CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
HALLOWEEN

Upon arriving home that day, Kimmy was a nervous wreck.

She didn't know what to do with herself as she entered the home, closing the front door quietly behind her.

Her dad was lying on the living room couch, just about slipping away from consciousness as empty bottles lay on the floor next to him.

Kimmy took a shaky breath, knowing that now was her chance - he was almost passed out, he would hardly be able to process her words. Surely she could convince him to let her go to Max's when he was like this.

She lowered herself to the floor, sitting on her knees as she gently shook his shoulder, slightly panicking as he turned to face her with dull eyes. Evidently so drunk that he was unaware of what was happening.

"I won't be here tonight." Kimmy blurted, trying to sound much more confident than she actually felt.

Kimmy remained silent for a moment, waiting for a response nervously, however she didn't get one.

Kimmy sighed, knowing he was far too drunk to even process her words, his eyes snapping shut as he blacked out.

Kimmy frowned, standing from her spot on the floor and climbed the stairs, deciding that it was probably best for her that she could sneak out while he was passed out so she wouldn't be faced with punishment.

Kimmy supposed if worst came to worst and when she returned home the next day and was punished, then she'd just have to deal with it. However Kimmy genuinely doubted that her mom or dad would be awake for the time she would leave for school, so she hoped she would be fine.

Kimmy dumped out her school bag, only keeping the books that she absolutely needed for the next day so she had room to pack a bag to stay over at her friends.

Kimmy was incredibly nervous to spend the night, she'd never had a sleepover before, she didn't know what to suspect. That and also the fact that she'd only known Max two days, but the girl seemed happy that she had a friend, and Kimmy wasn't going to complain. If Max hadn't moved she would have probably grown into misery.

Yes, Aaron was nice to her, Dustin and Lucas too. But there is only so much someone can take of being pushed away, left out and ignored by the only people who could seemingly tolerate her.

Aaron always did his best to make sure she was included, but even on the times when he could make Mike cave and invite her to things she never felt welcomed. An awkward tension hung over the group when she was there and she truly felt it was best when she pretended not to know the group had made plans without her.

However, she now had the chance to form a friendship where she wasn't secretly disliked, or she didn't have to worry Max hated her or was forced to invite her to things.

She finally had a chance to form a genuine friendship and she wasn't going to throw it away, she would do her best to make it work.

Which was exactly why she was packing her bag to head over to her friends house, no matter how nervous she may be, she was forcing herself to go. At least she knew Max actually wanted her there.

Kimmy often scolded herself for having such thoughts criticising her friends, but she couldn't help herself. She just felt like a constant second option when around them. She didn't fit in, she didn't have the same interests, and two of her so called friends apparently disliked her so much that they wouldn't even speak to her.

Whether it were related to Eleven's disappearance or not, it hurt the girl, despite trying not to show it.

It also bothered her to no extent that the only way she had finally managed to make a friend was because Aaron had caught her trying to kill herself the year before. She was only befriended because he was scared she'd do it again and she'd be on his conscience, he didn't tell her this, but she knew.

Even now as the two had grown closer, it was clear to Kimmy that Aaron did want her around and that he actually did like her company, but in regard to the others, it were as if she was just there. Sure, Dustin and Lucas were nice to her, but she knew that it wouldn't matter to them if she had just stopped coming around to hang out with them.

She was just a background friend to them. They didn't really care all that much or really count her as a friend, despite their kindness. And again, in hope to keep the group at peace, Kimmy pretended not to notice.

Kimmy sighed, leaving her room quietly. She debated on calling Aaron on her radio and telling him that she was actually going to be coming for Halloween, but she decided against it. Not wanting to wake her parents.

...

Kimmy sent Max an unamused stare as she looked at the costume she was wearing in the mirror.

"I look so stupid." Kimmy sighed, causing Max to laugh. "This is so not your costume from last year, when would you have ever worn this?"

"Hey! I told you that you could have my costume from last year," Max shrugged, still trying to do Kimmy's make-up seeing as neither of the two of them were exactly good at it. "And this is my costume from last year."

Kimmy sighed but said nothing else about it as she allowed Max to draw on her face with some sort of black liner.

She was a care bear. Kimmy didn't know what care bear, but she knew she was a pink one. She had light pink small fluffy ears attached to a headband that she wore, a fluffy long sleeved shirt the same color which had the care bear logo in the middle of it and a fluffy skirt the same color.

Kimmy didn't think it suited her at all, she did not feel pretty what so ever as she looked at herself in the mirror after Max had done her make-up.

The redhead had done her best to draw the cute markings the toys had as well as the bear nose and three dots on each cheek.

"Seriously," Kimmy asked the girl, turning to look at her unconvinced. "Did you actually wear this or are you just messing with me?"

"I did I swear!" Max exclaimed, nodding rapidly as she spoke. "My mom bought it for me to wear because she thought I would look cute - I even have pictures if you don't believe me."

Kimmy couldn't believe the girl had gone from being a care bear, to being Michael Myers the next year.

