Chapter 16-Party Time

"Mitch you jerk!" I shouted as he rolled on the ground, laughing hysterically. Beside me Kat fumed and she dealt him a swift kick in the stomach with one of her feet.

He stopped laughing immediately and hugged his stomach. "It was just a joke," he growled at Kat.

"Yeah," she said. "But you scared me half to death!" I turned to look at Joseph and Kyle who were turned away from Kat and laughing as hard as they could without her noticing. They obviously did not want to also incur her wrath. I just shook my head and helped Mitch to his feet.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Kyle stepped up beside me and asked, "So, where to?" Joseph stood on the other side of me and took his hand in mine. I gave his larger hand a squeeze and we exchanged a smile. Kyle rolled his eyes a little bit. "Well," he said. "That doesn't really answer my question."

I blinked at him. "It wasn't meant to," I said.

"Obviously," he said sarcastically. What was up with him?

"Well," said Kat, giving Kyle an odd glance. "I think we should find out what this party is about, where its taking place, then go all out getting ready for it. Since we're cutting the trip down we'll have extra money and I think we should use it having a great time at this thing." We all agreed, even Mitch who had recovered his good-humor.

"Speaking of money," I said. "We should all guard it pretty well here. There are a lot of weird people in town and I don't think this hotel has the best security system." I glanced back at our door, which had taken us a small war to get to close and lock.

Joseph nodded. "I brought all of mine with me," he said.

Mitch said, "I hid mine quite well." He grinned mischievously and none of us wanted to ask where he had hidden it. Kyle and Kat both added their assurances at the safety of their money as well and we took off for town.

We stopped to have a late lunch at a place called "Mac's Pizza" and shared a giant pizza with pepperoni, sausage, olives, mushrooms, and hamburger. It was very filling. We figured there would be food at the party, but this would be out main meal. While we were there, we asked our server about the Solstice party. They had given us a waitress who spoke fairly good English, so she didn't have any problems explaining.

"It is going to be very fun," she began. "It is always a very bright party. There will be music, dancing, contests, and a grand parade."

"How do people dress?" asked Kat.

The waitress paused to think before replying, "They wear all sort of clothing. Most is very bright and very wild though."

A grin immediately appeared on Kat's face and she seemed to be plotting. "Thanks very much," she told her.

"Are you all planning on going," she asked us, though her eyes seemed to be glancing at Joseph. I felt myself growing jealous. She was very pretty, many of the island women were. Her face was composed of gentle brown curved and her eyes were darkly entrancing. I feared they were trying to entrance Joseph.

"Yes," I replied quickly. "All of us." I took Joseph's hand in mine when I said it.

To my surprise, she laughed and then gave me an approving look. "You all have a good time," she said with a smile and returned to serving her other tables.

"Just as I hoped," said Kat excitedly. "Oh this is going to be fun. We have to get equipped after dinner."

We all seemed to get hyper with her excitement and we chorused, "Yeah" and made a toast to the party.

After we had finished and paid, we dashed out into the street. The sun had held itself high in the sky on this day longer, than any other, but it was starting to dip. People were already out in the street, antsy for the partying to start. The islanders had been decorating the streets all day but finished with the final touches probably only moments before.

"We'd better hurry," said Mitch, glancing at the sun. "Or they'll start the party with out us!"

"Oh no!" said Kyle, his hands to his face with a shocked look. "We mustn't let that happen. Dearest no!" I chuckled and Mitch jumped on him. They wrestled down the street in the direction we were headed to the Bequia Boutique.

Inside, it seemed we weren't the only people who wanted to dress-up. People were walking up and down the aisles pouring through the selections. The store had a variety of clothing but most of them were dressy and it had stocked up for the coming parties with all sorts of wild accessories.

"Okay men," said Kat, taking charge with a tough voice. "We'll break off and find our outfits. Talk only to check with each other for approval, and be as crazy as you can."

We all put a hand on top of each others and then chanted, "1..2..3..crazy!"

Then we were off in different directions of the store. Joseph and I originally went different ways but he snuck through some aisles over next to me. I had been leafing through basic dresses when I felt his arm go around my waist. "Find anything?" he asked. "I'm sure it will all look great on you."

I laughed and shook my head. "Hey," I said. "Why don't we go matching?"

"Great idea," he grinned.

"I like that show of teamwork you two, keep it up," said a voice behind us. I spun to see Kat with her head sticking through a rack of shirts smiling at us. She saluted and spun back through the clothing to resume her searching. I chuckled and flipped some more through the dresses. After we had been looking for awhile Mitch sauntered up to us. He was wearing a bright green flapper dress. The style from the 20's where they came about to the knees with the tassels on the full length of the dress. He also had on a string of pearls, a bright blue boa, high black heels, full length arm gloves a very similar shade to the boa, a head dress with a blue feather, and to top it all off a pair of rainbow fishnet tights.

"So," he said in a Za-Za voice. "Vat do you think?" Behind me Joseph was practically crying from laughing so hard. Before I could respond Mitch's eyes went wide and he dropped to the ground. I turned to see what he had noticed. Near the door, our friends from St. Lucia were milling around as they had just walked in. Lindsay and her mother were right out in front looking around at the wild clothing. "Do you think she saw me?" whispered Mitch from the ground. I shook my head and contained my laughter since they had spotted us and were heading over our direction.

"I don't think so," said Joseph between tears. "But they're headed this way." Mitch scrambled off on the ground toward the nearby changing rooms. His boa dropped off and I left it where it was.

"Hi!" said Lindsay as she reached us. She, Morgan, and Brad had woven their way over quickly but the adults were still trying to find their own paths. Morgan and Brad each said, "Hello," as well.

"Hey!" I replied. "Great to see you guys again. We though you might head in for the festival."

