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― season two, episode two;
THE HALLOWEEN PARTY
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4123 words
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*.✧ 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐘 ✧.*
"What are you guys doing?" I laughed as I rounded the corner into the living room, where Bob Newby, mom's new boyfriend, and Jonathan were messing around with a big camera.
"Ashley, you do know that this is the future, right?" Bob spoke about the device with such reverence that I couldn't help but to smile at him.
Bob was so good to and for Mom, after everything. Everything with Dad and everything that happened last year, he was such a breath of fresh air for us. It was hard for me to get used to having a father figure around again, and I found myself wanted to shut him out immediately. I just had to keep telling myself that he was good, and he was nothing like Dad.
"You already used that line on me." Mom peeked her head into the room from the kitchen.
"Well it's true!" Bob chuckled. "One day, everybody is going to have one of these."
"I'll believe that when I see it," I playfully said back to him. Will came out of the kitchen and walked right up to me. Without a word, he just held out his hand, as if expecting something, and this made me laugh.
I slapped the extra black tape that he had requested I get from my room into his open palm. He smiled and brought it to Mom, and they started to put the touching up his homemade Ghostbusters costume.
Tonight was the neighborhood's trick-or-treating, and I was going with the boys to watch out for Will, and Jonathan was going to take us and pick us up. Mom was extra worried about Will tonight, that's why she's making me babysit, but I don't mind. He does, though.
He says that we're all treating him differently, and that it makes him feel bad. I don't know about Mom and Jonathan, but I'm genuinely trying to act like nothing happened, it's just really difficult. Last year was the worst time of my life, and I think that we all just felt extra protective over him now. I mean, can you blame us?
"Just stay close to Ashley, okay?" Mom was telling Will. "And listen, if you get a bad feeling or anything, you tell her or your friends and they will make sure you get straight home. You promise?"
"Okay," Will nodded, looking excited. Jonathan lowered his camera and looked at the both of us. "Ready to go?" He asked.
We both nodded and made our way out the front door and over to Jonathan's car.
"Be safe!" Mom called to us.
"I hope it doesn't suck!" Bob imitated Dracula, and I noticed that he had put some plastic fangs in his mouth. I laughed out loud at this.
Jonathan started the car, with me in the passenger side and Will in the back. Then, we started the drive to Mike's, where we were meeting up with the rest of the boys. The quiet hum of some random song on the radio was the only sound as we all were lost in our own worlds.
"I just don't get what she sees in him." Jonathan suddenly spoke.
"What?" I asked, looking over at him. He was shaking his head disappointedly.
"Bob."
"He's nice, Jonathan." I punched his arm playfully. "I think he's good for Mom."
Jonathan scoffed.
"Yeah, and he doesn't treat me different." Will piped up from the backseat.
I turned around to look at him, noticing that he was slouched in his seat, staring out the window. I frowned as his words sunk in. He noticed I was staring and looked to me. He shrugged. "I mean, I can't even go trick-or-treating by myself. It's lame."
"You think I'm lame?" I asked.
"No, but, it's not like Nancy's coming to babysit Mike, you know?" He went back to looking out the window, letting out a deep breath.
The silence fell over the car once more, and I faced forward to glance at Jonathan. We exchanged a worried look but didn't say another word.
We arrived at Mike's house not too long after. He, Dustin, and Lucas were all outside. Jonathan parked along the curb and gave me a side glance which made me start to worry about what he was plotting.
He slowly turned to look at Will in the back. "Hey, listen." He started. "If I let you go on your own, you promise to stay in the neighborhood?"
My heart skipped a beat. "Jonathan! Wha-"
He cut me off by elbowing me in the ribs, which shut me up. Will was nodding eagerly. "Yeah, totally!"
"And be back at Mike's by nine." Jonathan went on.
"9:30?" Will bargained.
"9:00." Jonathan stated. "Deal?"
They shook on it before I could get in another objection. Will started to climb out but then Jonathan grabbed something out of his bag and extended it to him. It was the camera that Bob had given him.
Okay, Jonathan was officially off his rocker. Had he done some sort of experimental drug in school today, given into peer pressure or something? This has no logical explanation.
"Don't let any of your spazzy friends use this, all right?" He handed the camera over to Will, who took it carefully.
"I hope it doesn't suck!" Jonathan imitated Bob as I sat there and stared at him, frozen in shock. Will chuckled at this and then shut the car door. He met up with the group at the end of Mike's driveway, and then they were on their way. As soon as Will was out of listening distance, I jerked to face my ridiculous older brother.
"Jonathan, what the hell!?" I scolded. "Are you crazy? Mom specifically told me to go with them and watch out for him!"
I rolled my eyes and turned to open my car door, but he locked it before I could. I looked back at him with my mouth agape, in disbelief of the pure audacity of my brother. He was giving me a sinister smirk.
