Halloween came. By then, the estrogen I was taking was almost physically hurting me. I knew that wasn't possible, but I still had to consider it for a moment. But, no, it was just my mind, yelling at me for taking them. Irritating. 

I'd had to make a decision about the Halloween party. In the end, I decided to go. I had no idea why, but I felt like I should. But I was NOT wearing a costume. My mom suggested a whole bunch of them, but I turned them all down. They were all super feminine, some even slutty. Personally, I was just shocked my mom was going to let me wear this stuff, even if she was excited to help me. 

The estrogen (I now took four pills: two estrogen and two t-blockers) was definitely doing its job--unfortunately for me. My chest hurt all the damn time. At the slightest touch I would cry out in pain. Since I started estrogen back in early September, I was nearly two months in. Again, unfortunately. Everyone around me was already super excited and were realizing new-found happiness and... well, whatever else. Needless to say, I wasn't so stoked. Through weird logic and incorrect facts, I convinced my mom to let me take the pills after getting home from the party. 

I wore a plain shirt and pants. Maybe I should have been a bit more 'formal' or 'fancy' or, what they really think, 'feminine'. 

Well, the party was exactly what I thought it would be. Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, even a couple seventeen-year-olds had showed up. And they were all drinking like their lives depended on it. I... don't think it did. A couple of the fourteen-and-fifteen-year-olds didn't want to be there or didn't want to drink, and they hid in corners or even under tables! Being a freshman myself, I didn't really want to drink... But then came Ruby. She wasn't in costume, but she wore a bright red dress. She must love red. She wore this dress, and she chose the name Ruby for herself. Crazy. 

"Heyyyy Jimmy!" Her voice held out the word 'hey' longer than it should have. Oh no, she's drunk too. 

"You haven't been drinking, have you?" I asked, as nicely as possible. She almost seemed offended... For some reason. 

"I...! Of course not! Well, one glass. I had to! I didn't want to be THAT different from everyone else," she exclaimed. She leaned over to my ear and whispered, "One glass, watered down, too. I've been drinking my own specialty since then: seltzer water with food coloring. I'm putting on a bit of a show here. They all think I'm about to pass out or throw up, but I'm fine." 

"Really? If so, you're a... great actress." Part of me was sceptical, but whatever. For a moment, The slippery-slidey drunk-like feeling she gave off evaporated. She became the practically perfect fairy girl I'd known. She stopped putting on her little drunk act, and I could see something, momentarily, behind her eyes; the thing she hadn't told me. "So... are you going to tell me what's going on with you? I know there's more, but..." Her eyebrows dropped a centimeter or two. 

"Not yet. I can't just go around telling stories like these, I'd go insane! But... Maybe one day. I think I can trust you enough for you to know." Just then, a curly haired girl bounded over to us. Her light red curly hair contracted greatly with Ruby's dark brown straight hair. Her favorite color is red... 

"Hey, I'm Skye. I'm..." she paused, smirking evilly, "Ruby's friend." Ruby laughed loudly--her drunk facade was back in full swing. So this is Skye. The girl that won over Ruby. I laughed along with her, though not as loudly and dramatically. 

"Hey, Skye, I'm Jimmy." She smiled politely, and I silently noted the expression in her eyes: unnecessarily focused. Like she was recording everything I said to put it on file. And maybe she was. "So... How'd you meet Ruby?" 

Ruby laughed again, but this one was more of a giggle. "Ohhhh, I think Skye'd better tell this story! She has a much better memory than me. MUCH better." Skye nodded silently. Her eye cameras were still running. 

"Alright. We met last year, over the summer. The first time we talked I just couldn't believe how cool she was. How chill and laid back and everything about her was just so perfect! I began my quest to find her flaws. Heh. I did my best to annoy her, first, but she barely reacted. Then I tried to compliment her all the time to test her ego. Again, she just said 'thanks' or 'that's so sweet' every time! I did everything. There was this guy who she flirted with. I even tried making her jealous, using him. That... worked even less than everything else. In fact, she seemed relieved." Skye finished her story with an embarrassed smirk. Ruby smiled back. I can really see it. They're... oddly perfect together. I wouldn't have thought...

"Yep, that's pretty much it. You know, I wish I could have a cool talent like your memory! I mean, I can make necklaces and stuff but that's not too useful in real life. Your memory is way cooler, too. And," her cheeks turned red, "you could really impress someone with that stuff." Skye grinned. 

"Thanks," she responded, as emotionlessly as she could. I stepped back awkwardly. 

"Uh... Should I...?" I backed away as slowly and naturally as I could. Which was not very naturally. Ruby turned to me briefly and nodded, then left with Skye. Well, whatever. They are a... well, are they a couple? It's hard to tell for sure, but, I think they will be if they aren't already. 

The party was pretty dull after that. People kept on drinking. We were all lucky that the police didn't show up. I did NOT drink anything, except a glass of Ruby's colored seltzer, for the sake of not feeling left out. She was right, it works. But at the same time, she barely even looked at me. I knew she wasn't upset, but I would have liked to talk to her more. I know she just wants to talk to Skye, but what if there's another reason for ignoring me? Like, she's nervous I'm going to keep asking about that secret...? Eh, whatever it is, it can't be that important.