Hallowed Eve

Still stroking him, seeing his excitement grow, feeling herself getting closer to the edge, Eve considered going down on him. Although she'd never done it before, she wanted to do it for him now. She wanted to give him her virginity, too, but she didn't feel like she was ready for that just yet. Jason had always been so very patient and understanding, even though he clearly wanted her as badly as she wanted him.

Eve was pulled out of her ruminations -- he had suddenly brought her to the brink of orgasm, and he was there too. She felt a shuddering start deep within her that she couldn't stop. It built so quickly and overwhelmed her body with hot tingly pleasure. She moaned, twitching and convulsing uncontrollably, as he continued to rub her clit. Jason groaned loudly and shot his hot sticky load, coating her hand and squirting a little on her dress. He kissed her desperately and looked deep into her eyes with passion, longing, and hope.

"Soon," she whispered against his lips. "I promise."

He smiled and leaned his forehead against hers, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"I hope so," he said smiling. She smiled back at him, the conspiratorial smile of two who have shared something important and are on the brink of something even bigger.

***

Jason had died in the car accident six days later. She never had her chance to follow through on her promise. It had been a devastating loss, to be sure; but her grief and sadness at losing him were further compounded by agonizing regret.

Over the years she had often wondered why she'd felt she wasn't ready. What was I waiting for? It would have been the perfect occasion, she told herself for the thousandth time. Sometimes the pain and regret were overwhelming, and she would cry herself to sleep. Especially when she was back in her room.

In her intense grief, she ended up not dating anyone else for the rest of senior year. Between that pitying look and the fact that everyone knew she was damaged goods, it would've been difficult to be with someone new, even if she had been ready to date again. So she'd gone off to university a virgin, leaving a town of fewer than 3,000 to go to a campus with over 20,000 students.

In the city, Eve was enthralled with the variety of new experiences, the interesting and diverse people she was meeting, and the attention she was getting from guys. Nobody there knew about her pitiable sob story. She could re-invent herself. Within a few weeks, she'd had drunken sex with a virtual stranger just to get it over with.

Every day she regretted that she'd never done it with Jason. Sometimes she even blamed herself for his death. Perhaps if she'd been willing to go further, he might have been with her, he might not have been in that car when the accident occurred six days later. It had taken a long time, but she'd learned not to go down that road of despair too often.

***

Saturday arrived, and Eve was preparing for the Halloween dance/high school reunion. She put on the costume she'd brought with her from the city. It was a simple pirate costume, flattering, but not very elaborate. She wasn't very enthused about the whole thing and had no illusions about winning any costume contest. Once again, she reconsidered her decision to go to the reunion at all. She could just stay home and enjoy another evening with her parents.

Reluctantly, she called a taxi, and waited a long time for it to arrive. When it finally pulled up in front of her house, Eve saw that there was already another passenger, apparently going to the same destination. Eve laughed to herself. Only in a small town could the taxi driver get away with doubling up on passengers.

She opened the back door and peered in. "Hi Vanessa! Going to the reunion?" Eve greeted the passenger cheerfully. "Hi Frank," she added to the driver.

"Hi Eve, come on in," Vanessa said, scooting over to make room around her huge princess dress.

"Wow, you look amazing, Vanessa."

"Thanks, you too. It's nice to see you. How's life, girl?"

Eve told Vanessa all about her job. She was gladdened as Vanessa listened with genuine interest, asking intuitive questions at pertinent moments. Eve began to feel better about her decision to attend.

After they paid their fare and bade Frank farewell, they entered the high school together. Eve was glad to have Vanessa with her so she did not have to walk in alone.

The reunion committee had done an incredible job of decorating the gym for the big event. As soon as she entered, several old friends rushed up to greet her. One friend handed Eve a drink, and she had cordial catching up conversations with several people. She danced and drank some more, enjoying favourite hit music from 10 years ago.

After dancing for a while, Eve was somehow pulled into a group of people chatting near the bar. More conversations ensued - some with former classmates, some with former teachers who were all still teaching at the school.

She started to notice patterns amongst the reunion attendees. The ones who'd stayed in town were all congregating in the same cliques they had belonged to in highschool, while the ones who had left town were mingling around with different groups and different people.