Then, he pulled out a neon orange paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. It read: Tina's Halloween Bash.
Immediately my anger softened. "A party?" I was now returning Jonathan's mischievous smile. "I've never gone to one of those."
"Me neither, wanna go to our first one tonight?"
The old, mature, responsible Ashley would've said 'no way' and done nothing less than breaking the car window to go be the babysitter. But that Ashley was dead. The new Ashley was carefree and happy. And she definitely went to parties.
So I said, "Hell yeah!"
*.✧ 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄 ✧.*
I could hear the loud music pumping from the end of the driveway. I kicked the gravel as I approached Tina's front door. I adjusted my witch hat as the door was opened for me and I stepped inside.
I spotted Nancy and Steve right away, standing together in the corner. I made a beeline over to them, already feeling uncomfortable in the crowd. Images of the note from my locker danced in my mind as I realized that the culprit could be here right now.
Nancy's face lit up when she saw me walking up to her. She hugged me quickly, gushing about how happy she was that I came and how much she loved my witch costume. I tried to seem as chill as she was being but really I could already feel myself getting overstimulated.
I felt hot air rush over my head, followed by cigarette smoke and I turned around quickly to see Tommy and Billy Hargrove, the new senior from California, hovering over me. They were staring Steve down, taunting him.
Before I could snap at Billy for blowing the bitter smoke directly into my face, Nancy grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the drinks table. We stared down at the ominous red punch, a strange foam settling over the top of the liquid.
"What's in this?" Nancy asked to boy that was close by, who was currently downing a glass of the concoction.
"Pure fuel! Pure fuel!!" Was all he replied before turning and walking away from us.
Nancy shrugged and grabbed an empty cup from the plastic packaging and scooped some into the cup. I moved away uncomfortably as she downed the whole thing. Steve came over and tried to stop her but Nancy pushed him off.
"We're just being stupid teenagers for the night. Wasn't that the deal?" Nancy snapped at him, taking me by surprise.
Steve didn't respond to this. Nancy grabbed a second cup and filled it along with refilling hers. She passed me the new cup, and I took it awkwardly into my hands. She chugged her second drink like it was nothing before she stomped away, pushing her way through the crowd to go dance.
Steve hung his head in defeat and I took it as my cue to leave. I set my drink down on the counter, not about to drink whatever the hell 'pure fuel' was. As I weaved my way through the crowd of drunk, dancing teens, I felt somebody snatch my hat right off my head.
I quickly turned to face whoever had done it, and my heart jumped when I saw that it was Shellie.
She snickered at me, twirling my hat on her finger tauntingly. "Hey Smelly Belly."
I scoffed. What a pathetic nickname. I was about to open my mouth and tell her so, but Shellie spoke first.
"Or should I say...Slutty Belly."
"What?" I was confused, and unimpressed with her name calling.
All Shellie did was point a manicured finger towards the back door, and I noticed that people were starting to push their way out to the backyard, and a crowd was forming.
What's going on?
I shoved people out of my way until I was finally outside. The cold wind hit my face and I hugged myself tightly as I looked around for what was causing the crowd to gather.
That's when I saw her.
Avery was climbing up onto a chair, clapping her hands loudly to get everybody's attention. I suddenly felt like I couldn't breathe as the crowd quieted down to listen to her.
"Some of you may, but most of you will not, know a girl named Belle. Belle Holland." She started, a snarky grin already on her face.
I felt a million eyes fall on me all at once and I already felt my eyes welling up, utter dread bubbling up in my chest.
"Well, last year, she hooked up with every single guy in our entire grade. Even some seniors." Avery lied with her whole chest.
I heard the crowd start to whisper at this rumor, and my knees threatened to give out from under me.
"One of those seniors was Gabe Shultz." Avery went on. "Well, at least she wanted to. She went to his house and everything. But once he started, you know, the act, she chickened out. And just left him there!"
The crowd booed at me and Gabe stepped out from the tightly packed group. I felt my entire body shut down at the sight of him. I dug my nails into my palms, willing myself not to pass out right then and there.
"I hope you at least held her down, you didn't at least just let her get away did you? Let her leave you like that?" One of Gabe's friends asked. The crowd looked at Gabe expectantly.
"Of course not." Gabe scoffed. "I held that bitch down."
A few cheers went up from the crowd and involuntarily, tears started to roll down my cheeks as I lived out my worst nightmare.
I saw some of the basketball team boys go up to Gabe and high five him and that was my final straw.
I turned heel and made my way back into the house. People moved out of my way like I had some kind of disease. They were calling me all kinds of names, ones that I tried to block out but each time a new insult was thrown at me, I felt my chest tightening more and more.
