Calavera - 1. Chapter 1

Calavera

Diego leaned in closer to the mirror, critically inspecting his reflection as he finished the last touches of his Halloween costume. He turned back around.

"Who else are we waiting for?"

His best friend Parker was reading a magazine. "Just Milo." He glanced up at Diego. "What the hell are you supposed to be? A skeleton?"

"A sugar skull," Diego corrected, although he had taken pains to use white and black makeup to look more skeletal and less decorative. "For Día de Muertos."

"That's cultural appropriation," Parker pointed out.

"Not if it's my culture."

"Please, you are like...fourth or fifth generation."

"Second," Diego corrected. "And you can stop it with the appropriation shit, I know you got that from Taylor."

"Well, she's going to say it. Just so you know," Parker said mildly.

"I don't care what she says. We're not together anymore. The only reason I'm going is so Milo can meet some people and you can talk to Naomi."

Parker turned red and Diego grinned before there was a timid knock on the door. Diego opened the door and Milo smiled at him from the hallway. He was dressed up in armor, complete with a shield and a sword.

"You look great!" Diego said, ushering him inside.

"What are you?" Parker asked.

"A gladiator," Milo responded, lifting his shield. "What about you?"

Parker stood up and pulled his shirt open to reveal a Superman logo emblazoned across his chest. "I'm Clark Kent."

Milo smiled. "That's awesome."

"So are we ready to go?" Diego asked, trying to suppress a swell of jealousy at Milo's admiration of Parker. He knew it was stupid--Milo was straight as an arrow and was nothing more than friendly to Diego and Parker--but Diego still harbored a bit of a crush on him. Milo was also painfully shy and Diego had been trying to bring him out of his shell a little, even though he found Milo's bashfulness cute and sweet.

They trooped downstairs, where Diego's mother insisted on taking a few pictures before she allowed them to head out, and then settled into Milo's car.

Diego was surprised he had gotten invited to Taylor's Halloween party in the first place. She threw one every year, and while they were a highly coveted social occasion, things between Taylor and him were still a little frosty following their supposedly "amicable" break-up. Frankly, he wasn't sure how thrilled he was to be going.

Taylor's house was lit up with lights and decorations when they pulled up amongst all the other cars parked there. Her parents had included all the amenities one would come to expect with a McMansion--even a pool and ample parking. Diego could already hear music and people talking and laughing as he and his friends approached.

He glanced at Milo, who looked equal parts excited and nervous, and was laughing a little too loudly at one of Parker's jokes. Diego reached the door first and knocked.

Taylor opened the door with a smile. She was radiant in a shimmery gown with a gauzy toga overlay and a wreath of golden leaves on her shining blond hair. Diego felt another momentary tug of attraction upon seeing her. Her shallow personality and biting sense of humor were what had driven a wedge between them, but she was still beautiful.

"Welcome," she said. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, but her friendly tone showed that she was at least making an effort. Her eyes skated over Diego and Parker, then widened as she saw Milo.

"Oh, hi. Look at you!" she said. Milo blushed.

"This is my friend Milo," Diego introduced him. "He's new to school."

"You're adorable!" Taylor exclaimed. "Come in, come in." She grabbed Milo's hand and Diego felt a quick double punch of jealousy. His relationship with Taylor was over and he didn't even have one with Milo, but if the two of them got together, he wasn't sure if he could handle it.

"Most of the snacks are in here, or the dining room," she told Milo, showing him around. "There is dancing in the main room, and a live DJ out back, and then the black light dancing is downstairs in the rec room. There are also people in the upstairs lounge watching horror movies, if that is more your thing. And there will be some games later, too. How long have you been in town? Do you go to our school?"

Diego turned away in disgust and saw Nicole, Taylor's second bitch in command, approaching. She was dressed in a black flapper dress with a matching feather boa and headband. She fisted her hands on her hips and looked them both over. Nicole was tall and had dark red hair that she wore long with severe bangs covering her eyes. As a result she often looked intimidating, even in a costume that would look ridiculous on most teenagers.

"Okaaay," she said. "I get Parker's costume, sad as it is, but what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a sugar skull. For Día de Muertos," Diego explained.

"Dia what?"

"Día de Muertos. It's Day of the Dead in Mexico."

"Isn't that a little culturally insensitive?"

"It's my culture. My family is from Mexico."

"Well, my family is American, but you don't see me dressing up as Pocahontas," Nicole snapped back, then turned and flounced away."OhmyGod," Diego sighed, wanting to rub at his temples, but didn't want to smear his face paint. "She's so stupid, she makes my brain hurt."

Parker chuckled. "She's also wrong. She dressed up as a Native American two years ago and tried to claim she was part Cherokee when someone said something to her." Parker craned his head around. "I'm going to check out the house."

Diego rolled his eyes. "I know what you're going to be checking out," he said, accompanying Parker. "But I don't think Naomi is here yet. We got here fairly early."

Despite that, the house was already crowded with people, mostly still eating and talking. There were a few people dancing down in the black light room, surrounded by neon posters and glowing cobwebs. Another group of teens were in the lounge watching The Exorcist or making out. Diego, who had never seen the movie, actually stayed to watch for about a half hour before getting bored and wandering back downstairs. He grabbed a handful of popcorn from the snack table and wondered where Milo was. Parker was loitering near the entrance, talking with a classmate dressed in a revealing Wonder Woman costume. Diego joined them and was there when Naomi eventually arrived.

