( songs for the chapter )
⋆ super trouper // abba
⋆ you make my dreams // hall & oates
THE SUN WAS SETTING and the rest of the party had yet to arrive. Day of the Dead was premiering at the theatre in Starcourt, and they had t-minus six minutes until the movie actually started.
Several more moments passed before the four of them finally rolled up. Lucas, Max, Mike, and Will all parked their rides at the bike rack – except for the redhead, who had ridden with Lucas.
"It's about time, losers," Kate announced, grabbing the straps of the bag on her back. "We're gonna miss the opening."
Will walked up to her, sneakily pointing behind him to Mike. It didn't surprise her that he'd been the reason for them being so late. The dark-haired boy had been spending all his time with El; the two of them were always at the cabin, much to Jim's dismay.
"Yeah, Mike was busy," Lucas joked, making kissy faces at the other boy.
Mike rolled his eyes as the five of them walked into the mall. "Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas."
"'Oh, El, I wish we could make out forever and never hang out with any of our friends.'"
"Lucas, stop," Max chastised through a laugh.
"Will thinks it's funny," he said, pointing to the brunette who was trying to hide a smile.
Kate, herself, was also giggling at his joke. "Because it is."
"Yeah, it's so funny that I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend."
The group began to shove themselves through the group of people on the escalators, as they rushed to the theatre. From what Kate had heard, the mall was always crowded. It was the first time Hawkins had something so big, and it seemed that anyone who was anyone in the small town was at Starcourt.
"Watch it," a brunette teen scolded Lucas as he accidentally bumped into her.
"Yeah, watch it, nerd!" Erica Sinclair exclaimed. She was sitting by the fountain with an ice cream cone in her hand, surrounded by her friends.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Isn't it past your bedtime?"
"Isn't it time you died?" she yelled back, and Kate couldn't even try to stop the laugh that bubbled in her throat. She rarely ever got the chance to talk with the younger Sinclair, but she had a feeling they'd get along quite well.
"Psycho!" the brother yelled.
"Butthead!"
"Mall rat!"
"Fart face!"
He didn't get another chance to retort, before he was dragged into Scoops Ahoy by Max. Kate led the group into the store. "Hey, Robin!"
"Hey, Kate," she smiled before turning to the window of the backroom. "Hey, dingus, your children are here."
Steve opened the translucent glass. "Again? Seriously?"
Kate simply smiled at him in response.
He led them into the back, and out into the dim hallway. They exited in a single file line, while the blonde hung back for a moment. She lightly tugged at the red tie of his outfit, pulling him down so she could press a kiss to his cheek.
"You're the best."
"I know," he responded sarcastically. He called out to the kids, "I swear, if anybody hears about this–"
"We're dead," they all finished for him.
Kate breathed out a laugh as Steve shook his head. And suddenly, she was being pressed up against the door as his lips smashed into hers. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her body closer to his. Kate reached up to grab the hat from his head, as her other hand tangled through his long locks.
"Steve. Steve," she muttered against his lips before pulling away slightly. "I have to go."
He didn't listen at first, which didn't surprise the blonde. He pressed a few more kisses to her lips for good measure before pulling back himself. "Okay, okay. I'll see you after?"
"Of course," Kate smiled before handing him his sailor's hat and running to catch up with her friends.
She managed to get to them before they entered the theatre, and they shuffled past the people already sitting down, to find five available seats. Kate sat between Will and Max, while Lucas and Mike sat on the outside of the group. The blonde put her bag on the floor and began to hand out the food she had packed.
"See, Kate? We made it." Mike pointed out. Kate rolled her eyes and handed him a fresh hot dog wrapped in tin foil.
Lucas leaned forward to see the darker-haired boy. "We missed the previews."
"Still made it," Max countered with a smile. "Fart face."
The lights dimmed as the movie started. It was short-lived, however, as it quickly shut down only moments later. Everyone began to shout in protest, and all the noise made Kate's head hurt.
