Zyla & Kai by Kristina Forest

Author:Kristina Forest [Forest, Kristina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2022-06-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

In Zyla’s opinion, the costumes she’d planned for herself and Kai were absolutely brilliant. Halloween was her favorite holiday, particularly because she loved creating costumes, whether she hand sewed them herself or carefully thrifted the pieces and put them together. She didn’t shop at the Spirit of Halloween or Party City. Where was the fun in that? When Kai said he wanted to take her to Chris’s Halloween party, she jumped at the chance to find a couple’s costume. It meant she’d lost a few nights to work on her portfolio, and the stress of it lingered in the back of her mind, but once Halloween was over, she’d focus her attention on her portfolio one hundred percent. Did she ever expect that she’d put herself in charge of something like creating a couple’s costume for herself and a boyfriend? No. Not a chance. But life was strange and full of surprises, apparently.

Zyla had been stumped for a little bit on a costume idea. Should they dress up as a famous couple? Or maybe a couple from a movie? Then the idea came to her: They should poke fun at that annoying nickname they’d earned over the summer and go as Bonnie and Clyde. That way, they could reclaim the narrative or whatever. In pictures, the real Clyde wore a shabby suit and Bonnie wore dresses and long skirts. Zyla didn’t really like that idea. Bonnie and Clyde were gangsters, weren’t they? She could play that up. She spent an entire Saturday in Philly with Beatrice, scouring thrift stores until she found two pinstripe suits and wide-brimmed fedoras. When Kai tried on his suit, it fit him pretty perfectly, which shouldn’t have surprised Zyla because everything looked perfect on him. Her suit was slightly baggy, but that was okay. It only added to her gangster appeal.

Now, on Halloween night, she and Beatrice sat in her living room and waited for Kai to pick them up for Chris’s party. Zyla couldn’t wait to debut their costumes.

“How’s my lipstick look?” Beatrice asked, pursing her lips, which were painted a deep matte red. She was dressed as a devil in a red catsuit and pointy devil ears. Her pitchfork lay at her feet.

“You look like you rule over minions in the underworld,” Zyla said.

Beatrice smiled in a way that could only be described as devilish. “Perfect.”

Zyla’s phone vibrated with a text from Kai saying that he just pulled up. She called upstairs to Aunt Ida and her mom to let them know she was leaving, and she and Beatrice hurried outside, eager to start their night.

Jamal got out of the passenger seat for Zyla, and when Zyla saw him, she burst out laughing. Jamal was dressed like a devil too. He wore black and a long red cape. His pointy ears looked just like Beatrice’s. When he saw Beatrice, he glared and pointed his pitchfork at her.

“You gotta be kidding me,” he said.

Beatrice held up her pitchfork too, like they were about to have a duel.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.