It was November 7th, 2024, and the small and bustling Bell Tree Town was celebrating its 20th anniversary. Many of the residents were invited to the mayor’s mansion to commemorate the occasion.
The moment they stepped inside, two party-goers, Julie and Casey, were met with an assault to the senses. There were crowds of people in elaborate, formal, silly, and colorful outfits. Some were chatting with friends, others were off to the side playing a racing game on the living room TV, and a few shyly stuck to the buffet table, which smelled of sugary sweet desserts and other savory meals. The house was lively with talking, shouting, and laughter.
Julie almost froze, her pupils widening. Casey flinched as well but kept their cool and rested their hand on her shoulder.
“It’ll be fine, J,” they calmly assured her.
She had barely focused on what Casey said, for an unusual feeling was brewing inside: her face began to warm, and a tingling sensation ran all across her body. She tilted her head down and adjusted her long hair to hide her rosy cheeks.
“R-right,” muttered Julie, barely making eye contact with them. “We came here ‘cause this party’s only gonna happen once. I better make the most of it, but how can I when I can’t even get around to socializing with most people?”
“Just take it one step at a time, OK?” Casey responded. “Let me know if you need anything.”
I don’t know, Julie thought, still covering her face.
They patted her shoulder twice and let go of her. The two went their separate ways, with Julie heading straight for the food.
She took a plate and grabbed a few vanilla cupcakes and frosted cookies shaped like bell bags. Now she needed a quiet space to contemplate what happened earlier.
There was another smaller living room to her left. The lights were out, and it looked empty. After looking around to make sure no one was staring at her suspiciously, she carefully tip-toed to the room.
---
As she munched on her food, Julie let her thoughts take her away.
She mused on Casey. They had been kind to her for the past few months, which led her to open up to them. The two would spend their free time sharing art pieces and music, playing video games, and supporting each other in times of need. She found everything to be surprising since she had gone without a friend for years and was wary of most people anyway.
Because of this, she would always question their true motives: what if they were planning on manipulating her? What if their generosity was a facade, a ploy she unknowingly fell for? That would make sense; after all, people had been put off by her diminished social skills and overall awkwardness for a long time.
Or perhaps they just wanted to take their friendship to the next level…
Julie blushed and smiled to herself.
Even with her skepticism, she enjoyed Casey’s company and was certainly in love with them. She figured that the party experience for her would go in a whole new direction if she went and admitted that to them. But whether they would say those three words back or not was beyond her control. Besides, how was she going to approach this properly?
Julie remembered what her parents once told her: “Just be normal! If you can’t fit in, you’re not going to get anywhere in this world.” Even her family was put off by her characteristics sometimes, even though they loved their daughter.
This should be easy… All she needed to do was to find Casey, bring them outside, and talk to them about the personal stuff the normal way. Or through her interpretation of the normal way, at least.
With her plan set and her snack finished, she got up and tossed her now-empty plate into the nearby trash bin.
---
The party had yet to die off.
Combined with the rowdy crowds, there was now music everywhere. Julie could barely focus in an environment like this. And to make things worse, she recognized the current song as an annoying (to her, at least) pop track that would play regularly on the TBT3 radio station. Its only lyrics, which repeated itself a few more times, were:
Will you still love me, even when I’m weird?
Will you still love me, even when that’s clear?
What would be the point of all that we went through,
When you can’t take the time to see my point of view?
She couldn’t let that get in the way of her one goal: to track down Casey. After all, if everyone else can tune it out, she could do the same, right?
So she tried. She squeezed through the masses with her mind on Casey and their head bopper, but her focus shifted instinctively to a tight-knit group not too far from her arguing about something.
“…As a proud owner of the bird plush, I say it’s your best pick. It’s so popular, they call it the ‘Bluebird of Happiness’!”
“But you’re not always happy with things…”
“To hell with that! My point is, the bird is better.”
“How about you get the owl? Since it is rare, there’s a chance you might not be able to buy one that easily again.”
“Same goes for all the stuffed toys available.”
“Why don’t you consider the sheep, then? That’s valuable too!”
“But not as much as the dog.”
“Yeah! Coney’s Collectibles is selling the dog for way more than the sheep.”
Soon the group was yelling and throwing inappropriate words at each other.
Julie’s hands balled up into fists. She found this type of conduct unsuitable for a party that’s supposed to be fun and wholesome, but couldn’t bring herself to let them know about that.
The music kept on going.
Will you still love me, even when I’m weird?
Will you still love me, even when that’s clear?
She had been scanning and bumping into people for about five minutes, and Casey was nowhere to be found. Stuck in the middle of the crowd, she felt herself beginning to sweat and panicked.
Soon, the music grew louder and the talkative party-goers became just as deafening.
