RE, page 35
Alicia’s outfit was an orange jumpsuit with black boots and gloves, complete with all of the appropriate harness straps, air tubes, and sci-fi doodads instantly recognizable as a rebel pilot uniform from Star Wars. A toy lightsaber hung from the belt of her flight suit, and Alicia even carried a familiar pilot’s helmet in the crook of her arm.
“That. Is. Awesome!” Joshua blurted out.
“I wish I was Luke,” Nick joined in. “I wanna be Luke next year. Or Han Solo.”
“You watch Star Wars?!” Sam seemed shocked.
“My dad and I love Star Wars,” Alicia confided, looking a little relieved at their admiration.
“Which do you like better, Empire or Jedi?” Aiden demanded. “Because Return of the Jedi is way betterer.”
“‘Betterer’ isn’t a word, Aiden,” Tabitha corrected him in a soft voice.
“Oh, don’t even get ‘Licia started.” Alicia’s mother laughed, rolling her eyes. “Sorry we’re late—the gloves and boots needed one more coat of spray paint. I wanted to make absolutely sure it all dried right before anything got traipsed into someone’s carpet.”
“You made that?!” Elena asked, eyes going wide. “Alicia—that’s amazing.”
“Thanks! And yeah, kinda… sorta?” Alicia grinned, awkwardly tugging at her costume. “Started out as this prison jumpsuit costume—which Dad didn’t find funny at all, ‘til I told him what we could turn it into. White flak vest’s cut outta this old shirt I had, wearing my rain boots and some dishwashing gloves. Rest of it’s all stuff from the junk drawer in the garage, put together with hot glue. The helmet’s my dad’s—it’s a Don Post replica. I helped repaint it, so it looks more like it does in the movie.”
“Can I see your lightsaber?” Joshua begged.
“No, can I see your lightsaber?” Aiden chimed in.
“I’m sorry… but this is the weapon of a Jedi knight,” Alicia refused with a solemn face. “An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age.”
“Can I see your helmet?” Joshua tried.
“Nope!” Alicia grinned. “Dad will actually murder me dead if I let anything happen to it. He already started digging a grave—just in case. He said he can have another daughter anytime, but he only has this one helmet.”
“Oh, stop,” Alicia’s mother protested. “It’s a toy helmet. Damn thing just sits up on the shelf collecting dust.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that, or there’ll be two graves,” Alicia joked. “Tabs, you are looking awesome! Did you get the dress to go with that, or are you goin’ with the coconut bra tonight?”
“They were seashells!” Tabitha said with an indignant laugh. “And no—we have the dress.”
“Shame,” Alicia snorted. “And, Elena—where’s your costume?!”
“Mine’s… actually super lame,” Elena seemed to realize, gesturing toward her long-sleeved black shirt and black pants. “I have cat ears, a tail, and a bit of face paint to put on for whiskers in my bag… I was just gonna be a black cat. Is that too lame?”
“It… doesn’t have to be,” Alicia said, carefully passing the pilot’s helmet to her mother. “Don’t drop this! Elena, I mean, it won’t be lame if I do your nose and whiskers. If that’s cool?”
“I… yeah?” Elena brightened. “You’d do that?”
“Are we friends?” Alicia challenged.
“…Yeah?” Elena sounded more hopeful than confident.
“Then, duh.” Alicia smirked, looking around to size up each of the cousins. “I suppose you boys must be Tabitha’s warrior tribe? Elena, if you have a kit with white paint, I can draw them up big round South Park eyes on their faces.”
After a round of belated introductions while Alicia was crouched down in front of half of those crowded into the living room to apply face paint, Grandma Laurie finished fussing with Tabitha’s hair with a final tie of the enormous blue bow and declared her perfect. She was shooed off to her bedroom to put on her Ariel dress, where she finally got a look at her enormous—albeit impressive—Little Mermaid hair in her bedroom mirror. This is just… amazing!
When she returned, she received a heartwarming round of oohs and aahs as everyone praised her look. Elena now wore impressive feline face paint, with a painted pink nose adorning the tip of her actual nose, a slender downward line that connected to her upper lip, and a series of dots artfully clustered on the inside of her cheeks that spread out to beautifully painted whiskers along the outside. In contrast, the four boys looked absolutely ridiculous with enormous South Park eyes that took up most of their faces. The Rebel Pilot helmet looked a little too big and out-of-proportion when Alicia actually wore it, but everyone agreed her outfit was the most impressive of all.
