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Pete stands in the old bathroom of Waylon place, a shiver running down his spine. He’s unsure if it’s the cold or just the overall creepy atmosphere of the house, but the goosebumps haven’t left his skin since walking through the front door. Every room has an unsettling feeling to it, like something or someone is going to pop out at any moment.
Not to mention this whole prank idea made Pete anxious. How Grace had the guts to steal the keys from her dad and come up with this plan is beyond him, but he doesn’t want to think about it too much. The main thing Pete is trying to focus on is how the hell he’s supposed to pull off being a ghost to scare Max.
He already wore the main part of his costume, hat and wig resting on the basin. The only thing left to do was his makeup. Looking at the cracked mirror in the dirty tiled room, Pete attempts to put on the white face paint they bought at the store down the road.
Unsurprisingly, the cheap substance practically crumbles against his skin, feeling more like chalk than makeup. He tries again, but just makes it look worse. Pete groans, debating whether or not it’s too late to just back out of this prank all together.
“Sounds like you’re having fun.”
This startles Pete, not expecting anyone to be in the same room as him. Whipping his head around, Steph leans against the broken doorway with her arms crossed. That familiar smirk plays on her face, like she’s moments away from making a sarcastic comment or quick remark.
“Just struggling with the face paint..” he explains.
She scoffs, making her way over to the small sink he was standing near. Steph picks up the plastic pot and touches the dry paint, her face screwing up at the texture. Rubbing her fingers together, the paint crumbles away.
“Stacy and Brenda use this cheap stuff for their game nights. You need a bit of water, otherwise it’s dry as fuck.”
“Tell me about it.” Pete mumbles.
Steph gives him a look. “Can I help you?”
What is happening? Pete’s gone from Steph never acknowledging him to this. So far each interaction with the girl has only led to some kind of trouble. Pete should just say no and work it out for himself. But there’s something about Steph. Something that makes it hard to turn her away.
“Uh, sure.” his voice cracks.
Steph motions for him to follow her, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Pete swallows thickly as he takes a seat, watching her as she uses some water from her drink bottle to make the face paint usable. He drums his fingers against his leg, trying to calm himself down.
After Steph has the face paint ready, she gently takes his glasses off and places them on the top of her head. That action alone makes Pete’s heart race, but he pushes whatever feeling that was down immediately. With everything that has gone on involving Steph so far, he really cannot risk it.
“This may be a bit cold.” she whispers.
Pete simply nods as he watches Steph dab the sponge into the paint before she raises it to his cheek. Her other hand softly touches his face as she presses the sponge to his skin, the sensation making even more goosebumps appear. He averts his eyes, Pete not wanting to stare directly at her while she helps him.
Noticing he hasn’t spoken for a moment, Pete clears his throat. “Why are you doing this?”
Steph sighs. “Because if we don’t have you looking like a dead guy soon, Grace will be on our ass for not sticking to her schedule—”
He cuts her off. “No. Not that. Why help us get back at Max? As far as I’m aware, he’s done nothing to you. I know you said it’s bullshit he can get away with how he treats us, but he’s been getting away with it for years. Why go against him now?”
The comment makes Steph stop what she’s doing. She sits back slightly, looking away from him. For a moment Pete fears he’s said the wrong thing and brought up a sensitive subject. But eventually she looks back.
“You got that black eye because of me, Pete. If I didn’t stupidly suggest we study at Pasqualli’s, Max wouldn’t have hurt you. I’m an actual idiot for even considering going to that dumb restaurant.” she hesitates for a moment. “In the boys’ bathroom, you made a good point. Maybe it would be for the better if I just leave you alone. But I don’t want to do that. I want to make things right.”
“Steph..” Pete starts, but she shakes her head.
“Please don’t. Doing this, finally helping you guys get back at that fucking jerk? I need this. I need to help you.” Steph states. “So let’s get this done, okay?”
Pete struggles to find the right words to say as she continues his makeup. Deep down, he doesn't want Steph to leave him alone either. He just thought that would be the easiest way for all of it to stop. But even if he did stop talking to her, Max would quickly find another reason to bully him. Not wanting to get into that conversation right now, Pete says the only other thing on his mind.