Before I knew it I was full blown hyperventilating and I heard some people laughing at me. I stumbled to the front door and practically flung myself outside, but I ran into something. Or somebody.
It was Ashley.
She grabbed my arms to stop me and was staring down at me with her big brown eyes, looking at me worriedly. "Holy shit, Belle, what happened?"
I just shook my head and pulled myself out of her arms, continuing my struggle to breathe. I started the walk up the steep, long driveway, lined with cars. I had to get out of there.
I heard Ashley chasing after me, repeatedly begging me to tell her what's wrong and what had happened. I ignored her for the first few steps but she never gave up.
In fact, my legs gave up before she did. I hit the ground on my knees as my entire body shook with my hyperventilating and sobs. Ashley crouched in front of me and I covered my face. I didn't want her to see me like this. This is so humiliating.
But Ashley didn't laugh at me, she simply pulled my hands off my face and replaced them with her own, cradling my cheeks between her palms. "Listen, we're going to get into my car for some peace and quiet, and I'll help you calm down. Then you can tell me what happened, okay?"
I could only nod as a reply, not trusting my voice. Ashley stood up and held out her hand, which I took. She pulled me to my feet and I leaned against her for support as we walked to her car.
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I told Ashley everything.
That night with Gabe, all my guilt surrounding Barb, and about the bullying.
Everything.
Ashley had helped me into the backseat of her car before climbing in after me and locking the doors.
I was able to slow my rapid breathing by taking deep breaths in my nose and out my mouth. Ashley had her hand on my thigh and her fingers pressing into my hot skin really helped bring me back down to earth.
"That's it...good job. Keep taking those deep breaths." Ashley spoke softly. I was still crying really hard even though my breathing had returned to normal.
Ashley rubbed circles in my back as I sobbed out my whole story to her. As I went on, she slowly pulled me closer and closer, until she was holding me against her chest and I was crying into her shoulder.
It felt really good to finally tell somebody all of my feelings. I could feel a weight being lifted from my shoulders as I cried it out in Ashley's arms.
"I just feel so stupid." I sobbed.
Ashley peeled me off and held my shoulders between her hands, looking me in the eyes. "Belle," she said firmly. "You are not stupid, please don't let them make you feel that way. They are all sad and pathetic, and feel so bad about themselves that they have to tear you down to feel better inside. Do you know why they tear you down?"
I shook my head. Because I'm an easy target? Because there's lots of things to choose from to tear me down about?
"Because you are so good at being yourself." Ashley told me. "You know exactly what you like and what you want. You know exactly what kind of clothes you like, what kind of music you're gonna listen to, you don't follow trends. You don't let anyone convince you to do anything that you don't want to do. You stood up for yourself that night with Gabe, and that was so incredibly brave. I'm proud of you, and you should be proud of yourself too."
This made me smile through my tears, my sobs stopping completely now. My heart was swelling as Ashley continued on.
"What he did to you was not okay. Don't let him, or Avery, or anybody tell you that you are in the wrong or that it's your fault. You should be able to change your mind about those kinds of things at any point, and if the other person doesn't respect that, they are the one to blame. And it's not your fault for what happened to Barb either." Ashley paused for a moment.
She took a deep breath. "Sometimes I feel guilty for what happened to Will. I tell myself that if I had just waited up a little bit longer, or called the Wheeler's to see if he was actually staying over...maybe none of that would've ever happened to him."
Her gaze had dropped to the floor and there was a moment of silence, then she broke it by looking back up and shaking her head.
"Could I have done more? Yes. Is it my fault that he went missing? No! That's what I have to keep reminding myself." She gave me empathetic eyes. "Belle, I know that everything that happened last year, sucks, and it hurts really bad. I know, trust me. I also know that the easiest person to blame is yourself. But please don't. You are carrying enough weight with the whole Gabe situation and the bullies. Don't blame yourself for any of it. It's not your fault. Absolutely not."
By this point, my tears had dried and my heart had completely melted into a big puddle in my chest. If Ashley kept talking, it would soon leak out of my ears. Which would be awfully unattractive, if you ask me.
Basking in the comfortable silence that had fallen over the car, I watched as Ashley's eyes landed on my lips and lingered there.
My heart skipped a beat and I was completely frozen, unable to move as she continued to stare. Eventually, I got up the courage to lean in a little bit closer.
Ashley didn't move away at this, so I took it as a sign to keep going.
The gap between our faces was getting smaller and smaller, until I could feel her breath against my lips.
Our breathing was shallow as we just stared at each other, and the tension in the air was thick. I tilted my head to one side and prepared to close the space between us once and for all.
"Hey, Ashley!"
We pulled apart at the speed of light. I whipped around to see Jonathan, standing outside the car, looking through the window at us.