What struck her after a short time was the uniformity of that look of pity on people's faces when they asked her, "How are you?" Seeking a way out of her current conversation, she spotted Scott. He was sitting alone, nursing a drink, and also wearing a pirate costume.

Eve excused herself and wandered over toward him. "Hi Scott. Was there a sale on pirate costumes?"

He looked up and his face brightened, laughing as he took in her costume. "Eve! Hi! Well, 'great minds', as they say. Here, have a seat," he said, gesturing to the empty chair beside him.

Like Eve, Scott had left town right after graduation to go to university. She had only seen him a few times since then, and clearly the years had not been kind to him. He looked significantly older than most of his classmates.

"How ARE you, Scott, dear?" Eve asked with a smirk, mocking the voice of the librarian she'd just been chatting with.

"Oh fuck, they're doing it to you too?"

"Yeah, almost everyone. They have for years, but it seems to be particularly bad tonight."

"I know, right? It's like this reunion is the prime opportunity to feel sorry for the town's most famous pity cases."

"I know," she commiserated. "And I don't know which is worse; the people who dance all around it and you know they're just dying to say something, or those who haven't seen you for ten years and come out with it, without any tact at all."

"I know."

"But you know what pisses me off the most?"

"What?"

"It's all them assuming that that's all we are; that our entire lives have to be defined by that one event when we were eighteen. Sure, it had a huge impact on both of us, but that's not all we're about."

"We're so much more than that," he agreed.

"I'll drink to that," Eve said, and lifted her glass. Scott responded in kind and drained his. She took another sip, draining hers as well.

"Here, I'll get us more drinks. At least the booze is free."

"I'll come with you," she said. Scott smiled at her, apparently thankful for the company.

Standing in line at the bar, Eve turned to him. "So seriously, how are you Scott? Where do you live now?"

"I'm good, Eve. I've been living in Montreal, working for a boutique IT consulting firm. I like it, and it pays pretty well. And you?"

"I live in Toronto, and do graphic design for a magazine. I also freelance with movie posters, concerts promotions, website design... a lot of indie stuff on the freelance work."

"That's cool. I'm glad you're able to make a living with your art. You were always such a great artist."

"Thanks," she said warmly to him. Having reached the front of the bar line, she turned to the bartender. "How many drinks are we allowed to get?"

"Two at a time before eleven. One at a time after that."

"Ok, give me two rum and cokes. And Scott..."

"Two scotches -- on the rocks please."

After retrieving their drinks, they moved to a table far enough from the music where they could talk. Sitting for a while, sipping their drinks, they pointed out different classmates and made observations about how they'd changed, or not.

"So... Montreal. Wow. That's a long way to come for this," Eve said. "Why did you come?"

"I seriously debated whether I'd come at all," he replied, gesturing absently at the room.

"Me too," she said.

He nodded. "I haven't been back to visit my parents for a long while, and my mother kept bugging me about the reunion, so I said I'd come just to placate her, really. But on the drive here, I had second thoughts, and third thoughts—"

"And fourth thoughts, and fifth thoughts," Eve finished for him.

"Exactly," he agreed, nodding. "It's just these people. They're all the same. They always look at me the same. Things never change here. No one ever fucking forgets. In Montreal, no one knows except my very closest friends, and my therapist," he added with a wry grin.

"I know! It's the same for me. The thing I hate the most is that damn look of pity. Like my poor pathetic little life must be just horrible because of what happened, and they feel sorry for me. I don't need their fucking pity." Eve finished with a little more vehemence than she'd intended. Scott smiled perceptively.

"I didn't know you were going through it too," he said.

"Yep. For ten fucking years," she said. "That's why I hardly ever come back."

"Cheers to that," he said. They attempted to clink their glasses together -- as well as you can clink disposable plastic cups -- and downed their drinks.

"Time for more," she said.

They rose and made their way back to the bar, talking about classmates and teachers on the way. After they settled back into their seats, each equipped with two new drinks, Eve resumed the conversation.

"So, Scott, any significant other? Kids?"

