CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
COSTUMES

Kimmy, Aaron, Dustin and Lucas were crouched behind a car, waiting for Max to arrive at the arcade.

Despite Kimmy knowing that Max was MadMax, she didn't tell the boys, finding it to be much more amusing to watch them figure it out for themselves.

Lucas and Dustin were hunched over the car with a pair of binoculars that they shared, whereas Kimmy and Aaron were sat side by side leaning against the car with their legs out in front of them. Neither of the two caring if Max was at the arcade or not.

Dustin and Lucas hadn't told the two with them what they'd be doing, leaving Kimmy and Aaron bored out of their minds.

"Still no sign?" Dustin asked, sounding tired.

"Jack shit," Lucas muttered in response as he looked around with his binoculars.

"Oh, damn it." Dustin groaned in annoyance, huffing dramatically as he spoke. "Look at the time, my mom's gonna murder me-"

"So go home." Lucas was quick to dismiss, a faux sense of sincerity to his words. "I'll radio if she comes-"

"Nice try." Dustin scoffed. "You just want me out of here so you can make your move."

"Oh, 'cause you're such a threat." Lucas retorted sarcastically, removing the binoculars from his face as he rolled his eyes.

"That's right," Dustin nodded, purring slightly as he showed off his new fake teeth. "She will not be able to resist these pearls."

"Guys," Aaron huffed from next to Kimmy, messing around with the bottom of his sweater out of pure boredom. "Can we do something else? I'm bored."

"No." The two replied instantly, causing Aaron to groan in annoyance. "We need to catch her-"

"Jesus christ," Aaron rolled his eyes, turning to look up at the two despite the fact they weren't looking at him. "You sound like perverts-"

"No we don't." Dustin was quick to protest, shaking his head in offence, yet still never looked to Aaron. "We are children, how can we be perverts?"

"Fine, whatever," Aaron mumbled, leaning his head against the car door looking incredibly bored. "You're perverts in the making, I don't know-"

"Ten o'clock!" Dustin practically screeched, cutting Aaron off as he repetitively smacked Lucas' arm to get his attention. "Ten o'clock!"

Lucas was quick to bring the binoculars back up to his face searching to try find the girl, he soon did.

"They're arguing, they're arguing!" Lucas blurted, sounding excited, much to Kimmy's confusion.

"Oh, my god!" Dustin gasped, leaning further over the car to get a better view.

"Guys, Aaron's right." Kimmy said gently, turning to gaze up at her two friends. "Do you want to go do something else?"

"No." The two replied instantly, still not looking down at the two sitting against the car.

Kimmy sighed, rolling her eyes as she tried again. "We could get ice cream?"

"Yes, thank you!" Aaron exclaimed, raising and dropping his hands down dramatically as if to prove his point. "This is so boring."

The two boys didn't answer, still watching the girl from afar before rushing away. Kimmy and Aaron looked at each other confused, stumbling to stand and looking over the car at their friends.

Kimmy let out a tired groan at the sight in front of her, her two friends literally pressed up against the glass of the arcade building.

"This is ridiculous," Aaron murmured to Kimmy, watching his friends with an embarrassed expression.

"I know," Kimmy mumbled, before she began laughing, turning to Aaron with a teasing look. "Want to know something?"

Aaron looked startled, his eyes widening as he looked to her, almost coming across as startled. "What?"

"Max is MadMax, she told me herself." Kimmy whispered while laughing, pointing to the boys who were desperately trying to see in the glass windows. "They're just wasting their time."

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked in response, looking amused.

"It's just funny to see them stress over something so stupid." Kimmy replied, still slightly laughing. "It's like they're obsessed with her or something-"

"Yeah, because they like her." Aaron replied instantly, shrugging his shoulders at her surprised expression. "What?"

"Dustin and Lucas like Max? Both of them?" Kimmy asked sounding taken aback by what the boys had just told her. "Wont that cause the two to, you know... fall out with each other?"

Aaron shrugged in response, the two thirteen year olds walking away from their spots behind the car.

"I don't know, probably." Aaron replied quietly, silent for a moment before speaking up again, his face scrunched in confusion. "I don't know how they can have a crush this severe on a girl they've seen once. They've never even spoken to her!"

