𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤-𝐨𝐫-𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭
❝ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ᴀʀʟᴏ ʟɪᴠᴇs!❞
𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐕 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄 she had gotten home, munching on the same box of cereal from earlier. as she watched whatever show was playing on the tv, her eyes started to feel heavier. as more time passed, it felt like someone had been adding weights to each eye lid. at first, she had tried to fight it, blinking frantically to stay awake. but it was becoming harder and harder. and then finally, she gave in, letting her eyes close completely as she drifted off into the land of sleep. and as soon as she did it, she regretted it. she was back in the same place that she had dreamt about that morning. she flinched when she heard a clap of thunder. the sky above her flashed red, lighting up everything around her for a split second before it went dark again. she had looked around before she felt a prick at the side of her head. she turned, seeing that same shadow in the sky as before. it had no mouth, no eyes, no nose, but arlo knew that it was staring right at her.
"arlo! hey!" the harrington girl jumped awake, cereal flying out of the box as she shot up from the couch. she looked around frantically before her eyes landed on her brother, the boy looking at her with knitted eyebrows. "aren't you supposed to be meeting the boys in a half hour? why aren't you in your costume yet?"
"it's 7:30?" arlo questioned, earning a nod from the older boy. "shit! shit! why didn't you wake me sooner?!" she yelled as she dropped the cereal box, running straight up the stairs and into her room.
"i thought you were ready!" steve quickly reasoned, raising his voice so that the girl would be able to hear him. "you might be late, but you know they're gonna wait for you!"
arlo rolled her eyes, even if steve was right. she quickly pulled her nike crewneck off, struggling for a few seconds before throwing it onto her bed. she then rummaged through her shirt drawer, trying to find a plain white t-shirt. when she couldn't find it, she settled for a black one instead, quickly pulling it over her head and slipping her arms through. she then kicked off her nike blazers, somehow tripping over one as she ran over to her closet. she let out a bunch of profanities once she hit the floor, a loud thud echoing through the house.
"lo?" steve's worried voice boomed from downstairs.
"i'm okay!" she assured as she shot up from the floor. she quickly grabbed her dirty converse that were at the bottom of her closet, slipping them on and tying them up. she then cuffed her jeans, smiling as she did so. she quickly stood up, looking at her reflection in the mirror that was on her closet door. she quickly tucked her shirt into her jeans. she then turned around, looking for something to carry her candy in. her eyes landed on the pillows on her bed. "fuck it." she mumbled, going over to her bed. she quickly grabbed one of the pillows, grabbing the ends of the pillowcase before she shook her pillow out.
once it was out, she crumbled the pillowcase up. she quickly made her way out her room and to the stairs. she sat her butt on the railing, sliding down it with ease before she landed on her feet. steve turned around from the couch and looked at her, smiling when he saw her fully dressed. it wasn't much, but he could tell that she was trying to be a greaser. he walked over to her, dressed in all black with a pair of ray-bans sunglasses hanging from his shirt. arlo smiled, knowing that he was going as tom cruise's character from risky business. nancy was gonna be dressed as rebecca de mornay's character.
"you ready?" steve asked, eyebrows raised as he placed the glasses onto his face. arlo simply nodded, walking over to the door, grabbing a jean jacket as she did so.
the duo got into steve's car, the boy basically taking off like he was a professional race car driver. arlo immediately buckled her seat belt, looking at her brother like he was crazy -- because if it wasn't obvious, steve was not a professional fucking race car driver. the whole car ride was filled with arlo telling the older harrington to slow the fuck down, in that exact way. steve had told her to calm down multiple times, telling her that she should be used to this since he literally drove like that all the time. which wasn't a complete lie. they had gotten to the wheelers in under fifteen minutes, arlo slapping steve's arm.
"ow! ow! i'm sorry! we were both late, okay?! i was supposed to pick nancy up 30 minutes ago! i'm sorry!" steve quickly apologized, trying to move away from arlo's slaps, but she only followed him.
"learn how to slow the fuck down! you're gonna hurt yourself one day." arlo scolded, sounding just like their mother.
"have fun, okay? make sure the boys don't do anything stupid." steve told her.
"that's literally what i always do." arlo mumbled as she climbed out of the car. she smiled when she saw mike, lucas, dustin, and percy all standing in front of mike's house. nancy had just came from inside, sending arlo a smile as she ran past her. arlo walked over to the boys, percy looking like the odd one out. "percy, who are you supposed to be."
