| Kyle's Costume
By Charles Richard Laing Annie started wailing like a banshee before Kyle even started to peel off her face. Just the sight of the scalpel he had stolen from his father's office was enough to set her off. Kyle knew it would be far easier to skin her if she were dead, but after all the heartache and all the agony she had put him through he really wanted to make her suffer. First, she shot him down when he asked her to the Homecoming Dance. At the time, Kyle rationalized it away as bad timing on his part. But then she had the nerve to turn down his invitation to the big Halloween dance. What was even worse was that she did it in front of the entire school cafeteria. Three days later he could still hear the laughter burning in his ears. That afternoon, he came up with the plan. If he couldn't go to the Halloween party with Annie Farmer, then he would show up as Annie Farmer. Carefully, Kyle made the first incision. Moments later, Annie stopped screaming. Moments later Annie stopped breathing. When she was still, Kyle really went to work. After removing her face, Kyle used the skin to make a mask. When it dried sufficiently, he placed it over his face and held it in place with an elastic band. Then he scalped her and placed the dripping hank of hair on his head. He walked over to the mirror. Through the blood and the gore, Kyle saw Annie Farmer staring back at him. Glancing at the clock, he could see that the dance had already started. With great haste he stripped out of his stained clothes and changed into the cheerleading uniform he had stolen out of Annie's locker weeks before. With car keys in one hand and pompoms in the other, he headed for the dance. The dance itself was uneventful. Kyle spent most of the night with his back leaning against the wall while he nursed a glass of punch. No one asked him to dance, but quite a few people complimented him on his costume. They all thought it was wicked. Some of them said they were going to vote for Kyle for best costume. For the first time in his life, Kyle was starting to feel accepted. At the end of the evening, Kyle kept his fingers crossed as the principal read off the names of the winners. To his extreme disappointment, he was awarded second place. First place went to a late entry, an unnamed contestant who went as a girl with her face cut off. After the dance, the winner was waiting for Kyle in the parking lot. The End |
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