Scott looked at her appraisingly and when he seemed to decide she had no mal-intent with the question, he took a deep breath before he answered.

"No. Well I was married for a few years, but we divorced about five years ago."

"Oh, what happened?"

"I realized that I was using her to fill a void." Eve nodded knowingly while he continued. "Unfortunately it's a void she could never fill. No woman ever could. I blamed her at the time for not being what I needed. But after the divorce I found a great therapist who has helped me see that I needed to heal myself, and forgive myself for..."

"Being the one who survived," she finished the thought for him. He nodded.

"So many times I've wondered why I didn't stop Rick from driving that night. But I was as shitfaced as him."

"I've done the same thing," she added, "wondering what I could have done differently so you guys wouldn't have been in that car that night."

"But we can't change it, and there's no point in second-guessing what we could have done. I've tried my best to get past it, and live. This town just doesn't seem to want to let me."

"When was the last time you were here for Halloween?" she asked.

"Ten years ago."

"Me too," she said. "It was hard coming back for this."

"Yeah." They both sipped their drinks silently for a few minutes, watching the people on the dance floor. After a while, Eve noticed that Scott's eyes followed Vanessa.

"You liked her in highschool, didn't you?"

"Who?" Scott answered defensively.

"Vanessa."

He looked at her sideways, pausing for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I did. I was trying to gird up my courage to ask her out just before the accident. After that... well...."

"I know," Eve concurred, "after the accident you and I were untouchables."

"Yeah."

"You know, Scott... I came over here in the cab with Vanessa. She got divorced recently," Eve hinted.

"Really?" Scott asked, raising his eyebrows.

"No harm in trying, right? What's the worst that can happen?"

"She rejects me publicly and I slink back to Montreal with my tail between my legs and resume my life."

"Right. But if she doesn't reject you, you could get laid and live out a high school fantasy at the same time."

"Eve!" Scott seemed surprised she was being so blunt. Eve took a long sip from her drink, watching Vanessa on the dance floor. Scott resumed watching Vanessa as well.

"You remember that Halloween party when Jason suggested that he and you should dress as Adam and Eve?" Scott chuckled.

"Yeah," she smiled warmly, realizing she hadn't actually talked about Jason, reliving warm memories, with anyone in many long years. "He seemed pretty excited about me wearing nothing but fig leaves."

"Hell, we were all wishing you'd wear nothing but fig leaves," he said playfully. She laughed and punched him in the arm.

"Hell, you shoulda worn fig leaves tonight! It might have distracted everyone from their pity party," he declared with a big grin.

"Scott!" Laughing, she reached to punch him in the arm again, but he dodged and she missed.

"Okay, okay," he said putting up his hands in mock surrender.

"You know something, Scott?"

"What."

"I think you're the only person who truly understands what it's like for me in this town."

"Same goes for me."

"Comrades," she smirked. They clinked their plastic glasses and drank again.

Having found that connection and understanding they'd both been craving, Eve and Scott reminisced about Jason and Rick and their childhood growing up in Nobleton, while they drank, and drank, and drank some more.

When they stood for their fourth trip to the bar, Eve realized she was rather drunk. Scott steadied her as she stumbled in her high-heeled boots.

"Whoa. I think I'd better call it a night," she said. "I'm glad I came, though, Scott. It was good talking to you."

"You too," he said, as they hugged briefly.

"You gonna be alright to get home?"

"Sure. I'll probably end up sharing a cab with five or six other people."

Scott laughed. "Well I think I'll stay a little longer," he said. "Vanessa is looking pretty hot over there on the dance floor.... and I hear she's recently divorced." He winked.

"You should totally hit that," Eve smirked, and then blushed and laughed. Scott laughed out loud.

"I'll try my best," he chuckled. "Have a good night, Eve."

"Good night."

Walking out of the gym without stumbling actually took a fair amount of effort on Eve's part. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other until she cleared the door of the gym. Seeing the crowd of people milling around the front of the school, she turned down a hall away from them.

Stumbling through the halls of the high school, Eve found herself at the door to the guidance office. She'd spent so much time in there talking to Mr. Atkinson, her favourite guidance counselor, especially after Jason died. It was one of the places she felt she could be real, where she went for support and comfort. Never pity.