She was striking in her Egyptian costume, looking very much like one of the ancient queens, Nefertiti or Cleopatra with her kohl lined eyes and sophisticated poise. Personally, Diego thought that Naomi was way out of Parker's league, but for the sake of their friendship, he kept that thought to himself.

Naomi smiled as Taylor greeted her, then turned and gestured to her companion, a dark eyed, dark skinned teenager in a costume that looked straight out of a 20s mobster movie. He had on a boxy, dark pinstriped suit and vest, with a black shirt and white tie. He had a dark hat on his head and carried a fake tommygun in his hand. Diego found himself drifting closer.

"...and this is my cousin, Cairo," she was saying. Taylor held out a hand and Cairo took it, gave it a quick shake. "Welcome."

Diego approached next. "Hello, Naomi," he said. "You are looking as beautiful as always."

Naomi smiled at him. "Thank you. Diego, right?"

Diego nodded.

Naomi turned to Cairo. "This is Diego, he goes to the same school as me."

Cairo smiled at him, a glimpse of startling white against dark brown, and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you," he said, his voice a deep rich baritone, at odds with his slight frame and youthful appearance. His sweet, shy smile made Diego think of Milo. "I'm thinking about transferring."

"Oh? Where do you go now?" Diego asked. He could see Parker making a beeline for Naomi and turned away slightly, silently wishing his friend good luck and hoping he didn't make an idiot out of himself.

When Cairo answered with the name of a very prestigious and expensive private school, Diego raised his eyebrows.

"You want to leave that for public school?"

Cairo shrugged and looked uncomfortable. "I go to my current school on an academic scholarship. I like it, but was thinking that I might do better in a school with...more diversity."

There was a story behind his vague answer, but Diego didn't press him. Instead he smiled again. "Well, if you do wind up at our school, I'll be happy to show you around."

"Cool," Cairo said, smiling and nodding. "That would be cool."

"In fact, I can show you around the house right now," Diego continued, remembering Taylor's approach with Milo.

"Sure," Cairo said, following Diego as he gave a tour similar to the one Taylor had given Milo earlier. They ended up in the backyard. "You know the place pretty well."

Diego shrugged. "Tay has a Halloween party every year. And I dated her for a while, so I was over at the house a lot, since it's much nicer than mine."

"Oh," Cairo nodded. After a few seconds he asked, "So are you still together? You and her?"

Diego shook his head again. "No."

"Why not?"

Diego chuckled. "You ask a lot of questions."

Cairo shrugged. "I'm curious. I don't know anybody except Naomi and I might have some of you as classmates."

"I'll make a deal with you then," Diego said.

"Okay, what is it?"

"I'll tell you why Taylor and I broke up if you tell me, sometime tonight, about why you are really going to change schools."

Cairo seemed to give the challenge some thought, then nodded. "Okay. I'll tell you, later, if you promise to keep it confidential."

"Fair enough," Diego decided. "We broke up because we are too different. Our interests and personalities didn't mesh well. Her friends don't like me and I don't like them. I thought we could rise above all that, and we couldn't."

"Sorry," Cairo said and Diego realized too late how angry and bitter he must have sounded. "That must really suck."

Diego shrugged. "All break-ups suck. What about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

Cairo shook his head. "Nah. I'm not into girls, and I don't really have the time. I'm on an academic scholarship, so I have to really study to keep my grades up."

"I have a question," Diego said.

"Shoot."

"Is Cairo your real name?"

The other boy chuckled. "Afraid so. My parents told me they were visiting the city in Egypt when I was conceived, which is information I could have gone the rest of my life happily not knowing. They decided that, girl or boy, that was what they were going to name me. My friends just call me Kai, though, if you want."

Diego nodded. "Cool. At least your name has a story behind it. Mine is just a family name."

"I like your costume, though," Cairo said. "It's a Calavera, right?"

"Yeah," Diego grinned. "You're the first person who's gotten it. Your costume is pretty cool."

"Thanks. I had to borrow this from my dad, since it was a kind of a last minute thing. That is why it looks so ridiculously huge on me. Naomi wanted me to come and meet some people in case I end up starting public school."

"Well, come on, I'll introduce you to some guys."

Diego made sure to surreptitiously check on Parker as he came back into the house with Cairo and found him still conversing with Naomi and a few other people near the entrance of the house. Naomi was laughing, a genuine laugh, nothing that was mocking or hurtful and Diego left them alone, surprised and pleased. Naomi was a genuine knockout and Parker usually found himself tongue tied and awkward around attractive girls. Remembering Cairo's offhand comment about diversity he made sure to introduce Cairo to as many different people he could think of, even those that he didn't know very well (considering this was Taylor’s party, that included most of them). As he watched Cairo talking to different people, he noticed that while he had no problem letting people know that he was related to Naomi and thinking of transferring schools, he would clam up when asked about his current school.

Eventually, a girl dressed like Katniss Everdeen asked to dance with Cairo, and Diego got caught up talking to two of his female classmates, who were dressed up as peanut butter and jelly, which was cute if not a little obnoxious.

Diego also danced for a while, with a girl dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, with Elsa from Frozen, a guy dressed as a Ghostbuster and shared an awkward, cautious dance with Taylor. One of the things that he liked about Taylor’s party is that she expected all of her guests to adhere to the strict costume rules, and if anyone showed up without at least attempting a costume, she would kick them out. The other teenagers at his school, himself included, were usually too cool to dress up for Halloween, and it was fun to see costumes on someone besides little kids.