Ashley let out a shaky breath before calling back, "What the hell do you want?"
That's when I saw that an unconscious Nancy was slumped against Jonathan, obviously wasted. "I have to take Nancy home." He said, unlocking the car.
He walked Nancy around to the passenger side and lowered her into the seat gently. Nancy stirred, but settled back into sleep once she was seated. Jonathan buckled her seatbelt and then shut the door on her.
Ashley and I scooted apart, into separate seats. We reluctantly buckled up as Jonathan climbed in and started the engine.
My cheeks were flaming as we drove away from the party. I picked at the skin around my fingernails, just replaying that almost-kiss with Ashley over and over.
*.✧ 𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐋𝐄𝐘 ✧.*
Now parked outside the Wheeler's house, Belle and I watched as Jonathan carefully carried Nancy out of the car and towards the front door. I chewed on my lip, staring at my lap, my chest aching and mind reeling.
Why did I look at her lips? It was such an inappropriate time to do that. But I couldn't help it, it just happened. Did we almost kiss? Did I almost kiss a girl? Did I almost kiss my best friend? Did I almost fucking kiss Belle?
Her and I didn't say a word, just sitting in the awkward silence as we waited for Jonathan to come back.
"Um," my voice was hoarse as I tried to speak up. "I'll tell Jonathan where you live so he can drop you off."
Belle continued to stare at the floor. "I don't really want to be alone tonight." She whispered.
My heart jumped. "Sorry. That makes sense. D-do you want to stay over at my house?" I stuttered.
Belle nodded slowly and I let out a breath. "Okay....okay! Great. Sounds great." I couldn't seem to stop talking, and I inwardly kicked myself for being so weird.
Jonathan came back, walking up to the car with Will by his side. When they opened their doors to get in, I leaned forwards. "Will? What are you doing here?" I asked.
He didn't answer me, just shutting the car door and fastening his seatbelt. Jonathan shot me a look which told me to be quiet and sit back down, and I did.
"Belle is going to stay the night." I said after a pause.
"Ashley, I really don't think tonight is a good night for-" Jonathan started but I cut him off.
"She's staying the night, Jonathan." My voice was firm and he just sighed, turning the key and driving towards home.
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"Okay..." I returned to my bedroom, arms piled high with snacks. I approached Belle, who was sitting on my bed. I dumped all the food onto the blankets, and the two of us began digging through to find what we wanted.
The awkwardness between us was gone and we were right back to the way we used to be, best friends.
Belle began munching on some chips and I tossed a baby carrot in my mouth, standing up. I went over to my vanity, which was across from my bed. I grabbed several nail polish bottles in my hands, bringing them back over to Belle.
I took a seat on the floor in front of her, spreading out the polishes so we could see all our options. Belle slid off the bed, sitting on her heels across from me, wiping her hands on the skirt of her costume.
She reached for the bottle of black polish but I smacked her hand away playfully.
"Excuse me!" She sounded offended but she was fighting a smile. "What the hell was that for?"
"You always have black nail polish on." I smiled back.
"Yeah, cause it's my thing." Belle rolled her eyes.
"Well, I think you should switch it up." I shrugged.
"Oh really? What color should I do, then?"
I grabbed the bottle of hot pink and wiggled in front of her face. "Thiiis one!" I sang.
"Fuck no!" Belle pushed it away.
"C'mon!" I laughed at her refusal to ever wear a bright color, even on her nails. "For me?"
Belle sighed before snatching the bottle from my grasp. "Fine." She said, "But you have to wear black. For me."
I nodded and unscrewed the cap, painting my nails meticulously with the dark color. Belle and I finished our nails and then ate double our body weight in chips and candy. We spend a few hours flipping through magazines, listening to music, and dancing together.
When the clock struck midnight, we both climbed into my bed. I tried to ignore my racing heartbeat as we faced away from each other. I flipped off my lamp, covering us both in complete darkness.
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ೃ༄ catie speaks!
hiii!! sorry that this is posted late! i kinda forgot that it was supposed to come out today haha, and i had just gotten busy. a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, so let's unpack it all.
ashley and bob's relationship is sweet, and how she's slowly warming up to him is so cool, and good for her. too bad that's not going to last very long though 🫢
POOR BELLE!!! being publicly humiliated in front of the whole school and made to look like the bad guy, like i can't even imagine. the whole situation really messed with her, made her forget who she is, but hopefully ashley reminded her.
speaking of which...OMG THEY ALMOST KISSED!!!
i'm so so so happy with how their relationship is going, and i would've just let them kiss...but i love slowburn and pining too much. i have to drag it out for a bit longer heehee 🤡
anyways, i hope you enjoyed reading! make sure to vote and follow me to be notified when i update next. also please leave as many comments are your heart desires, i love hearing feedback!!
xoxo cat