CHAPTER FOUR:
TRICK OR TREAT

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LIZ PUT THE finishing touches on her blood red lipstick. She glances at herself in the mirror and takes in her appearance. She was wearing a black t-shirt with rips on it, and frayed hem, black jeans that she put holes in, and her black converse. She smiles at her appearance, and exits her bathroom.

Liz grabs her plastic, orange pumpkin from her bed, and skips down the stairs. Steve was gonna drive her over to Mike's house to meet the boys since she didn't want to walk. He had to pick up Nancy for a party anyways, so he didn't mind.

"Ready?" Steve questions once he hears Liz skip down the stairs. He looks at his sister, and his eyes widen, "What are you wearing?"

"Clothes...?" She answers, confused at his question.

   "Revealing clothes." Steve corrects, his hand on his hip, making Liz chuckle at his mom stance.

   "They just have a few rips in them Steve." Liz sighs, rolling her eyes. "I'm a vampire, it's expected."

"Well, you can be an appropriately dressed vampire." Steve says, gesturing to her outfit. Liz laughs, and just grabs his keys from the table. "Come on, you promised you would drive me!"

"And I'm keeping that promise!" Steve yells back, running out the door once he realizes that Liz could actually just drive off if he doesn't get out to the car in time. His thoughts are correct once he sees her backing out the driveway. "Elizabeth!" She puts her foot on the break and looks over to her brother who has his hands up in the air. "You're fourteen, what the hell!"

   Liz chuckles and puts the car in park before stepping out of the drivers seat, "You weren't coming fast enough."

   Steve rolls his eyes, and gets into the car, putting it into drive, and driving off down the street. Liz switches on the radio and turns it up louder while Steve turns it down, causing the two siblings to change the volume of the music every five seconds. This always happened whenever they're in the same car together.

   Steve pulled up to the Wheeler's residence and Liz saw that the boys were already there waiting for her. Steve smiled at her as her eyes lit up seeing her friends. They both got out of the car, and Steve handed her his leather jacket, making her furrow her brows in confusion, "It's gonna be cold tonight. Just take it, please?"

   Liz rolled her eyes, but took the jacket and put it on. She waved goodbye to him as he headed to the Wheeler's front door to get Nancy. Liz walked over to the boys, and their eyes widened once they saw her. Dustin was the first to speak, "Woah."

   Liz chuckled, "What?"

   "Nothing, you just look—"

   "Good." Lucas finishes. Liz awkwardly scratches the back of her neck, and laughs. They get over Liz showing more skin than she normally does and they start trick or treating.

◌ ◌ ◌

As it got darker into the night, Liz was starting to grow sadder. She still hadn't seen Max yet, and was really hoping that she would show up. She didn't know what it was about the girl, but she was intrigued by her. Max was funny, beautiful, and different, but it was a good different. Liz couldn't help but feel different when she looked at Max. Anytime she got Max to smile, she felt like she had accomplished something.

"Trick or treat!" The gang smiles as the hold out their candy bags and buckets to the woman who answered the door.

   "Awh, look! Four... exterminators, and a vampire!" She squeals causing the boys faces to drop in annoyance as she didn't know the boys were Ghostbusters. Liz chuckles at them as she grabs a fistful of candy and drops it in her pumpkin.

   "If I get another 3 Musketeers, I'm gonna kill myself!" Lucas sighs as they're walking away from the house.

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

"What's wrong with 3 Musketeers?" Lucas repeats, like it could never even be a question.

"No one likes 3 Musketeers." Mike explains, causing Liz to roll her eyes. 3 Musketeers is one of her favorites, but snickers was her all time favorite.

"Yeah, it's just nougat." Will agrees.

"Oh, just nougat? Just nougat?" Dustin repeats. "It is top three for me."

"Top three?" Lucas asks in disbelief.

"Top three!" Dustin confirms.

"Oh, God. Give me a break." Mike sighs.

"Seriously, I could just eat like a whole bowl of nougat. Straight up." Dustin says causing Liz to laugh.

