The sound of Claudia's laughter echoed through the Henderson family's living room as Anna left her bedroom, following the source of the noise to see Claudia with her camera aimed at Dustin. Her younger brother was clad in a Ghostbusters uniform, giving a toothy smile as he aimed the proton blaster at the camera. Amidst the laughter, Anna could hear her mother humming the Ghostbusters theme music while happily snapping pictures of her youngest, and she looked over as her daughter entered the room.
"Aww, Annie, Annie, quick, get in there with Dusty!" Claudia exclaimed, gesturing for Anna to join the picture, and Anna obliged, hopping in next to Dustin and wrapping an arm around her brother's shoulders, giving her mother a smile.
As Claudia snapped the picture, the two sprang apart, Dustin in a hurry to meet his friends for school and Anna to place a piece of bread in the toaster while she finished getting ready. The past couple of days, all she could think about was the upcoming Halloween party at Tina's, the first time she and her friends had agreed to act like normal teenagers for a night where she felt like she could finally live up to her end of the bargain. For once, Anna was allowing herself to be fully immersed in the holiday season ahead, and to actually have a fun night.
When she finally walked through the entryway of the high school, making a beeline for her locker, she found Steve and Becca both standing further down the row, chatting while Becca grabbed her textbooks for her first couple classes. When they saw Anna at her own locker, Becca shut hers, the Harrington cousins walking over to join her.
"Are you ready for tonight?" Becca asked excitedly, leaning against the closed lockers next to Anna's.
"Costume's all hanging up and ready to go," Anna assured her best friend with an optimistic smile before her gaze landed on Steve. "Are you finally going to tell us what you and Nancy are going as? You've kept it a secret for months now, spill."
"No, no, no, you'll see it tonight." Steve chided. "It was a risk, that's for sure, but I think it'll be fun." he said with a wink.
"Okay, weirdo," Becca retorted, exchanging a brief glance with Anna before lowering her voice so as not to be heard by any of their classmates still lingering in the halls. "So anyways, how was your dinner with Barb's parents last night?"
"Not great," Steve admitted, his smile fading away. "They're not convinced in the slightest that Barb ran away, and claim the Hawkins PD isn't doing anything about it, since, you know, Hopper knows what actually happened." he explained, voice hardly more than a whisper. "They hired some guy to look into it, some reporter, I guess, but in order to afford him, they have to sell their house. Nancy's really freaked out about it."
"As she should be," Anna assured him. "But she can't tell them, right? Not without the lab people coming back."
"She can't," Steve agreed. "And she knows how much trouble we'd all get in if she did. Tonight'll help get her mind off things, hopefully, right?"
"Yeah," Anna said, though she didn't seem entirely convinced. "I'm sure you're right."
Anna noticed as Becca's gaze moved to something further down the hall, and she looked over to see Billy Hargrove walking down the hall, Trapper Keeper held under one arm on his way to class. As her gaze remained trained on him, Steve sighed incredulously, holding up a hand in front of his cousin's face and moving it back and forth in an attempt to get her attention.
"Becca," he deadpanned. "Earth to Becca."
"Hmm?" Becca asked, looking back at Steve as he rolled his eyes in response.
"Hargrove's in mine and Anna's gym class." Steve said, his own gaze falling on the newcomer, but there was a hint of spite in his eyes, rather than the daydreamy look Becca had worn. "All the girls are talking about him and how hot he is, but he just seems like a douche."
Becca shrugged. "Who knows?" she asked. "He might just surprise you."
****
Anna stepped out of Steve's car, smoothing down her yellow jumpsuit as Becca and Michelle climbed out after her, in their own jumpsuits of white and red, respectively. Tina's party was in full swing as Tommy manned the keg stand, the crowd gathered around chanting as the seconds passed by whoever had chosen to participate that evening.
Steve and Nancy led the group towards the house, their Risky Business costumes turning out to be the big reveal of the evening. Towards the top of the stairs, Landon stood next to Eddie, each smoking a cigarette as they waited for the rest of the group.
"There's my angels," Landon greeted Anna, Becca, and Michelle with a smile, clad in his John Bosley costume as he put out the finished cigarette with the bottom of his shoe.
"Gentlemen," Becca greeted as Eddie nodded back at them curtly.
"Alright, Roberts, I'll be around," he explained to Landon before looking back at them. "And if, uh, any of you want to party," he began, opening one side of his leather jacket to reveal the bags of weed stashed underneath. "Come find me. Special family and friends discount."
Without another word, Eddie vanished into the crowd outside, leaving the six of them on the front porch, their gazes following the path he'd left from. "He's so weird," Becca noted as he left. "I like that guy."
