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“I look so dumb in this,” Harvey Kinkle mumbled, one hand dragging through his slightly gelled locks, the other pulling at his loose, long sleeved, button up shirt. “Can I change? I’ll be quick.”
“Are you crazy? Do you know how long I spent getting ready? And if you change you’ll throw off the whole point of our costumes!” Sabrina Spellman replied as she pulled at Harvey’s hands. “You’re gonna ruin your hair. I worked hard on it.” She stood next to him by the mirror, eyeing his tan coloured pants and the suspenders attached to it.
“I look dumb,” repeated Harvey. “You said you’d make me look like Leonardo.”
“You do look like Leonardo!”
“The Ninja Turtle,” pouted Harvey.
Sabrina held in a chuckle as she gave Harvey’s locks a quick once over. She thought she had done a pretty good job with the boy’s hair. His locks were parted in the right spot, with just enough few loose strands hanging by his face, perfectly gelled and styled to look like Jack Dawson come to life.
“Don’t be silly. You look fine,” Sabrina said as she eyed herself in the mirror, her hand gentle as she played with the deep red wig she had on. It stood out against her pale skin and long, white dress, and even Sabrina couldn’t help but think that both she and Harvey looked pretty good. “You look great. I think we both do. Which means we have an amazing chance at winning this Halloween contest.”
“I understand you needing someone to dress up as Jack, but why do I have to pretend to be your boyfriend for this?” wondered Harvey, thumbs tucked underneath the straps of his suspenders.
“Because. It’s a couples Halloween contest. Meaning everyone else there will be boyfriend and girlfriend, and I’d feel like an idiot being the only one there who forced my friend along,” muttered Sabrina, her hands running along the skirt of her dress.
Sabrina normally wouldn’t have cared at all about a stupid Halloween contest, but Libby Chessler had been her usual awful self earlier in the week, throwing the same amount of insults Sabrina’s way. Their school was hosting their usual Halloween costume contest at the dance – with a silly little gift voucher for the local coffee shop as a prize – and of course Libby couldn’t help but not keep her mean comments to herself.
“Are you entering, Sabrina?” Libby had asked with a smirk. “You wouldn’t even need a costume, so that’s a plus. But the key word is couple, remember? And, well,” Libby ended her torture by giving Sabrina a too long up and down. “I don’t think that’s gonna work out for you."
“You wouldn’t be forcing me, Sabrina,” Harvey said softly, turning away from the mirror to stare down at the girl. “I want to go with you. Again, I’m just little confused about the fake dating thing.”
Sabrina sighed before burying her face in her hands. “I just… I had a bad encounter with Libby earlier in the week. She basically said I couldn’t get a date for this thing. I guess it got to me. I don’t wanna look like a loser in front of her. I shouldn’t have dragged you into this. We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I understand if you want to stay home and just-”
“Sabrina, hey,” Harvey cut her off with a warm smile. “I’m sorry she said that you. Don’t listen to Libby. Ever. I’m more than happy to be your boyfriend. Fake boyfriend!” he snapped, his cheeks going the same colour as Sabrina’s wig.
Sabrina held in a pout at his correction. “Really? You don’t mind?”
“There’s no one else in school I’d rather do this with,” nodded Harvey. “Now, we got a boat to catch!”
***
“What are you doing? Hold my hand!” laughed Harvey.
Sabrina yelled at herself in her head as Harvey’s fingers fiddled with her own. She was feeling nervous and sweaty, her cheeks all warm as Harvey stood close to her, his cologne in her nose whenever he leaned down to give her a soft kiss to the forehead.
“Sorry! I’m just – I guess I didn’t fully prepare for this,” Sabrina confessed. “And I’m not that great at dancing.”
“You’re doing fine,” he winked down at her.
The two had arrived at school and entered the gym swiftly, with things going well until Sabrina actually had to do things with Harvey. He asked her to dance excitedly, with Sabrina’s breath catching in her throat. Her heart started beating far too fast for her liking when Harvey put his hand delicately on her waist, grabbing her own to place it on his shoulder. It was something she had spent so many late nights thinking about, but certainly not something she was prepared for.
“Everyone’s looking at us,” Sabrina muttered, burying her face in Harvey’s chest. She was lucky he was so damn tall and could block off at least a few faces. She had promised her aunts not to use a hint of magic for the dance (except for one spell for her wig, because it kept slipping off despite the amount of hair pins she used), something Sabrina was okay with – but God was she ready to mutter a spell under her breath to get all the eyes off of her. “Does my costume look that bad?”
“Nah, you look gorgeous,” smiled Harvey. “Jealous stares, I’m sure. I thought you wanted everyone to like, know that I’m your date. Fake date!” Harvey blurted out.
