: What A Creep

As October was drawing to a close, my friends and myself began to eagerly plan our Halloween. We all adored this holiday, for no particular reason other than it was fun to dress up and fun to scare ourselves stupid later on in the night by watching horror films. Since Year 7 we'd held a party of some kind at a particular person's house.

That year, it was my house, and because it was a Friday (and a Friday on a half-term) everyone was sleeping over as well.

My mother was delighted. Ellen Powell is a woman very fond of parties and organising things. She also adored Halloween and had a ridiculous amount of Halloween decorations to prove it.

In the week before we broke up for half term, my friends and I basically spent all our time arranging things. And it was fun. We really got into it. We planned to all meet at my house at six, and then we'd watch a film before going trick or treating (so what if we were in Year 10? I have a younger brother, I have an excuse...I suppose). Then we'd go back to my house, eat, watch some more films, gorge on chocolate, watch some more films and so on and so forth.

I invited Sian, Beth, Ann, Elisha and Sharon, and John. We'd been concerned that he wouldn't be allowed to sleep over (him being a boy, and considering my brothers and all), but my mother adores John and said it was fine by her. Matty and Pete, needless to say, said it was not fine and that they'd beat him to within an inch of his life if he tried any 'funny business'. I ignored them.

But then we didn't know whether or not to invite Adam and Louis. They were, after all, quite good friends of ours now and they'd gone to the cinema with us quite a few times outside of school and things like that. So, I asked them.

"I'd love to," was Adam's response. "Is it fancy dress? I want to be a vampire. No, no, not just a vampire, a vampirate!"

It was quite amusing to see him acting momentarily childish. My amusement only increased when he asked if there would be apple bobbing, and I made a mental note to inform my mother of Adam's request.

Louis was slightly more hesitant. "Your brothers scare me," he explained. "I don't want them to break my leg or something."

"They won't," I assured him, crossing my fingers behind my back (one can never be too sure).

"Do I have to sleep over?" he then said.

"That's all part of the fun," Adam said. "C'mon, Lou, we can't leave John on his own! They'll tear him apart!" He shrugged when he saw my questioning gaze.

"I hate other peoples houses," Louis confided.

"It's true," Adam nodded, "He slept at my house once and he freaked out in the middle of the night, mumbling about werewolves and shit. Aaron nearly wet himself."

Louis' face flushed under his tan. "It wasn't –"

"It was hilarious," Adam snorted. "I don't know where the hell it came from, though. Maybe it's best you don't stay, Lou, you might scare the shit out of everyone for no reason." Adam then dodged a swipe from Louis' fist, chuckling as he did so.

"What's going on?" Billie's voice interrupted our conversation.

"Nerys was just asking us if we'd like to come to her Halloween party thing," Adam replied, now holding Louis in a headlock.

"Oh?" Billie's eyes looked to me. "I don't remember being told about this..."

"Well, that's because you weren't invited," I admitted.

Billie rolled his eyes. "Of course I wasn't. So, tell me, what is it?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory," I shrugged. "On Halloween people are coming over to mine and ... uh, sleeping over."

"I see. Is food involved?"

I nodded. My mother was involved; there'd be enough food to feed my whole family till Easter.

"And scary films?" I nodded again, resting my hand on my hip.

"And trick or treating," I supplied for him. "Because we're feeling a bit childish."

"Nothing childish about it," Adam sang, as Louis struggled to get out of his grip. "We are children after all."

"Well, you can count me in," Billie declared, giving me a crooked grin. My eyes narrowed.

"You weren't invited," I pointed out. He held a hand over his heart, face distorting into an expression of mock-hurt.

"Your own boyfriend isn't invited?" he said, his voice a low whisper. "I am hurt." I smacked his arm and he chuckled.

"Let Billie come, Nerys," Adam chirped. He was now sat on top of Louis, who was stretched out face down on the ground. The whole of the yard was staring at them now.

"Yeah, let me come," Billie agreed. His eyes sparkled.

"Fine," I muttered. "Friday, six o'clock. It's fancy dress, too, so –"

He pushed his hair out of his eyes and began to turn around. "I figured that one for myself. It is Halloween, it does tend to be fancy dress." Then he came to a halt, as if something had just occurred to him. "Hey, Nerys, what are you going as?"