He eventually found himself dancing with Naomi.

"How are things?" he asked.

"Good," she replied, beaming. "I like your friend, Parker, he's hilarious."

"He's a good guy," Diego agreed. "How is Cairo?"

She smiled again, nodding her head. "Better. He's shy about meeting new people. Thank you for showing him around and introducing him to people--I noticed."

Diego shrugged. "It's hard to be in a place where you don't know a lot of people."

Naomi nodded again. "It was hard, moving to a new school, but everyone has been really nice to me. Taylor invited me to her party and I barely know her."

How interesting, Diego thought. After the song ended, Naomi returned to Parker, and Diego went looking for Taylor. He found her upstairs, balanced precariously on a stool and pulling several horror themed board games from the closet. He reached up to hold her steady and she smiled down at him gratefully.

"Thanks," she said, passing the games down to him. "The group in the upstairs lounge are getting restless and I don't want them trying to break into the liquor cabinet like last year."

Diego set the games down on the floor and took her hand to help her step down.

"Such a gentleman," she said, kneeling to pick up the games.

Diego shrugged. "Party seems to be going well. Naomi told me she's having a great time."

"I'm glad," Taylor said. "She's very pretty."

"Do you know her well?"

Taylor shrugged, making her way into the lounge. Some people were still watching horror movies, but a few of them drifted to where Taylor was depositing the games, and one girl opened a box to pull out a board and deck of cards almost immediately.

"Have fun guys!" Taylor chirped. She turned back around to exit the room. "I mean, she's alright," Taylor continued, picking up the thread of the conversation. "Seems a little stuck up maybe."

"Or shy," Diego interjected.

Taylor gave him an appraising look. "You like her or something?"

"No. Just saying that she doesn’t know a lot of people yet. Maybe she needs some time to open up."

"Maybe. I don't really care."

Diego frowned. "If you really don't like her, why did you invite her?"

"It's none of your business who I decided to invite to my house," Taylor replied icily. "Nothing that I do is your business anymore. That was a decision you made."

"I know," Diego said mildly, but secretly felt a little stung. Maybe their break-up wasn't as amicable as he thought it was. "But we both decided to still be friends right?"

Taylor sighed as she entered the kitchen and started pulling more drinks out of a cabinet. "I don't know, Dee. Maybe we can't."

"Are you sure?"

Taylor glanced at him as she opened a package of Solo cups. "I don't think we are off to a very good start, do you?"

Diego frowned and left the conversation feeling sullen and dispirited. Coming here was a mistake. He wandered the house, and eventually ended up in the basement dance room, watching Cairo dance with a girl dressed as a pirate. The black light made the stripes on his suit as well as his solid white tie shine in the darkness. He worked his way into the crowd, until the pirate paired off with another dancer and he slipped in to take her place.

Cairo smiled at him. "Hi again."

"Hey," Diego said, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the music. "How is everything?"

Cairo nodded, still smiling. "Good. Great. Your friend throws cool parties, all the other ones I've been too are pretty lame. Everyone talking or snapchatting or drinking. No dancing, no music. And absolutely no one would dress up."

"Sounds lame," Diego agreed. "Taylor only invites people she knows will follow her rules, and one of the rules is to dress up. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, just something that shows you made the effort."

"I like it. I can't even remember the last time I dressed up for Halloween." Cairo took off his hat to wipe an arm across his forehead, before replacing it.

"Thirsty?" Diego asked. "There are some drinks near the stairs over here."

"Yeah, sure," Cairo agreed.

"What do you want? We have Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta--"

"Is there any water?" Cairo asked. Diego pulled out a bottled water and tossed it to Cairo, who caught it deftly.

"Thanks," Cairo said, uncapping it and taking a long swallow. Diego allowed himself a brief glance to follow the lines of his neck and throat as he drank.

"Naomi seems to be having a really good time too," Cairo noted, watching her come downstairs with Parker and start dancing. "She said that I would like the people here. Are they all your classmates?"

"Most of them," Diego said, nodding. "A few of the older guys are from the class that graduated last year, but still hang out around town, or they came with someone who was invited to the party, like you with Naomi."

Cairo nodded, looking at the room, at the people gathered there.

"Are you still thinking of transferring?" Diego asked.

Cairo looked thoughtful and took another drink of water.

"Maybe," he finally said. "If--" He sighed and rolled his shoulders. "I don't know. It's complicated. I don't want to say that I would transfer because the people at your school are nicer, because that sounds so dumb, but that is what it comes down to, really."

"We're pretty nice," Diego said, a bit defensively. "As long as you're not a dick or anything."

Cairo glanced at him, looking startled. "I know. Everyone here has been nice to me."

"Why are you worried about that?"

Cairo didn't answer, just took another drink of his water.

"C'mon, did you go to school with a bunch of assholes?" Diego pressed. "You promised to tell me about your school if I told you about my ex. Fess up."

It was hard to tell in the dim lighting, but it looked like Cairo's cheeks darkened slightly. "Okay, fine. Well, to put it bluntly, my school is very WASP-y. Which is fine, I mean, it never really bothered me. I knew I stuck out, but I also knew I was lucky to get a scholarship, because my parents don't make enough to send me there.