“Pictures, pictures!” Alicia’s mother insisted, pulling a Kodak disposable camera out of her purse. “C’mon, everyone, get together.”
“Um—” Tabitha glanced around nervously. “Is… my mother still outside?”
“I think they’re all still talkin’ out there. Your daddy just pulled in the drive,” Grandma Laurie said, stepping over to lean out the open door—while it was a brisk late October afternoon, the hairspray fumes had been a little too strong. “Alan! Get yer butt in here, we’re taking pictures!”
“Pictures?” he called back. “Hold up, wait for me!”
Mr. Moore appeared in the doorway and took in the strange gathering with a big smile. The moment he caught sight of his daughter, he made a tossing motion, lobbing what looked like a yellow pillow toward her in an underhand throw. Surprised, Tabitha clumsily fumbled it between her hand and her cast, dropping the thing before she could grab it. A boy darted forward beneath her hands and caught it before it hit the ground.
“Thank you, Aiden,” Tabitha said sheepishly, accepting the pillow to take closer look—it was a large stuffed plush doll in the shape of a familiar large-eyed yellow guppy with blue markings.
“Oh my God—it’s Flounder!” Elena exclaimed. “That’s so cute!”
“Coworker ‘cross town mentioned his kids had it,” Alan said proudly. “Glad I caught you girls before you headed out! You girls all look lovely—er, Miss Alicia, are you from Star Wars?”
“I’m Luke Skywalker,” Alicia answered with a beaming smile.
“You look great,” Mr. Moore said. “Boys, good to see you all again. Mrs. Brooks, thank you so much for comin’ on out.”
“It’s my pleasure!” Alicia’s mother replied. “You’re just in time for pictures!”
Her four cousins crouched down in a row on their knees to better emulate the squat forms of their South Park characters, and then Tabitha was jostled back and forth until it was decided she would be situated in the center. Elena in her kitty-cat makeup stood on one side of her, and Alicia in the orange pilot uniform posed on the other side, flicking out the toy lightsaber to extend the blue plastic blade.
Hugging the Flounder pillow tightly against her chest and looking into the camera lens with a bashful smile, Tabitha didn’t think she’d ever been so happy in her life.
* * *
“Trick or treat!” Tabitha joined in saying as yet another door opened.
“Holy guacamole, look at you all!” the woman said, taken aback by the small crowd at her doorstep.
They’d arrived in full force, with the four boys packed in close and the taller girls arrayed behind them on the porch stoop of a suburban Springton home—the fiftieth or sixtieth of the fourth neighborhood they were canvassing. It was fun, in an exhilarating but somehow embarrassing way that still had Tabitha’s cheeks burning. There had been a brief, completely dissonant thought that candy from all the way back in 1998 should be terribly expired by now, but Tabitha was able to quickly snuff it out. The woman dropped a handful of treats into each of their outstretched bags.
“Thank you!” the four cousins answered in chipper unison. They’d done so without any prompting after only the second house of their very first neighborhood, and Tabitha felt proud that they’d made it a habit so quickly.
“Thank you, and—Happy Halloween!” Tabitha smiled at the woman.
“Happy Halloween.” The woman waved. “You all look great!”
Elena’s long legs carried her back out to the sidewalk first, and like eager ducklings Sam, Nick, Aiden and Joshua trooped after her. She no longer needed to gesture them on past her toward the next house, simply guiding them on in the same well-practiced motion she had the entire evening.
“It’s already heavy,” Nick boasted, hefting up his bag of candy.
“I know!” Aiden said gleefully, swinging his own.
“Less talking, more walking!” Elena playfully scolded them. “Do you want everyone to give out all the candy before we get there?!”
Although she’d said it a few times tonight already, it still had the same effect—the boys double-timed it to the next porch, arranging themselves in a proper side-by-side line. Like well-trained dogs with a biscuit balanced upon their nose, they all hungrily stared at the faint light of the doorbell, but none jumped over to press it. Elena had decided that was her job, and with her pressing their trick-or-treating routine into clockwork efficiency, none of them seemed inclined to squabble with her for the honor.
