A DAVID BOWIE RECORD filled the room as Betty Jones fixed her headband in her mirror. It was a chilly afternoon, children preparing their costumes for the evening to come. Adults stocked up on all the treats known to man kind while the adolescents prepared for the hangover to come - candy or alcohol. Haunting Hangovers, as some called it. "So why are we not taking Will trick or treating? I thought Will couldn't be without an adult or whatever the hell you are."

Jonathan Byers sat down the camera as he glanced over at the girl stood before her mirror.  Choosing to ignore her last words. "He just wants some freedom. I mean Mom and I have been trailing his ass since well, you know. He needs a break to be with his friends." The boy shrugged as he began flipping through his polaroids next to the camera. The girl looked over at her best friend, "It must be so scary for him."

The brunette boy glanced up from his images, his eyes now stuck on the girl who was stood leaning against her dresser. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she continued, "I mean he doesn't know if whoever took him is still out there. And those visions he gets just... it's never ending. Poor boy."

"Yeah, you don't know the half of it," Jonathan awkwardly chuckled as he cleared his throat and dropped his gaze back to the photographs. His focus still stuck on the girls words as he glanced up at her once more. He opened his mouth to say something more, only to shut it a second later. It pained him to keep so many things from his best friend. The things he saw, the things his brother went through — it wasn't all as it seems. It wasn't just a simple kidnapping, it wasn't just another body in the lake. It was evil. An evilness that seemed to haunt Jonathan Byers.

The sound of the doorbell ringing made his heart race as he looked up at Betty in worry, only to find her smiling as she fixed her sweater. "Trick -or-treaters, finally. See we're not just sitting around and listening to the Talking Heads."

The boy felt himself fight back the urge to roll his eyes as Betty repeated Nancy's words before exiting her bedroom and making her way towards the front door. He jumped off her bed following her, hearing the kids ring the doorbell a few more times. "She's really trying to be nice to you, you know."

"Coming," Betty ignored his words as she shouted towards the front door. Reaching for the blue bowl of candy on the couch. "She's my friend, Betty." The girl swallowed as she opened the front door and was greeted by three kids. No older than nine all of them. "Trick or treat," the kids called in union as Betty gave them a warm smile. "Have a Happy Halloween guys."

The kids left the moment the candy was in their worn pillow cases, few of them mumbling an effortless "thanks" as they made their way to the next house in hopes of a king sized candy bar. The girl clutched the bowl to her side as she turned towards Jonathan, who was leaning against the wall directly to her right. His mind was going a hundred miles per hour as Betty shut the front door and sat the candy on the table. "What if we went to the party?"

"Uh, Tina's party? The one we made fun of? Where everyone's getting 'sheet-faced'?" She awkwardly chuckled as she made her way down the steps and into the kitchen, the boy following her in the process. The thought of her at a party in which the whole of the school was at getting "sheet-faced" while they tried to feel one another up was not her idea of a fun evening. Especially her idea of a good Halloween evening. "Yeah, what if you know... we went."

She turned her head towards the teenager judging the boy as she opened the refrigerator door, pulling out a drink. "You're joking right?" she opened the bottle and took a sip, nearly spitting out her water at the boy's small smile. His eyes were glowing, matching his light brown sweater that Betty had gotten him the Christmas before. Something she saved up for, for weeks taking extra shifts at the local library where she worked. But the moment she saw it in the downtown store, she knew she had to buy it for Jonathan Byers. A smart purchase it was, he wore it weekly since the moment she handed him the perfectly wrapped gift. Of course, he also looked just perfect in it even though he'd worn it a little bit — the color was made for him.

"You're seriously suggesting we go to a party right now? A real life party, Jon. What you want to watch the whole student body get plastered and throw slurs around? Or get called a freak by the popular guys again?" She deadpanned, her eyes squinting slightly to check his face for any sort of emotion. He let out a soft breath as he ran a hand through his hair. "Okay listen, I know they all suck. But we should you know- do something. We can just go and listen to the music, raid the snacks, make fun of Tommy and Carol's lame couple's costume-"

"Check out a certain brunette?" Betty cocked her eyebrow making Jonathan shut his mouth as he leaned against the cabinet. He pursed his lips before opening them to speak, only to be 'saved by the bell'. The doorbell rang numerous times making Betty sprint towards the door with the bowl of candy she picked up along the way. Jonathan followed slowly, making it to the door by the time she was shutting it. "It's stupid I know, but we can go for like twenty minutes then bail. I promise."