Before she knew it, her eyes glazed over white. It had been months since Kate had experienced one of those 'visions,' she really hadn't had one since the night in the junkyard with Steve and the rest of the kids.
She couldn't see much; ahead of her looked like thousands of glass shards, they lifted suddenly and began to rotate in a way that looked like a tornado. There was a loud, distant roar that echoed all around her.
She didn't get the chance to make sense of what she'd seen before being brought back to reality by the cheers of theatre-goers. The movie sputtered back to life. Kate sat up a bit more in her seat as her head started to pound slightly.
Max furrowed her brows, looking over at the older girl. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she whispered and nodded her head. She reached into her bag, pulling out a bag of sour skittles and handing them to the redhead. She quickly opened them and began to share them with Lucas.
Kate sat back in her seat, looking over at Will, who was clutching the back of his neck. The two shared a short apprehensive gaze, before turning back to the big screen. They both knew something was happening. The only problem was that they didn't know what.
KATE GOT A JOB AS a lifeguard at the local pool to make some extra money while she was back home. The work was easy and it paid oddly well – it was the perfect job, in theory. However, nothing could be completely flawless.
Billy Hargrove was meant to be her partner for the second half of her shift. He hadn't been there since Kate had started the job, but according to her manager, Adam, he was set to be coming back today.
Heather Holloway was her partner for the first half of the job. They weren't really friends by any means, they never hung out after hours or called to check up on each other when one of them didn't show up to work. But Kate enjoyed working with Heather, and found it insanely easy to talk about anything with her
The brunette sighed before beginning to climb down the ladder of the lifeguard chair. Kate, who's sat in the chair right next to Heather, stopped her abruptly.
"Where are you going?"
She furrowed her brows. "Taking my lunch break?"
"Can you, please, wait for me? I don't want to be up here with him–"
"If I don't take it now, Adam won't let me take it all," the girl shook her head before smirking slightly. "Just play nice."
As Heather walked down the side of the pool to break room, Kate could visibly see the mothers getting ready for Billy to make an appearance. The forty-year-old women began fixing their hair and making sure their makeup looked good, before doing some not-so-natural pose. The blonde rolled her eye; they couldn't be more obvious if they tried.
The blonde haired man eventually exited the back room and began walking up to the chairs. The woman waved at him and Billy slid his sunglasses down his nose to get a better look at them. "Afternoon, ladies... Dig the new suit, Mrs. Wheeler."
Kate kept her eyes straight ahead as Billy climbed up the ladder and sat next to her. She thought, maybe if she didn't look at him, he'd get the hint and know not to talk to her. But she knew he was far too stubborn to do that.
"How was New York?" he asked, not looking at her either.
"Why do you care?" she snapped. It was obvious her harsh response caught him off guard, and it did her too. But, in Kate's defence, the last time she saw Billy, he almost killed Steve.
"Why are you such a bitch?"
"Because you're an asshole."
She inhaled sharply and could see Billy clench his fists angrily next to her. Silence settled between the two of them, instead, the yells of happy swimmers filled their ears.
Kate began to feel bad. She hadn't seen Billy in months; and maybe he was different now. Maybe he was ready to stop being the douchebag everyone knew him to be. Maybe, she thought, he'd finally changed.
"It was good," she muttered under her breath.
"What?"
"The trip," Kate said louder, finally looking over at him. "It was good."
Billy nodded, using his finger to push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I just wish I got to see you before you left. I called one day, and your dad answered, telling me you were gone."
"I didn't think you cared the much," she whispered, honestly.
"Of course, I do."
The conversation ended there and Kate found herself reflecting on how her life had changed since she meant Billy Hargrove. The start of their relationship was rough to say the least, but in their short time together, Kate learned more about Billy than his own dad probably knew.
In all honesty, she missed him. But, she wasn't sure if she just missed the idea of him more.