Their conversation gets cut short when someone in a Michael Myers Halloween mask jumps out from the bushes and scares them. Liz screams, and grips onto Mike's costume, but once she sees that red hair behind the mask, she smiles, and her mood immediately brightens.

"Holy shit! You should've seen the look on your faces!" Max laughs as she takes off the mask, revealing her smiling face. Liz smiles largely once she sees the girl, loving that she actually came. Mike rolls his eyes as Dustin and Lucas smile at her. Max looks at Lucas, "And you? Who screams like that? You sound like a little girl."

She starts to walk away and then turns around, seeing that the group isn't following her, "Hey, you guys coming or not? Oh, I heard we should hit up Loch Nora! That's where the rich people live, right?"

Dustin and Lucas exchange a look, and squeal in excitement. Liz and Max lock eyes and smile at each other, Max raising an eyebrow. Liz jogs ahead, so she's standing next to Max, and they start trick or treating together.

For the next half hour, Dustin, Lucas, and Liz continued to stay next to Max the entire time while they trick or treated. Liz was too focused on Max to even realize that Mike was having the worst time. He was acting like Max being here was making everything worse, but really, his attitude was making everything worse. Liz understood why he was acting like he was, but it still annoyed her at times.

"Another full-size! Like, seriously, rich people are such suckers!" Dustin laughs, causing Liz to give him a look. She didn't like to admit it, but her family was rich. She never acted like she was rich though, in fact, the only reason people knew she was wealthy was because of her last name. "Sorry, Liz."

"Wait, you're rich?" Max questions the girl.

"Uh, yeah—well, my parents are, I guess." Liz states, not wanting to ruin a friendship with this girl because of her family's money. She points to a house farther up the street. "I live over there, in that house."

Max raises her eyebrows at the large house, "Damn. I live up Old Cherry Road."

"Oh." Liz states awkwardly, feeling bad that she has way more money than the girl.

"No, it's fine. I mean, the street's good for skating." Max explains, causing Liz to smile.

"How long have you been skating?" Liz asks, curious to know more about the girl.

"For a few years now." Max answers, Liz paying attention to every word. "I've always really liked it, and I've gotten really good at it."

"I've always wanted to learn how to skate." Liz admits, shrugging her shoulders.

"Maybe I could teach you sometime." Max offers, making Liz blush at the thought of Max's arms on her waist, helping Liz steady herself.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Liz smiles before looking away at the ground to hide it. Unbeknownst to Liz, Max was just as eager to teach Liz as Liz was to learn.

"That would be totally tubular, right Liz?" Dustin asks, eating a candy bar. Max gives him a look, and Liz chuckles at him.

"No, Dustin. I think it's more like, totally tubular!" Liz states, stretching out the words, causing Max to giggle.

"Totally tubular!" Dustin copies as Max rolls her eyes and smiles.

"What a gnarly wave, dude." Lucas says, causing Liz to laugh. Max smiles at her laugh, it sounded beautiful, and Max didn't understand how someone's laugh could make her feel that way, especially a girl's. She was always taught that girls aren't supposed to like girls. Her stepbrother, Billy, would kill her right now if he could read her mind.

"Stop! My ears are hurting!" Max laughs. Liz smiled and blushed. She loved Max's laugh, and suddenly her smile dropped. It was in this moment that she knew, she wasn't normal.

"Mike!" Liz hears. Liz's eyes widen once she realizes its Will. Liz ditches Max and runs after the sound of Will. She sees Mike running behind the house they just went to and she follows him.

They find him huddled up behind someone's house, his eyes closed, breathing heavily with his knees pulled up to his chest. Liz gasps once she sees him and Mike leans down and touches his arm causing his to scream, "Will! Will, what's wrong? I couldn't find you. Are you hurt?"

He keeps glancing around him, not answering Mike's questions. Dustin, Lucas, and Max finally run over to them, and Lucas wants to know if he's okay, "Is he okay?"

"I don't know." Mike says, his voice getting higher as he panics. "I'm gonna get you home, okay? I'm gonna get you home, hold on"

"Here, let me help." Liz offers as Mike lifts him off the ground.

