Invitation to Club "O"

This is a Halloween Contest entry in the Romance Category. It is a fun story with 2 parties, many costume descriptions, no sex, sexual innuendo, rivalry, secrets, true love, and some short quotes from movies and lyrics from songs embedded in the story. It is a long story. Many thanks to sbrooks103x for editing it for me. I was in a panic and he gave me some excellent advice and hopefully, I can elevate my writing because of him.

*****

Friday 1 Week to Go

Once again Halloween was coming up, seven days away. My sister Alice, told me last week she would get me into the Kappa Kappa Tau annual Halloween party. She was head of the Sorority. The party I really wanted to go to was on the next night. That was the exclusive and by invitation only party at Club "O."

Club "O" was the old convention center. When the city's finances got tight, it was sold to an anonymous buyer.

I begged and pleaded and harassed Alice, and finally, she agreed to talk about it tonight.

"Meet us at Stacy's house at eight." "Us" meant the three bitches, and Stacy's house meant what it sounds like. Stacy was also my secret love. It was 7:50 when I parked and knocked on the front door.

"Well if it isn't Alice's little brother," said Stacy.

God, she's so beautiful. She sounds like my sister but she's not like Alice.

"Can it, Stacy. I'm 20, only a year younger than all the girls in your clique. We used to play doctor ten years ago."

"All right. We did have fun playing doctor, didn't we?"

I want to kiss her now, but I can't.

"Come on in."

Now Stacy's dad, Roger Barnes, is rich, mega-rich, Bill Gates rich. He divorced Stacy's mom some time ago and was very protective of his little princess. They lived in a McMansion on 10 acres, near the neighborhood where Mom, Alice, and I lived.

We walked up the staircase and into her room. She had two beds, a walk-in closet, and an on-suite bathroom.

And the gang was all there.

Besides Stacy and Alice, the other two were Gwen and Barb. All four were 5'6", 115-120 pounds, D cups, and drop dead gorgeous. All had straight hair to the middle of the back. Barb was blonde, Alice was brunette, Gwen had jet black hair, and Stacy was a redhead. If you saw them from the back and couldn't see their hair color, you wouldn't know who was who. They were all Kappa Kappa Tau's (Scream Queens) and were Seniors.

"All right, here's the deal, Kyle." Alice had a smirk on her face as she talked. "I didn't want to invite you to the Sorority party, but mom asked me to do it. Here's your invitation." It was a tag you hung around your neck.

"As far as the Club "O" party, Stacy's dad got us tickets last year and it was fantastic. No way can you go to that, except Stacy said we should give you a chance to earn an invitation. So, here's your chance."

I guess Stacy does love me.

"At the party next Friday, we will all be there in masked costumes. You have to identify each of us before we find you." Gwen stuck her tongue out, Barb looked bored, and Stacy was looking at her feet.

"That's not fair. I have to find all four of you before you find me?"

"Nobody said this would be fair. If you don't think you can do it...?"

"Hold on I never said I wouldn't do it. Alice, can I make some rules?"

"Maybe."

"Party starts at 7 p.m. and goes to 2 a.m., right?"

"Yes."

"OK, everyone has to be there by 8 p.m., none of you can leave the party until 1 a.m. or after I catch each of you. No going into any closed rooms except the bathroom. No cell phones."

"NO CELL PHONES! WHY?" Gwen was turning bright red as she screamed that question at me.

"To keep you four from standing in four corners, texting each other while you look for me. I want you to drink, dance, and have a good time while I hunt you down."

"Any more?"

"After I catch each of you, no telling the others what my costume is." There is no way they will follow this rule. I have to figure something out to give me an edge.

"OK, bro. I have one of my own."

I nodded.

"No contact with Stacy for the entire week. She's sweet on you and might help."

Stacy! She's sweet on me! I'm in heaven!

"I am not sweet..."

Alice cut her off. "Deal, you little freak?"

I nodded. "Deal. I want to hear all four of you say deal."

Alice looked at the other three, and after some eyebrow sign language said, "Deal."

I pointed at each of them. "Deal." "Deal." "I agree."

"Geeze, Barb, can you please say deal?"

"Deal."

"Oh, and one more thing. When I win, I get to pick one of you as my date for Saturday night."

Gwen laughed. "You couldn't handle me."

I went and whispered in her ear. "I can reduce you to Jell-O by tracing my finger down your jawline and whispering in your ear. By running my finger or my tongue up your spine like this." I traced her jawline with my right index finger and took my left index finger and placed it on her lower spine. I slowly slid my finger up to the nape of her neck. Her eyes closed and she was purring like a fat, dumb, and happy cat. I stopped and her eyes opened.

