ᖭི༏ᖫྀ
. . .
Dustin did not understand the lack of enthusiasm for Halloween this year. He, personally, had been anticipating it for months, costume perfectly planned and prepared with the party. He was bursting at the seems waiting, trying not to drive his mom crazy, making sure his "STANZ" nametag was perfect — that all of it was perfect.
It was as if he had prepared for battle, sure he'd be there to meet it . . but the holiday arrived before any of them could blink. Somehow he had missed it, even if his costume was sitting in his closet, waiting for him. The town had beat him to it. Decorations were strung across shop fronts. Lights and cobwebs were fanned out around bushes and Jack-O-Lanterns were placed on doorsteps, grinning at everyone who passed. Rubber spiders were placed in random corners.
If the houses and stores were ready to celebrate, Dustin figured everyone must be showing up in their costumes, just as giddy as he was. To his disappointment though, as the party arrived at school, he realized he was wrong . . very wrong. No one dressed up, and Dustin swore the rest of the school had gathered together to conspire against them. How could no one else be dressed in costumes? It was Halloween! Where was the spirit?
Unless the rest of the school somehow forgot . . Did they suffer from memory loss? With all that happened last year with Hawkins Lab, Demogorgons, El . . it seemed more likely . . Sadly, it was not. No one else knew about what happened — they couldn't. Dustin was left with nothing but confusion, questioning the lack of costumes the entire day — whether it be by complaining or tossing the thought back and forth in his head.
He had hoped he would get the chance to impress Max that morning . . but when she also showed up in regular clothes, suddenly, dressing up as Stanz didn't feel so cool. He told himself it wasn't the best idea right now. As Lucas said at their lockers, they looked like idiots. His classmates weren't afraid to tease them for it either . . They did it all day, in fact.
"I swear to God, I wish this proton pack was real," he grumbled. "I'd be zapping so many assholes right now."
"Dustin it's not that big of a big deal," Lucas tried. "Everyone's going home to put on their costumes now anyway."
"Doesn't mean I won't wanna scare the shit out of some people when we're out trick-or-treating later."
Lucas did all he could not roll his eyes. He wanted to tell his friend to shut up about the costume incident . . but it seemed, despite the fuming anger, Dustin was already on to the next thing. Lucas followed his gaze. They watched a Camaro pull into the high school parking lot, music faintly blaring.
"Jesus I would kill for a car like that," he friend sighed. "Can you imagine if I had a license? That, along with these pearls? No way would Max say no to me."
"Isn't that her brother's car, though?" Lucas ventured.
"What?"
"I'm pretty sure that's her brother's car. I saw them pull up in it this morning."
"Well if it's her brother's car, then who's that?" Dustin pointed towards it, and both their gazes landed on an older girl climbing out of the driver's seat.
Lucas shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe Max has a sister too," he tried, taking notice of the ripped jeans and oversized t-shirt she had on. Max wore oversized sweatshirts. "They dress kind of similar and she's leaning on the same car. That's gotta be it."
Silence.
"Dustin?"
He didn't answer.
"What are you guys talking about?" Will's voice caught Lucas's attention. He was walking up to them with Mike in tow.
"Dustin's making goo-goo eyes at Max's sister," Lucas teased.
"Dude!" Dustin shouted, now broken free of his daze.
"Max has a sister?" Mike asked, sounding a lot less bored than he appeared to be.
"Where?" asked Will.
Lucas pointed. "There. Down in the high school parking lot."
A scoff sounded behind them. "So, you're stalking my stepsister now, huh?"
They jumped, turned around to see Max, scowling.
Dustin immediately tried to salvage the situation. "No, no, no, we just — . . we — uh . ." he stuttered. "We just saw her pull into the parking lot and well, she's sitting on the same car you come to school in so we were wondering who she is."
Max raised her brows. "As I said, she's my stepsister."
"We weren't stalking her. We were just curious," said Lucas.
Max wasn't convinced. "Sure. Just don't do it again."
Her skateboard plopped onto the ground and she boarded, rolled down the hill, leaving them open-mouthed.
"You're still meeting us at Maple Street tonight, right?" Dustin called out. He felt a hand slap his arm. "Ow! What the hell?!"
Lucas glared at him. "See? This is exactly why we don't stare!"
. . .