"apollo forced me to wear his old clothes so i can be a rockstar." percy mumbled, obviously annoyed about the fact that he couldn't be dressed as what he wanted.
"well, you don't look bad. you'd make a great rockstar." arlo assured him, bringing her hand up to ruffle his hair. that made him slap her hand away, a smile appearing on his lips at the compliment. arlo turned back around, seeing that steve's car was gone and was now replaced with jonathan's car.
"will! hey!" dustin greeted as the party started to walk towards street. "hey, don't cross the streams. don't cross the streams!"
arlo watched as will and jonathan started to talk, but was interrupted when someone hit her in the head with their pillowcase. she turned around to see that lucas was backing away slowly, a smile on his lips. "seriously, sinclair? you wanna go?"
"i did hit you, right?" lucas challenged, his eyebrows raising slightly.
arlo narrowed her eyes at the boy before she started to walk towards him. he laughed before he took off down the street, arlo right behind him. lucas and arlo were probably the most athletic in the whole party, so they would always do something to make the other one run. which is what was obviously happening in that moment. the boys watched the two run around, small smiles on their faces as they heard lucas and arlo let out laughs. will joined the group, not even asking why arlo was chasing lucas. arlo somehow was able to get to the boy, making sure not to hurt him as she tackled him to the ground. he grunted as he landed on his side, arlo rolling off him as she sucked in a deep breath.
"got you." she mumbled as she started to get on her feet.
"you're so small but so strong. i don't get it." lucas told her as he got up as well, dusting his costume off.
"i don't either." arlo shrugged. she then turned to the boys, seeing that will had gotten out of jonathan's car and had joined the other boys. "will! hi, buddy! what's up?"
"egon!" lucas exclaimed as the party started to slowly make their down the street so that they could start trick-or-treating.
"let's go get candy, boys!" arlo yelled, jumping up and clicking her heels together before she landed back on her feet.
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❝𝐈𝐅 𝐈 𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 3 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐑𝐒, i'm gonna kill myself." lucas announced to the party as they walked through the yard of the house they just left. the sun had set about an hour ago, and they had been walking around for at least two hours. it was way pass seven, and arlo hadn't even caught sight a michael myers mask. she wondered if max had decided not to come at all.
"what's wrong with 3 musketeers?" dustin questioned, obviously offended by what lucas had said.
"what's wrong with 3 musketeers?" lucas repeated.
"no one likes 3 musketeers." mike answered.
"yeah, it's just nougat." will agreed.
"and nougat is fucking disgusting." percy chimed in, grimacing at the thought of eating nougat.
"whoa. just nougat? just nougat? it is top three for me."
"ew. top three? seriously, dust?" arlo asked, looking at the curly haired boy with knitted eyebrows.
"top three." he nodded.
"oh, god. give me a break." mike mumbled
"seriously, i can just eat a whole bowl of nougat. straight up." dustin told his friends, earning a grimace from both arlo and percy. the williams boy then gagged at the thought of having to eat a whole bowl of nougat.
before anyone else could say anything about dustin's nougat obsession, someone in a michael myers mask popped out of nowhere, scaring the six party members. arlo almost physically went into the shadows from how bad of a scare it was, a scream escaping her lips as small shadows started to cast from her hands. everyone else screamed as well, but the one that stood out the most was lucas' high pitch scream. it seemed like it went on forever, arlo looking at the sinclair boy with raised eyebrows. the shadows that appeared around her hands quickly disappeared, mike looking at her worriedly. arlo's head then snapped over to the person that had scared them, hearing the familiar giggling coming from under the mask.
"holy shit!" maxine mayfield giggled, pulling her mask from her head. "you should have seen the look on your faces. and you? who screams like that? you sound like a little girl." max told the party before she pointed over to lucas. she then started to walk away, the party frozen in place as they tried to process what just happened. "hey, you guys coming or not? oh, i heard we should hit up loch nora." she said once she turned back around, realizing that no one was following her. "that's where the rich people live, right?" she questioned before she chuckled, arlo's heart fluttering in her chest at the sound.
"that's where arlo lives!" dustin yelled out, making max's eyes fall on said girl. arlo quickly hit dustin in his arm, making the curly haired boy exclaim. "what?! it's true! you're rich!"