Kimmy shrugged, she agreed with the boy, it didn't make any sense to her that her friends could be so infatuated with a girl they'd spent no time with.

"So," Aaron sighed as the two walked along side each other, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Are you coming trick or treating with the party tomorrow?"

Kimmy definitely wasn't. She didn't have a costume, she didn't have money to buy a costume, and her parents would throw a fit if she was out all night.

"I don't think so..." Kimmy trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of her neck. "I'm assuming you are?"

"Yeah," Aaron nodded, sounding excited before his mood dulled. "But I'm not dressing up tomorrow, Steve wouldn't let me."

"You aren't dressing up to trick or treat?" Kimmy asked, sounding surprised.

"No, I am." Aaron dismissed in a soft voice. "But I'm not dressing up to go to school, Steve said no one else would and that I'd embarrass myself. I do think he's right, though. I told the party not to dress up either, but they didn't listen."

"Oh," Kimmy mumbled, "what are you all dressing up as? Are you going as a group?"

"No," Aaron shook his head, but quickly backtracked. "Well, I mean, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin are, but I'm not."

Kimmy felt her heart drop after he'd spoken, worried that the boys had left him out. "Why not?"

"Because they're being Ghostbusters and I didn't want to be a ghostbuster." Aaron replied, unfazed by her question. "I wanted to be Indiana Jones instead, and they were all like 'no you're going to ruin it, Aaron blah, blah, blah.'" Aaron mocked his friends voices as he spoke. "It's ridiculous! If I didn't like Ghostbusters, why would I dress up as one?"

Kimmy looked to him with a dumbfounded expression, confused on why dressing up was such a big deal for the group.

...

Sure enough, Mike, Will, Lucas and Dustin ended up being the only four in the entire school to dress up. Kimmy and Aaron cringed from afar as they watched the group.

The group of four stood by the bike racks while Aaron and Kimmy were by the car park so Aaron could give Kimmy her lunch before they went to class.

"I told them not to dress up," Aaron winced, watching as the classmates who passed began snickering and pointing. The four looking a little more than embarrassed.

The group of four then awkwardly made their way into the school building, each looking like they wanted the grounds to swallow them whole.

"Are you sure you're not going to come trick or treating tonight?" Aaron asked her again, as if he knew some part of her wanted to go, but something was holding her back from it.

"I'm sure," Kimmy nodded, hoping the topic would be dropped.

"Okay," Aaron mumbled after a moment, tilting his head slightly as he spoke. "What's your favourite candy? I can try get some for you if you can't come with us."

Kimmy jolted in surprise, eyes widening as she looked to him. "That's really not necessary-"

"It's not a big deal, everyone else will be out, it's not fair you're the only one who doesn't get anything." Aaron interrupted, shaking his head at her dismissively. "Take a chill pill and tell me what candy you like."

Kimmy rolled her eyes at his words, scoffing at his abrupt change in mood. "Fine," she replied with a faux seriousness, sighing as if she was annoyed with the suggestion. However the amusement was fairly evident in her features. "I guess if you're forcing me, try get me some m&m's if you can."

Aaron cracked a grin at her response, curtly nodding and biting his cheek in thought. "Alright, m&m's. Got it-"

"Kimmy!" A voice yelled, catching both of the thirteen year olds attention.

Kimmy was surprised to find Max running towards her with a smile on her face as she waved. Kimmy waved back with her free hand, sending the girl a small smile.

"Hi," Kimmy replied when the girl got closer, going to ask the girl what she was doing up here before the redhead beat her to it.

"What are you doing up here?" Max asked with a puzzled smile on her face.

"Oh! Aaron was just giving me my lunch. Remember, I told you he makes me lunch so we don't have to eat from the cafeteria?" Kimmy answered in a calm voice motioning to the boy behind her as he sent the redhead an awkward wave.

"Oh, right," Max sighed, turning to Kimmy with an amused expression. "One of the weirdos-"

"Aaron's not a weirdo." Kimmy was quick to dismiss, feeling some sort of need to defend the boy seeing how much he'd done for her and how good friends they'd become. "And the rest of 'em aren't either, they just..."

"Have a habit of spying on me?" Max filled in with an amused voice, shrugging as she spoke.

Kimmy winced, unable to defend her friends on that particular topic, seeing as the girl really wasn't lying about it.