"Why did you stop?"

"I didn't want to pay for a room."

Crack. My head snapped back and I saw stars. "Why did you punch me?"

"Slapped, pervert. I slapped you."

"The names are different, but both cause concussions and fractured skulls." I rubbed my cheek. "All right, ladies, I will see you Friday." I left the room but stopped as soon as I was around the corner.

"What if he wins?" Barb said.

"How? We have different costumes and we're hiding them here. And anyway, how is he going to know if we share info?"

I heard someone coming up the stairs so I ran down the staircase and almost ran over Roger.

"How are you, Kyle?"

"Great, sir. The gang is in Stacy's room. I have to go." I went out the front door, hopped in my car, and drove home as fast as I could. I wanted to search Alice's room anyway.

Nothing. Closet, drawers, and under the bed. And in the secret crawlspace, I wasn't supposed to know about? All clear.

Saturday

The next day I went to visit Uncle Sherman. He used to be a movie producer, and I hoped he would know someone from whom I could get costumes. He came out to greet me. "Kyle, my favorite nephew."

"Sherman." He always felt Uncle was too formal. "I'm your only nephew."

The screen door opened again. "Aunt Edna, if you weren't my mom's sister..."

"Behave, Kyle. Let's go in. Edna, get the boy a beer. Let's go down to my office."

I'd never been into his office before. There was a lot of clutter on the floor and many pictures on the wall. Sitting on a shelf, was a three foot tall, gold statue. It was a male stripper doing a lap dance over a curvy woman sitting in a chair. Wow. Where did he get that? Is it real gold?

"Hello! Wake up, Kyle. Now, what can I do for you?"

Edna came in with a beer.

I explained everything and told him I needed one costume, maybe more.

Sherman got one of his business cards, wrote a number and a name on the back.

"Call this guy tonight after nine. He owes me. Now, how do you like your job?"

"Job? What job?"

"The job at the Black Tie Lounge." How did he find out?

The Black Tie Lounge is a male strip club. I am a waiter and a backup dancer. Sometimes I did birthday parties or bachelorette parties if the club was a man short. I made good money as a waiter. I made ungodly money dancing and stripping, though not completely naked. We had to keep that covered up. The club was on the other side of town and no one that I knew had been there.

Aunt Edna had a big smile on her face. "OOOWEE! I know where I want to have my next birthday party."

"Sherman. Why did you tell Edna? Edna, you can't tell mom or Alice. Please?" I was begging them.

Edna came over and kissed my cheek. "Kyle, baby, don't worry. This is our little, or big secret."

I turned red, I'm sure.

"Kyle, your secret is safe. I was teasing you. Don't forget, nine tonight."

I drove home and went to the living room. No one else was home so I put on a movie and lay on the couch.

Half an hour later, Sis came in and asked, "Did you search my room?" I said, "Yes, last night." Alice laughed and went to her room.

I called Marty, that's the guy's name, at nine and after a brief conversation, he agreed to meet me at his store downtown at 7 a.m. I lay in bed thinking how to beat the girls. I got very little sleep.

Sunday

Early the next morning, I was waiting by the door of Magic Marty's Merchandise. It was a huge store in the middle of Main Street, downtown. At 7:05 Marty pulled in. He was about Uncle Sherman's age. We greeted each other, and I apologized for getting him up on a Sunday.

"What, do you think I go to church? Sunday before Halloween is a big rental and sales day."

I nodded and showed him a list of what I wanted.

"A padded Spider-Man costume. Hmmm. I don't know. Wolf Man, ET, and Clown I've got. But padded Spider-Man I don't know. How much padding, shoulders and arms or all over?"

"All over."

"Why do you need 4 costumes, kid?"

I explained about the contest with my sister and her crew. "If I have 1 costume, the first one I catch will tell the others what I have on. So I need to change costumes for each girl. I don't know anyone around the sorority so I'll have to change by my car. If I strip to boxers, I'll freeze or get arrested."

"OK I got you so far."

"So, I'll put Spider-Man on first at home and inflate the pockets. When I identify the first girl, I'll put on Alien over Spidey and tag #1 who thinks Alien is me. I take off Alien and Spidey goes hunting for #2. Clown tags #2 and Spidey does his hunt again. Wolfman catches #3 and Spider-Man hunts and tags #4.

"There's going to be a lot of girls there. How are you going to find your 4?"

