he soon reminded me, we were at a crowded party.
"Jeez, you're the first girl I've seen all night that wasn't dressed like a cat." The bassist took another swig of my drink without asking.
Though I agreed with him, I was more upset about the alcohol--especially because he was already drunk. "Don't you have your own drink?"
"Bartender cut me off at my 8th shot." He answered matter-of-factly. When I rolled my eyes and began to search the crowd for a familiar face, his red eyes seemed to soften. "Sorry if I come off as rude. I'm really not a bad guy. Promise." Holding out a hand, he invited me to dance.
"I've heard otherwise." I said under my breath, but I took his hand anyway. We spun around wordlessly to a trap song for a bit before he spoke again.
"I'm really not that bad." He pressed again as he leaned in closer. "It's Hardin you have to watch out for."
The statement made me pause for a minute, and I wondered what he was getting at. "What do you mean?"
My question seemed to satisfy him, and a lengthy grin stretched out between his cheeks. "He's a pretty shifty fellow, Hardin. There's things you don't yet know about him. Things that would make you think twice about associating with a guy like him."
All of the music suddenly sounded like it was playing underwater. "What things?"
Zed's grin spread even wider. "You think I'm a bad guy...but Hardin's true self will come through soon enough. By then it'll be too late and you'll wish you'd listened to me. You should stay away from Hardin Scott."
"Stay...away...?" Zed had never been so frank with me about Hardin before, and I wondered if he had some real information stored away that I didn't know about. Hardin could be a little mysterious at times, but it was nothing dangerous. At least, I didn't think so.
"Talking shit about my brother?" I hadn't noticed Landon come through the crowd with a short female until that moment. Was I already that drunk?
Zed swiveled around as he caught a glimpse of Hardin's step-brother in the corner of his eye. "Fuck off or I'll rip that shit-eating grin right off your face."
Every word Zed had said to me being a good guy evaporated from my mind. "Come on now let's not fight." I put a hand on his arm to deescalate the situation as others on the dance floor began to look towards us.
Ignoring me, Landon got in Zed's face. "Oh yeah? Like you ripped off Big Shot?"
The girl beside Landon grabbed his large hand to pull him away, but it seemed like whatever he had told Zed worked. Zed froze immediately and looked towards the ground. With gritted teeth, he begged Landon not to continue. "Okay man. Sorry. Why you gotta bring that shit up though..."
I had never seen Zed in such a submissive state before, especially with Landon of all people. Right when I was about to open my big mouth and ask what all of it was about, the girl gently pulled me away from the dance floor.
"Let's give them some room to breathe." She said, her soft voice lilting over the booming speakers. When we had finally gotten far enough away, she sat us down next to the pool and introduced herself. "I'm Nora, Landon's girlfriend." After checking to see that the other two guys weren't heading over, she looked back at me with her brown eyes full of regret. "Do you want to know what happened?"