Anna walked through the open door into the Miller family home, the living room floor nearly filled to the brim of students from Hawkins High and, Anna was sure, a few other schools in the area, dancing to the rock music blaring from the speakers. In the kitchen, a bowl of punch sat in the middle, a few partygoers filling their cups with the suspicious red liquid. Although it had been months since the New Year's Eve party, she still didn't feel quite confident trying the punch, instead reaching for the bottle of vodka on the counter and pouring it into her cup as well as a can of Sprite.
"What's in this?" Nancy asked, peering down at the punch before looking up at a kid dressed in a floral bed sheet haphazardly fashioned into a toga and a laurel crown, chugging from a red plastic cup.
"Pure fuel!" he shouted intensely, capturing Anna's attention as she watched him with a concerned expression. "Pure fuel! Woooo!"
At the boy's outburst, Steve crossed over to Nancy with a concerned expression, watching as the girl grabbed a plastic red cup of her own and dipped it into the punch bowl before beginning to chug it. "Hey, whoa whoa whoa, take it easy! Take it easy, Nance!"
Nancy lowered the now-empty cup for a moment, looking back at Steve incredulously with her eyebrows narrowed. "We're just being stupid teenagers for the night, wasn't that the deal?" she asked before refilling her cup and continuing to drink.
"Is it just me or should we maybe not be here for this conversation?" Michelle asked, looking back and forth between Becca and Anna before glancing back at Steve and Nancy.
"Agreed. What do you say, Landon, should we get out of here?" Becca asked, looking back to find Landon, but the boy had once again disappeared from sight, behind them only a few moments ago when they'd found the drink table.
"He was there just a minute ago," Anna said, looking around the room, but the blonde boy had long vanished from view.
"That boy needs to wear a bell, I swear," Becca sighed, shaking her head.
"Wanna go dance?" Michelle suggested, wrapping an arm around each of the girls' elbows and leading them back to the dance floor.
The three of them raised their red plastic cups in a form of cheers, taking a drink as the alcohol began to burn a path down Anna's throat. The music seemed to grow louder as the girls lost themselves in the dancing, taking breaks for air to refill their cups or stop by the snack table.
Anna began to feel the fuzzy haze of the alcohol dulling her senses, though her eyebrows furrowed in concern the more she spotted Nancy taking trips back to the punch bowl, a concerned Steve hot on her heels. Steve's words from earlier echoed in Anna's head about how worried Nancy was about Barb's parents, and how he hoped tonight was the night for her to finally get her mind off of things, even if, in the moment, Nancy seemed to be taking it way too far.
As more and more people crowded around the dance floor, Anna began to feel the heat radiating off the group, and began to fan herself with one hand as she looked back at Becca and Michelle, who seemed unfazed by the heat. "Hey, uh, I'm going to go get some air, okay?" she asked the girls, who nodded in response, and Anna clutched her red cup a little closer to her as she moved back through the crowd, making a beeline for the open door leading into the backyard.
Anna nearly sighed in relief as the cool October air hit her face, cooling her down and beginning to sober up as she drank from the cup now filled with water, and she hopped down the porch steps, tripping over a hose hidden in the grass of the dimly lit backyard and stumbling into a couple making out against the side of the house. "Shit, I'm sor-" she began, but stopped short as her eyes lit up in recognition. "Landon, hey! Great party, ri-?"
Anna's eyes widened as she took in the familiar blonde ponytail and frightened blue eyes in front of him as Chrissy Cunningham looked back and forth between her and Landon, and Landon took a step back from Chrissy, giving the girl an apologetic glance and putting a hand on Anna's shoulder to lead her away from the girl. Anna walked with him, unable to take her eyes off the blonde cheerleader still waiting against the side of the house.
"How much have you had to drink tonight?" Landon asked, eyeing the girl warily as Anna simply shrugged in response.
"A few," Anna said with a shrug. "But that was you and..." she trailed off, looking back and forth between him and Chrissy as the realization finally dawned on her.
All of the parties since the Fourth of July when Landon had vanished without a trace. The smile he couldn't seem to keep off his face whenever she'd seen him recently that had been so rarely seen before. The newfound sense of school spirit he'd seemed to have gained when he asked if anyone wanted to go to the "Football games," Anna said finally, her eyes widening as it clicked into place.
"Football games," Landon nodded encouragingly. "But this stays between us, alright? You didn't see me here."
"I didn't see you here," Anna repeated, shooting the blonde a quick thumbs up. "So I'm just gonna... go, and I'll let you get back to it."
"Thanks, Anns," Landon said with a smile before turning to walk back towards Chrissy, leaving the girl alone once more amidst the crowd of partygoers.