Sabrina sighed at Harvey’s second correction of the night. She didn’t need a reminder that this was all an act, that Harvey’s strong hands around hair was the opposite of what it looked like. “I know, but I didn’t realise everyone in our school wouldn’t be able to mind their own business,” sighed Sabrina. “Sorry, I’m being so whiney.”
“I could listen to you whine all night.”
“Shut up,” Sabrina rolled her eyes with a snort.
“You know what? I think we’ve got the best costume here. I see someone over there dressed as Ren and Stimpy,” Harvey shuddered.
“That’s terrifying.”
“Your boyfriend is here to protect you. Fake boyfriend!” coughed Harvey, his hand leaving Sabrina’s waist to rub at his neck. “Fake boyfriend, sorry.”
It felt like a million slaps to the face. “Yeah, I get it, Harvey. Fake, not real, never gonna happen,” Sabrina sighed, pulling away from the boy. She spun around quickly when tears suddenly filled her eyes, pushing open the gym doors as taking off down the hallway, desperate to escape Harvey.
She wasn’t entirely sure where she was going since Harvey was the one to drive her over, so she slumped against the concrete stairs at the front of the school, not even slightly bothered if her dress earned some stains.
“Sabrina? Hey, what’s wrong?” Harvey asked when he pushed the front doors open. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” snapped Sabrina, avoiding his stare and focusing on the dozens of parked cars nearby. “Go back inside.”
Harvey sighed, sitting next to Sabrina. “Please don’t be mad I feel that way.”
“How can I not be mad? You kept correcting yourself every time you said boyfriend. God forbid we actually dated,” she rolled her eyes.
Harvey furrowed his eyebrows before he spoke. “I’m confused.”
“What’s there to be confused about? You agreed to fake date me but only fake date me, and you’re disgusted with the mere thought of being my actual boyfriend. Absolutely nothing to be confused about.”
“… Oh. Oh!” Harvey suddenly shifted spots, kneeling in front of Sabrina as he grabbed her hand. “Sabrina, that wasn’t why I was correcting myself.”
“Then why were you?”
“I didn’t wanna look like an idiot. I kept saying boyfriend like you were actually mine. I just… I freaked out, I didn’t want you to think I’m a moron… Look, Sabrina, this is the closest I’m ever gonna get to the real thing,” Harvey mumbled. “I guess I got a little carried away. Sorry if I freaked you out.”
Sabrina finally looked away from the hideous red Honda in the parking lot when Harvey’s words finally sunk in. She bit her thumb when she met his brown eyes, at his still perfectly parted hair, at his sweet, shy smile and the red cheeks to match. “Wait, what?”
“We’re never gonna be together, and that’s okay. I’m more than happy being friends with you, Sabrina. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. When you told me you wanted to fake date I just… I went into overdrive, I suppose. I always go into overdrive when I’m around you. Like an idiot. Again, I didn’t mean to scare you, and I know you don’t want that. I hope we can still be friends.”
“Are you like, acting right now? Are you taking dressing up as Leonardo to the next level?” Sabrina said, voice laced in shocked laughter. “Jeez, Harvey, I thought you were like, sickened with the idea of even being my boyfriend.”
“Sabrina, I could never feel that way,” Harvey shook his head. “Why would you think that?”
“I guess I go into overdrive when I’m around you too,” she said softly. “That tends to happen when you like people, I suppose.”
Harvey closed his eyes as he let out a small breath of air, the warmest of smiles on his face when he opened them again. He grasped both of Sabrina’s hands, pressing them to his lips with a sigh, eyes stuck on Sabrina’s as he spoke. A rush of relief hit Sabrina the same moment her heart fluttered, the same moment she realised the boy in front of her was the one she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
“I should have told you how I felt a long time ago,” muttered Harvey. “I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m guilty too. I guess we’re both a little silly.”
“And dramatic. Confessing our feelings for each other dressed as Jack and Rose,” said Harvey with a wink, a sudden frown on his face as he gripped Sabrina’s hand tighter. “Oh, man, we’re missing the contest. You wanna go back in?”
Sabrina shook her head with a smile. “I don’t care about that. I got you, and you got me. I really don’t need to win anything else tonight.” Sabrina couldn’t help but wrap her arms around Harvey’s broad shoulders when he gave her one of those smiles again, soft and earnest and full of love – Sabrina didn’t know anyone other than Harvey who could give one of those smiles. Her thumbs rubbing into the thin material of his shirt, she pressed her lips to his, suddenly becoming unsure, heart beating fast and hoping Harvey wouldn’t mind her lack of experience. The kiss was sweet, just a small peck that lasted shorter than Sabrina wanted, but it was full of all the nice things that Harvey’s smile offered. They kissed with the two sighing, with Harvey’s hands tangled up in Sabrina’s wig, and Sabrina’s fingers digging under his suspenders.
“You wanna take off?” smiled Harvey, his grin widening when Sabrina nodded. “Where to, Miss?”
It took Sabrina only a second to reply. “To the stars.”