Mr. Atkinson was the one who had convinced her that art could be a viable career, and he'd helped her apply to art programs at colleges and universities. She owed a lot to him. It occurred to her that Mr. Atkinson hadn't been at the reunion. She would've liked to have seen him.

Eve reached out and tried the doorknob. Surprised that it was unlocked, she let herself into the guidance office, and closed the door behind her. Not much had changed, except there was a newer looking dilapidated couch in the waiting room. It suddenly looked so very comfortable. She flopped down on the couch, leaned her head against the armrest, and promptly passed out.

**

Eve found herself back at the Halloween party ten years ago. Jason was leading her away from the party down a long ornate hallway to a secluded spare bedroom, looking back at her with his "let's be naughty" look that had always made Eve's blood pressure rise.

He pulled her inside the room and kissed her deeply. He retrieved a flask and offered her some harsh-tasting liquor. This time she drank heartily instead of tentatively. She reveled in the heat cascading down her throat and the tingly rush it caused within her.

She handed the flask back to him and kissed him ravenously as he put it away. He responded to her advances with delighted enthusiasm. She tilted her head back and moaned as he kissed her throat, neck, and down to the exposed tops of her breasts.

He pulled her costume away from her breast as she reached behind herself to loosen it while arching her back, presenting her breasts to him, encouraging him. He kissed across the top of her breasts and pulled the material down, easily exposing both of her hard dark pink nipples, her chest heaving with her heavy breathing. He flicked his tongue over one taut nipple, then the other, while pulling her costume down to expose more flesh. She wiggled a little and her dress fell to the floor.

Standing before him in a loosened corset, tiny panties, and high heels, his eyes roamed over her body with ravenous intent. The look of delight and longing in his eyes made her shiver.

He stepped forward, pulling her close against him, kissing her deeply. His hands roamed over her back and ass, and one slid around to her front. She parted her legs, giving him easier access, and he rumbled his approval low in his throat. She gasped in his mouth as he slid his hand up and under the edge of her panty, toward her moistening sex.

Breathing heavily, kissing his neck and licking his earlobe, she dragged her hand over the hard bulge in his Elizabethan breeches, rubbing up and down firmly over the entire length of his shaft. He groaned and then bent down and sucked her hard nipple into his mouth. She gapsed and stroked him with more urgency. He pulled and tweaked her nipple gently between his teeth, then returned to sucking it, while his hand moved down until his fingers slid over her mound and between her slick lips. She moaned loudly, and thrust her pelvis forward, forcing his fingers deeper into her.

She deftly pulled open the drawstring on his breeches, wrenched the pants open, reached in and stroked his hard hot cock firmly with her bare hand. They moaned in unison, and returned to kissing passionately, mashing their mouths together, tongues dueling as he pressed his fingers deep into her hot wet pussy.

He kept thrusting his fingers in and out of her while she stroked him, excitement rising in both of them. She thrust forward again, grinding her clit against his hand, causing her to shudder. He stopped kissing her and smiled wickedly, watching her as he pressed the heel of his hand against her clit. Incredibly hot and prickly tingles shot through her body. Her eyes flew wide open and she smiled seductively as she continued to stroke him. He seemed astonished to see the look of lust and longing on her face. He slid out of her wet tunnel and rubbed his slippery fingers over her clit. She gasped and shuddered violently.

"Oh yeah," she moaned encouragingly.

He continued rubbing her clit, while he watched her twitching gasps of pleasure with glee. She was panting, her chest heaving, her skin flushed red. She was still stroking him firmly, still in control this time despite what he was doing to her.

"Oh baby, that feels so good. Oh... Please... Don't stop," he murmured as he continued finger fucking her.

"Oh Jason," she moaned. "I want to do something even better for you," she said with a smoldering look in her eyes.

His eyes went wide with shock as she suddenly dropped to her knees before him, pulling his breeches down with her as she went. His cock bobbed free in front of her face, and she looked up at him and smiled seductively as she grasped it. He met her gaze with desire and delight.