♪♪♪

"Aw, don't you look adorable."

"It's not supposed to be adorable! It's supposed to be frickin awesome!" Dustin replied, glaring at his sister. Mia just smirked. "God, you ruin everything."

"Uh, that's a lie, I'm the life of the party. You'd be bored and lost without me."

"No, I would actually finally have some peace!"

Mia rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Hurry up, doofus, Mom wants to take some photos."

"Dusty!" Claudia called.

"I'm coming!" Dustin yelled, then frustratedly pushed past Mia.

"Don't forget to give her a big toothless smile!" She chuckled when Dustin turned back around to flip her off with both his middle fingers.

Mia shook her head and went back to her room to finish getting ready for school. She glanced at the Cher costume that hung over her chair and sighed.

Halloween wasn't her favourite holiday, but it was Carmody's.

Which is why every year since they were twelve, both girls had gone above and beyond with their costumes. Carmody was always more confident with her choices, while Mia went for the more nerdier options. Her favourite still to this day was the Princess Leia costume she wore the first time she and Carmody went trick or treating. She'd made it herself out of some old clothes and accessories, and purposely grew her hair out long enough that year so the space buns were completely authentic and not just ones you stuck to the head.

But since they'd gotten older and replaced trick or treating for parties, Mia's choices had been heavily influenced by Carmody, this year included.

Mia wanted to go as Rizzo, one of the Pink Ladies from 'Grease', but Carmody insisted she choose something different to what she normally wore. Mia argued that Rizzo was different to her usual style, but then Carmody said she was going as Madonna so Mia should be Cher, and Mia didn't really want to argue over a stupid costume, so she gave in.

But as she looked at the black leather sequinned jacket, the curly wig and black leather pants, Mia started to think maybe she wasn't as confident to pull off the look as she thought.

"Mia! Carmody's here!" Claudia called from the living room.

Mia grabbed her bag and headed outside, saying goodbye to Dustin and her mother on the way and hurrying over to Carmody's car. She chuckled when she saw the mini pumpkins on the dashboard, all with different faces on them. Carmody also had a ghost bobble head and a skeleton hanging from her rear view mirror.

"You're far too obsessed with this holiday," Mia stated.

Carmody grinned and winked at her. "You know it, babe."

♪♪♪

"God, he's disgusting."

Carmody scrunched her nose and Mia did the same as she watched her peers cheer on Billy Hargrove–the new "bad boy" at Hawkins High–as he hung upside down while chugging beer.

The two girls were sat on a couch by the front door, out of the way, but had a clear view of the whole room. The cheering continued as Billy finished chugging and came inside, all smug and proud. Mia rolled her eyes at the amount of testosterone radiating off of him as he walked past her and stopped in front of Steve and Nancy who'd just arrived.

Mia watched the interaction, not really listening to what was being said but thinking back to when Steve dropped her home from the library. They hadn't spoken since then and Mia was unsure whether that bothered her, or if she preferred it that way.

Steve walked away from Billy and Tommy H over to Nancy who was already into the drinks, and Mia knew she probably shouldn't have been watching them argue, but she was intrigued. She'd always found Steve and Nancy to be an unlikely pairing–especially seeing the way Nancy acted around Steve at school compared to how she acted around Jonathan. It made Mia wonder whether Nancy was actually into Steve or not.

Of course, Mia didn't know why she thought about that, considering it was none of her business who Nancy or Steve or Jonathan dated, but she was a naturally observant and also slightly nosy person and couldn't help it.

Nancy walked away from Steve to join the crowd of people, leaving Steve standing there looking defeated. He locked eyes with Mia and she offered him a small smile and a wave, but all he did was lift his chin and nod in response before following after Nancy.

"Did Steve Harrington just head nod you?" Carmody asked.

Mia only then remembered she hadn't yet told Carmody about Steve dropping her home.

She smiled sheepishly. "Yes."

"Since when does Steve Harrington nod his head at you?!"

"Since he dropped me home from the library the other day," Mia said. Carmody's eyes widened. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that."

"Spill, now."

"Nothing happened. I was studying and time got away from me. Steve was the only one there apart from me when everyone else had gone, so he offered to give me a lift home." She explained. "I tried to decline, but he kept insisting so I let him."

"Mia! How could you not tell me about this straight away?!" Carmody exclaimed indignantly. "This is huge!"

"It's really not."

"Steve Harrington gave you a ride home! That is huge."

"Will you keep your voice down! The whole town can hear you." Mia said. "It's not a big deal, and we haven't spoken to each other since, so you can stop being dramatic."

Carmody scoffed. "I'm always dramatic."

Mia wasn't going to argue there.

"I'm going to get a refill, want one too?" She said after a moment. Carmody nodded and handed Mia her cup.

Mia wandered over to the drinks table, awkwardly dodging people who were dancing and getting a little too carried away. She filled Carmody's first, making sure not to fill it too much as Carmody was also notorious for getting carried away after too much to drink, and Mia wasn't going to be stuck having to carry her best friend all the way home. As she began refilling her own cup, Nancy came and barged in on Mia to fill her own cup. She'd clearly been drinking too much and Mia wasn't sure if she should just walk away or stay to make sure Nancy didn't pass out right in front of her. Steve appeared a second later and tried taking Nancy's cup away but she wasn't budging.

"Get off."

Nancy reached into the bowl again and sculled her drink, spilling some droplets of red onto Mia's arm.

"Sorry, Mia." Steve apologised. Mia just shook her head and wiped her arm on her shirt.

"Why are you saying sorry to her? Are you embarrassed that I'm drunk? Isn't this what you wanted?" Nancy slurred. "For us to get drunk and party!"

"No, you've had enough, okay?"

"Screw you!"

"Nance, I'm serious. Hey, hey, stop. I'm serious." He tried to take the cup from her again but she still wouldn't budge.

"Steve, stop!"

Nancy pulled the cup from him a little too forcefully, and Mia's eyes widened as her white top was now covered in red punch. Everyone around them stopped to watch the scene unfold, but all that happened afterwards was Nancy running to the bathroom and Steve following her. Mia sighed and walked back to where Carmody was waiting.

"Seems like there's trouble in paradise..." Carmody said, taking her cup from Mia.

"I don't think Nancy's doing well. I've never seen her like this."

"Mia, don't get involved. It's their problem, not ours."

Mia didn't answer, she simply took a sip of her drink and let her mind wander.

The bathroom door slammed shut suddenly and Steve stormed past everyone and out of the house. Mia and Carmody shared a look.

"I told you nothing good ever happens at these parties." Mia said. "Let's go before someone breaks something...or someone."

"Agreed."

Both girls placed down their half-empty cups and left, beginning their walk home.

Twenty minutes later, Mia arrived back to her house and was beyond exhausted. Hawkins was a small town, and although Carmody didn't live that far, Mia's legs felt like they were suffocating from the leather pants she wore. As she strolled up her driveway, she heard Dustin scream and her mind went into panic mode. She picked up the first stick she could find and ran, turning the corner and screaming at the supposed attacker, but the only person who was there was Dustin, holding their trash can lid in front of him.

The siblings screamed at each other in fright, and Mia dropped her stick.

"Dustin!"

"Jesus, Mia, you scared the shit out of me!" Dustin exclaimed.

"You scared me!" Mia yelled. "What the hell are you doing out here? And why did you scream?! I thought you were getting attacked or something!"

"Sorry! I found something..."

He looked inside the trash can and Mia followed his gaze, her eyes widening when she saw what he'd been screaming at.

"What the hell is that?"

♪♪♪