---

THOUGH HE HAD HAD A BIT OF A ROUGH NIGHT, MILES GOT UP AND OUT OF BED WITH A BIT OF EXTRA PEP IN HIS STEP. It was officially the boy's favorite day of the year; Halloween. Halloween was the one day every year when Miles could be anything he wanted to be. While this year's costume may not be his favorite, the boy was beyond excited.

While the rest of the party was dressed up as Ghostbusters, Miles offered to be Slimer. Though Will had suggested there could be two Spengler's, Mike insisted there was no way that would be allowed, so Miles put together his Slimer costume with no complaints.

The costume was pretty easy, he just put on a green shirt and pants, some green face paint and he was good to go. He hopped on his bike, picking up Will before heading to school. They heard the rest of the party singing the Ghostbusters theme, "Who you gonna call?"

The two boys rode up behind them, joining in, "Ghostbusters!"

"Spengler!" Lucas exclaimed upon seeing Will.

"Egon! Yeah!"

"Venkman!"

"Whoa, woah, woah." Mike had out a hand towards Lucas.

"What?" The boy questioned.

"Why are you Venkman?"

Lucas' eyebrows furrowed, "Because I'm Venkman."

"No," Mike argued, "I'm Venkman."

Will shrugged, "Why can't there be two Venkman's?"

"We've already talked about this! There's only one of each character in real life! We planned this out months ago!" Mike threw his hands out in exasperation. "I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stantz, You're Egon," He pointed to Will, "And you're Winston." He pointed at Lucas.

"What about me?" Mike turned slowly to see Miles, standing straight with a wide smile on his face.

Mike rolled his eyes, trying not to laugh, "You're Slimer."

Miles did a small hop, "Thanks, I was starting to feel left out."

"Mike," Lucas cut in, "I specifically didn't agree to Winston."

"Yes, you did!" Mike argued.

"I don't think he did." Will chimed in quietly.

Lucas shook his head, "No one wants to be Winston, man."

Miles raised his hand, "I would've been Winston."

Mike and Lucas ignored the boy, Mike's eyes stayed locked on Lucas, "What's wrong with Winston?"

"What's wrong with Winston?" Lucas questioned incredulously, "He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist!"

"Yeah, but he's still cool!"

Lucas shrugged, "If he's cool, then you be Winston."

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

Mike stuttered, "Because..."

"B-b-b-because you're not black?" Lucas mocked.

"I didn't say that!" Mike quickly defended.

"You thought it."

Miles tuned out their bickering to lean towards Will, whispering, "I totally would've been Winston." The boy scratched at his neck, "I think I'm allergic to this face paint." Will laughed loudly.

"Guys!" Dustin's voice cut through Lucas and Mike's bickering and Will and Miles' side conversation. They all looked slowly around the schoolyard, Dustin finally voicing all their thoughts, "Why is no one else wearing costumes?"

"Crap."

"When do people make these decisions?" Dustin questioned quietly as the group made their way down the hall, eyes watching them as they passed.

Will frowned, "Everyone dressed up last year."

"It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you."

"Just be cool." Said Mike. The group all looked to Miles who simply continued to walk down the hallway, smiling and waving to people as he went.

"Who you gonna call?" A boy shouted down the hall, "The nerds!"

---

WILL HAD ANOTHER DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT, SO MILES RODE HIS BIKE HOME WITH THE REST OF THE PARTY AFTER SCHOOL. "Really, everyone dressed up last year," Dustin complained as they rode down the street.

Miles shrugged, "I had fun, even if this face paint is giving me burns all over my face." He smiled nodding, "It was definitely worth it."

The sound of a revving engine echoed from behind them, "Hey, guys?" Dustin called looking behind them in panic.

They all began peddling as fast as they could, "GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!"

Miles started to fall behind, "Miles, You need to haul ass!" Dustin yelled.

"I'm trying!" He shouted in a panic, "There's a reason I don't do sports!"

The car got closer and the kids were forced to swerve off the road, the car going around them. Miles hit a rock hidden in the leaves, causing him to flip over his handlebars. He hit his head on a rock before landing flat on his back, knocking the wind out of him. There was a slight ringing in his ears and his eyes blurred for just a moment.

"Holy shit!" He heard Dustin yell. "Was that... Mad Max." He and Lucas stared after the car in disbelief.

"Miles!" Mike exclaimed running over to check on the boy, Dustin and Lucas following close behind.

"Dude, is that blood?" Lucas questioned.