“You’re not an idiot, Steph. All you did was reach out and suggest somewhere to study. It was just a very shitty coincidence Max was at the same place.” he reassures her. “I also thought I could stand up to him by myself at Pasqualli’s, so that definitely didn’t help.”
Steph looks at him, her expression sympathetic. “I should have been there. Maybe I could have talked some sense into him..”
Pete shrugs. “Perhaps, but you’re here now. Much prefer this scenario anyways. We didn’t have a prank planned last night.”
A soft laugh escapes her lips as she presses more paint to his skin. “You are funny, Spankoffski.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Smirking at his words, Steph’s face softens when she reaches his black eye. She carefully presses the sponge around the area, her touch much more gentle compared to the hand that left the bruise. Their eyes meet for a small moment, Pete forgetting for a second they were sitting in a creepy abandoned house. All he can think about is Steph and her sitting close, doing his makeup.
“Well that’s the base layer done. How do you feel about upping the ghost look with some dark eyeshadow?” Steph suggests, throwing the dirty sponge in the sink.
“Uh, why not. Need to be as convincing as possible.” Pete’s voice wavers as Steph grabs a makeup palette from her backpack.
Taking a small brush, Steph taps the bristles in a shade similar to charcoal. She gestures for Pete to close his eyes, his breath hitching as he does so. The soft brush glides against his skin gently, Pete barely feeling anything. He just feels the rare tickle from the bristles every now and again. It is calming, to have Steph do his makeup. Pete almost wishes they could just stay here doing this and not pull the prank on Max.
“Maybe I can do your makeup properly sometime. You know, make you look alive and not like some ghost dude haunting the creepiest house in Hatchetfield.” Steph offers, putting the brush down.
Pete opens his eyes. “I help you with your school work, you help me with my makeup. Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me.”
“You still want to help me with that? Thought the whole Pasqualli’s incident would have made you forget about it.”
He nods. “Sure I do. But maybe next time we can study at my place. Just to avoid running into anyone all together.”
Steph gives him a genuine smile, the expression making his heart pound.
”Alright then, guess I’m getting my grades up. Looking to be a solid C student by the end of the year..” she smirks.
Pete laughs softly. “Think we can manage that.”
Steph does some final touches to his makeup, her eyes focused as she adds the finishing details to the ghost look. Each time her hand meets his skin Pete feels butterflies in his stomach, but he tries to remain as still as possible while Steph works. Eventually she stands up, giving him a once over. The girl then takes his glasses off the top of her head, sliding them back on Pete’s face.
“Okay. I think you’re all set. Wanna check it out?”
Moving away from the bathtub, Pete walks toward the mirror. He looks at himself, admiring Steph’s work. His face was white, but it almost looked translucent with how she made the paint look. The dark circles around his eyes also elevated the look, Steph having the right idea to add them.
“It looks great, Steph.” Pete smiles. “If I tried it would’ve looked terrible. Thanks.”
“I'm sure you would have made something work. But I’m happy to help.” she comments.
Pete then looks down at his outfit. He feels quite ridiculous, dressed up like this. But whatever Grace says goes. She seems pretty dead set on this prank and something tells Pete he’s a lot safer to just follow her instructions than argue.
Speaking of the perky girl, her head pops through the doorway. “There you two are! Meeting in five minutes. Max will be here any moment and we need to go over the plan again.”
“Sure thing, Chasity.” Steph sighs. “We just gotta get rid of the mess in here and then we’re done.”
Grace looks between the two, expression suspicious. “Steph, you better come with me. There’s no reason both of you need to be in here together. Pete can clean up and join us after he’s done.”
Rolling her eyes, the taller girl grabs her bag after throwing her stuff inside it. “Whatever. I’ll meet you out there, Pete.”
He nods his head, smiling at the two girls as they leave the room. Once Pete was alone, he starts to clean up, shoving the rest of the face paint and trash from it into his backpack. He figures since they're definitely not supposed to be in here, the last thing he wants to do is leave anything that would make Grace’s dad suspicious. Pete does not want to get into any more trouble this week.
Soon he was finished, the bathroom now in the same state Pete found it in. Before leaving, he looks in the mirror a final time. Pete adjusts his glasses, being careful not to ruin his makeup. Steph really did do a good job.
This prank may actually work.