"Yeah," Kimmy mumbled as she cringed. "But Aaron hasn't spied on you and neither have I, so you can rule us out."

Well, not willingly anyway.

"Yeah," Aaron replied awkwardly, looking like he'd rather be doing but having this conversation. "Um, I've got to go. I'll be late to class."

"Okay," Kimmy replied, sending the blond a wave and a small smile. "See you at lunch."

Aaron nodded, sending her a flustered smile in response, completely ignoring the redhead stood with the two as if she wasn't even there as he nodded at Kimmy. "See you at lunch."

Kimmy and Max watched him as he walked away, Max snapping around to face Kimmy once more with a toothy smile tugging on her lips.

"Oh, my god." The redhead rushed out excitedly as she walked along side Kimmy slowly. "Oh, my god- holy shit!"

Kimmy looked to Max as the two walked, the girls reaction to Aaron making Kimmy feel uneasy as she spoke unsurely. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what?'" Max gushed, the stupid smile never wiping from her face. "Kimmy! He likes you, it's so obvious-"

"He does not!" Kimmy shut down embarrassed, feeling her cheeks heat up at the accusation. "Seriously, Max, he doesn't-"

"Yes he does!" Max disagreed, laughing at Kimmy's flustered expression. "Kimmy it is so obvious! He's wouldn't even look away from you, I doubt he even noticed I was there."

Kimmy rolled her eyes at Max's dramatics, shaking her head in disagreement at her new friends words.

Kimmy truly did not think Aaron liked her, not a chance in hell would Kimmy ever believe that the boy liked her. Max didn't know Aaron, she'd only just met him and they'd said about three words to each other. There was absolutely no way. Kimmy couldn't even wrap her head around it.

"You literally exchanged about five words with each other." Kimmy huffed, wanting nothing more than for the topic to be dropped as soon as possible. "What would even make you say that? You don't know him-"

"Kimmy, are you serious? Why would I say that?" Max gasped, looking awestruck at why Kimmy wouldn't hear her out. She then lifted her hand and began listing things off on her fingers. "He apparently makes your lunch every morning, he literally went pink in the face when you smiled bye at him, he wouldn't even acknowledge my existence- actually he looked kind of bummed when I showed up to talk to you-"

"You're reading too much into it." Kimmy shook her head, trying to get the girl to shut up as they walked closer to the school entrance. "Seriously he doesn't like me like that. When you hang around us you'll see he's always like that, trust me."

"Okay..." Max trailed off teasingly, sounding unconvinced.

Kimmy took a breath and shook her head at her, sending her friend a teasing warning glance that Max laughed at.

Kimmy wished the girl hadn't brought it up because for the rest of the day it was all she could think about it, whether it be true or not.

...

Later that day, Kimmy was doing her best to get through the busy halls when she caught sight of a redhead in the distance, flushed with relief that she'd have someone to talk with and wouldn't look like a loner.

"Hey," Kimmy sighed, moving to stand next to her friend as the girl rummaged through her locker.

"Hey," Max nodded, smiling at her friend before turning back to her locker. "Spoken to lover-boy since i last saw you?"

"Please do not call him my lover-boy." Kimmy cringed at the nickname that she prayed to god wouldn't stick. "We're just friends-"

Kimmy was cut off by an abrupt voice behind her causing the brunette girl to flinch and turn around.

"Hi, Max." Dustin spoke talking to the redhead as if she were three years old, completely ignoring Kimmy's presence. "I'm Dustin, and this is-"

"Lucas." The boy next to him finished, the two boys smiling up at the girl nervously.

"Yeah I know," Max scoffed, rolling her eyes as she slammed her locker shut. "The weirdo stalkers."

Kimmy winced at the nickname Max had pinned on the two boys, it seemingly not going away anytime soon.

Dustin and Lucas looked extremely taken aback, panic flashing over the boys' features as the looked to each other with fearful expressions.

"Uh- no, no! Actually... we weren't stalking you." Lucas blurted, seemingly trying to come up with a lie on the spot. "No, we were just concerned because, you know, you're new and all.

"Yeah," Dustin nodded at a rapid pace, his eyes wide although he tried to play it off. "There are a lot of bullies out there. It was for your safety."