Tabitha and Alicia caught up—Tabitha was actually feeling a little out of breath—Elena nodded at their arrival, and she pressed the doorbell.
“Trick or treat!” they joined together in a sing-song voice as the door opened.
“My word.” An elderly woman stepped into view with a festive orange bowl of candy. “You all look lovely. Who are you all supposed to be?”
“Ma’am,” Elena spoke up, “This is Eric, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny. Alicia is Luke Skywalker, Tabitha is Princess Ariel, and I’m a kitty-cat!”
“Goodness.” the old woman chuckled, offering her bowl for each of them to grab a handful.
Back when they’d piled into Mrs. Seelbaugh’s van for the short drive between the first neighborhood and the second, Elena had given them an updated briefing—she was appointing herself to field any and all questions regarding what costumes the group was wearing.
All of us trying to answer at once is setting us precious seconds behind schedule! Elena admonished them, making an exaggerated stern face.
Yes, drill sergeant! Alicia had snapped a joking salute.
The girls—Mrs. Seelbaugh included—had all laughed about it and poked fun at the military efficiency they were trying to squeeze out of the holiday, while the boys didn’t find anything ironic about it. They had been peeking in their surprisingly overstuffed bags with looks of naked greed.
As much fun as they were all having trooping quickly from door to door through block after block, Tabitha was starting to feel winded. The sun had gone down, but the neighborhoods at night were alive with activity, with dozens of other roving bands of costumed children interspersed with the occasional adult shepherding some kids along. There were power rangers and Disney princesses, toddlers waddling along dressed as Raggedy Ann dolls and young boys dashing around in Batman capes.
“Elena,” Tabitha finally called out. “I’m, um. Go on ahead with the boys, and I’ll catch up. I don’t want to slow you all down.”
“We can slow down some.” Elena paused. “We’ve been making good time. Are you alright?”
To Tabitha’s surprise, the quartet of her cousins who had been marching like highly-motivated soldiers all lurched to a stop. A moment later, it was like they’d lost all interest in trick-or-treating for the night, abandoning their beeline for the next house and gathering quietly around her. It was… moving, in a way that almost had Tabitha choke up. It felt like she’d done so little for them in this life, considering their circumstances, that seeing them care about her, care about her more than candy, made her a little misty-eyed.
“I’m just… a little tired!” Tabitha let out a weak laugh. “I’ll skip a few houses and catch up with you at the end of the street.”
“Boys?” Elena asked, shooting an uncertain look from Tabitha to them and back again. “What do you think?”
“Go on,” Tabitha urged them. “Go—I’m not in it for the candy anyways. I’m fine.”
“I’ll stay with her,” Alicia promised, waggling her lit lightsaber toy. “Go with Elena.”
With a surprising amount of reluctance, the four obeyed, scurrying back into action toward the next house at Elena’s discretion.
“You okay?” Alicia asked.
“I’m…” Tabitha smiled. “I don’t have a lot of energy, I, um. Haven’t been taking great care of myself. It’s been hard to eat. This is—this is great, though. This has been one of the best nights of my life, already.”
“Huh. Sooo, Tabitha,” Alicia said, idly swinging around her lightsaber in the air. “Are you a big Star Wars fan at all?”
“No, not really.” Tabitha gave her friend a helpless shrug. “The two I liked the most were the ones everyone said were the worst of them. Phantom Menace and Force Awakens.”
“Force Awakens?” Alicia arched an eyebrow.
“I think that one’s… ten or twenty years away, still?” Tabitha shrugged. “They come out with a whole bunch of new movies and shows when Disney buys Star Wars.”
“Disney buys Star Wars… Jesus. I think I need to sit down or something.” Alicia laughed, putting a hand up to adjust the oversized helmet. “But, uh, yeah. Okay. Phantom Menace. I think you pass.”
“I pass?” Tabitha quirked her head in confusion.
