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HALLOWEEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN NICOLE'S FAVORITE HOLIDAY.
Every year, since she and Ray were little, they'd go out trick-or-treating. Both of them knew each and every street of Hawkins like the backs of their hands. It was relatively easy, considering they lived in a small town, and so there wasn't a lot of area to cover, but still — the two prided themselves on this fact as kids. They'd plan their trips weeks ahead of time. The main objective was always to get the maximum amount of candy possible, and they were determined to reach this goal. Going to Loch Nora, the neighborhood where all the rich people lived, was unavoidable, and they'd go as early as possible in order to be subject to the most generosity that was going to be displayed to them that specific evening. Then, they'd go to either of the two's houses and watch a movie, while they filled their guts with sickeningly sweet candy that would eventually be thrown up the next morning.
This year is no different. Of course, they don't plan on going to strangers' houses demanding they give them candy — they'd abandoned that long ago — but the movie-watching kind of stuck. Most people would have gone to Tina Johnson's party that she hosted every year, without fail. Nicole and Ray had gone last year (and had more fun than they'd like to admit, but had still left around an hour later), but this year, Ray had set his foot down and insisted that they stay home and continue their annual tradition. She doesn't blame him; a pretty large part of her wouldn't miss it for the world.
So, now, she stands in her dining room and stares at the list she'd made earlier.
"What do you think of My Bloody Valentine?"
Her brother sighs in frustration as he tries to shove the rest of his waffle in his mouth, all the while practically running around the house in search of something. He pauses and opens his mouth to speak, but all he manages to get out is a series of muffled words. Nicole nods, urging him to swallow his food first, then speak.
"I thought you already watched that last time?"
"Well, we were going to, but someone else had already rented it. So we had to pick a new one."
"Um..." Brian closes his eyes, as if in deep thought. "How about something scarier?"
"Right," Nicole says. She examines her list once more. There's, like, only seven movies on there, but somehow choosing one seems impossible. She groans, resting her head on the table.
Getting back up, she looks at the piece of paper yet again, and it's a good few minutes before her gaze finally lands on the perfect film for tonight — Something Wicked This Way Comes. It's a pretty lowkey movie; she only found out about it because Greg Davis, the kid who works at Family Video, decided to be nice for once and recommend it to her and Ray when they went to return a movie they rented a few weeks back. Nicole smiles with satisfaction as she underlines its name in the black ink of her pen, before placing it in the front pocket of her bag.
She then shoves the last few bites of her own breakfast into her mouth, and is just about to get up and leave when someone taps her shoulder. She turns around, sighing.
"What is it, Brian?"
Her brother smiles awkwardly.
"I need you to drive me to school." Upon seeing her eyebrows raised in a questioning expression, he explains, "My bike's tire went flat when I was coming home yesterday."
"And you couldn't have gotten it repaired after that?"
"I forgot."
Nicole groans. She rubs her temples, then motions for Brian to follow her outside.
——
Steve has been Nicole's lab partner for almost the last two years, although their relationship hasn't progressed much from the awkward "We'll both do our work in complete silence and not talk to each other unless absolutely necessary" stage during that time. All that's happened is that they've gone from not acknowledging the other's existence at all, to saying the occasional, "Hey" when they pass each other in the hallways.
They barely talked to each other outside Kaminsky's classroom. It was always either something about an assignment or a project they've supposed to be partnering in. So, it was a pretty big moment of surprise for Nicole when Steve actually made an effort to converse with her sometime around the end of last year. She's noticed a lot of changes in him since then — he's become a far nicer version of himself than the dickhead "King Steve" she'd gotten to know at first. Perhaps it was the poor company; ever since he stopped hanging out with Carol Perkins and Tommy Hagan as much as he used to, he's just been way more likable.
"So," Steve asks, "are you coming to Tina's party tomorrow?"
Nicole shakes her head. "Hmm, probably not. I'll probably just, uh, stay home and... do something."
"Like what?" He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head to the side.
"Honestly, I don't know. But, hey, last time I got invited, Ray and I were bored out of our minds, so he's probably gonna say no, too." Nicole pauses, and Steve's mouth quirks, as if he's caught her lie. She shakes her head, and continues, "And I'm not going alone without him."
"Well—" he laughs— "last time I was also a pretentious asshole who didn't care about anyone else, so, you know. Kind of makes sense."
A small smile finds its way onto Nicole's face. She takes a deep breath, thinking about it, then shakes her head in denial.
"Come on, you have to! Nancy's gonna be there, too. And I'm pretty sure she invited Byers. Aren't you guys, like, friends, or something?"
"Our brothers are friends. I wouldn't be too sure about us."
Steve's not all wrong. Nicole and Jonathan were once friends, all the way back in elementary school. But then, as they began middle school, the two just sort of drifted away from each other. It was like Jonathan fell into this deep, deep hole of never really talking to anyone at school, one that he was never really able to get out of.
He'd always been one of the quieter kids. He wasn't exactly the loudest growing up, but he still had his fair share of friends he'd talk to at school, or call over to the playground on a Saturday afternoon. Then, one day, something inside him just flipped, and he went from not talking to people a lot, to not talking to people at all. Maybe it was the fact that his parents separated when he was still fairly young. Maybe it was something else. At the time, Nicole didn't know what exactly happened to him that he distanced himself from everyone. If she's being honest, she still doesn't.