"But with my skin tone and my name, people assume I'm Middle Eastern, or that I'm Muslim. And that's fine, a few people were jerks about it, but I never corrected them either, because it shouldn't matter. Or so I thought. But then things changed. When our political climate...shifted...things started to get bad. People started to shove me in the halls, shout things like "Mussie" and "Bin Laden" at me when I would walk into a classroom, you know, stupid shit like that.

"But one day, a kid cornered me in the bathroom, called me a useless 'N-word' and started punching. Then, after he beat the shit out of me, he ran to the dean of our school and told him that I attacked him. Well, I got hauled in and he sees me, lip bleeding and eye swollen shut, and the other kid without a scratch on him, and decided that we both had been fighting and suspended both of us." Cairo laughed, a bitter, caustic sound. "I've never even had a detention before."

"That's so dumb," Diego said and Cairo gave him another startled, hurt look.

"Not the story!" Diego quickly clarified. "But the fact that you got in trouble. I mean, you didn't do anything."

"Yeah, it sucks."

"So, are you thinking of transferring schools because of that? The bullying?"

"Kinda. When my mom found out what happened, she was pissed. She and my dad went to the dean, but he wouldn't budge.

"But I lost my scholarship, it gets revoked if a student is suspended or expelled. My parents sat down with me and asked if I still wanted to attend. It would be tough, we would have to cut back a lot to be able to afford it and my parents would have to pick up extra shifts at work, but if it was important to me, they would find a way to make it happen. Or, I could go to public school. I have to let them know by the time my suspension is up."

"That's kind of a tough decision to drop on you, isn't it?"

Cairo shrugged. "They said that they want to do whatever makes me happiest. I get the feeling they think there might be more going on that I don't want to tell them about."

"Is there?" Diego asked.

Cairo shook his head. "No. I just like the school. I guess, I don't know, I thought this stuff wouldn't happen to me in a private school."

"Well, what do you think about switching to public school?"

"If you had told me back when Obama was in office that I would even consider switching schools, I would have called you crazy." He glanced at Diego guiltily. "No offense to your school. But I love my classes, my teachers, and I still have friends there. But, the bullying...I don't know. It--It hurts, you know? I mean, the guy who beat me up, he wasn't a friend or anything, but he wasn't a jerk before either. He was someone I would say hi to in the hallway or ask about a homework assignment. An acquaintance, I guess. But I liked him, I thought he was a good guy." Cairo's voice cracked and he swallowed. Diego looked away and pretended not to notice when Cairo ran the tip of his pinky underneath one of his eyes.

"Well..." Diego tried to come up with a joke and failed. "That sucks. And there are bullies everywhere, I think. There are a few guys at my school that everyone steers clear off, because they're dangerous. And then there are the run of the mill bullies. They will give you a hard time, but if you give them a hard time back, or fight back, they will leave you alone. But to be honest, the worst bullies are the girls who pick on other girls that they're supposed to be friends with."

Cairo sighed. "So I can't get away from it, no matter what?"

"Not necessarily. All the people I've introduced you to are cool. And Naomi likes the school. And you'll have friends, you'll have me and Parker and the like. No school is perfect, but if I hear anyone calling you the same kinds of names those other kids called you, there is going to be some serious shit going down, because I won't take it, my friends won't take it, hell, even Taylor and Nicole won't take it. It won't be like your stuffy, WASP-y school, I promise."

"Why not?" Cairo asked.

"Because we're not a bunch of racist dicks, that's why. When one of Nicole's brothers called me dampback, she would have decked him if Taylor and I hadn't stopped her. You don't need to worry about us Kai, I promise."

Cairo took another drink of water. "Yeah, well, I never thought that I had to worry about my classmates either. You know, I thought private school would be better, be...safer."

"No one at our school will hurt you. We won't let it happen."

"You can't promise that."

Diego geared up to argue, but he realized Cairo had a point.

"Okay, so maybe I can't. Bullies are everywhere. But I can tell you that you won't be the only dark skinned person in a sea of white faces. And I can promise that you'll have at least a few friends who won't turn on you."

Cairo grinned a little and Diego impulsively grabbed his hand. "Just think about it, okay? I like you, and--and I think you'd do great at our school."

"Okay, okay," Cairo said, smiling a little more. "I'll think about it."

Diego knew that this was the moment he should let go of Cairo's hand, step back and re-establish space. But something held him there a little longer--the feel of Cairo's warm hand gripped in his own, the shy hopeful smile on his face.

Cairo glanced down at where their hands were still joined and then glanced back up at Diego, eyes narrowed.

"Why are you staring?"

"Because I'm about to make a very big assumption, and I need you to stop me if I'm wrong," Diego said before leaning forward and kissing Cairo.

Diego was ready to retreat the minute he felt any resistance, but Cairo pressed warmly into the kiss, pliant and responsive. It was, however, all he did, and after they broke apart, Cairo looked at him with wide eyes and drew back.

"What is this?" he asked, dark eyes glinting with distrust.

"It's called kissing," Diego said, and Cairo rolled his eyes, gave him a little shove.

"You know what I mean. Why did you kiss me?"

Diego felt his stomach tighten with uncertainty, but pressed on. "Well, you're cool. And I like you. I think you are smart and sweet and I like the way you look in that costume."

"I look ridiculous in this costume."

Diego shrugged, grinning a little. "Agree to disagree."

"How do I know you're not kissing me just to mess with me?"