"Huh?" The boy touched his head, pulling away when his hands came into contact with a cut, the tips of his fingers coated in crimson. "Oh, man."

"Don't look at it!" Mike shouted. Miles has not had the best history with blood; passing out almost every time he looks at it.

The color drained from the boy's face and his eyes began to roll back. "No, no, aw shit!" Dustin yelled as Miles' body fell limp.

---

THE BOY WOKE UP ONLY SECONDS AFTER PASSING OUT AND LUCAS, MIKE, AND DUSTIN HELPED HIM GET HOME. After sticking a bandaid on his cut he was fine, realizing he'd definitely overestimated how much damage he'd taken.

All of the boys got ready at their houses and met in town to go trick or treating. Will was the last to arrive, he and Jonathan pulled up. Jonathan was supposed to come with them trick-or-treating since everything had gone down. Miles knew Will was pretty upset about this, so he smiled when Will got out on his own and the teen drove away. The boy made a mental note to keep an extra close eye on Will tonight.

"Will!" Lucas shouted.

"Egon!" Will said back.

"Yeah! You ready for tonight, man?"

"Hell, yeah." Will laugh, moving over to stand by Miles.

The boy smiled, "Hey, Will."

"Hey."

Miles put his hands in his pockets, "So... no Jonathan?"

Will smiled, shaking his head, "No Jonathan."

"That's alright." He nudged the boy's arm, "I can protect you."

---

"TRICK OR TREAT!" They all chorused, Will pointing his camera at the old woman who answered the door.

"Well, aren't you cute." She gushed, "A bunch of little exterminators..." She looked over to Miles, "And Gumby!"

The party looked to the boy, each suppressing a laugh. The boy only smiled, taking a few pieces of candy from the bowl, "Thank you!"

As soon as the woman shut the door the party all broke out in a fit of laughter.

"Oh my god! I can't believe she thought you were Gumby." Will laughed at the boy.

Miles only laughed as they all walked down the sidewalk, "She thought you guys were exterminators!"

Mike shook his head, "I'd rather be an exterminator than Gumby."

Lucas dug in his bag sighing, "If I get another 3 Musketeers I'm gonna kill myself."

"What's wrong with 3 Musketeers?" Dustin questioned.

"What's wrong with 3 Musketeers?" Lucas mocked incredulously. "No one likes 3 Musketeers."

"Yeah." Mike agreed. "It's just nougat."

"Woah!" Dustin exclaimed. "Just nougat? Just nougat? It's top 3 for me."

"Top 3?"

"Top 3."

Mike rolled his eyes, "Oh, god. Give me a break."

"Seriously. I can eat just a whole bowl of nougat straight up."

Suddenly someone in a Michael Myers costume jumped in front of the group with a growl, eliciting a series of screams from the boys.

The girl beneath the mask began to laugh. She took off the mask to reveal herself as none other than Max Mayfield. "Holy shit! You should've seen the look on your faces."

"Oh my god, you scared the crap out of me." Miles held a hand to his chest.

Max only laughed some more, turning her attention to Lucas, "And you, who screams like that? You sound like a little girl." She turned an began walking down the sidewalk, the party only watching as she went. She turned around, "Hey, you guys coming or not? Oh, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora. That's where the rich people live, right?"

---

"ANOTHER FULL SIZE." Dustin laughed triumphantly. "Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers." The boy suddenly looked at Max with a worried look, "Wait. You're not rich, right?"

The girl shook her head, "No, I live up old cherry road."

"Oh." He frowned.

"No, it's fine. I mean, the street's good for skating." She shrugged.

Dustin hummed, "Yeah, totally tubular." He and Lucas continued to tease the girl, walking ahead of Miles, Will, and Mike.

"Did you guys agree to this?" Mike questioned the two boys.

"What?" Will asked as Miles said, "Huh?"

"To her joining our party." He explained.

"It's just for Halloween." Will shrugged.

"You should've asked me."

"Well, they were excited. I thought you'd be cool with it." The boy said.

Mike rolled his eyes, "Well, she's ruining the best night of the year."

Will paused with a hurt expression, Mike continuing on. Miles took one look at Will and ran to catch up with Mike. "You're upsetting Will." He told Mike, lacking confidence, not usually being a confrontational person.

The boy sighed, "I'm not trying to hurt his feelings."

Miles smiled, "I know, just... don't be so angry, okay? He thinks you're mad at him."

The boy only nodded in return, turning to head up to the house in front of them.