"okay! damn!" arlo shouted back, sending the boy a small glare before she started to walk towards max.
"cherry! how come you never told me you were rich?" max asked as she wrapped her arm around arlo's shoulders, a smile still on her lips.
"cherry?" all the boys repeated, looking at each other with furrowed eyebrows. arlo felt her cheeks heat up when she heard of them repeat the nickname, wanting to crawl into a ball. she knew that one of them was gonna tease her about it at some other time.
"didn't seem like it was important enough to bring up." she mumbled, wrapping the loose part of her candy-filled pillowcase around her hand.
"so you live up on loch nora?" max asked.
"yeah."
"lead the way." max told her, gesturing for arlo to go in front. the harrington girl rolled her eyes but did as told, looking back to make sure that the boys were following. they were, mike and will being all the way in the back.
when they had finally gotten to loch nora, they didn't waste no time on ringing the doorbell of the first house that their eyes landed on. they continued to go from house to house, celebrating the fact that they were getting actual full-size candy and not the little fun-size ones that the rest of the town had been giving out. arlo and max both received some looks from some of the adults that answered the doors, seeing that both girls were dressed in what was considered a boy costume. the two girls obviously ignored it, not caring about the looks or the opinions of adults going through mid-life crisis. the two girls, dustin, and lucas were all in the front, leading the group. mike and will were at the back, will having a video camera so that he could record everything. percy was in the middle, jumping from the two groups
"another full-size. like, seriously, rich people are suckers." dustin celebrated, a big grin on his lips. he then realized what he said, his snapping over to where arlo was. "obviously not you, arlo. you're not a suck." he quickly said. he then looked over to max, "wait, you'er not rich, right?"
"no, i live up old cherry road." max answered.
"oh." dustin let out.
"no, it's fine. i mean, the street's good for skating." max told him, sensing the guilt and sympathy that had started to creep into dustin's veins.
the henderson boy hummed, "yeah, totally tubular." max look at him weirdly, making arlo snort. "what? did i say that right? or is it, like, tubular."
"it's - it's, like totally tubular." lucas quickly corrected, trying his hardest to imitate a surfer. it didn't work.
"totally tubular!" dustin repeated.
"please stop." arlo mumbled, looking between the two boys as they took turns pronouncing the phrase. "please, the both of you sound horrible."
"exactly. my ears are hurting." max agreed.
the group of four continued to talk about amongst one another, lucas and dusting still trying to imitate a surfer. arlo continued to beg for them to stop while max told them that no one sounded like that in california. arlo had the biggest grin on her face as she heard max laugh at the boys, the latina looking her in admiration. but her smile dropped when she felt an overwhelming amount of fear hit her out of no where. but it wasn't her fear. it was will's. she stopped walking, max, lucas, and dustin not noticing. she turned around, her eyes landing on percy.
"what's wrong, arlo?" he questioned once he noticed the look on her face.
she didn't respond, her eyes looking around frantically as she tried to find will. then she saw mike, the wheeler boy looking around as well. she ran over to him, putting her hand on his arm before she turned him around. "where's will?" she asked.
"i - i don't know. he was right next to me a second ago." mike answered, worry dripping from his tone.
arlo didn't say another word, leaving the boy and walking over to the middle of the street. dustin, lucas, and max had noticed that something was wrong, starting to make their way back to the other party members. arlo closed her eyes, focusing on will's fear, and his fear only. when she had opened them back up, she followed the feeling of the fear all the way to someone's house. she went around the side, going under the balcony. a sigh escaped her mouth when she saw will sitting underneath it, his knees tucked into his chest as he shook. arlo brought her hand out to touch him, flinching away when she felt an immense amount of fear spread from will and onto her hand.
"i found him!" she yelled out, going to touch him again. she ignored how much of the fear she was feeling, ignoring how powerful it made her feel. "will! will, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly, snapping the byers boy out of whatever trance he was in. he looked at her incredulously before he started to look around. "we - we couldn't find you. but i felt your fear. are - are you hurt?"
"is he okay?" mike's voice appeared, the freckled boy practically shoving past arlo to get to will the rest of the party, plus max followed behind him.
"holy shit!" dusting exclaimed.
"is he okay?" lucas asked.
