LITTLE DARK AGE ━━ stranger things

[ 003 ] nothing breaks like a heart

Her choppy bleach-blonde hair was concealed by a ginger wig, of which had been messily chopped into a short bob. Accompanying this, a pair of golden hoops had been pushed through her pierced ears ── a procedure she had perpetrated herself the day she left middle school ── and her outfit was merely a black dress with a patch of sage-green in the middle, alongside a pair of knee-height leather boots.

Last night, she watched Ghostbusters for the first time. And so the idea of a costume sprung to mind last minute: Janine Melnitz.

It was definitely her style, that was for certain.

The silence suffocating the small home, however, was not something Steph found fitting to her disposition. A tingle of apprehension crackled up her spine, and she found herself stomping along the floorboards with more force than necessary to create the comforting chorus of noise.

Her Aunt Jenny was working late at the local bar, and had left Steph to her own devices in the meantime. 

Was it a wise decision? Probably not.

Steph's fingers were ghosting across the doorknob when the telephone began to ring ── rattling in it's hold, piercingly loud jingles reverberating around the desolate house. The clock struck nine-thirty mere seconds ago, meaning the person dialling the Miller household was bound to be Stephanie's mother.

Guilt twisted in her gut.

She was well aware of the fact that the phone would continue to ring, because instead of answering her mother's calls, she was attending Tina's Halloween bash.

Did she feel culpable? Yes.

But did she care? No.

That was all that mattered.

Steph slammed the door behind her, and the phone continued to peal into the darkness of that willowy Halloween night.

✧.｡. *.

The party was well under way by the time Stephanie arrived. Intoxicated people stumbled around Tina's humble abode, spilling droplets of beer everywhere ── leaving large stains on the cream carpet. Music pounded through the speakers, loud enough that someone would be able to hear the heavy bass from the bottom of the well-off street. The sea of partygoers nodded their heads in time with the tunes in unison, unaware of the people trying to squeeze their way through.

Steph parted the waters using her hands, grumbling to herself in frustration. She made a beeline toward the punch bowl residing on the kitchen counter, and quickly poured herself a glass.

It was a bitter taste. Sweet on her tongue, and viciously acetous once the crimson liquid hit the back of her throat. But the alcoholic beverage gave her a thrilling rush, and that was what she came for.

Euphoria.

The heaviness of the week's events already seemed to be melting from her shoulders.

So ── with only a twinge of reluctance ── Steph continued to drink.

Around a half-hour later, the song Head Games began to blare through the speakers, a mighty source of noise trembling throughout the bustling house that people quickly migrated toward. Steph joined the wavering crowd dancing in the centre of the sitting room, tapping her foot along to the rhythm of the song. Her head felt fuzzy from the alcohol, and the spinning room looked rather resemblant to waves lapping in the ocean, but she poured herself another cup of punch regardless.