"I'm trying to figure out where their costumes are."

"Good luck on that. Let me check my inventory sheet." Marty went down between a row of bins and turned left.

I wandered around, looking at the labels on the shelves. W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, and Mae West. I think they were actor's a long time ago.

"Eureka! I have one Spider-Man 12 points inflatable costume. I got it back from my seamstress yesterday. You put it on and it's a loose fit, and you use a tube hooked to a small compressor to fill it out the way you want. Now, where is it?"

Silence, then, "Oi Vey. Right on my desk."

He came back and pulled the other three costumes, and wrote up a rental bill. "I'm sorry, but I have to write a bill for insurance purposes. Don't worry about the prices I put down. I owe Sherm big time, so you owe zip."

I left tired but happy and drove to Edna's. She let me hide all my costumes in my cousin's room. He's in the Army, stationed in Germany, and drives tanks in Poland. I told my mom's big sister my plans and I thought she was having a stroke, she laughed so hard. Sherman came up from their basement and he had a good laugh too as I repeated my story.

Monday

I worked 2-10:30 and made $245 in tips waiting on tables. I asked my boss for Thursday and Friday off and he approved it. I worked Black Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving last year and had already said I'd do it again.

Tuesday

I got to work at 2 p.m. but instead of waiting tables, I had to replace a regular who called in sick. We had a big party with another guy my age, whose name was Hector. The party was from 4-7 so we got our props, put on our costumes, oiled up, and were at Party Room B's door at 4 p.m. When we heard our music through the door, we burst into the room and stopped in our tracks. "Happy Birthday Agnes" was on a banner facing the audience, and Agnes and her 14 friends had to be at least 65 and up. We froze for a second before resuming our entrance. After many lap dances and some very happy grannies, we split $3,200 for 3 hours' work.

Wednesday

Worked 2-10:30 waiting tables. Got a lot of good-natured ribbing from the regulars who wanted to know how many phone numbers I got.

Thursday

Off today and so I stayed in my room thinking about Friday night. Sis came in at 1:30 wondering if I was working. I said no because I had to protect my costume. She left and I shook my head. I sure hope I am right about the location of their costumes.

Friday

I knocked on the kitchen door of Stacy's house at 8 a.m. Consuela, the cook, and maid, and surrogate mother, let me in and gave me a big hug. I had been over there a lot before Stacy and her girlfriends went off to college. I explained about the bet and Saturday night and what I was going to do for Stacy. She let me go to Stacy's room when I asked.

Five minutes later I could breathe again. I found all four costumes in the back of her huge walk-in closet. I took pictures of them and marked the hockey helmet. With great care, I put them back the way I found them. I said "Mission Accomplished" to Consuela and thanked her for letting me in.

I drove to Aunt Edna's and surprise, Mom was there. I figured I could tell her now what was going on, and what my plans were for tonight. We hung out together until five and they both helped me put Spider-Man on and inflate all the pockets. The feet fit over my shoes and the pads under each foot raised me an inch. Before I put my other costumes in my car, Edna gave me the keys to Sherman's prize Mercedes Benz. "Live a little."

Spider-Man got hugs and kisses from two beautiful women who looked younger than they were. I loaded the other three costumes in the trunk of the Benz and drove over to the college. I went past the Sorority House, a large, four-story, brick house, with a two-story extension that was their dance hall. Turning left at the next street, I parked in front of the last house on the left. I unzipped the hood and rang the doorbell. A little old lady opened the door.

I introduced myself and started to explain about parking in front of her house. I noticed she was looking at me funny. I thought she looked familiar when a light bulb lit up my brain. "Agnes?"

"Rocky!" That's my stage name. She invited me in and I explained what I was doing. She invited me to bring in my other costumes so I could change inside. "Park your Benz in the driveway so it doesn't get hit."

I parked, carried my costumes in, and we talked until 7:45 when I left to go to the party. I double checked to make sure my golden ticket was around my neck. Let's see, I'm looking for a mime, Cat Woman, Jessica Rabbit, and a hockey player. Those were the costumes I had photographed.

I walked in and went into sensory overload. The lighting, costumes, beer smells, banging music, and girls. Lots of girls. All sizes.

Time to mingle. All around the room, on three sides, was a six-foot-high concrete platform. On each platform, there were two bars against each wall, one serving hard liquor and one serving beer and sodas. The legal age for selling liquor is 21. Two sets of stairs on the fourth wall led up to second story bathrooms and storage space.