Miles turned around, eyebrows furrowing when he didn't see Will behind him. "Will?" He called. The boy spun in circles looking for his friend, continuing to call his name. "Guys!" He called to the others, "I can't find Will!"

He continued to search with the rest of the party, running around until Miles finally went to the backyard of the house they were at. With a racing heart Miles turned a corner to find Will sitting on the ground, his knees hugged right into his chest, eyes shut tight in fear.

"Will!" He crouched down in front of the boy, placing one hand on his shoulder and the other atop both of the other boy's, his eyes shot open. "Will, are you okay? What happened? Should I be running?" Miles said in a panic.

The others had found them. "Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Is he okay?" Lucas asked.

Miles shook his head, "I'm not sure." He looked to Will, "Let's go home, okay?" He grabbed the other boy by both his arms, helping him to his feet as he continued to shake in fear. "It's okay." He whispered, "Nothings gonna get you, alright?" He wrapped an arm around Will's shoulder, looking back at the rest of the group, "You guys can keep trick-or-treating, we're gonna go home. I got enough candy anyway!" He smiled, containing his worry in hopes of calming Will down.

He looked down at Will, "Everything's gonna be okay."

---

MILES BROUGHT WILL BACK TO HIS HOUSE SINCE HIS DAD WOULDN'T BE HOME AND WILL DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK TO HIS. When they got to his house Miles ran around frantically as he tried to pick up all the empty beer bottles and used cigarettes laying around the house, "Sorry." He apologized with a red face.

Will shook his head, "Don't worry about it." He said softly. He and Miles never hang out at the other boy's house, so he'd never seen exactly how the boy lives. If Will were being honest, he'd tell the boy that it worried him.

Miles gestured to the couch, "Here, sit down. I'll go get you some water and wash off my face real quick." Will sat down while the other boy ran to the kitchen, coming back a few moments later with a glass of water and a clean face. He took a seat next to Will, "Do you want to tell me what's going on?" He asked with a comforting smile on his face.

Will nodded hesitantly, "It's like- like I'm stuck."

Miles' eyebrows furrowed, "Like how you were stuck in the upside-down?"

The boy shook his head, "No." He spoke with his hands, "You know on a View-Master when it gets like..."

"Jammed?"

"Yeah, yeah. Like when it gets caught between slides." He nodded, "Like- like one slide's our world, and the other... the other slide is the Upside-Down." Will looked to Miles and the boy just waited for him to continue. "And there was this noise coming from everywhere." He looked forward with a fearful expression like he was reliving whatever episode he'd had, "And then I saw something."

"Was it the Demogorgon?" Miles asked.

He shook his head, "It was like this huge shadow in the sky... only, it was alive. And it was coming for me."

Miles leaned forward to look at Will, "Is it real or is it like the doctors say?"

Will shrugged, "I don't know. Just... please don't tell the others, okay? They won't understand. Only you."

The other boy nodded, "Whatever you want." Miles leaned back on the couch and so did Will. He couldn't help but notice the way that the boy's hand laid limply at his side, lightly grazing his leg. "You know... sometimes I think I'm crazy."

Will turned to look at him, "You do?"

He nodded, "Yeah. All the time." He paused looking at his hands, "Sometimes I like to imagine that my mom's still here, doing all the things she didn't get to do with me. I run through these crazy scenarios over and over in my head all the time. Like one day she rises from the dead and it's just me and her."

The other boy looked at Miles in confusion, "What about your dad."

He shrugged, shaking his head, "I love my dad, I guess... Sometimes he's not really easy to get along with." Will frowned, having an idea of what he might mean by his statement but decided not to pry. Miles turned his head to look at Will, "Well, if we're going crazy, might as well go crazy together, right?"

He nodded, "Crazy together."

They each held the other's gaze for a few moments and Miles found himself looking down at Will's lips. He suddenly jumped up from the couch, "Well, your mom is probably missing you and my dad will be home soon." He said, unable to make eye contact with the other boy.

Will just nodded, "Alright." They each said a quick goodbye and Miles practically shoved the boy out of the door, slamming it as soon as he stepped foot onto the porch.

He turned around, back pressed against the door as he fell to a sitting position. Tears welled in his eyes as he came to a terrifying realization; he wanted to kiss his best friend, and that fact alone terrified him more than the Demogorgon ever had.

---

miles coming to terms with his sexuality is going to be heartbreaking tbh.

vote and comment or you're homophobic <3

~lee

06/09/2022