"My mom is like a hoarder." Max joked in a whisper. "She literally took so much useless shit like that from our old house, like, why the hell would I ever wear it again? But hey, at least it's being put to good use."

Kimmy raised her brows and shrugged turning back to face herself in the mirror, the skirt was quite long, reaching just below her knees and the fluffy sweater overlapped with the skirt. She sighed once more, already knowing she'd look out of place next to her friends.

Max checked the time on her watch and gasped, causing Kimmy to flinch as she looked to her friend worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Max dismissed, reaching to get her pillowcase from the where she had left it on
top of the drawers. "We've got to go, we'll be late."

Kimmy nodded, copying the girls actions and grabbing her own pillow case she had taken from her house.

The girls were determined to leave instantly and rush to the meeting point, but they were quickly stopped by Max's mother.

"Oh, look how good you look!" She gushed, hands to her mouth as she smiled exaggeratedly. "Let me take your pictures-"

"Mom," Max groaned, tilting her head back in frustration as she tried to move past the woman. "We need to go-"

"Maxine, it will only take a moment." Her mother scolded, pushing the redhead back in line next to Kimmy. "Okay, smile!"

Kimmy gave the biggest smile she could, teeth and all. She didn't have any pictures of her own, she wanted at least one of her and her friend.

The two were stood there like that for a while as the woman took picture after picture until finally she let them go.

Kimmy had nervously asked the woman if she could keep one of the pictures, seeing as she didn't have any of herself never mind her with a friend. The woman agreed, handing her one with a smile, Kimmy put it in her pillow case for safe keeping as they left the house.

"Thank god that's over," Max complained as the two walked, messing around with the toy knife in her hands out of boredom. "At least Billy wasn't there, holy shit Kimmy he's so annoying, you wouldn't have wanted to come back."

Kimmy laughed awkwardly, unsure of what to do and only shrugged. "I don't have any siblings. Is it cool-"

"No I hate it." Max grumbled, seemingly very passionate about the topic. "I wish I was an only child he just doesn't know how to leave me alone he's so annoying I shit you not."

Once again, Kimmy laughed awkwardly in response, unsure of what to say.

It wasn't long before the girls made it to the meeting spot discussed, Kimmy laughing loudly at something Max had said but stopped abruptly as the girl grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"What?" Kimmy asked, sounding confused as the girl pulled the two up onto the side walk and hid behind some trees.

"They're right there," Max whispered, pointing ahead slightly. "Wait here and we can scare them."

Kimmy felt her eyes widen, looking to the girl next to her who was laughing with a dumbfounded expression.

"Have you seen what I'm wearing?" Kimmy retorted, raising her brows. "This won't scare them-"

"Yeah, but I bet they will still shit their pants." Max laughed, looking out to see if the group had caught up yet.

Kimmy only shrugged her shoulders, knowing the girl was probably right.

"Okay, okay, here they come." Max rushed out, grabbing Kimmy's forearm again and getting ready to pull the girl down to scare the boys when the time came. "Okay ready?"

Kimmy didn't get the chance to reply because Max was dragging her onto the middle of the road where the boys were walking, pulling down her mask and screaming in the boys faces.

It was as if the group of boys hadn't even seen Kimmy, each one of them jumping back with wide eyes as they screamed.

Max pulled her mask off, laughing uncontrollably along with Kimmy. The two girls finding the looks on the boys faces absolutely hysterical.

"Holy shit!" Max exclaimed, glancing to Kimmy in amusement as if she couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed. "You should have seen the look on your faces!"

The first thing Kimmy noticed was how annoyed he appeared to be that the girls in front of him were there, his eyes rolling as he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"And you?" Max continued, seemingly not having noticed Mike's change in demeanour, looking at Lucas who had undoubtedly had the loudest and highest scream. "Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl."

Max turned, dragging Kimmy along with her as she went to walk away before stopping, confused on why no one was following the girls.

"Are you guys coming or not?" She asked with a wide smile, letting go of Kimmy's arm as she shrugged, looking like she was having the time of her life. "I heard we should hit up Loch Nora, that's where the rich people live, right?"

Kimmy watched as Aaron's face turned bright red in embarrassment, Kimmy knew that's where Aaron lived, or close enough.

Aaron had a huge house and his parents were loaded, but Kimmy got the impression that it often embarrassed the boy to talk about money, just like it embarrassed Kimmy. However for much different reasons.

Kimmy watched as Lucas and Dustin nudged each other excitedly before rushing to walk with the girl, running straight past Kimmy.

Kimmy didn't really mind that she'd been ignored for once, instead moving to walk with Aaron who was now himself as Mike refused to move with a pissed off expression as well as Will looking to him nervously.

"Not a single word." Kimmy warned, seeing the way the boy was holding back a laugh as he looked at her costume.

"I thought you weren't coming?" Aaron asked in a confused voice, however he didn't look to her as he spoke, instead tilting his head down to rummage through his own pillow case that was beginning to fill with candy.

"I wasn't," Kimmy answered bluntly. "But Dustin and Lucas asked Max to come and she didn't want to go with them herself. She gave me her old costume because I didn't have one."