"A vampire," I said, without thinking. I'd been a witch the year before, and a cat the year before that, and in Year 7 I'd been a ghost. It was time to be a vampire. "Why?" I then asked curiously.

"Oh, you know," he shrugged as he began to walk away, "I just thought we could be...a pair, I suppose. How about I be Dracula, and you be my Queen?" he winked over his shoulder and he ignored all my shouts for him to come back.

"Aw, how cute," Adam sniggered. I looked down at him; he was sat quite comfortably on top of Louis, who was muttering darkly to himself. "You'll match!"

Quickly, and without thinking, I booted him in the chest so he toppled over. Then, I flounced away, ignoring the sounds of Louis' and Adam's play fight starting up again as I went.

The 31st of October was cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain; those were my first thoughts as I looked out of my bedroom window. Just your average October day, but I hoped that the rain would hold off until we'd returned from trick or treating.

The day was spent decorating the house. We all helped: even Pascal came over with some of her own homemade decorations and brought some films over too – well, two films, both French, both horror. I accepted them politely and hoped that they both had subtitles.

I was just starting to get ready, around half four, when the doorbell rang. At that moment in time, I was clad in nothing but my underwear and a white bathrobe, and my mother and father were busy in the kitchen while my brothers released the stress of Halloween decorating by playing on the Playstation 3.

With a heavy sigh, I dumped the toiletries I'd been carrying into the bathroom on the landing floor and traipsed downstairs, shouting, "I'll get it!"

No one answered.

I opened the door, and to my immense surprise (and embarrassment) Glyn stood there, brow furrowed and looking a bit pale.

"Hello," he said.

I stared at him, and then I blurted, "How do you know where I live?"

His only response was a shrug, and he moved onto the step. We were inches apart and I felt my heart begin to hammer – not because I enjoyed the sudden closeness, but because I was actually a bit scared. I didn't really want to invite him in, but that was impolite. I battled with my manners, and my manners won.

"Uh, come in," I said, feeling flustered.

I moved to one side so he could walk into the hallway, and then I shut the door behind him.

"Did I come at a bad time?" he asked, eyes raking up and down my body. I fidgeted with the tie on my robe.

"Uh, kind of," I said, "I was just about to go in the shower." He blushed, and then Grimm strolled into the hall from the dining room. She gave one look at Glyn and then shot into the living room. He shuddered.

"I absolutely hate cats," he explained.

"Are you allergic?" I asked, some sympathy seeping into my tone.

He shook his head. "No, I just really hate them. In my opinion they should all be exterminated. I hope she's not your cat in particular."

"She is, actually," I said icily. "I got her for my birthday last year."

His blush deepened, and I stepped into the living room. Like hell was I going to talk to him without my brothers present.

All three of my brothers looked up as I came in. Pascal had her nose buried in a fashion magazine. "God, Nerys, put some clothes on," Matty commanded, but his voice trailed off as Glyn followed me in. The expressions on my two older brother's faces instantly turned frosty, while Gareth just looked a bit worried.

"Who's this?" Matty said in a slow voice, putting the controller to one side and rising to his feet.

"Glyn," I said. "He's Glyn." I widened my eyes a fraction so they both knew who I meant. I don't think that they did.

Gareth came to my rescue, by saying, "The stalker boy!" in Welsh. At those words, Pete stood as well.

"Um, I just wanted to talk to Nerys," Glyn said. "Alone."

None of them moved. Pascal put her magazine to one side and reached out, sliding one hand into Matty's and pulling him down so he was sat next to her again.

"No offence, but you're a stranger and Nerys is wearing a bathrobe," Pete said with a roll of his eyes. "We'd be going against brotherly duties if we left her alone with you."

Glyn's face went even redder. "I wouldn't –"

"I don't care," Pete interrupted, sitting down. "Get on with it. Talk to her."

Pete can be pretty intimidating when he wants to be. I'm not sure if it's the Mohican, the piercings or the tattoos. Maybe it's the collection of Japanese swords he has.

One will never know; I don't find him so intimidating because he's my big brother and he gives great hugs and wears fluffy bunny slippers.

But anyway; I leaned against the wall while Glyn sat on my dad's armchair.