"Because that's not who I am," Diego said, trying to rein in his impatience. They had just gone over this. "Was I wrong? I mean, you said you didn't like girls..."

"No, no, you're not wrong." Cairo looked away. "Sorry, I just...I've been having trouble recently. You know, trusting people."

"Hey," Diego said. He wanted to touch Cairo's face, trace the line of his jaw with his thumb, but put his hand on Cairo's shoulder instead, which felt safer. "I get it. I do. People are weird. But you can trust me. I know you don't yet, and that's okay. But you can and if you give me the chance, I'll prove it to you."

Cairo smiled at that and Diego moved in to kiss him again, with Cairo returning it eagerly. Diego felt himself relax more and deepened the kiss, feeling Cairo's hands come up to grip his shirt and pull him closer.

"Well, that was nice," Cairo said after the kiss ended.

Diego laughed. "Just nice?"

Cairo grinned. "Well, maybe more than nice." He moved in for another kiss. Cairo’s mouth was warm and sweet and Diego liked the way he locked his wrists together behind his head. Diego moved in closer, wrapping an arm around Cairo's waist.

They were interrupted by Nicole, who almost collided with them as she made her way downstairs.

"Ugh, get a room guys," she said. Diego broke away to glare at her, but found her surveying the room. "You, and you," she said, pointing to Naomi and Parker. "I need you to come upstairs please."

They turned to follow her and she paused, looking at Diego and Cairo thoughtfully. "Okay, you two as well. Come on."

"What's going on?" Parker asked.

"Taylor and I planned a special event. Only a few people are invited."

They rejoined a small group of people in the front hall. Most of them were Taylor's friends.

"We are going to the site of the Gibson murder and trying to contact the spirit of Adam Gibson," Taylor announced.

Diego felt a cold heavy weight drop into his gut. Looking around, he saw worry and anxiety over a lot of the gathering although a few appeared excited. Cairo, Naomi, and Milo, who were too new to know the story, were the only ones who appeared confused.

Cairo was looking at him and Diego drifted closer.

"Who's Adam?" he asked softly.

Diego shook his head. "Taylor--" he started and she gave him that annoying arched eyebrow look. "Isn't that a little...I don't know, inappropriate?"

Taylor flipped her hair back and picked up a Oujia board from the table. "We are going." Taylor turned and gave him a withering look over her tanned shoulder. "If you're too scaaaaared--" several of her friends giggled "--then you can stay here with all the other losers."

The rest of the group, except for Diego, Parker, Naomi and Cairo followed. Parker glanced at Diego and raised his eyebrows inquisitively.

"Well?

Diego sighed in irritation. Every part of him was aching to find an empty spot in the considerably emptier house and pick up where he had left off with Cairo. Another part of him, a part that knew Taylor too well, was telling him that she was planning something much bigger than a simple Oujia session with a supposed "ghost". Milo was going to be there too, and Diego didn't trust Taylor's sudden interest in him either.

"We better go," he admitted. "See what kind of stupid shit she wants us to get into and see if we can talk some sense into her."

Parker nodded and turned towards the entrance and Naomi, still looking apprehensive, followed. Cairo took Diego’s hand.

"Is this okay?" he asked. Diego winked.

"It's nice."

Smiling, Cairo followed him out.

* * *

There were too many of them to fit into Taylor's tiny Miata, so they split into two groups, one traveling with Nicole and the rest with Sarah, a generically pretty girl dressed as a blue Crayola crayon. Diego had carefully maneuvered Milo so he was riding with him and his group with Sarah. Milo sat up front with Sarah, and the rest of them were in the back.

"What is going on?" Naomi asked. "Where are we going, and who is Gibson?"

"Last summer, there was a really bad murder--a three-year-old boy, Adam Gibson. He had been tortured and killed, and his body had been found at an abandoned train depot that was a big hangout place for teenagers to drink and party. It was a really big deal, the police instituted a curfew and everything while they looked for whoever killed him."

"Did they find the guy?" Naomi asked.

Diego shook his head. "No."

"And now Taylor wants to talk to his ghost?" Naomi asked, sounding incredulous. "That's so morbid."

"It's gross and distasteful, that's what it is," Diego said.

Sarah turned and glared at him. "If you didn't want to come, you could have just stayed at the house, you know."

"She's exploiting the murder of a child for entertainment," Parker said, coming to Diego's defense.

"And you're condoning it by attending, so stop trying to act so high and mighty," Sarah chimed in.

Diego ignored her. "No one goes there anymore. Some people are too scared, but it was mostly abandoned due to the police investigation. People found a new place to hang out."

"Probably why Taylor chose it," Parker pointed out. "She got busted last year when she did the cemetery stunt."

Sarah had been reduced to outraged silence.

"Cemetery stunt?" Cairo asked. Naomi was obviously still nervous, but Cairo sounded amused.

"She brought a bunch of the younger kids to a cemetery at night, and said that the first person to reach a certain landmark would get a prize. The rest of us knew better of course, but the new kids didn’t. So she'd gotten a bunch of us to hide and wait for the kids to get close, then we jumped out screaming and chased them all over the place. There was so much noise that someone called the police and they ended up coming down and making us clear out."

Cairo and Milo laughed and even Naomi cracked a smile at that.

"We're here," Sarah announced curtly, throwing her SUV into park and opening the door. She stalked away to join her friends while Milo clamored out to open the back door and Parker gallantly helped Naomi step down.