The girl was silent as she sat the candy on the table, taking a piece out of the spider painted bowl and popping it into her mouth. She let out a breath as she motioned towards the bowl, "Who would pass out the candy?" She asked through the chocolate in her mouth making Jonathan fight back a laugh. "We'll set it out."

"But the first set of kids will steal it," She whines as she swallowed the candy making Jonathan put on a grin. "Then we better hope they're very deserving kids." He humored making Betty's lips curve into a soft smile. There was something about being at a party with the rest of Hawkins High that was frightening. Despite seeing the same people for years now, knowing things about them that came from no more than gossip, in school it was different. School is where they're expected to be, where they must be. But going to a party, that's a whole different scene. Where Betty has no right to make the couple stop making out in front of her locker. Where there's no teachers or faculty to stop the same people from calling her names in class, not that they ever did anything for that matter. But to the rest of the school she was a "freak". To the rest of the world it seemed.

"We'll stick together the whole night, yeah?" Her best friend asked as if he had read her mind that moment. He had sat a table out in the driveway with the bowl of candy, making his way back into her bedroom as he pulled on his black jean jacket. She only nodded as she forced a smile, she didn't know why she was putting herself through this. She knew Jonathan was only doing this to get the eyes of Nancy Wheeler despite her current involvment with town douchebag, Steve Harrington. But there was something in her that wouldn't let herself sit through the rest of the evening — watching Halloween movies, eating leftover candy — knowing that Jonathan was bored or unhappy. She knew he wouldn't leave her alone on one of their favorite days to spend together. He was too sweet.

Tucking her hair behind her ears she made her way over towards her closet, pulling out a white button up. She put her arms through it, tying the waist over her navy striped t-shirt. With the late accept to the invite, a costume to the costume party was nowhere to be found. Considering Betty didn't have much in her closet to start with. "I can't believe we're doing this."

Jonathan reached for her cardigan on her dresser and handed it to her with a soft expression. "Maybe the basketball team actually aren't complete assholes," He proposed as she threw on the pink cardigan. She couldn't fight a laugh as the two made their way out of her house, locking up as they made their way to the car.

With each step against the grass as she approached the vehicle, her heart began to race. The reasoning was kind of unknown at this point. I mean, it's not like she didn't know why she was anxious to go to the party. There was hundreds of reasons her heart was pounding but at this very second it all felt very surreal. She couldn't believe she was doing this for Jonathan. Any other teenagers — or person for that matter, would be questioning her emotional riot in this moment. It's just a party, what's the big deal? She could hear everyone's voices as they spoke to her. But they didn't know Betty. Know how she worked. How going to this party, or doing anything she wasn't familiar with was nerve wrecking.

The only person who recognized the fear within the girl and familiarized with it, was the boy opening the car door. His eyes landed on the girl as she entered the vehicle following him. There was something about the way she reached for the seatbelt with lowered eyes. It was this moment he felt like a jackass for making her do this with him. He knew about her anxiety, he also had it. He knew about how much she was afraid of the people at the party. Not that the fact ever bothered her at school, because he was always there to distract her mind. And that's what he would do tonight.

As he pressed his keys into the ignition he stopped in his tracks, his left hand resting on the wheel as he was lost in train of though. This caught the attention of the blue-eyed girl. "You know, we- we don't have to go. I don't..." His words stumbled as his eyes flickered over to hers. He swore he saw a sigh espace her lips, a happy one. Full of glee. But she masked the emotion as she shook her head profusely. "No, no, Jon. You want to go. So, we'll... go."

He fiddled with the keys for a moment as he contemplated arguing with her. Or even stepping out of the car and going back inside to watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show. He admitted, it was a stupid idea to go to Tina's party. Jonathan had no idea in his mind as to why he had such a desperate need to attend such a dull event. Full of people whom he hated just as much as Betty did. But, there was one person there he liked. More than liked maybe.

So he started the engine, putting his foot on the gas petal. And just like that, they were off. Off to enter an evening of unknown and uncertainty. Full of something unrecognizable. An evening like no other.

THE AUTHOR SPEAKS!
this chapter is unedited so if it sucks IM SORRY I WROTE IT TWO MONTHS AGO THINGS CHANGE

also. if you can tell me who her outfit was based off i will fall for you (real)

thoughts for what's gonna happen at the party?