"I wanted to talk to you about Billie."

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Okay. Go on."

"Are you actually going out with him, or are you just trying to make me jealous?" Glyn said after taking a few deep breaths.

Gareth's laughter came out in a rather pig-like squeal, while Pascal tittered. Matty and Pete made no audible reaction, but Pete did look rather amused.

"Um, no, I'm not trying to make you jealous," I said, running a hand through my hair.

"Are you sure?"

I pulled a face, feeling like kicking him. "Of course I'm bloody sure," I found myself snapping, "I think I'd be aware if I was trying to make someone jealous, Glyn. God."

"Then what are you trying to do?" he pressed. "You can't pretend it's real. I know it's not. I'm not stupid!"

"Um, well, you see –"

"Don't lie. You're not really his girlfriend." Glyn rose from his seat, eyes narrowed, and if there weren't a solid wall behind me I would have turned and ran like the wind. I eyed the door to my right, and considered running through it. "You lied to me and you deserve to -"

"Get out," Pete interrupted, rolling his eyes and striding over to Glyn. He took him roughly by the elbow and threw the door open, shoving him into the hallway. "I'm glad you didn't finish that sentence, kid, because it sounded like it was going to end with a threat."

He pushed him down the hallway and out through the front door, while Glyn looked at me with pleading eyes, saying, "Nerys! Tell them you want me to stay!"

As Pete made to shut the door, I pushed around him so my head was poking out through the doorway. "Glyn," I shouted. I heard Pete sigh behind me, and he muttered in a low voice, "Nerys, don't be such an idiot."

Glyn stared at me with wide eyes. He looked very upset but I didn't feel too sympathetic towards him, so I said the next words without feeling bad about it. "Glyn, I am actually going out with Billie," I said quietly. "We're not pretending. We are actually a couple, and I didn't lie to you. Oh, and I don't know where you got my address from, but please...Please don't come here again."

I saw his eyes flash with anger and he opened his mouth, stepping towards the door again, but I pulled back and shut the door before he could do so.

"What a creep," Pete muttered, moving back into the living room. I followed him.

"That's it," Matty said loudly as I stepped into the room, "You're joining a nunnery. First there's that...whatshisname, Bobby? And he forces himself on you. Then there's some ginger nutter?" He pointed his finger. "You shall join a nunnery, little sister of mine."

I rolled my eyes and perched on the edge of the sofa. With a plaintive meow, Grim padded across the sofas to put her two front paws onto my lap. Without a second thought I scooped her up into my arms and nuzzled her fur.

"Billie didn't really force himself on me," I mumbled, stroking Grimm's head.

"It's true," Gareth agreed. "Nerys asked him to kiss her. But I agree that Glyn's a nutter. He's really freaky. I don't know if you saw, Nerys, but he looked like he was ready to hit you or something."

"Hmm," I responded. "I had noticed."

"Stay with Billie, Nerys," Pascal urged, turning a page in her magazine. "He can speak French and I bet he likes cats."

"Cats?" I raised a quizzical eyebrow. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"That ginger boy, he said he wanted all cats to be exterminated, did he not?" How the hell Pascal heard that over the sounds of Grand Theft Auto, I've no idea.

Matty and Pete both burst out laughing. "He said that to you?" Pete demanded. "You, the eternal cat lover of the Powell family?"

I nodded, and dispensed Grimm onto the floor. She swiped at my bare leg with her claws for my trouble before trotting out of the room, tail high in the air.

"I'd best go in the shower," I shrugged, pushing myself off the sofa.

"Yes," Matty agreed, eyes sliding over me. "That's not right," he muttered, then in a louder voice, "You will go live in a nunnery, and you'll wear iron underwear while you're at it, just in case there are any rogue monks."

"Or lesbian nuns," Pete chipped in.

"Oh, shut up," I snapped, slipping out of the room before running up the stairs. Scooping up my abandoned toiletries, I trooped into the bathroom to prepare for my sleepover.

A/N: So, maybe not my best chapter, but I quite like it anyway. I'm aware that Glyn's choice to talk to Nerys on Halloween is a bit weird. There's no ulterior motive for that, btw, it's just kind of how it happened while I was writing.