"Hey," Diego said, taking Cairo's hand. "I'm only here to make sure Taylor doesn't do anything stupid or hurt anyone. And you don't have to do anything if you don't want to. We could just...hang out and laugh at the rest of them if you want."

Cairo chuckled. "I've already been suspended, the last thing I need is to be dropped off by the police. So maybe I'll just watch."

They all inched into the abandoned depot, whispering and giggling nervously, their voices echoing in the big empty space. The train depot was a huge construction of metal and concrete, with pieces of the ceiling missing and wild foliage claiming much of the open space. It was also scattered with typical debris from a teen party spot: beer bottles and cigarette butts, with an occasional glass pipe or empty whipped cream canister, and colorful splashes of graffiti scrawled across the walls. It smelled of rust and rot and stale, musty air. It was creepy at the best of times, more so after dark.

The girls were determined to go through with Taylor's plan though, and Milo appeared game, kneeling down with the rest of the group after Taylor spread out a white cloth, anchored at each corner with ridiculously huge candles. Naomi was given a notebook to write down the questions and answers from the "ghost" and Parker stood next to her, shining his cellphone flashlight on the page so she could see.

Diego was bored at first. Oujia boards were stupid and if Taylor really wanted to pretend to talk to a murder victim, a fake séance would be much better. So instead he hung back to be a "lookout" and talked to Cairo.

"So, what is private school like?" Diego asked quietly. "I've only gone to public school."

"Well, it's not too different. I'm in a lot of AP classes. Sports and extracurriculars are mandatory, so that takes up a lot of time as well."

"What sports do you play?"

"Well, most of my classmates play polo, golf or equestrian sports." Cairo said. "I'm not crazy about horse-riding and golf is boring, so I play tennis."

"Do you like it?" Diego asked.

"I guess. I'm more into academics."

"What are your favorite subjects then?"

"Anything related to math or science. Especially astronomy and physics."

Diego continued to ask questions and found out that Cairo seemed to know at least a little bit about everything: science, movies, music, books, space, nature, politics, philosophy. Diego made a mental note to make sure he paired with Cairo if they ever played trivia together.

Cairo was in the middle of explaining something called the Fermi paradox, which was blowing Diego’s mind, when he suddenly trailed off and gripped his hand. Diego turned to smile at him, but Cairo's face was tense and he was staring out at the abandoned grounds.

"Okay?"

Cairo shook his head, and glanced at him.

"Do you hear that?"

Diego listened but heard nothing but the chirp of insects, the far-off rumble of cars, and the occasional spate of whispers and giggles from the girls clustered around the Oujia board. He grinned and was about to tease Cairo about trying to scare him, when his ears picked up a scrape of foot against concrete. Then, a pattern. Footsteps.

He squeezed Cairo's hand to let him know, then tilted his head towards Parker. They hurried over and Naomi glanced up, smiling slightly.

"Someone's coming," Diego said in a low voice. Parker looked up and Diego could tell he heard it too. Some of the other girls looked up from the Oujia board, watching the exchange. Milo glanced in the direction of the footsteps.

The footsteps were clearly audible now, and then Diego could pick up some movement on the far side of the train depot. A small group of people were slowly approaching.

Diego looked at Taylor first, to see if this was something she had orchestrated. She looked genuinely nervous, and was not good enough of an actress to be able to fake it. Hell, she had barely managed to pull off last year's prank with a straight face.

Everyone quieted as they came closer, and someone stifled a nervous giggle. It was hard to see in the dim light, but Diego thought that there were about three of them total, all tall and bulky.

Taylor got to her feet. "Hey guys," she said, trying to sound cheerful and casual, but there was a slight tremble in her voice as she spoke. "I didn't mean to disturb anyone, we were just playing a game, but we're leaving now."

No one responded, but the man on the left of the group tossed something that tumbled across the floor and rocked to a stop near Taylor's feet. Parker shone his cellphone flashlight onto the object. It was a pair of child's size sneakers, smeared with a dark red substance.

Taylor screamed and ran for the cars parked near the entrance. Several others that were close enough to see the grisly sight followed suit. Parker swung the flashlight up to the tall figures and in the beam of illumination, Diego saw the gleam of a metal hook.

Fuck this, Diego thought and turned to join the group, who were all running towards the cars. Naomi and Parker had enough presence of mind to quickly snuff the candles. Without the light from Parker's phone, it was harder for Diego to see his surroundings and he lost his footing once or twice on the uneven terrain. He was still nearly at Nicole's SUV when he heard the thump of something falling and a muffled "oof".

Diego glanced over his shoulder. Cairo, no doubt hampered by the oversized trousers he was wearing, had tripped and fallen.

"Kai! KAI!" He could hear Naomi yelling behind him.

"GO!" Diego barked at Naomi and Parker. "I've got him!"

He didn't stop to see if she listened or not, but bolted towards Cairo who was already picking himself up. Diego grabbed him and hauled him the rest of the way up.

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, go!" Cairo gasped. Diego pushed him ahead before glancing back. Their attackers were closing in on them and gaining ground. One had broken off toward Sarah's car and the other two were heading their way.

If Taylor is behind this, I'm going to fucking kill her, Diego thought as he ran after Cairo. They were heading full tilt towards Nicole's car, trying to ignore the sound of footsteps in pursuit behind them.

As Cairo approached Nicole's shiny red SUV, he saw Taylor fling open the side door, gesturing to them frantically with her hands.

