The air on this crisp Autumn afternoon is just right for a tea party. It was an invite only party. I had received my invitation by mail. It came in an exquisite gold envelope, and the card itself was solid black with gold bordering and lettering. “Dear Amanda,” it read, “You have been cordially invited to the annual Bunny Day Tea Party. The theme is Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice. This year to correlate with our theme this will be a costume party. Please be sure to include your given color, which will be listed at the bottom of the page, in your costume. We hope you will attend. The location will be sent to you upon receiving your RSVP. Please send said RSVP to the return address listed on the envelope. Your color: Red.” I had always heard of the Bunny Day Tea Party, but I never expected to chosen. Word on the street is that it is an exclusive event, and not just anyone can receive an invitation. I wonder why I was chosen?

I looked around the table at all of the guests to see if I recognized anyone. I did not. There was a lady with red hair and a pink dress who came as Ariel the mermaid. To the left of Ariel was a man wearing a striped shirt and face paint. I figured he must be a mime. Next to the Mime was a dark-headed woman in a floral dress. She said she was some character named Daphne from a Netflix period piece. I was Marie Antoinette, fitted with a blonde wig and puffy red dress. Sat to my left was Elsa the ice princess. _How original_. After Elsa was Mickey O’Neil from _Snatch. _Then finally we come to the last costume at the table, a fairy. Her only costume-y attribute was the matted blue wig she proudly showed off. I thought it was a very basic look, but I am no fashion designer. Moving on to the decor, the blue tablecloth seemed to be an odd choice for the theme of this party. With the theme being a fall type vibe, I had expected more oranges, yellows, and browns rather than blues and pinks. The table sat on top of a concrete slab that was constructed on a pond. The pleasant smell of croissants filled the air. I can see the egg wash crust glistening from across the table. There were other pastries and fruits adorning the table, as well as bottles of champagne. Hmm, for a tea party there seems to be a lack of tea. Just as the thought passed through my mind, a waiter comes out and hands everyone a tea and coffee. “Could I get some milk and sugar please?” I call after the waiter. He continues passing out cups without even batting an eye in my direction. I look at my black coffee and sigh. I give the waiter the benefit of the doubt considering it is highly possible he didn’t hear me. The sounds of laughter made it impossible to even hear myself think. It seemed everyone was getting to know each other and soon the noise dies down and idle conversation amongst the new found cliques begins. I continue to observe and make subtle judgements about everyone silently to myself. People watching is a favorited hobby of mine. I notice that Mickey keeps eying the Mime while he converses with Elsa. The Mime does not seem to notice as he is too engrossed in whatever Daphne is rambling on about. Ariel and the Fairy giggle to one another and make nodding gestures toward Mickey. I can’t tell if they are gossiping or making inappropriate comments about him, but they are definitely talking about him. I switch my focus back towards the food and see that it still remains untouched. What is everyone waiting for? I don’t want to be the first one to grab anything. I learned from my eavesdropping that everyone at the table had been here before, or so they said. This was my first time, but I didn’t want to oust myself as an newcomer right off the bat. So I continued to wait for someone else to grab something before I started to indulge. The waiter made another appearance holding a tiny pitcher and bowl. He marched over and set both containers down in front of me. “The milk and sugar you requested,” he whispered and then quickly scurried away. All the chatter at the table stopped and suddenly all eyes were on me. I stared back at them blankly, confused as to what I could have done to warrant such a response. I split the milk between my tea and coffee and placed 3 cubes of sugar in each. As the last cube hit the steaming liquid, the other party members began whispering to each other. Fed up with the incredibly weird behavior, I looked at everyone and huffed. “Can I help you guys? What’s with the judgemental stares and whispers?” Ariel put her hand up in a stop motion, silencing all the others and began to answer for the group, “Well, we were just discussing how you have not said anything all night. We think it is rude and we would like you to introduce yourself.” Their eyes narrowed in anticipation of my response. My heart sank into my stomach. Fuck… So much for trying to make a good first impression. I tried to remember how everyone else introduced themselves, so I wouldn’t stand out even more than I already am. I swallowed the lump of fear in my throat and started my introduction. “Hi, my name is Amanda. I came dressed as Marie Antoinette. My favorite color is yellow, my favorite food is spaghetti, and my favorite animal is an giraffe.” I looked around and met everyone’s gaze. Their neutral expressions provided me no comfort. Much to my surprise, Ariel began to smile and excitedly expressed how much she loved giraffes as well. The threatening