"i don't know." mike answered before he turned back to look at will. "i'm gonna get you home, okay? i'm gonna get you home. hold on." mike assured will, helping him up from the ground.
arlo stepped forward, going to help. "here, let me -"
"i got him." mike snapped, sending a small glare towards the shorter girl.
"mike." she tried, stepping back slightly.
"keep trick-or-treating. i'm bored anyways." mike told his friends, sending each and everyone of them a small glare before he walked away with will.
"what's wrong with him?" max questioned, turning to look over to arlo. she then noticed something, worry taking over her voice. "holy shit, your nose is bleeding."
"what?" arlo asked, looking up at the red head in confusion.
"your nose, cherry." max repeated. the harrington girl quickly brought her hand up to wipe her nose, feeling something wet touch her fingers. she pulled back, seeing that crimson stained the tips. she furrowed her eyebrows slightly, wondering what had caused her nose to bleed. it wasn't like she had used any of her actual abilities. "are you okay? are you dizzy or anything?" max quizzed.
"no, i'm okay. i don't know why that happened." she nodded. percy pulled out a napkin, handing it to the girl with a worried look. lucas and dustin looked at the girl with knowing looks. "thanks, percy. i promise i'm fine." she assured the boys as she grabbed the napkin, wiping the rest of the blood from her nose. "i, uh, i think i'm gonna go home."
"yeah, me too." lucas agreed, nodding his head.
"yeah." percy chirped before he started to walk off. "i'll see you guys tomorrow!"
with that, dustin and lucas walked off, walking together since they had to walk in the same direction. arlo noticed that max hadn't walked away yet, making her look up at her with knitted eyebrows. the red head picked up on this, practically reading the shorter girls' mind.
"what? you walked me home last night. i'm returning the favor." she said, shrugging her shoulders. arlo hummed, nodding her head. "so, uh, what was all of that about? with will?"
"uh. . ." arlo started, not exactly sure if she should tell max this. "he went missing for a week, last year. he has some post traumatic stress over it, but it's getting worse the closer we get to the actual anniversary." max nodded, deciding not to push the topic any further. "are you gonna be able to get back home from my house?"
"i've got it all mapped out in my head, cherry. don't worry." max told her, a smirk pulling at her lips.
"i'm only asking because no one's home for me to ask to drop you off." arlo announced, shrugging her shoulders. "brother's at a party and probably won't be back til late. and my parents aren't home, so. . ."
"is it date night, or something?" max questioned, her eyebrows furrowed.
"nope. they've just been on a business trip for awhile." arlo answered, looking down at her feet as they walked down the dark streets. neither of them knew what time it was, but by the looks of how many kids started to go home, it might've been around 8 or 9.
"oh." max mumbled, noticing how arlo had been avoiding eye contact. max made a mental note on the fact that arlo's parents is a sensitive topic to bring up.
the two continued to walk down the street, watching as adults stepped out onto their porches to blow out the candles that were in their jack-o-lanterns. the darker the streets got, the closer arlo crept to max. but the taller girl didn't mind it, a small smile appearing on her lips once she had felt arlo's arm brush against her's. they walked in silence, max not picking up on how shadows had started to cling to arlo the darker it got, to wrapped up in her own thoughts that involved the girl next to her.
"this is it." arlo said, abruptly stopping when they had appeared in front her home. it was a big home with a few rooms in it, a big kitchen and a big living room, with a pool in the back. but it was never filled with love or comfort like it should be because the parents were never there. sure, arlo had steve, but the both of them wanted their parents.
"whoa." max let out, letting her eyes run over the big house.
"it's big, but it's not as awesome as it seems." arlo muttered, starting to walk towards the front door, pulling out her keys. "thank you for walking me home, red. it means a lot, really."
"you don't have to thank me." max smiled, watching as the girl walked up to her front door. "i'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"
"see you tomorrow! get home safe!" arlo yelled back, looking back at the red head with a small smile. she unlocked the front door before she went inside, sparing another glance at max before closing the door.
with that, max turned around and started to make her way back home. a smile played at her lips as she went through the events that had happened throughout the day. the only ones that made her happy and warm inside were the ones where arlo was in them. they've only known each other for two days and max might've been attached to the girl already.
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daij speaks!
more marlo content. i love them. a lot. so much. really. my babies. the next chapter is gonna be written in apollo/steve's point of view so get ready for that. also, lucas and arlo have my heart (as friends).
i hope u guys enjoyed this chapter.