The two of them haven't spoken much since then.
She regrets not making an effort to reconcile with him. But guessing by his behavior around her the night that they found Will (which was the first time they'd actually spoken in years) and every now and then when they happen to see each other, he doesn't seem to have any hard feelings against her. It's not a lot, but it does give her a little bit of reassurance that Jonathan Byers doesn't completely hate her.
"Alright, but it'll be fun," Steve pleads. "You'll have a good time. I promise."
Nicole rolls her eyes. "Fine. But I'll have to ask Ray first. And if he says yes, we'll be there. Is that enough for you?"
Steve grins. "It's perfect."
——
Ray takes a sip of his orange juice, before looking down to his lunch tray and then back at Nicole. He sighs. She sets her spoon down, clasping her hands together and resting her elbows on the table.
"So, um. Steve may or may not have invited me — well, us — to Tina's party tomorrow."
"God, not again. I hated it last time."
Nicole doesn't respond, and instead just stares at her best friend. She tilts her head to the side. He says nothing.
Then, she counters, "Come on, it wasn't that bad. I'd like to think I kind of had fun there."
He looks at her with the same expression he's given her every time she does something he deems stupid since they were kids. "You wanna go, don't you?"
"I don't know, man." She throws her hands out, sighing. "He seemed pretty excited about it. Like he genuinely wanted us to be there. And it would be, you know, a little mean if we didn't show up."
"You said the same thing last time and we ended up leaving barely an hour later."
"But that one hour was pretty sick."
Ray gives her a blank expression.
"I just— I feel like he's changed. For the better."
"Has he?" he raises an eyebrow.
Nicole shrugs. Just then, she hears a voice behind her speak.
"Who has?"
She turns around to see Steve and Nancy standing behind her with their own lunches. Steve greets her with a loud, "Hey", while his girlfriend simply presses her lips into an awkward smile and nods.
"Do you guys mind if we sit here?" she asks.
Nicole shakes her head and smiles. "Oh, no, not at all."
Both her and Ray move slightly to accommodate the newcomers. Steve takes his place across from her, while Nancy sits beside her.
"So, as I was saying—" Steve clasps his hands together— "who's changed?"
"No one," Ray answers with a stiff voice.
"Okay." Steve drags out the last part of the word slightly.
The group of four just sits there for a few minutes after that, in painfully awkward silence. Nicole takes a few more bites of her mashed potatoes, before Steve speaks up.
"So, uh, Tina's party is tomorrow night." He turns toward Ray.
"Yeah, she gave me an invite this morning."
"Listen, I was wondering; would you and Nicole maybe wanna come with me and Nance? I feel like we're gonna have a lot of fun." He pauses for a second, looking at the other two teenagers. "No pressure, though. Obviously."
Ray looks toward his best friend with widened eyes, clearly asking her, "What the hell am I supposed to say here?", while she simply furrows her eyebrows and wordlessly tells him that she doesn't know. He looks incredibly confused; panicked, even, for a few seconds. Then he sucks in a deep breath, lets it out with rounded lips, and looks back at Steve.
"Uh..." he begins. "Yeah, um, sure. We'll, uh— We'll be there. Tomorrow night. We'll show up."
Nancy smiles, getting up now that she's done with her food. "That's great. I guess I'll see you guys there, then?"
Nicole nods. "Yeah. I guess."
After Steve leaves as well, she looks at the boy sitting across from her, a smug grin plastered on her face."I thought you didn't want to go?"
"I didn't." She continues to make the same expression at him; she knows just how much it's getting to him. His eyes are wide, and filled with an annoyed type of rage, and his lips are turned downwards in a frown. He looks like he's about to throw a fit at any given second. "God, shut up."
"I wasn't even saying anything," she says with a shrug.
He rolls his eyes, ignoring her remarks and going back to pick at the questionable lunch the school's provided them with. Along with the mashed potatoes and orange juice — which are, in Nicole and Ray's shared opinion, some of the only edible things their school provides them with for lunch — there's a weird kind of 'mystery meat'. Nicole's been in this school for almost three years now, and has been given the same thing every Tuesday. She still hasn't been able to figure out exactly what it is, only that whatever it is, it's absolutely disgusting.
She takes in a deep breath, and then says, "Will you at least help me pick out my costume?"
"Fine." Ray cracks his knuckles, then looks at her. "After school, once we've rented the movie. But, if we don't come home tomorrow early enough to watch whatever you've chosen, then—"
"I know. We will, I promise."
He finally smiles again. Although it does seem the tiniest bit forced, Nicole doesn't care. At least now she knows he won't be mad at her for the rest of the week. She checks the time on her wristwatch, then sighs in relief as she realizes she has ten minutes left before her next class. She gets up, pushing the chair open and saying a short "Bye" to Ray.
Tomorrow is gonna be a great day.
—
a/n:
hi everyone!! so i ended up publishing this chapter way later than i thought i would (delayed by over a week and a half)
HOWEVER
it's here now, and i'm super excited to share it with you. updates may or may not be regular, depending on how much work i have. i'll try to update once every two or three weeks, but i can't promise anything.
anyway, that's pretty much all i have to say for now. be sure to let me know what you think of the story so far in the comments and vote if you liked it!