energy of the room shifted to one of acceptance. Idle chatter started up again and finally all eyes were off of me. I made sure to chime in to different conversations to avoid another uncomfortable situation. Through these interactions I learned that they all came from wealthy families, and owned their own businesses. Ariel is the owner and CEO of her own accounting firm. She is not shy about expressing how well she is doing financially. The Mime owns his own real estate company. He actively manages five different locations. Daphne is the owner and medical director of a hospice company. Apparently her parents wanted her to take over the family landscaping business, but her plans changed after her grandmother became ill. The family hired a hospice company to perform in home care on her bedridden Nana. Nana was given six months to live, unfortunately she only made it two more months. She passed away from septic shock due to an untreated bedsore that had been infected with fecal matter. The hospice nurse failed to rotate or change her dying grandmother which ultimately led to her death. Elsa was the owner of her own orthopedic clinic. She’s been a practicing physician for 13 years now. Mickey and the Fairy both owned their own self storage facilities. They both expressed their disdain for those who attempt to live inside the storage units. I continued asking them questions about their professions to prevent the topic becoming about mine. Unlike them, I came from a lower middle class family. I do not own my own business, in fact, I don’t even have a job right now. This further begs the question of why I was invited here. It is very apparent I am not like the others. I wonder what they would do to me if they found out?

Abruptly, the speaker on top of the umbrella began making a shrill siren sound. It was so loud and unexpected everyone at the table jumped out of their chairs and clutched their chest. The siren stopped and was replaced by a robotic voice. “You may now consume your beverages.” A beeping sound signaled the go ahead for us to pick up our cups. I grabbed my coffee that was now ice cold and forced myself to drink it. I have never been a fan of coffee, especially when it is cold, but everyone else seemed to be thoroughly enjoying theirs. The shrill alarm sound played again over the speaker and the robotic voice instructed us once more, “We hope you enjoyed your first beverage of the night. You may now begin the feast.” The same beep as before played to again signal the go ahead to begin. It was then that absolute chaos ensued. The other patrons started acting like vicious animals as if there was enough food to go around. Elsa lunged across the table and snatched the cheesecake platter. Mickey took the bowl of tomato soup right from the Mime’s grasp causing the Mime to silently cry. Ariel and the Fairy fought over the hot chocolate which ended in Ariel’s favor. The Fairy watched enviously as Ariel moaned with delight upon taking her first sip. I waited for the insanity to die down and leaned over to grab the only thing I had my eye on. Not a soul had even made an attempt at the croissants and I took this as my opportunity to go for it. I was so close to tasting that buttery flaky goodness. Then, something horrific happened. My hand was mere centimeters away from grabbing that golden brown piece of heaven when all of a sudden it disappeared right before my eyes. Daphne was somehow quicker than me and stole the exact croissant I had my eye on. I then did something I am not proud of. I punched her square in the face and finessed the croissant from her after she dropped it to grab her nose. The alarm sounded again and the voice gave us a new message, “Leave what ever remaining food you grabbed on your plate. You may now consume your second beverage.” After the beep signaled us to begin, I picked up my tea cup. As I brought it to my lips, I noticed a cloudy film over the top of the tea and it smelled of bitter almonds. I pretended to drink it, and when no one was looking, I secretly dumped it out into the pond. I watched in silent horror as everyone else graciously downed their cup of tea. How could they have not seen the obvious film? Was mine the only suspicious one? I mean I did put cream and sugar in mine and everyone else took theirs as is. That can’t be it though, because my coffee also had cream and sugar and it was normal looking. My thoughts are interrupted but the alarm screeching once more. The voice began to speak; however, this time it was much deeper than it had been previously. Its message was this, “Thank you for attending the annual Bunny Day Tea Party. We hope you enjoyed the provided sustenance, and we can not wait to see what next year has in store for us. Please remain seated until the bell rings to dismiss you. If you attempt to leave before the dismissal bell, you will be shot in the face immediately. Once you dismissed, please exit through the double doors on the left. Remember to take all your belongings. You will not be allowed back in to retrieve any forgotten items. Drive carefully.” The dismissal bell chimes and was just as starling as the alarm. Everyone gathered at the double doors and made sure they had everything they came with. The double doors opened very slightly and revealed a bright white light. As soon as the white light seeped through the small crack in the door, the other guests started dropping like flies.