COLD WATER

six.           halloween

▬ "YOU'RE GONNA GET US KICKED OUT." Paul chuckled as he stopped at the end of the aisle that the two girls were on, Cori held a fake sword and Rachel held a fake bat. And the lady at the register was watching them like a hawk.

"You must parish!" Cori shouted, swinging her sword at the girl, only to have her meet the hit with the bat.

"Strike!" Rachel laughed and they continued to fight with their weapons. "Two more and you're out."

"I thought we were finding costumes." Paul crossed his arms over his chest, an amused smirk on his face.

"Yeah, but first, we must fight to the death!"

"What she said!" Cori nodded, looking over at the boy.

"Okay." He nodded as he looked around the store, his smirk grew when saw a pitchfork. He quickly grabbed the flimsy plastic and poked Rachel's back.

"Hey!" She turned, her eyebrows pinched and her weapon at her side. "What was that for?" She didn't get a response and he reached out, his hand at the end of the handle, as he tried to stab Cori but she jumped out of the way.

"Missed!" She cheered, swinging the sword a little but instead of knocking the pitchfork away she smacked one of the shelves and all of the masks next to them fell to the floor causing all three of them to freeze. "Paul! You should be more careful."

"That wasn't me!" He defended, putting the pitchfork back.

"It was. I saw you." Rachel added, hanging the bat back in its place as Cori put the sword back.

He simply shook his head in disbelief. "Can't take you two anywhere." He mumbled as they all bent down to pick up the masks and put them back. "Now, let's find costumes and get out of here before the lady behind the counter kills us." The girls peaked around the shelf to see that the lady was indeed glaring at them, she had been since they came in goofing off.

It didn't take long after that for Rachel and Cori to find costumes, and not just for them but for pretty much everyone. Cori quickly texted the groupchat letting everyone know that they would be doing a group costume. So, with a plan and a promise to be back with the rest of the group, the three left, much to the cashiers relief. They really had been total menaces since they walked into the store that morning and she was grateful when the door closed behind them.

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▬ THE MUSIC WAS LOUD, the lights down low, fog covered the floor, cobwebs hung from the ceiling, skeletons were placed randomly around the room, jack-o-lanterns lined the stairs, and sweaty, drunk teenagers danced and jumped around like they were having the time of their lives to The Monster Mash. Everyone sang along, most off key, but everyone was enjoying it.

Cori smiled as she watched from her seat on the stairs, her bright pink bodysuit clung to her perfectly and she sipped from a orange plastic cup – it was her third drink. When Carter had told her that he was throwing a Halloween party she didn't expect this level of decoration and thought. He had really gone all out for the holiday and she absolutely loved it.

"Cori!" Rachel shouted when she saw her, her own bodysuit clinging to her every curve but hers was yellow. "There you are!" She rushed up the stairs towards the blue eyed girl, her braids swinging to-and-fro. "We've been looking for you. Jared and Kim just got here, we gotta take the picture now! Before we're too wasted to remember."

"Okay!" Cori grinned and Rachel pulled her up before taking off, dragging the shorter girl behind her. They weaved in and out of the dancing crowd until they reached the back patio, the cold air was a nice contrast to the stuffy air inside the house. Cori let out a much needed breath before her eyes grew wide when she saw everyone in costume.

They were the Power Rangers.

Cori was the pink ranger. Rachel was the yellow ranger. Paul was the green ranger. Carter was the red ranger. Noah was the blue ranger. Jared was the black ranger, and Kim was the white ranger.

"You guys ready?" Angela asked, holding her camera up, she was dressed as a cheerleader and she shivered a little. Her little skirt doing nothing to keep her warm as she shifted on her feet trying to generate some heat.

"Yeah, we're all here." Carter nodded as they all stood together, rearranging themselves more than should've been necessary, then the boy wrapped his arm around Cori, pulling her into his side. They all smiled as Angela snapped the picture.

"Now we have to pose!" Rachel shouted.

"Yeah!" Kim agreed, bouncing on her toes with a wide smile.

"But let's make it quick, Angela looks like she's freezing." Cori told them before making her way over to the girl with the camera as the others all brainstormed ideas for the next picture.

"I'm fine." She gave the girl a smile, waving off her concern.

"Are you sure?" Cori raised an eyebrow, getting a nod in return.

"I promise, Cori."

The young Swan nodded before getting called back over to others, who had decided on the perfect pose – Jared words. Cori stood in the middle, her back against Rachel's, each girl holding their hands up close to their chest like finger guns, as the others made a circle around them. Jared and Paul were squatted down in front of them, Noah and Carter on either side of the two girls, all four guys with their arms raised and muscles flexed, and Kim stood behind them on a crate so she could be seen, her hands on her hips. It was ridiculous but they were also kind of drunk, at least the humans of the group were.

