PARTNERS IN CRIME ━━ mike wheeler

17. halloween

"I didn't say that!" Mike defended. Lucas shrugged. "You thought it." The two continued arguing. Maddie looked to Will, finding that the argument would never end.

But Dustin had noticed something none of them did, and it was bad. Very bad. "Guys... guys! Guys!" The argument stopped and everyone looked towards Dustin, now seeing what he saw.

Everyone looked normal. It seemed that while Maddie had just made the choice that morning the whole school had decided that this year they wouldn't be wearing their costumes to school.

"Why is no one else wearing costumes?" Dustin questioned rhetorically. Lucas frowned. "Crap."

IT WAS DEFINITELY bad. No kind words could help with the embarrassment the boys felt. Maddie felt horrible. She didn't understand why everyone had decided this year they wouldn't wear their costumes, but they did and now the boys looked insane.

People laughed as the five walked down the hall, but it was only pointed at the boys. That was the main reason Maddie felt so horrible. Because her friends felt bad when she didn't have to.

"When do people make these decisions?" Dustin muttered, looking around at the laughing faces. "Everyone dressed up last year." Will remembered, also confused. Dustin continued to look forwards but still responded. "It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you."

Mike ducked his head. "Just be cool."

"Who you gonna call? The nerds!" One boy shouted and Maddie instantly stuck her middle finger up towards him. She scoffed. "Don't worry, you guys are the only cool ones. You were right, it's lame not to dress up to school."

Will sent Maddie a small, grateful smile. The other three nodded and they all went their separate ways.

Maddie walked to her locker, grabbing the books she needed for her first few periods. She hated how many huge books she had to carry around and tried to carry as few as possible at once.

She closed her locker when done and turned, but jumped back a bit when someone was standing right next to her locker. "Oh, shit!" Maddie gasped.

Max smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"No it's no problem at all. Just, give me a moment to uh, slow my heart rate down again." Maddie smiled back, letting out a breath. "Okay, I'm fine now."

Max chuckled a bit. "So, what are you doing for Halloween?" Maddie shrugged, turning towards Max completely. "Probably just gonna go around with the guys. Oh my god— you should totally join us! It would be super fun and you could get to know the rest of my friends."

"Eh, I don't know... would they even want me there? I mean, you hang out with the stalkers right? I don't know if that's my crowd." Max responded. Maddie shrugged. "Maybe not, but you'll never know unless you give it a chance, right? Just let me know."

Max smiled a bit, nodding her head. "Okay, I'll let you know."

SCHOOL HAD ENDED and Maddie was biking down a street with the rest of the party. Well, besides Will, who's mom had already picked him up.

Dustin was continuing his rant about the costumes, still not over the fact that the boys where the only ones to dress up. "Really, everyone dressed up last year."

Maddie shrugged. "Maybe they're just getting ready for high school next year? I mean— you never see any of them dressing up." Dustin frowned. "That's shit. Halloween is fun and age shouldn't change that."

Maddie went to respond, but the sound of an engine revving caught her attention instead. "Hey, guys?" Dustin called out, turning around to see the car speeding towards them.