Costumes

Luckily for Derek, Aiden became way busier during the next month and they barely saw each other at all. The after school clubs began having their meetings at the beginning of October and Aiden had joined more than one. There were dozens to choose from and a lot of them had different meeting times so the students could enjoy a wider variety of activities. In the end, Aiden chose Archery, Computer Science, and Track and Field.

In addition to the club meetings, he also had to start meeting up with his group for his psychology project. There wasn't time to work on it during class so they all decided to meet at least once a week for a few hours. They'd gotten to a point where they decided to research behavior analysis on serial killers. Each person in the group was supposed to gather different kinds of information and then they'd combine it and go from there during their group meetings.

Between club meetings, the group project, his regular school work, and his other daily activities, Aiden didn't spend a lot of time at the house. Even when he did, he was mostly stuck working in his room. He didn't mind being so busy though since it provided the perfect distraction from his uncertain thoughts. Whenever he found his mind wandering towards Derek and the complicated situation he now found himself in, he just worked harder until he couldn't focus on anything other than the task in front of him.

As if he wasn't already busy enough, the school announced a halloween festival would be held at the school for orphaned and underprivileged children. The students would have to work with their first class of the day to create something fun for the kids where they could gather or win candy and other prizes. One class was doing a haunted house, another class decided on a photo-op with superheroes, and several classes chose to make food stalls and carnival games.

Aiden's class spent a long time trying to figure out what to do. In the end, because Ava said her family would rent one, their class decided on a dunk tank. However, to make it more interesting for the kids, everyone was required to wear a costume even if they were the ones in the tank. All of the children who participated would get a small amount of candy but, for those who managed to successfully dunk the target, they would win a giant sized candy bar.

When it came to deciding who would end up in the dunk tank, the class asked for volunteers first. Only Zeke and one other student named Conner volunteered. The teacher said they needed at least four people so everyone's name was added to a bag and then two were randomly picked. As luck would have it, Aiden was of course one of them. The final victim for the tank was a very flustered Yuki.

All of the student's could invite their families to attend as well. To make sure enough people would turn up to the event, the school sent out emails to all the parents. Lyla was overly excited and wasted no time in taking Becca and Spencer shopping for their costumes. Derek sent a simple text saying he wasn't sure if he could make it and Mrs. and Mr. Hudson both said they'd go for sure.

A week before the festival, Yuki and Aiden went shopping together to find their costumes. Aiden was supposed to go over to Yuki's place after to help him put everything together and make sure it worked.

"So what were you thinking of dressing up as?" Aiden asked Yuki after they arrived at the store.

"Um, I'm not really sure. Just…anything I guess."

"Hm…" Aiden surveyed Yuki for a moment before saying, "I think a rabbit or an angel would work well. But I don't know how angel wings would fare in the water. What do you think?"

"I guess a rabbit would work. I'd just need ears and a tail, right?"

"Well," Aiden smiled mischievously, which made Yuki nervous for some reason. "We could just make your costume be bunny ears and a fluffy tail but what fun would that be?" Aiden took Yuki's hand and led him down the store aisles. One by one, Aiden picked out different things from the shelves and racks. Then, he turned to Yuki. "Do you trust me?"

"Huh? Y-yeah I do. But…why?"

"I'll make you the cutest bunny costume ever!" After saying that, Aiden handed the large pile of things to Yuki. "Hold that while I get my stuff."

"What are you planning to be?"

"Hehe! It's a surprise." Aiden quickly gathered what he needed and they both went to pay. After that, Aiden had Milo drive them to Yuki's house. There wasn't anyone there other than the household employees, for which Yuki was silently grateful.

They went straight to Yuki's room and Aiden got to work putting together Yuki's bunny costume. First, was the pink rabbit ears that perfectly blended with Yuki's hair. Then, Yuki had to put on a pink one-piece swimsuit and a white pair of suspender shorts. Next, Aiden sewed a round and fluffy pink rabbit tail onto the back of the shorts and made a white choker necklace with a pink bow made out of ribbon.

"Are we done now?" Yuki asked hopefully.

"Nope, not yet. It still needs a few finishing touches." Then, Aiden handed Yuki a pair of white and pink striped knee-high socks. "Now you just need a pair of white or pink shoes."

"Oh!" Yuki walked over to his closet, his little tail bouncing slightly along the way. "I have these." He held up a pair of pure white slip-ons. Aiden gave him a thumbs-up.

"Perfect!" He pulled Yuki over to the mirror. "So, what do you think?"

"Uh, yeah I like it a lot but, um, don't you think that maybe I should, you know, perhaps wear a jacket or something?" Yuki crossed his arms, trying to hide some of his skin.

"Well, you should probably bring one for when you're outside but not in the dunk tank. Other than that, it should be fine. After all, the weather is supposed to be uncharacteristically warm for the end of October. "

"Oh, okay." When they were finished, Yuki changed back into his normal clothes and they hung out for a while before Aiden headed home and put together his own costume for the festival.

In no time at all, the day of the festival finally arrived and Aiden was putting on his costume in one of the school restrooms. Yuki, who was already wearing his, was waiting for him. When Aiden walked out of the stall all dressed up, Yuki gasped.

The thing Aiden chose to dress up as was a pure white cat to match his hair. He had to be careful with what he chose to wear though since thin white fabric would be seen through once it was wet. Layers were a very important factor.

The costume was a sleeveless form fitting mini dress and he wore small swim shorts underneath it. A long white tail was attached to the back of the dress. He also had white cat ears, white net stockings, and white flats. To top it all off, he had a white choker necklace with a large silver bell on it. He would've worn heels but figured getting in and out of the dunk tank while wearing them was probably a recipe for disaster.

"Wow! Your costume is amazing. You look great!" Yuki smiled and applauded while Aiden spun around to show off the entire thing.

"Ha ha! Thanks! Now, let's go!" Aiden hooked one of his arms with one of Yuki's and the two of them left the restroom and went outside to where their class was setting up. Other students who already had their costumes on, had started arranging the prizes and filling the tank with water. There was a small tent near the dunk tank for the students to use to dry off after their turn was over.

"Woah. What the…?" Yuki and Aiden turned around as Zeke casually walked up to them and stared blankly.

"What is it?" Aiden asked.

"...You look surprisingly natural in a dress and the shy rabbit look actual works. So weird."

"Well, thank you. I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yeah, whatever." Zeke meandered off towards the tent and disappeared, leaving Yuki and Aiden to join the others in preparation for the start of the festival. They had three hours to finish setting everything up before people would start to arrive. Their psychology teacher who was overseeing things told Aiden to help fill the tank and Yuki was told to double check how many prizes they still had stored in the classroom.

Soon, preparations were complete, the gate was opened, and guests started flooding into the school grounds. The Halloween festival had officially begun.