After taking a few pictures, more than they should have, they made their way back inside – only after profusely thanking Angela for the mini photoshoot – and while the girls made their way to the fog covered living room to join the dancing mass of teenagers, the guys got drinks.

"This really is a sick party, dude." Jared nudged Carter with his elbow as he looked around, it was a little much with his heightened senses, but it was still pretty cool.

"Yeah, thanks for the invite. We don't usually get invited to party with the pale faces." Paul added as they made their way into the living room in search of the three girls.

"Bullshit." Noah shook his head. "I used to invite you all the time but you thought you were better than us pale faces."

"Okay, I'll give you that." Paul nodded, raising his orange cup to his lips.

"So shut the hell up and enjoy it." Noah shoved his shoulder before scanning the crowd as he took a sip of his drink and all any of them could see was a ball of pink rushing towards them.

"Carter!" Cori shouted, a wide smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around him, the impact made him take a step back and he had to raise his arms to avoid spilling the two drinks he held.

"Whoa, Cor." He chuckled, moving his arms down and wrapping one around her even as he still held her drink. "We were gone for two minutes." He chuckled and she looked up at him, her chin on his chest – he could tell that the alcohol was taking effect. Her eyes were glazed over and her smile was just the smallest bit lopsided.

"Missed you." She shrugged.

"Ooh." Jared and Paul teased while Noah laughed at the two but before anything else could be said Kim and Rachel staggered towards them, both laughing as they held onto each other.

"We have made a decision!" Rachel announced, her finger raised, and Kim nodded her head, both clearly drunk.

"Have you?" Paul raised an eyebrow at them. Carter looked down at the girl that clung to him and leaned down to kiss her forehead before he held a cup out to her and she grinned as she untangled herself from him and took it.

"We are leaving you." Kim pointed at Jared.

"And you." Rachel pointed at Paul.

"And we will be dating each other." She turned and planted a kiss on Rachel's cheek, making her giggle.

"We also claim Cori." The older girl reached out and pulled her towards him, both wrapping their arms around her before they each planted a kiss on each of her cheeks.

"I don't know what's happening." Cori mumbled before she raised her cup to her lips and took a sip, but her smile stayed on her face. "But I don't hate it."

"You two think you're funny, don't you?" Paul asked, his head tilted to the side but his eyes remained on his girlfriend, nothing but amusement on his face.

They shared a look. "Yeah, we do." Kim hummed.

Paul looked over at Jared, who nodded his head and they both took a step forward. Both Rachel and Kim shrieked before running away and they followed them into the mass of people. Rachel went left and Kim went right, but the boys were faster. Cori stood there sipping on her drink as she swayed to the music, laughing as she watched Paul pull his girlfriend into his arms. They both wore smiles as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his.

"Hey, Peanut." Cori looked up at the boy. "Wanna dance with me?" He asked, holding his hand out towards her.

"Okay." He put her cup down before taking his hand. He led her through the crowd until they were in the middle of the room, then he turned to face her. She wore that same drunk smile as she looked up at him and he couldn't help it when his smile grew. He pulled her to him, despite the fact that it wasn't a slow song. He lifted her up and gently placed her on his toes before he started swaying a little.

Not too far from them, she could see Noah dancing with a blonde to Rihanna's Disturbia. Her bunny costume left little to the imagination, but she pulled it off and Noah seemed to like it.

Cori laid her head on Carter's chest, her hands locked behind his back and a smile on her face. She couldn't help but think back to that night in her room. He had told her she wouldn't feel like that forever and, now, with her friends and the party — and the alcohol — she felt better. Not completely, but a little bit.

"Thank you." She mumbled against his chest.

"For what?" He leaned his head down so they could hear each other better over the thumping bass.

"Just thank you." She hummed and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. She looked up at him, the alcohol blurring the line of what she should and shouldn't be doing.

She reached up, her arms winding around his shoulder as she stretched up into her toes before pressing her lips against his. He was shocked, but for only a second. He let his eyes fall closed as he tightened his arms around her waist and tugged her upwards just a little, kissing her with more force.

She eventually pulled back, only to take a breath. Both panted slightly, neither looking away from the other and they no longer swayed to the music. After a few long seconds, Carter leaned down and connected their lips once again. Cori tightened her arms around his neck, her fingers gripping at his perfectly styled hair and no one around them seemed to care about the two kissing power rangers as they all cheered when the DJ played The Purple People Eater.