Aaron shrugged, nodding at her response, seemingly unbothered by the fact she didn't call to tell him she was coming. However this didn't stop Kimmy from feeling the need to explain herself.

"I was going to call and tell you," she began, feeling guilty over nothing. "But I had no time before I had to go to Max's. She offered me to stay the night tonight because I'm not allowed to come home late."

"Cool," Aaron shrugged, turning to face the girl as he handed her a handful of candy. "Here. I got these for you."

Kimmy looked down at the packets of m&m's as he dumped the rest into her pillowcase. Kimmy surprised at how much he had managed to get in such a small amount of time.

"Thanks," Kimmy chirped with a toothy smile, very excited at the amount of candy he had managed to get for her. "How did you get so much m&m's?"

Aaron looked to her with obvious expression, as if she should have known and it was a stupid question. "Because I asked for m&m's."

Kimmy looked to him surprised, not entirely sure if she was understanding him correctly. "What so you went to doors and specifically asked for m&m's instead of the candy you were given?"

"Yeah," Aaron shrugged, not seeing the big deal but back tracking as he explained himself upon seeing Kimmy's expression. "Well no one was really giving me any m&m's, and I thought you weren't coming. How else was I supposed to get you them?"

"Well," Kimmy began, unable to hide the surprise in her voice. "Thanks anyway."

"It's fine," Aaron dismissed instantly, shaking his head at her. "It's not a big deal."

Kimmy rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. He always had to add that it was no big deal when he did something for her.

This confused Kimmy, wondering if he genuinely thought it was no big deal or if he just didn't like getting praised for what he did. Kimmy thought that some of the stuff he did for her were big deals, she didn't really get how he didn't see that when it came to himself, she knew Aaron would think it was the biggest deal on the planet if someone did for him even a fraction of the things he did for her.

"What are you even supposed to be?" Aaron asked after Kimmy met him with silence, looking to her with a genuinely confused expression.

"A care bear." Kimmy answered simply, motioning to the logo in the middle of her costume. "Obviously. And you're the guy from the movie you like-"

"Indiana Jones," Aaron corrected with an eyeroll, swinging his pillow case around as he walked, continuing to talk with a breathy laugh. "But I didn't end up wearing the hat I swear to god I looked so fucking weird. You would have thought I was bald it ended up being too big, Steve said I should go without it because wearing a hat ruins my hair."

Kimmy looked to Aaron with a confused expression, unsure why Steve was so concerned with Aaron's hair. "Why does it matter if you can see your hair-"

"Oh, my god, Kimmy. Why wouldn't it matter?" Aaron retorted, sounding appalled at Kimmy's words. "I like my hair, I don't want to look like I'm balding!"

Kimmy shrugged in response, looking at how little candy the boy seemed to have in comparison to the others. "You don't have a lot of candy."

"I know," Aaron mumbled, looking into his pillow case and biting the inside of his cheek.

"Why not?" Kimmy asked, not sounding as if she was being rude, she just wanted to make conversation with the boy.

"Um, I don't know, I probably won't eat any of it anyway because I don't know what on earth the people in this town are touching without washing their hands." Aaron replied, literally gagging at the thought. "Makes me feel sick."

"I'm sure you'd be okay to eat your halloween candy," Kimmy reassured, but it was clear Aaron wasn't buying it.

"I never eat the halloween candy unless I get it from the store myself and can make sure no one else can touch it." Aaron retorted to her attempt to reassure him.

"So then why do you have a pillow case to collect candy, Aaron?" Kimmy teasingly taunted, although Aaron seemed to take her seriously.

"Because I like going trick or treating, I just don't like eating the candy the strangers give me." He attempted to explain, his shoulders then dropping as he seemed to relax as he continued to talk. " And, I had to get your candy. What was I supposed to do? Carry it around in my arms?"

Kimmy sent him a genuine smile, finding Aaron's rambles about Halloween candy to be very amusing.

Aaron seemed to get embarrassed by this, his cheeks going pink as he looked away, looking down as he messed around with the seam of his pillow case.

Before the silence between the two got to be too much, the two came to an abrupt halt when they realised Will was sat on the floor looking terrified, his eyes squeezed shut as he hyperventilated. Mike crouching down next to him as he tried to calm him down.

"What's wrong with him?" Kimmy heard Max ask Lucas worriedly from behind her.

She received no response, Mike pushing past as he helped the boy who was still breathing heavily walk away from the party at a rapid pace and through the crowds of people.

Kimmy felt horrible for Will as she watched him go, he'd very obviously been affected by what had happened to him the year prior. What he went through during his disappearance taking a great toll on him.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kimmy asked Aaron in a whisper as the group began to hesitantly walk once more.

"Yeah," Aaron nodded, although he very clearly wasn't sure. "He'll be fine, don't worry about it."

...

Surprise chapter I guess? I had unexpected free time today and was able to write one last chapter before xmas!!!!

Happy early Xmas if you celebrate!!

I am so grateful for the reads, votes and comments thank you all so much!!!

-AJ :)