What would be the point of all that we went through,
When you can’t take the time to see my point of view?
The clamor was too much for Julie: her heart was pounding, her fists tightened, and her mind kept jumping from one auditory
observation to another. She had almost forgotten about them until…
Bump!
“Oh, J! What’re you doing here?”
There they were. Casey with their distinct voice, their short, brown hair, their vivid outfit straight out of a music festival.
Time froze, and so did Julie. It felt like the whole party was in slow motion.
Yet the cacophony worsened. The voices and the pulsating song had morphed into a total sounded mess. She had forgotten about why she wanted to see them.
Her eyes watered, and a single tear rolled down her face.
“You alright, J—?” Casey said.
She turned her back to them and ran swiftly.
Julie pushed through the crowded maze, crying out, “Sorry! Excuse me! Coming through!” She could barely hear a voice calling out her name, and her face was wet from shedding more tears. She wanted out of this party, this hellhole people somehow enjoyed without a care in the world.
Most importantly, she didn’t want her crush to be burdened by an embarrassment like her.
Before she knew it, she was face-to-face with the front door. She swung it open and slammed it shut before sitting on the front steps.
She frowned and let out a heavy sigh. Her tears continued to stream down, and they dropped to the ground like raindrops.
Julie knew without a doubt that this was her biggest social blunder yet.
---
The door clicked open.
Julie turned around and was surprised to see Casey peeking outside. They stepped out and closed the door, looking downbeat.
“What happened?” they murmured slowly as they took their seat next to Julie. She scooted away, unable to bring herself to face them.
“I just wanna help,” they whispered.
Casey slowly moved towards Julie and placed their hand on top of hers.
Julie felt the warm and tingly sensation again. She was glad it was about to be dark because she didn’t want them to see her crying and blushing intensely at the same time.
She remained silent. There was nothing but the wind blowing gently.
Finally, she began to speak.
“Casey… I’m so sorry…” she whimpered.
“For what? You did nothing wrong, J.”
“I did! You just couldn’t tell…! I went to you because…”
As she talked to them, her mind cleared up, and she remembered the reason why.
“It’s because I wanted to tell you something. But it was too noisy and I got overwhelmed and chickened out! See? I’m not normal!”
Casey turned to Julie. They let go of her hand and began rubbing her back.
“It happens to me too. Being overstimulated by noise, I mean. You’re not the only one.”
Julie blinked, her tears slowing.
“You’re fine, alright? People can get stressed in different ways, and this is just one of them. Whoever told you it’s not normal probably didn’t get it.
“You know yourself more than anyone else knows you, J. Even I have a long way to go,” they chuckled, scratching the back of their neck.
“How about we take a break together? I’m honestly drained from all this partying.”
Julie’s stream of tears had come to a halt. She wiped her face with her arm, her cheeks still in the pink.
“Thank you…” she smiled. “Thank you so much, Casey… Yeah, let’s do that right now!”
She hugged their arm affectionately.
Casey smiled at Julie as she began nuzzling their arm, causing them to blush too.
“Y’know, bud?” she continued. “You’re the only person I know who’s been so sweet to me, and I appreciate it a lot. I didn’t get it for so long because I wasn’t sure you were good enough for weird ol’ me…”
She felt their arm move, signaling her to let go. She did just that, and she immediately found herself being embraced.
“Aww… You’re not weird, you’re just being you. There’s nothing wrong with improving yourself little by little, but I wouldn’t like it if you became a completely different person just so you could be more accepted, especially when it makes you uncomfortable.
“Some people would do anything to fit in. Even when that means going too far… So keep doing what you enjoy, okay?”
Julie wrapped her arms around her best friend. She heard them take a deep breath as they caressed her back.
“I love you so much, Julie,” breathed Casey. “I mean it.”
This was it…it finally happened! A surge of ecstasy hit Julie; she could feel her heart slowly beating as she heard the first three words. Her mouth curved into a grin and she hugged tightly.
“Dear…?” she breathed. “This was what I was going to tell you earlier… I love you too!”
Casey’s arms tightened around Julie in response.
She looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful shade of orange, and nothing was covering it save for only a few thin clouds in sight. The ever-tired sun was a glowing yellow disk gradually making her way down the horizon and out of sight.
Behind her, the music blared. However, it was now a different song.
As the sun set and day transitioned to night, Julie was proud to have Casey, her best friend—and now her love—by her side.
She patted their back. “Let’s make the most out of this party before it ends, alright, dear?”
“Heck yeah! I’m ready when you are!”
Love your drawings!! The last one with Kieran the cat and Crisp is so adorable, I wanna pet them both. 
The next post will feature my Haunted Carnival entries - I guarantee that!