"C'mon, c'mon!" she shrieked.

Cairo vaulted into the SUV as it started moving and he and Taylor both grabbed Diego and helped pull him inside. Diego slammed the door behind him and collapsed on the floorboard, winded, with adrenaline still coursing hot throughout his body.

For a moment there was only stunned silence, underscored by Nicole gunning the engine and peeling out of the depot. Diego glanced around. Besides the four of them, there was one other occupant, the girl dressed as a pirate that Cairo had been dancing with earlier that evening. Her name was Jordan, Diego recalled. It seemed like hours ago.

"I-I'm calling the cops," Taylor declared, fumbling in her purse for her phone.

"Sure," Nicole said from the front, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Call the cops and tell them we're being chased by a guy with a meathook on Halloween. I'm sure they'll believe you."

"Do you have a better idea?" Taylor snapped.

"Yeah, let's get the hell out of here," Nicole retorted. "We're in a car, they are on foot."

As if on cue, the ominous roar of motorcycles started up from the train tracks.

"If you drive to the police station," Cairo pointed out, "they might not follow you." In contrast to Nicole and Taylor, he sounded calm, though worry showed on his face.

"Yeah!" Taylor said. "Do that!"

"Nicole, you're going the wrong way!" Jordan said. "This road circles back to the station--"

"No, it's a short-cut. My brothers used it all the time when they hung out here," Nicole said.

Diego craned his neck to see out the back window. He saw the other SUV veering off in the other direction, with one motorcycle in pursuit. The other two were following them and gaining fast.

"Go faster Nic," he said.

Instead, Nicole braked suddenly, hard enough to fling Diego against the back of Jordan's seat. He heard Taylor whisper "Oh shit" and looked around frantically.

The headlights of Nicole's car illuminated a chain link fence. They were trapped.

The motorcycles roared behind them, cleanly pairing off to each side, surrounding them. Diego's mind raced. There were at least two men after them, and he could fight, and so would Nicole. Cairo he didn't know about, but it was probably safer not to assume. Maybe if Diego could distract them, Taylor, Jordan and Cairo could escape from the back and run for help.

It wasn't the greatest plan, but it was the best he could come up with. He suddenly regretted that Taylor hadn't called the police, and more than that, he regretted that he hadn't stayed behind and continued kissing Cairo.

"Okay," Diego said, pointing to the pirate. "Jordan, you and Taylor and Cairo, all of you get into the back of the car." Jordan obediently clamored up out of her seat and climbed into the back, hiking up her skirt as she did so and making sure Cairo got an eyeful of leg. If he had been in slightly less fear for his life, Diego would have been annoyed.

"What-what are you going to do?" Taylor asked. Diego turned to the door, hearing boots crunch on the ground outside. "Distract them."

Diego wasn't sure if he should open the door and surprise them, or waiting for them to open the door and then tackle them, but he was spared the trouble of deciding.

There were a couple of loud whoops and something slammed against the window. Someone, it sounded like Taylor, shrieked. Diego shined his cell phone light at the window and saw a large sign with the word BOO! written in garish neon letters. Even more surprising, Nicole rolled down the window and one of the men shouted "Happy Halloween sis!" He gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek before Nicole laughed and pushed him away. Diego watched, then cautiously opened the door. Alan, Nicole's oldest brother, was standing outside grinning. When Nicole started laughing, so did he.

"Happy Halloween you losers!" he shouted. Suddenly exhausted, Diego sat back down, resting against the back of the passenger seat. Cairo looked the calmest, Taylor and Jordan both looked shocked. Taylor’s shock quickly dissolved into anger.

"You bitch!" she snarled at Nicole. She climbed over into the passenger seat and punched Nicole in the shoulder. Nicole yelped and grabbed her shoulder, but couldn’t stop her laughter. "Oh my God," she managed between giggles. "Tay, you--your face. Oh my God."

"You scared the shit out of me!" Taylor yelled. "You were supposed to rig the Oujia board to give spooky answers, not have your asshole brothers scare us to death and chase us."

"Oh, come on, this was ten times better," Nicole insisted. Outside the van, he could see Alan and Paul, Nicole’s second oldest and most obnoxious brother high fiving. "It's all anyone will be talking about on Monday."

"You should've told me!" Taylor shouted. Diego knew where Taylor's rage was coming from. She hated to look stupid, and Nicole's prank, while pretty funny in retrospect, was probably humiliating for Taylor.

"I couldn't!" Nicole said. "I knew everyone would look at you to see if it was real or not. I needed your reaction to be genuine and it worked out perfectly. Don't be such a bitch about it."

Diego rolled his eyes and left the girls to their bickering. He crawled into the back with Cairo, deliberately squeezing himself in between him and Jordan. He heard the other girl give an annoyed huff but ignored her.

"Are you okay?" Diego asked as Jordan moved back to the front of the car.

Cairo smiled. "I don't know, really. First I was worried, then scared and now...I don't know. Was it really a prank?"

"Yes," Diego said. Cairo's hat had been knocked askew and he righted it. "Over the top but pretty damn funny, now that I'm not scared we'll be disemboweled by a crazy man with a hook."

"Were you really going to fight him?" Cairo asked.

"Well, I was going to try. Whether or not I would've been successful is another story. I guess we'll never know."

"What you did was either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave, I’m still not sure which."

"Let's stick with brave, that sounds better," Diego said, smiling. Cairo returned it.

