Trick Or Treat, Freak
"Will! Hey!" Dustin called out to him as him, Lucas, Mike and Cat walked across Mike's lawn.
Cat walked over to Jonathan's car as he pulled up with Will. "Hey, Will." Cat greeted as he ran past her towards the other boys.
"Hey, Cat!" He called back. "Nice costume!"
Cat grinned. "Yours is way better than mine." She walked up to Jonathan's car, the boy rolling down the window as she leaned in to speak to him.
"Hey, Sandy." Jonathan greeted, recognising her costume immediately from all the times she made him watch 'Grease'. And each time she would sing loudly along with the songs, singing each and every part.
"Hey, Jonathan." She frowned, realising he wasn't getting out of his car. "You not coming trick-or-treating with us tonight? Don't tell me you're ditching me for that stupid party."
"Well, Will said he doesn't want me going with him this year, so I've got to go do something, right?" Cat didn't answer as she looked over at the boys, watching them mess around. "And besides, they'll be fine on their own."
"On their own?! You say that as if I'm not going to be looking after them. Trick-or-treating is the best part of this holiday."
"You only say that because you hate horror films."
Cat shrugged. "You're right. But also, who doesn't love asking random people for free candy?"
"Wait, you're not going to the party?"
Cat laughed. "You really think I'd want to socialise with people and get absolutely flat-out drunk?"
"Well, yeah. You do drink a lot, Cat."
"Yes, but not around people I hate. Besides, I mentioned to Nance that I might pop by the party later, once these-" She pointed her thumb in the direction of the boys. "-Are all at home, shoving candy down their throats."
Jonathan nodded. "Well, then I guess I'll see you later then."
Catherine nodded, noticing that he was still nervous about leaving Will. "Look, he'll be fine. I'll look after him and the others. It'll be fine, Jonathan." She sent him a smile and patted him on the arm reassuringly before moving away from the car and walking over to her little group of Ghostbusters.
***
Billy made his way through the crowd at the party towards Steve Harrington who was dancing with Nancy, Tommy H. and some over dark-haired boy following him. "We got ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington." Tommy patted Billy on the back as they approached the former king of Hawkins High.
"Yeah, that's right!" Billy exclaimed as he got closer to Steve.
"Yeah. Eat it, Harrington." The other dark-haired boy added.
Nancy rolled her eyes and walked away to get a cup of what was apparently "Pure fuel!"
"Where's your pretty little friend, Harrington?" Billy asked.
Steve removed the sunglasses from his face so he could stare at the boys properly. "Yeah," Tommy joined in. "Where's that little bitch, Henderson?"
Steve rolled his eyes, shoving Tommy back slightly. "She's not a bitch. Don't call her that." He turned around and walked away, over to Nancy who was pouring herself another cup of whatever the alcohol drink was. Steve leaned against the kitchen counter next to his girlfriend. "Hey... Whoa, whoa!" He tried to stop her from pouring another drink. "Hey... Whoa, whoa, whoa! Take it easy." He reached a hand out to her. "Take it easy. Nance, Nance, Nance..."
Nancy swallowed the drink. "We're just being stupid teenagers for the night. Wasn't that the deal?" She poured herself another cup before downing it and heading into the crowd of drunk teenagers. Steve turned around, his eyes searching the party for Catherine, not seeing her anywhere. Not that he'd recognise her since this was a Halloween party. He wondered where she was and why she wasn't hanging out with him.
***
The four Ghostbusters and Sandy rang the doorbell at yet another house. "Well, aren't you cute?" The lady who opened the door greeted them, a bowl of candy in her hands. "The little exterminators." Cat rolled her eyes. The woman's eyes landed on her and looked her up and down for a moment, not understanding who she was. "And who are you, dear?"
"Sandy. You know, from Grease?" The woman stared at her blankly. "Well I know it's a bit difficult to tell because I'm practically the same height as middle schoolers, even in heels. But it's not my fault that Olivia Newton-John is ridiculously tall."
The woman just smiled at her and nodded, her attention turning back to the boys, holding out the bowl of candy.
***
Lucas sighed as they walked down the street. "If I get another 3 Musketeers, I'm gonna kill myself."
"Bit dramatic there, Sinclair." Cat scoffed.
"What's wrong with 3 Musketeers?" Dustin asked.
Cat nodded. "Exactly. What's wrong with them?" She cocked an eyebrow.
"'What's wrong with 3 Musketeers?'" Lucas mocked.
"No one likes 3 Musketeers." Mike added.