"Everyone else is," said Morgan. "We weren't going to be the only people not going."

"Where's your other friends," asked Lindsay, looking around.

"Around," said Joseph, glancing down at the boa, then he picked it up with a grin. "Mitch dropped his boa." The three younger people raised an eyebrow at us and I jabbed Joseph in the side a bit. A laugh escaped from him. "He was in a hurry to get to the changing room."

Brad examined the boa. "Not a bad idea," he said. "That boa kicks."

"It matches his dress," said Joseph. "Well, its not really his since I think he decided not to get it, maybe you could ask him about it."

Brad and Morgan had gotten the boa from Joseph and were joking around with it then they stopped and set it carefully on a rack. "Perhaps its not quite that cool," said Brad.

I glanced over at Lindsay. I expected her to look shocked but she was chuckling. Suddenly, Mitch emerged from the changing room and put on a surprised face to see the three with us. He walked over and smiled brightly. "So great to see you," he said and bowed a little to Lindsay.

Her cheeks colored but she said, "Hello. Nice to see you again." By this time the adults were over as well. Brad glanced back at them and seized what he saw as the perfect opportunity.

"Oh Mitch," he said. "I believe you dropped this." Then he handed the boa to Mitch. Mitch's face turned bright red and we all laughed. John's hearty laugh boomed above the rest of ours and brought Kyle and Kat over to investigate as well. We finished and Morgan patted Mitch on the back.

Mitch took the boa crisply and forced himself to say, "Thank you."

"Well," said Trisha. "Its surprising but neat to see you all again."

"We're obviously all here for the festival," said Terry, eyeing Mitch's boa.

"How have you kids been?" asked John. We exchanged glances that said not to bother them with our worries.

"Oh fine," said Kat. "It's been pretty uneventful." We exchanged words and then decided that Morgan, Brad, and Lindsay were going to stay with us, after their parents bought their costumes, and then we'd all meet back later at the party. We separated again, except that Lindsay stayed with us.

She seemed a little embarrassed but asked, "I know I'm going to sound a little stupid but I just want to know for sure, does Mitch like me?"

I chuckled a little and said, "Yeah. I'm pretty sure."

She smiled a little and grew pretty quiet, then started flipping through the clothing without seeming to really look at anything. I expected her to leave but she stayed and we gave each other advice on clothing that actually went with red hair. Finally, we all picked out what we were going to wear and paid for it. We headed back to the hotel and stopped along the way to buy whatever offbeat cosmetics and hair supplies were left. The five guys all crowded into Mitch and Joseph's room to help each other get ready and we three girls went into Kat's and mine. After an hour and a half of pulling, arranging, curling, applying, drawing, and a ton of other preparation, we joined the guys outside.

"We look maahelous," said Mitch. We did, we truly did. Joseph and I decided that we would both dress in silver and purple. He was wearing a silver shirt that hung open in front and a pair of tight purple pants. He had spiked his dark hair and sprayed some flecks of purple hair dye into it that would occasionally catch the moonlight. He had also put silvery body makeup heavily on his eyelids and more sparsely around his face. I was wearing a straight purple dress that came to my knees. Fortunately, I had brought that with me so it saved some money. It was perfect because it was embroidered with entwining roses and vines in silver thread. I was also wearing a pair of knee-high silver boots and a silver boa. I let my hair hang loose and didn't do anything to it except spray a little silver in my hair and painted thick purple spirals out of my eyes.

Mitch had completely changed in his approach from the flapper and looked, I had to admit, quite sexy. Not as sexy as Joseph though. He was wearing a sleek black suit with a pair of dark shades and had put mass amounts of black hair dye and gel into his hair to get a James Bond effect. He had stayed true to the pact of craziness though and when he unbuttoned the suave black coat, beneath it was a regular dress shirt except it was splotched with all different colors.

Lindsay had been openly staring at him and she didn't look too bad herself. She was wearing a short, dark blue dress with a layer of gossamer over it that reflected the light in different colors. On her feet were a pair of blue slippers with ankle laces in all shades of the rainbow. We had painted multicolored butterflies on her cheeks and a pair of wings around her eyes. Her strawberry-blond hair was curled down her back and had small butterfly clips stuck throughout the tresses.

Kyle and Brad both wore zootsuits. They had fought over who got to wear one and both just decided to wear them anyway. Brad's was a more normal blue while Kyle's was bright yellow and his tie was orange. They both spiked their similarly bleached hair but then dyed it the color of their suits. Morgan was wearing a pair of straight black pants and an extremely wild shirt over a tight white tank top. The shirt had orange for its base color and then was printed with flowers in all different colors. His hair was sprayed every different color that we had bought and he wore a pair of silver sunglasses.

If anything seemed wild, it was nothing compared to Kat. She not only had what she bought but also her own quirks as well. That's what happens when you let loose an artist on a wild outfit. She had on a harem-like outfit in different shades of pink and purple. The baggy pants were low-slung around the hips, revealing a belly-chain that was decorated with charms of all colors. She had drawn a smiling sun around her bellybutton in shades of yellow, orange, and red. Above those was a tiny shirt that looked like a large two-piece, bathing-suit top, it too had charms dangling from it. Thick armbands spiraled down her upper arms, their tips looking like snakeheads, and she wore a deep purple choker that was woven in an elaborate pattern. Tiny pieces of glass were woven into it so that it sparkled. Her shoes were curled and tiny bells hung from the tips that jangled with her skipping steps. Her blond hair was piled on her head in an elaborate mix of braids and ribbons. Her face makeup was similar to mine except that the spirals were pink and they went further down her face.

"Shall we go?" Kat asked with the rise of a pink-brushed eyebrow. We all nodded and linked arms. Then we headed to the music in the distance that signified the party taking place.