"Yeah, so many bullies, it's crazy." Lucas stuttered, his head snapping from Dustin to Max a million times in the short sentence.

"Really?" Max asked, sounding unamused. "Is that why you're wearing proton packs?"

"Well, these don't function, but..." Dustin replied instantly before Lucas had a chance to say anything, the curly haired boy excited about something as he pulled some sort of plastic trapper off his back. "I do have this handy-dandy little trap here."

Kimmy looked to the boy with confusion, stepping closer to get a better look at what the boy was trying to demonstrate.

"And look, it even opens and closes." Dustin said excitedly, pushing a button to open the trap as he opened his mouth in faux shock, Lucas sticking his hands out beside him for affect. "Voilà!"

"That's so cool, Dustin!" Kimmy gasped, leaning even closer to look at it as the boy sent her an appreciative stare. "Did you make it yourself?"

Dustin nodded proudly at Kimmy's question. "Yup-"

"So, anyway," Lucas cut his friend off, his hands on his hips and the nervous expression back on his face upon realising Max wasn't as amused as Kimmy was over the trick. "We were talking last night, and you're new here, so you probably don't have any friends to take you trick or treating."

"Kimmy's my friend." Max injected calmly, motioning to the girl next to her with her hand lazily.

Dustin and Lucas looked panicked for a moment, but Dustin quickly recovered, continuing with what Lucas had been saying.

"And you're scared of bullies," Dustin added nervously, ignoring the girls words as he began speaking at an alarmingly fast rate in hope to get the entire conversation over with faster. "So we were thinking that it would be okay if you come with us."

"'It would be okay?'" Max scoffed, looking slightly offended.

Kimmy frowned, knowing that it would most definitely not be okay for the girl to tag along. Mike would probably hold a fuss over it- he still held a fuss over Kimmy eating lunch with the group, she couldn't imagine what he would do if Max showed up to trick or treat with them.

"Yeah, our party's a democracy." Dustin nodded, seemingly unfazed by her reaction. "But, the majority voted that you could come!"

"I didn't realise it was such an honor to go trick or treating with you." Max gasped sarcastically, however Dustin and Lucas brushed it off.

"We know where to get the full-sized candy bars. We figured you'd want in." Dustin grinned, raising his eyebrows at the girl.

"That's presumptuous of you," Max muttered, looking anything but impressed.

The two boys hesitated at her words, not entirely sure on what she had meant.

"Yeah," Dustin nodded after a moment of silence, playing along with it. "Totally. So, um... you'll come?"

Max didn't reply, scoffing and rolling her eyes before grabbing Kimmy's wrist and dragging her away.

"We're meeting at the Maple Street cul-de-sac at seven!" Dustin called after the two as Max picked up her pace. "Seven on the dot!"

Kimmy turned to wave goodbye to her friends, but the two had already began walking in the opposite direction, mumbling between each other.

"Are you going to go?" Kimmy asked the girl she was walking with, Max having now let go of her wrist.

"Think so," Max nodded thoughtfully, beginning to climb the stairs to the science classrooms. "Are you?"

Kimmy shook her head slowly, a saddened expression on her face. "No. I don't have a costume and-"

"You can borrow mines from last year? Please come Kimmy I cannot be stuck with them alone for the entire night." Max asked desperately, sighing as she spoke. "You can even come around to my house to get ready if you want?"

Kimmy bit the inside of her cheek, grateful for the offer, despite knowing she would have to decline. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't think I will be allowed to stay out that late-"

"You can stay at mine for the night- oh, my god how fun would that be? I've never had a sleepover before!" Max gasped, sounding beyond excited at the idea. "Please, Kimmy?"

"Alright," the brunette sighed, being the people pleaser she was always trying to keep all her friends happy, "I'll talk to my parents about it after school."

Max laughed happily, holding onto her skateboard as she began talking about all the fun things they could do trick or treating.

Kimmy couldn't  find it in her to be excited, already drowning in stress knowing she may have hell to pay when she got home.

...

I low-key love this chapter??? I'm so excited for Max and Kimmy'a friendship!!!

This might be the last chapter before xmas I'm super busy this week for probably obvious reasons seeing as it is the holidays and I'm busy with family etc lol

Have a good day/ night, hope you are enjoying the story so far!!!

- AJ :)