Anna continued to wander, taking small sips of her water, and she caught sight of another familiar figure leaning up against the house, this one waving her over to join him. "Anna, hey!" Jason exclaimed, shooting her a bright smile.
"Hey!" she called back, pausing next to him.
"Seems we keep meeting like this," Jason noted as she chuckled in response.
"Seems like we do," she said, eyeing the crisp white t-shirt he wore under a leather jacket, along with a pair of jeans. "Danny Zuko?"
"You got me," he agreed, eyeing her jumpsuit. "Charlie's Angels?"
"Ding, ding, ding." she confirmed.
"Well, you look good," he said, causing her to smile in response. "So, how was-?"
"Anna!" Steve's voice rang through the air as he stormed out of the house, not taking any notice of Landon and Chrissy on his left as he stalked over to where Anna stood with Jason. As he grew closer, Anna could see the hurt look on his face, though whatever was bothering him, she couldn't be sure. "Come on, we're leaving."
"Already?" she asked. "Steve, what's going on?"
"Becca's in the car already." Steve said, "Jonathan's here, he's taking Nancy and Michelle home. Let's go."
Anna's eyebrows pinched together in concern as she watched him run a hand through his hair, and she nodded. "Okay," she said, turning back to Jason. "I'm so sorry, I have to go, but I'll see you soon?"
"Yeah," Jason nodded, sparing a glance at Steve before looking back at Anna. "Soon. Get her home safe, Harrington."
Steve didn't respond to Jason as he stormed off back towards his BMW, Anna hurrying to keep up with his wider strides. Through the window of the BMW, Anna could already see Becca sitting in the passenger seat, and Anna climbed into the backseat as Steve got in the driver's side. It was quiet in the car as Steve fumbled with the keys in the ignition, the vehicle roaring to life as he maneuvered around the traffic of people coming to the party late, or getting an early night to go back home.
"Steve, what's going on?" Anna asked, the final effects of the alcohol leaving her brain as she noticed Steve's white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. "You're scaring me."
"As it turns out, I'm apparently just bullshit and my girlfriend doesn't actually love me." Steve said, his voice catching. "It only took accidentally causing her to spill her drink in front of everyone for her to tell me."
"I'm really sorry, Steve," Becca said, placing a hand on her cousin's shoulder. "She probably didn't really mean it, you saw how drunk she was."
"I should've known better, right?" he asked, shrugging. "I think everyone knows it's Byers she has a thing for, not me. I was just too fucking stupid to see it."
"You're not stupid." Anna assured him, leaning forward in her seat. "You love her."
"Just give her some time." Becca added. "Tomorrow, when she's all sobered up, I'm sure things will be fine."
Steve nodded but didn't respond, a silence falling over the three of them as he continued to drive, stretching each second into an eternity. After what felt like hours, they pulled into the Hendersons' driveway, a light on in the living room alerting Anna that her mother was still awake.
"Thanks for the ride," Anna said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow,"
"Bye Anna," Becca called out, but Steve remained silent, and Anna climbed out of the car, making a beeline for the front door.
"I'm home," Anna called out as she opened the front door, spying Claudia on the couch watching a late night special with Mews in her lap.
"How was the party?" Claudia asked, smiling over at her daughter. "You look so cute in your costume."
"Thanks," she said with a smile, shutting the door behind her. "It was fun."
"Well, Dusty's already in bed." Claudia explained. "You should see what he did to his Ghostbusters pack, he managed to rig it with a battery so it moves just like he caught a ghost! Scared the heck out of me, but so creative!"
"I'll have to see it tomorrow," Anna said, pausing in front of the couch to give Mews a quick scratch between the ears before leaning down to give her mom a hug. "I'm going to turn in too, it's been a long day. Goodnight, Mom."
"Goodnight, Annie," Claudia said as Anna stood back up, heading for her bedroom.
Anna peeled off her yellow jumpsuit, pulling on her pajamas before her gaze fell on the window, her usual route out of the house to go sleep at Steve's. However, images of him in the car flashed in her mind, his tight grip on the steering wheel and the catch in his voice as he tried not to cry, and she realized that what Steve might've actually needed that night was just to be alone, and a night off from sleepwalk duty.
Crossing over to her bookshelf to find something to occupy her mind until she fell asleep, she picked up the old copy of The Fellowship of the Ring that she'd once read to Dustin when they were younger, tossing it on the bed before reaching for the belt that still lay on her desk in case of emergencies. Tying the belt around her doorknob, she turned the bedroom light off, instead turning on the small lamp on her nightstand, giving her just enough light to read by.
Anna crawled into her own bed for the first time in weeks, picking up the worn paperback and turning to the first page, convinced that, if she could trick her brain into being tired enough on her own, she might still be able to get a safe night's sleep.