I bounced off of Anna Nicole Smith but her girls were fakes. A Big Bad Wolf was right behind her squeezing, and her behind wasn't real either. The packed room was hot and the noise was deafening. The things I do for the woman I love.

I spotted a Jessica and moved in. I asked her to dance, but Green Lantern grabbed her before she could answer. As I was moving towards a Cat Woman, I saw a female hockey player. She had a flexible paddle and a green helmet with an opaque face shield. She went left and the Cat Woman went right.

I needed to follow the hockey player. I looked for the magic star decal I had placed on the back of the light green helmet this morning. Victory! Now, who was she? I observed for a few minutes, and then she laughed. I remembered that laugh.

When I was set up on a fake date in high school, I got punched out by the girl's boyfriend. I heard a laugh that was exactly like the hockey players laugh. Barb, dear sweet Barb.

I left and went back to Agnes's. I put the Alien costume on over Spider-Man, step in pants with booties first. A pullover top with long slim finger gloves, and an attached head. All were different shades of silver. Back at the party, I looked around for the green helmet and made a slow beeline towards her. Coming up behind her, I spotted the star and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and I said, "Dance, Barb?"

She froze. "How did you know?"

"You laughed."

"Oh, OK. Am I the first?"

"Yep! One down, three to go." I turned around and walked away, weaving through the crowd. Ten minutes later I was back from Agnes's as Spidey. I spotted at least four Cat Women and loads of female mimes. Go figure, girls as mimes. Inconceivable!

The flashing lights were an epileptic's nightmare, and the skimpy costumes were a wet dream for a geek. Looking around for Cat Woman, I spotted Lt. Worf dancing with Alice in Wonderland. A Jessica Rabbit cut in front of me, but before I could chase her, I was cut off by Wonder Woman rubbing against Freddie Krueger. Don't sleep, Diana!

I decided to track down Cat Woman so I went clockwise around the room. Cat Woman #1 too short. #2 too tall. Whoa, I had to backtrack around Chewbacca and #3 was too big. I'm not saying if she was fat or big boned. He-Man and Skeletor were shoving each other, but Arnold and Lou Ferrigno broke it up. #4, where are you?

A Cat Woman stood up in the middle of a circle of men. Included in the circle were four Imperial Storm Troopers, three cops, two Supermen, and Prince Charming. No, I couldn't imagine Gwen or Alice doing that on a first date.

Wait, there were some more near the DJ. Cat Women #5 and #6 didn't look right but #7 was the right height. The right butt, no, that's my sister's butt, I think. I hadn't marked the Cat Woman garb because I couldn't find anywhere that wouldn't stick out. I would use Plan B.

I picked a song request sheet from a table there and wrote down, "Her Name is Alice," by the group Shinedown. I handed it to the disc jockey's assistant and picked up a red sharpie lying there. After another song played, the piano chord for Alice started. I heard her clear as a church bell ringing on a cold Sunday morning in the country. "That's my name and that's my song. You can play it all night long." She stuck her right index finger up and started to sway and sing.

I smiled and touched her left elbow with the sharpie. Victory!! Out the door and back to my lady Agnes.

There were two women on her couch and all three looked related.

"Rocky, this is my daughter Lucy and my granddaughter, Beth." I shook Lucy's hand and she said "Lulu." Beth got up and hugged me and said, "I'm BB."

Agnes laughed and helped me put the clown suit on. It had a head that made me hot. I needed to do this quickly. I asked the time and she said, "10:35."

Back in the saddle, I felt a nurse up and bumped into GI Jane. Argh, too rough. Alice was gone. I turned on my search and destroy mode but they made it too easy for me. A Cat Woman was talking to a female hockey player with a green helmet. I asked an Elvira imitation to dance and I moved the two of us in their direction. Flat girls should not dress up as Elvira. I thanked her and I looked for Sis. There goes Gretzky up the stairs. Marilyn Monroe and Gandhi were sucking face. There is a Cat Woman, looking around clockwise. When her back was to me, I spotted the red dot on her left elbow. Hah. Her name is Alice!

I walked towards her, veering to my right. I stopped and when she turned back facing me, I laughed. "Hey, Sis. Great party. Nice costume. Well two down, two to go. Later."

"But Barb said you had an alien ..." and the rest sounded like YADA YADA YADA. I kept on walking. Mime and Jessica Rabbit left. Stacy has to be the mime because Gwen was too vain to put a mime white face on.

Agnes let me in and looked almost as happy as she was on Tuesday.

Lulu rubbed up against me. "Will you do BB's birthday party next month?"