There's No Place Like Hawkins//Stranger Things. SH

TWENTY SIX

Billy showed no signs of stopping the car as he sped it up even more, if that was even possible. "Billy, stop it!" Max yelled at him, her hands reaching to the wheel in hopes of steering the car away from the only people who had tried to befriend her. The car swerved, luckily avoiding Dustin, Mike and Lucas- the former of which swearing like a sailor. There was no way in hell he wasn't telling his sister about what had just happened.

"Yeah!" Billy screamed, turning to face Max. "That was a close one, huh?" Billy laughed as Max turned in her seat, looking through the back window to see if the boys were alright.

***

Cat stood in her room, looking at the clothes in her closet, trying to work out what she could make into a costume. Unlike everyone else, she hadn't picked out a costume forever ago and so all her clothes had been thrown across the room during her search for something to wear. Cat let out a sigh as Dustin opened the door.

"Hey, Kit- Woah! What happened in here?" He asked as he took in the mess of her room.

Cat sat down on her bed, making sure she wasn't sitting on any clothes. "I can't find anything to wear as a Halloween costume."

"Well, I don't know how well I can help you, you know, seeing how I'm not a girl or anything... So why don't you call Nancy and ask her for help?"

Cat ruffled Dustin's hair. "Thanks Dusty. I hope I don't make you late for meeting your friends."

"It's fine. I'm sure they'll understand... well they won't but that's not the point."

Catherine laughed as her brother left the room before walking over to the phone that lived on her dresser. She dialled in the Wheeler's number and hoped Nancy would be the one to pick up the phone.

"Hello, this is the Wheeler's. May I ask who's speaking?"

It wasn't Nancy. Cat had to hold back a sigh, not wanting to seem rude. "Hi, Mrs. Wheeler. It's Catherine. Um, is Nancy there? I kinda need to speak to her."

"I'll put her on the phone." The line was silent for a few minutes, with the exception of Mrs. Wheeler's muffled voice calling out for Nancy. "Hey, Cat." Nancy's voice finally came through the receiver, after what felt like forever. "What's up?"

"I don't know what to wear." Cat stated quickly. "I'm going trick-or-treating with the boys, which you already knew, and I don't have a costume."

"So, you're not coming to the party then?"

"Um... I might swing by later once the boys have finished asking people for candy."

"Oh okay. Cool. I so hope you come by the party. It won't be as fun without you there."

"But Nancy, you know party's aren't my scene...." Nancy nodded, even though she knew Cat couldn't see her over the phone. "And besides, I can't go to a Halloween party or trick-or-treating without a costume. I'll look like a loser."

"Right. Well, we can't have that, can we?" Nancy thought for a moment before having an idea. "You have a pair of black leggings, right?"

"Uh, yeah. But they're very tight on me. Why?"

Nancy ignored her question, asking more of her own. "And you still have my old black off-the-shoulder top, right? And I know for sure you have a black leather jacket."

"Uh, yeah. I have those. Why, what's your idea?"

"Okay, so all you have to do is curl your hair and pin it up. And I'm pretty sure you have a pair of red heels you can wear."

"Nance, where are you going with this?"

"Sandy. You could be Sandy from Grease!"

"Oh! Yes! And it works because that's like my favourite film!" Cat squealed down the phone. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thank you Nance. Thank you so much. You're the best. And I will totally try to swing by Tina's later."

The two exchanged 'goodbyes' and 'see you laters' before hanging up. Cat raced round her room, trying to piece together the look Nancy had suggested. The small brunette pulled on the clothes, struggling with the tight black leggings. For some reason they were the only pair she owned and she knew that she'd have to buy some more that weekend. She searched under the mountain of clothes in her room to find the black off-the-shoulder top Nancy had given her, pulling it over her head. She adjusted the sleeves before walking over to her dressing table to do her makeup. She used her foundation, making sure to blend it in properly before applying a light amount of blush. After that she moved onto her eyes, going around them with some eyeliner before adding mascara to her eyelashes. She smiled at herself in her mirror as she applied some red lipstick.

A knock sounded on her bedroom door as she grabbed her curling wand. "Yes?" She called out, wrapping strands of her hair around the curling wand.

Dustin poked his head around the door. "Wonderful. You have a costume." His eyes landed on the curling wand she had her hair wrapped around. "Uh, I don't want to rush you, but the others are yelling at me through the walkie-talkie because we're gonna be late meeting them. So, uh, yeah."

"Dusty, don't worry. This shouldn't take me that long. And I won't make you late, I promise." Catherine smiled at her younger brother before turning back to the task of doing her hair. Dustin left her room, shutting the door behind him, and went to wait for her by the front door.

Roughly five minutes later Cat finished spraying some Farrah Fawcett hairspray over her curls and was grabbing her red heels from the bottom of her closet. She made her way into the living room, slipping the shoes over her feet.

"Finally, you're ready! Now you can take me trick-or-treating!" Dustin cried at the sight of his sister.

"Yes, I'm ready." Cat shook her head slightly. "Although I don't know how I'm gonna cycle in these bad boys." She pointed to her shoes. "I've had them on for two minutes and they're already killing my feet."

***

Edited: 17/4/2020

Edit 2: 9/9/2021