The basement throbbed with music, Halloween lights casting flickers of green and purple across the crowd. People were half-drunk and dressed in everything from bloodied surgeons to pixelated Minecraft blocks.

Jiji stood near the drink table, dressed in a ridiculously cute Snoopy costume, sipping her punch through a straw shaped like a lightning bolt. Her eyes weren’t on the dance floor, or the snack table, or even her friends.

They were locked on her—some girl she didn’t know, standing way too close to Alec Dempsey.

He was leaning against the wall, effortlessly cool in his Charlie Brown shirt, sipping a cider and smiling at something the girl had just said. Too polite to walk away. Too clueless to see what the girl was clearly after.

That was her Alec.

Jiji slammed her cup down and crossed the room.

The girl barely noticed her approach until Jiji stopped beside her, smile razor sharp. “Hey, love,” Jiji said, sugary sweet. “Mind backing up?”

The girl blinked at her. “Sorry, do I know you?”

“Nope,” Jiji replied. “But I know him.”

The girl looked her up and down. “You don’t own him.”

Jiji grinned wider. “Oh, that’s where you’re wrong, sweetie. I absolutely do own him.” Then she turned slightly. “Hey Alec. Who owns you?”

Alec’s brows shot up. “Owns me?”

“Yes,” Jiji said, eyes still on the other girl. “Owns you.”

There was a pause. Then Alec, with a slow smirk curling at his lips, said: “You, baby.”

The girl scoffed and backed off with a muttered, “Weirdos.”