"Um, excuse me?!" Cat cried, mouth opening in shock.
"Yeah, it's just nougat." Will said, agreeing with Mike and Lucas.
"You're taking their side, Will?" Cat asked, pretending to take offense. "I though you were my favourite!"
"Sorry." Will said meekly.
Cat threw her arm around his shoulders, being careful to avoid the Proton-pack. "Nah, I'm kidding. Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. Except theirs," she pointed to Mike and Lucas, "theirs are just wrong."
"Exactly." Dustin agreed. "'Just nougat'? Just nougat? It is top three for me."
"Top three?" Lucas questioned.
"Top three!" Dustin confirmed.
Cat nodded. "Yeah. It's like the only chocolate that doesn't make my throat close up."
"Oh, God. Give me a break." Mike complained.
"Seriously, I can just eat a whole bowl of nougat. Straight up."
"Yeah, no. There's no way I can do that." Cat said, stumbling slightly in her shoes.
Suddenly a kid with a fake knife and wearing a Michael Myers mask jumped out in front of them. The boys screamed, Lucas' particularly high-pitched and Cat let out a gasp, on the verge of a panic attack. Cat could feel her chest start to tighten and she struggled for air. She placed a hand on her chest to try and control her breathing. She had to be fine for the kids. She wouldn't allow herself to get in such a state around them.
The kid took off the mask as they began to laugh, revealing the red-head that Cat saw the day before when she was with Nancy and Steve in the parking lot.
"Holy shit! You should have seen the look on your faces." She pointed at Lucas. "And you? Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl."
"I'm sorry," Cat managed to breathe out. "I don't mean to be rude, really, I don't. But who exactly are you?"
"Oh," The young red-head turned to Cat. "I'm Max. I just moved here."
Cat recognised the Californian accent. "Cool. Uh, nice to meet you Max. I'm Catherine, but, um, you can call me Cat." She held a hand out for Max to shake. Max shook the older girl's hand and smiled at her, already sensing that she was someone she could trust. Something occurred to Cat. "You, um, didn't happen to move here with a, um, Billy Hargrove, did you?"
Max's face fell. "Oh, he's my step-brother." She paused for a moment. "Wait, Cat Henderson?" The older teen nodded. "My step-brother mentioned you earlier." Cat raised an eyebrow as Max turned to Mike, Dustin and Lucas. "Sorry that Billy nearly ran you over earlier."
Cat's eyes widened. "He did what?!" She whipped around to face the boys, who said nothing. "I'm gonna kill him." Cat seethed.
Dustin reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'd prefer if you waited till like, tomorrow.."
"Sure. But I'm gonna kill him. No one tries to hurt my boys."
"You're what?" Lucas asked.
Max started walking ahead of the group, turning back around to face them once she realised they hadn't moved. "Hey, you guys coming or not? Oh, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora. That's where the rich people live, right?" She chuckled and started walking away from the group. "Oh, and feel free to kill my step-brother. He's a dick and deserves it anyway." She called over her shoulder to Cat who was still seething with anger.
Dustin and Lucas both shared a grin, crying out a "yeah!" before following Max, Will walking with them. Mike however stayed where he was, not wanting to hang out with the new girl.
"I would love to stay with you guys. But I have an asshole to murder." Cat announced as she began to walk in the direction of Tina's house.
***
Cat approached the party, her face contorting into one of disgust at the sight of so many of her peers being black-out drunk. She was pretty sure she passed someone vomiting out on the front lawn as she walked up to the front door.
As she stepped inside, she kept an eye out for her friends, wondering where abouts in this hell hole they were. Her eyes landed on Billy standing in the kitchen as he flirted with some girl she'd never spoken to before. Cat stormed through the crowd of drunk teens and up to Billy who towered above her, not finding her threatening at all. She shoved him with all of her strength and watched as he stumbled back into the kitchen counter, knocking the bowl of punch to the floor.
"I told you she's psycho!" Tommy yelled from the side of the kitchen where he had previously been making out with Carol.
"What was that for Henderson? Jealous I'm not flirting with you?"
Cat laughed. "Yeah, right. No, I'm pissed because I hear that you tried to run over my younger brother and his friends earlier today."
"Oh yeah? And who told you that?"
"Oh, I have my ways of finding out things." She shoved him again. "No one messes with my boys." She raised her arm to punch him in the face but he grabbed it and threw her to the floor. Her head hit the floor with a 'thud' and she wished she knew where Steve was so she could have a little bit of back-up.