There was a crunch of gravel as Nicole started to pull out of the train depot...for good this time.

Diego got distracted by texting Parker to let him know everything was okay and saw Cairo doing the same with Naomi. Regardless, when they finally pulled back into Taylor's circular driveway, Naomi and Parker were both standing there, waiting for them. Naomi looked very pale.

Parker, who knew all about Taylor's antics, just high-fived Milo and Diego as they got out of the van, but Naomi ran to Cairo and flung her arms around him.

"Oh God, I'm so glad you are okay," she said, clutching him.

"Relax, Nay, I told you I was fine."

Naomi released him and whirled on Nicole next. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she shouted.

"It was a prank, relax," Nicole retorted. "If you can't handle that, you shouldn't have come."

"It was irresponsible!" Naomi retorted, her volume increasing slightly. She gestured to Cairo. "Someone could have gotten hurt. I was worried sick!"

"It...was...a...joke," Nicole said, her voice patronizingly slow. "Get over it already."

"C'mon Nay, it was fine," Cairo said.

"No, it wasn't," Naomi said, her voice cracking. "Jesus, Kai, what if it hadn't been a prank? What would I have told your parents? Or what if you had gotten seriously hurt running away from those guys, broken an ankle or something?"

Naomi seemed the most upset out of everyone else involved in the prank. Jordan was giving an animated rendition of the tale to Sarah and Milo was smiling and talking to Taylor.

Diego watched them for a while, wishing he was close enough to hear what they were talking about, but not wanting to be creepy. He left, grabbed a few Cokes and went looking for Cairo. He found him sitting by himself on the stairs to the back deck.

"Hey," Diego said, sitting next to Cairo and offering him a Coke. Cairo smiled and took it, popping it open and taking a sip.

"Thanks."

They sat out there for a while, not speaking. Someone had started a campfire in the fire pit and a few people were roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. It was nice, the faint heat against the cooling fall air with the snap and pop of branches and twigs as they were devoured by the flame.

"I guess I am going to further my own interests by telling you that my friends and I mostly stick to funnier pranks, not the type that Nicole came up with," Diego finally said, sitting his empty Coke can near his feet.

Cairo laughed. It was a different laugh than the bitter grating that had accompanied the story of his suspension earlier that evening. It was genuine, full of warmth and rolling pleasantly through the night air.

"Nah. Now that it's over, and I know my life isn't in peril, it was actually pretty epic. Naomi's still pretty pissed, she was really worried about me, but I'm cool with it." Cairo turned to Diego and smiled. "And you came back for me. You didn't have to. I barely knew you and didn't trust you. I've never had someone do that for me before. It was--I don't know, I liked it." Cairo shrugged and averted his eyes, his cheeks darkening.

Diego took Cairo's hand. "I'm glad. Because I like you."

Cairo glanced up and Diego moved in to kiss him. It was as sweet and charming as the first time.

"And of course I came back for you. So would have Naomi and Parker, if I had let them. Because that's what friends do."

Cairo shuffled closer and cautiously rested his head on Diego’s shoulder, noticeably relaxing once Diego put an arm around him. "That sounds nice."

They sat like that for a while, Diego telling funny stories about Taylor’s past Halloween pranks, with Cairo chuckling appreciatively. It was nice, Diego thought, drinking in the warmth of the other boy next to him and breathing in the scent of him, a mix of cinnamon and leather and oranges.

Naomi found them still sitting like that when she rounded the corner of the house about twenty minutes later.

"Hey guys," she said cheerfully, then took in their proximity and the quiet intimacy of the scene. Her grin widened and her voice took on a definite teasing lilt. "Hey guys."

"Rein it in Nay," Cairo said, but he didn't sound annoyed. He did straighten up a little, and Diego instantly missed the warm weight of him against his side.

"Well, as much as I hate to ruin the adorable cuddlefest you guys have going on, it is pretty close to my curfew and I still have to drop you off at home Kai," Naomi continued.

"I know," Cairo said, getting to his feet. He wiped his hands on his pants. "Ah...can I meet you up front?"

"Certainly," Naomi said, giving the two of them a conspiratorial wink before sauntering away.

Diego stood. Cairo shook his hand. "Well, it was nice to meet you--" He started.

"Just nice?" Diego said, grinning.

"Well, maybe a little more than nice," Cairo teased.

"Oh, get over here," Diego said, pulling Cairo close and kissing him. Cairo kissed him back, deepening it, and pulling closer, wrapping his arms around Diego's neck again. Diego liked it.

When they broke off, Cairo smiled at him again. "I really had a great time with you and your friends tonight. It was a lot of fun, even the running away from the crazy guys part."

Diego laughed and hugged him. "Listen," he said. He drew back, but kept hold of Cairo’s hand. "I know you are still thinking about school and all that. And I want you to decide whatever fits you best. But...maybe come over to my place later this weekend? Hang out?"

"Sure. Give me your phone."

They exchanged contact info, then Diego walked him to the front of the house, where Naomi and Parker were waiting. Diego watched them getting into Naomi's car and waved as they drove away. Diego found himself feeling weirdly content. He had come to this party as a favor to his friends, not expecting to have much fun, let alone meet someone new. He thought of Cairo leaning up against him, and smiled a little.

Later, when they were getting ready to leave and Milo showed up with traces of Taylor's lipstick still on his face, Diego found he didn't mind as much as he thought he would.