He pushes her hand away, "I got him. I got him."

"Mike." Dustin says.

"Keep trick-or-treating." He orders, as he starts walking away with Will who was still shaking and whimpering. "I'm bored anyways."

"What's wrong with him?" Max questions, wanting answers on why the boy was shaking in fear. Dustin, Lucas, and Liz share a look. "Liz?"

Liz looks at Max, "Uhm, he's just... he doesn't feel good."

Liz watches as they walk away, and she feels worried. Will was getting worse, and she felt as though there was nothing she could do about it. She knew that Mike would be able to help him, they've always been really close.

"I think I'm gonna head home, too." Liz states to the rest of the group. "I'm just not feeling it anymore."

Dustin and Lucas nod, understanding. She smiles at the three, her gaze lingering on Max before she turns around and walks away. Her house was only a few houses down from the one they were at, so it wouldn't take long for her to get there. She heard shoes hitting the ground, and felt someone grab her arm. Liz turned around in shock before calming at the sight of the redhead, "Can I walk you home?"

Liz chuckles, "My house is literally right there."

Max laughs, and glances down at her feet, "Well, then, can I walk you five feet to your house?"

Liz bites her lip, looking Max up and down before nodding, "Come on."

   The girls walk in silence to Liz's front door. She lifts the mat up, and picks the hidden key up. She holds it up, smirking at Max. Liz puts the key in and turns it, unlocking the door. She lets Max step inside and puts the key back under the mat. Liz follows Max inside, and she chuckles at Max's impressed expression, "Woah, you really are rich."

   "I hate that word." Liz states, walking to the kitchen, Max following her. She sets her pumpkin down on the counter, and opens the fridge. "You thirsty? We got water, pop, juice... beer... if you're into that."

   "Oh, uhm, water." Max smiles. Liz grabs her a glass, and fills it up with water from the fridge. She hands Max the glass, and grabs a Pepsi for herself along with another glass. Max takes a sip while Liz opens the can of Pepsi, pouring it into another cup. "So, is Will okay?"

  Liz glances up at her, her expression dropping, "Yeah, yeah he's, uhm, fine."

   "I know it's probably a sensitive topic for you, but... I'm just curious." Max explains, her hands wrapped around the glass Liz gave to her.

   Liz takes a deep breath, and takes a sip of her Pepsi. She knows that she can't tell Max the truth, she can't do that to her. Liz looks up at Max, "A year ago, Will went missing for about a week. We were all scared and worried for him. A body was found in the Quarry a few days after he went missing, and everyone thought it was him, but it wasn't. We had a funeral for him and everything, though. I cried... a lot." Max gives her a sad look. "He was eventually found, and well, he just has some PTSD from what happened to him. He has episodes sometimes, you know, flashbacks that just mess with him, that's all."

   Max nods, understanding, "Sorry for asking."

   "No, no, it's fine." Liz states. "I would be curious about it, too, if I was you."

   Max nods and glances at the clock, "I should get going."

   Liz frowns, wanting her to stay longer, "Are you sure?"

   Max nods, grabbing her candy bag, "Yeah, my parents will be wondering where I am."

   Liz walks her to the door, and they face each other once they get there. They smile at each other, and Liz can't help but feel butterflies, "So, Liz, I'll see you tomorrow?"

   Liz nods, "Of course."

   Max goes to open the door, but stops and sets down her bag of candy. She turns around to face Liz, and smiles. She wraps her arms around Liz's neck, and hugs her. Liz is surprised, but hugs back. She savors the hug, and closes her eyes, loving the feeling of her arms around the girl. They hold it for a few seconds, and Max finally lets go, "Bye, Liz."

   "Bye, Max." Liz smiles. Max leaves, shutting the door behind her, and Liz sighs. She leans her back against the door, and feels herself start to tear up. There was something wrong with her, but if it was wrong, then why the hell did it feel so right.

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A/N:

[ 2364 WORDS ]

fourth chapter!!!

please please please vote this story for best max story in strangerthingsclub awards book!!!