Closed Halloween Fear

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily stood in the entrance of the Great Hall, rubbing the lace of her dress nervously between her fingers. She didn't want to be the grumpy one that didn't attend the feast. But this costume, and those people... she took a half a step back, nervousness overtaking her. She bit her lip as she stared at the large crowd of students. Halloween was all about being afraid, wasn't it? Well, Lily was definitely afraid. She didn't think she could do this.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot jogged over to Lily, careful not to jostle his props too much. She looked a little nervous and he slowed as he approached, opting for a reassuring smile. "Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. Had to find the finishing pieces." Elliot shook his box of Reese's Pieces as he spoke, hoping the pun might make her smile. "You look great, by the way, very uh," Elliot paused for a few seconds, mentally searching for the right word, "Elegant." He settled on, with a smile. Lily still looked nervous, so Elliot held out the Reese's Pieces. It'd taken a lot of will power to keep them in his trunk for the last 2 months without eating them, but Lily looked like she needed a pick-me-up. "Want some?"

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

OOC: ugh this is what happens when I cheat and use my phone. Bleh. Ignore it

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily jumped a little when a voice spoke out near her. She looked over quickly, dark blue eyes wide. "Oh, E-Elliot..." She gave the boy a wobbly smile, vlaping her hands behind her in an attempt to hide her hesitation. She blushed when he called her elegant. "Thank you," she murmured. "My little sister sent it." She bit her lip, glancing back towards the crowded hall. It wouldn't be so bad with Elliot there... Right?

She glanced back as Elliot offered her some of his candy. It was sweet of him. It was a bit odd, but between him, his costume, and his candy, she felt her heartbeat steady a bit. "Thanks," she told him with a steadier smile. "But won't opening the box spoil your costume?"

 

[Elliot Briar]

He hadn't meant to startle Lily, but he was starting to get the impression that something what just making her uneasy tonight. Maybe her dress wasn't very comfortable, he knew his mom complained about that sometimes. "Oh you have a sister? That's cool, how old is she?" Elliot had always thought having siblings sounded nice.

Popping open the candy box, Elliot shook out a few pieces for himself before offering some to Lily. "It's no big deal, I just need the box really. Besides, you're supposed to eat candy on Halloween, it's the rules." Halloween back home had usually met tagging along to the fancy parties his mom catered and hanging out in the kitchen, though candy was definitely still always an important element. He paused, considering Lily's nervous stance for a moment. "Are you alright?"

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled softly at the thought of her sister. "She's nine. She'll come here during our third year." She took the candy he offered and ate it quietly. She smiled as he told her it was the rule on Halloween to eat candy. She could feel herself relaxing a little bit now that Elliot was here with her. Maybe the crowd wasn't really that bad.

She took a calming breath, a bit surprised by Elliot's next question. She blushed and looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I just... there are a lot of kids in there," She murmured shyly, holding on to her dress tightly and staring at her feet. She could feel her cheeks burning. It was such a silly thing to be worried over.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Lily still looked pretty put out when he asked if she was okay. Elliot glanced through the doorway where the party was happening in earnest. There were certainly a lot of people in there, and some very interesting costumes. "Okay," he said after a moment, "How 'bout this, we go in, get some snacks and drinks, and if it's too much or you wanna go, we just take it out with us to the Courtyard. Shouldn't be many people there and we'll still have the candy." He gave Lily his most reassuring smile. He felt pretty confident with this plan, and maybe once they were inside, Lily wouldn't feel so bad. "You don't even have to say anything, you can just tug my sleeve or something and we're out."

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily almost died in the moment of silence that followed. This was it, this was where she had gone wrong and Elliot would storm away, never to speak to her again. She could feel the tears pricking the corners of her eyes at the thought. She was so stupid, how could she- her negative emotions were halted quickly when he began to speak again. Her eyes widened as he spoke and smiled at her. What? She blinked and shook her head, astonished. "You... you would do that? For me?" The surprise she felt was clear in her voice. No one had ever done anything like that before. Sure, Jasper Night had offered to beat up anyone that bullied her. And she and Ettie studied together every week, but this... this was different. She glanced up at Elliot, unsure what to think of such a sweet offer.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot shrugged. It wasn't really a big deal, he just wanted Lily to have fun, and if that meant hanging out somewhere quieter then that was fine with him. "It's just a party, there'll always be plenty of parties," He'd certainly seen his fair share while his mother was working. The food was usually the only interesting part. "So what do you think, wanna give it a go?" Elliot held out his arm, as gentleman-ly as he could, so they could enter the hall together.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily felt a light blush color her cheeks. It was really sweet what Elliot was offering to do. She smiled shyly, taking his arm gently. "O...okay," she murmured, turning to look at the hall. She took a steadying breath, her grip on Elliot's arm tightening a bit as they walked into the Great hall. She could do this. So long as she didn't wander too far away from Elliot she'd be alright.Lily made sure to ignore her heart pounding in her ears as they made their way to the snack table.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot figured distracting Lily might keep her mind of her nerves so he tried to keep talking as they navigated their way through the hall. "Wow, look how pretty the moon is in here, oh, and there's our pumpkins from Herbology! I wondered where those went," It was easy to keep talking with Lily, he felt less worried about saying or doing the right thing when he could focus on looking out for her. He tried to keep his voice light as possible, and he was generally impressed with how the great hall had been transformed. Doing his best to stay away from some of the more frightening costumes and any stray arms from dancers, Elliot lead them over to the food table, watching the gummy worms wiggle with fascination. "Anything strike your fancy?" He asked, setting his basket down to load it up with some curiously colorful gumballs. "I'm not sure what half of this is but it'll be fun to find out."

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily's confidence began to waver the further they went into the hall. There seemed to be other students everywhere. She tried to pay attention to what Elliot was telling her. She glanced up at the moon as he pointed it out. "Ooh," She breathed, almost tripping in her distraction. She looked over to the pumpkins from Herbology. "That's cool," She smiled a bit.

They reached the snack table quickly and she just started grabbing a little bit of everything and placing it in Elliot's basket. "We should just try all of it," She told him with a small smile. This would be okay, she just needed to focus on her friend and they'd be fine. She was starting to relax a little when a few students that were at least two years older than her nearly knocked her over. She stumbled a bit, her attention returning to the other people around her.

It was almost surprising how quickly the room seemed to close in around her. There were students everywhere, their laughing faces looming in on her. With a small whimper, she stumbled back and away from the group of kids. She brushed up against Elliot's side, reaching out and tugging on his sleeve with one hand while gripping his arm with the other. She watched the large group of kids closing in on the snack table with wide eyes.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was doing some deeper investigation on some sort of cupcake with lurid green decoration when he felt Lily stumble, nearly dropping his elbow into the icing. He gripped her arm, trying to steady them while frowning at the passing students that'd bumped into them. "You alright-" He was cut off by Lily whimpering as she gripped his arm, clearly overwhelmed by all the noise and people in the room. She tugged on his sleeve and Elliot nodded, grabbing his basket with his free hand. "Good idea, I had enough of this lot anyway, excuse us," he said politely, pushing their way past some other students, trying to minimize any contact they had with Lily, before weaving them back to the entrance hall and out into the courtyard.