Slowly, Cat stood up, using the counter to help balance her. Once she had steadied herself, she threw her arm at the tall boy, this time managing to land a punch. A crowd had formed around them, chants of 'fight, fight, fight' ringing out through the room.
Billy's face turned red as he turned back to face her. "You shouldn't have done that. You bitch!" He grabbed her arm forcefully and shoved her forward into the counter. Her head thumped against the counter-top as Billy held her down by her neck.
Cat let out a scream and kicked her legs up, hitting right on target. Billy groaned in pain and loosed his grip for a moment. But it was long enough for Cat to free herself from his grasp. Somehow she managed to pin him against the wall, the crowd of drunk teens moving out of the way. Cat punched him in the face, sending his face into the wall. She stood on her tip-toes, something that wasn't very threatening, and spat in his face.
"No one-" She yelled in his face, "No one messes with my boys and gets away with it! Got it?!"
Billy let out a laugh. "God, you look so fuckable when you're angry."
Cat's face turned red with anger as she punched him the face again. "I said, no one messes with my boys and gets away with it! Do I make myself clear?!" She screamed.
"Sure, Doll. I hear you." Billy licked his lips and moved his face closer to hers. "I could just kiss you right now." He whispered.
Cat let out a scream of frustration and threw her head into his, headbutting him. She stepped away from him. "Fuck you Billy Hargrove." She screamed as she stormed away from him, throwing up her middle finger at him.
"Of course you will, Doll. You can't get enough of me."
Cat rolled her eyes, ignoring him as she left Tina's house, storming down the road.
***
At some point on her long walk home, the world around her changed into the Upside Down and Cat knew that Will was experiencing it too. She felt guilty for leaving him when she told Jonathan that she would stay with him and the other boys. Cat wondered where they were now, if Will was okay.
She looked up at the sky and saw the same creature she saw the previous night. She couldn't help but let out a scream. It seemed even more terrifying that it had before. She wasn't even sure why she was the only other person who experienced Will's episodes. She ran, her legs taking her in the direction of her home. She barely noticed the Upside Down disappear, and when she did she slowed down to catch her breath. It was the most scared she had ever felt over one of those experiences and decided that she should probably tell someone.
As she approached her door she spied a figure sat on her doorstep. As she got closer she made out the figure to be Steve and decided that he was going to be the person she told about her feelings. But that all went away when she saw how upset he looked. His problems were more important than hers. Her issues could wait.
Cat took a seat on the porch steps next to Steve. "Hey, Steve."
"Hey, Kit-Cat. I didn't see you at the party."
"I was trick-or-treating with the boys." She turned to face him. Crossing her legs, she placed her elbows on her knees and leant her face on her hands. "What's up? You haven't called me 'Kit-Cat' since we were ten and you got into a fight with your dad."
Steve sighed. He turned to face her, his body mirroring hers. "I think Nancy broke up with me." He uttered sadly. Cat let out an 'Oh', waiting for Steve to elaborate on what happened. She figured it was better to save the questions for after he'd finished his story. "She called our relationship bullshit. That I'm bullshit. That we killed Barb. She doesn't love me. I..." Steve stumbled over his words, trying not to cry in front of his best friend.
"You can cry, you know. This is a judge free zone." Cat reassured him. "Well, unless Dustin or my mom sees you." She joked, placing one of her hands on his and rubbed circles over the back of it.
"I don't think she ever loved me." Steve whispered, letting the tears slide down his face. Cat pulled him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him. They sat on the porch in silence for a few minutes before Steve noticed blood on the back of Cat's hand. He pulled out of the hug, holding her hand in his.
"What happened to you?" He looked at her face, his eyes scanning for any bruises that might be forming.
"Billy." Cat answered simply with a shrug.
"What did he do now?" Steve asked, sounding angry.
"I got into a fight with him."
"What? Why? He's like twice your size."
"Because he nearly ran over Dustin, Mike and Lucas. Okay? And no one messes with them and-"
"Gets away with it." Steve finished. He examined her knuckles closer, seeing the skin was ripped slightly and covered with dried blood. "We should probably get you cleaned up."
Cat nodded. "What a bunch of losers we are." She laughed.
Steve smiled at her, glad he had his best friend with him. It was then he noticed her Halloween costume. "Wait. Are you Sandy from Grease?"
"Of course. Who else would I be?"
Steve nodded, already feeling slightly better. "Why don't we get you cleaned up and go watch Grease, Sandy?"
Cat laughed. "Sure. Who would I be if I said no to watching my all-time favourite film?"
***
Edited: 17/4/2020
Edit 2: 9/9/2021