“Yeah.” Alicia nodded gravely. “They just revealed the name of the first prequel on the Star Wars official web page. Last month, on the thirtieth. Like, no one but people like my dad seem to have really picked up on it, just yet. The Phantom Menace. I… I don’t think you would have cared enough about Star Wars to know that—you don’t have a computer, and you didn’t seem to ever use them in the library at school. Which means…”
“I didn’t even see Episode One when it came out,” Tabitha admitted sheepishly. “Actually didn’t catch any of them in theater until Force Awakens—I just had them in a set on DVD.”
“Does DVD end up replacing VHS?” Alicia blurted out in alarm. “I—sorry, now it’s like, anything and everything you remember could be actually huge and important. Tabitha—you’re for real from the future.”
“I am,” Tabitha sighed. “And, DVD does, for about… twenty years? Then they try to push a whole bunch of different high-resolution formats, but none of them really stick. No reason to buy movies when you can stream things in quality from just about anywhere online.”
“Okay.” Alicia nodded. “Okay, whoa. Stream. Resolution. DVD. I feel like I need to be writing these down now. Should we, uh—do we buy stock in DVD? Or… uh, how would we do that?”
“I have no idea.” Tabitha made an apologetic face. “I’m sorry. A lot of the really big things come and go so fast—Amazon, Myspace, Vega Lyrae—it’s hard for me to pin them to exact dates. As soon as I’m old enough for some kind of part-time job, I’m just going to set aside everything to invest in Alphaco.”
“Alphaco, right.” Alicia frowned, furrowing her brow. “I remember you said that. They build the world wide web engine? Or something?”
The girls hesitated, stepping off of the sidewalk as a Buzz Lightyear sprinted past, chased shortly after by a smaller child wearing a Simba mask from the Lion King.
“An internet search engine, Google,” Tabitha nodded. “I hope you’ll invest with me—I think it may be our best shot.”
“Are you kidding?!” Alicia snorted. “Of course I am, you’re like—Tabitha, you’re freakin’ from the future. Probably would’ve gone in with you anyways, even if I didn’t believe you. Just ‘cause we’re friends. Okay?”
“Thank you.” Tabitha let out a sigh of relief. “You don’t know what it means to have someone—”
“No, not ‘thank you,’” Alicia scoffed, thwapping her lightly with the lightsaber blade. “You say, ‘yeah, we are friends!’ Alright?”
“Yeah.” Tabitha smiled. “We are. Thank you.”
“You realize at some point we’re going to have to tell Elena, though,” Alicia pointed out.
“I… yes, I’m prepared for that,” Tabitha said slowly. “But I’m not going to say anything until she figures out enough to ask.”
“That’s fair,” Alicia agreed. “I figured it out first anyways. Hah! I’ll keep it secret. We do need her in on this eventually, though, okay? Definitely before Alphaco.”
“That’s still years away,” Tabitha said. “I… I haven’t even started saving money. It’s honestly going to be hard to.”
“Still.” Alicia shrugged. “She’ll think of a whole bunch of other stuff we need to do. Probably. Well, if she can even keep a secret from her mom. Don’t think we should have too many people know. Right?”
“Yeah.” Tabitha nodded. “It, um. I just want to say… it means a lot to me, that you believed me. I really couldn’t do this alone.”
“I didn’t believe you, actually,” Alicia revealed. “Like, no, not even a little bit. Sorry. Don’t think I ever would’ve believed you at all, ‘til you described my artwork in the future.”
“Wait—really?” Tabitha looked confused. “But, um. You couldn’t have possibly drawn that one here, all the way back in this time…?”
“I haven’t.” Alicia nodded. “Yet. But I know I will. That one’s… an important piece to me. I’ve tried it a couple times—it’s not quite there, yet. Artistically speaking. No one else could’ve ever known about it, though—it’s stashed in with my nudie drawings.”
“Nudie drawings?” Tabitha asked in surprise.
“Yeah, nudie drawings!” Alicia grinned. “C’mon, Tabs. You’re supposed to be the super mature one, here.”
“I’m… not sure I am anymore,” Tabitha admitted uneasily. “I felt so sure of who I was at first, but lately… I mean, I know some of it’s hormones, and getting hurt, and everything going on, yeah, but—I’m kind of a wreck. Feel like I’ve had an emotional breakdown almost every day, for weeks. I make stupid decisions, I’m always crying, my moods are all over the place, I. I just can’t…”
