Chapter Seven: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

(The Weirdo On Maple Street, Pt. 3)

***

"No."

Rowan groaned. "Come on, Eddie. You're my best friend. My literal childhood, next-door-neighbour best friend. We've known each other since we were kids in freaking middle school. I think I deserve you giving me a bag for free."

Eddie crossed his arms, glaring at her. "Still no, Graveswood, I'm not gonna give you weed for free, friend card or not. The least I can give you is a discount. Now pay up."

Rowan glared at him. "Fuck you, Munson."

"Take me out to dinner first."

Rowan rolled her eyes, but refused to give up her money, determined to hustle Eddie until he relented and he gave it for free, but her shaggy-haired friend seemed just as stubborn to not do so, leading to a stalemate.

Then, Rowan had an idea.

Quick as a flash, she reached over and grabbed the lunchbox where Eddie kept his drugs and raced to the trees, where Eddie stared at her in shock before giving chase, scrambling across the table to do so.

"Bold move, Graveswood!" he shouted. "I respect you for that! But give it back!"

"Make me!" she shouted, shaking the metal lunchbox tauntingly. Eddie grabbed for it but Rowan leapt out of the way, racing back to the table and standing on one side while Eddie stood at the other, glaring at her.

"Surrender the weed, Graveswood," Eddie said in the low, dramatic voice she knew he used for his campaigns.

"Bite me, Munson," she responded, wagging her brows.

Eddie glared at her, then lunged, not going from the front but around the side, tackling her to the ground as she wore a wide-eyed expression. They tussled, but Eddie reclaimed his drug-box with a cry of triumph while Rowan scowled, half-heartedly aiming a kick for his shin.

Eddie moved away from the kick, slightly stumbling, and grinned down. "I'm still expecting payment, Graveswood."

"Fine, you money vulture," Rowan muttered as she shoved the crinkled bills into his awaiting hand.

"A guy's gotta eat and help pay the bills," Eddie said nonchalantly, but the words held a ring of truth; Eddie helped his uncle with the bills as much as Rowan wanted to help her aunt with theirs. She knew the drug dealing was just Eddie's way to help pay them, and while Rowan got it, she couldn't do that. Not when the risks were too high, despite that she might make good money.

"Yeah, I know," Rowan muttered quietly, and the two friends grew silent, the weight of those words hanging heavy.

Then, Eddie cleared his throat and handed her a bag full of the devil's lettuce. "Well, here you go. One bag of weed for a party of three."

"Thanks," Rowan said as she took it.

Eddie raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised."

"About what?"

"Buckley, I get. But Chrissy Cunningham? Who knew she wanted to get high?"

"She isn't. It's only me and Robs getting high," Rowan answered as she put the pouch in her jacket pocket.

"That makes more sense," Eddie muttered. He then looked at her, concerned. "Do you and Robin know how to smoke that safely?"

"Eds, this isn't my first rodeo, and I'm pretty sure this isn't Robin's either. We know how to do this shit," Rowan assured, patting his arm. "Besides, I'm besties with the only good drug dealer in this entire town, so I'm probably the only other person who could handle this safely."

Eddie choked back a laugh. "Did you just use the word besties?"

"Blame Robin. She used it first, not me."

"Or maybe you've always wanted to use it, and you're blaming Buckley for using it first?"

Rowan stared, then scowled and shoved him before flipping the bird. "Fuck off, Munson."

"Sorry, but I can't. You'd miss me too much," Eddie replied with a shit-eating grin.

"Yeah, I would. Who else would be my chaffier to school?"

"Ouch, Graveswood. That hurt. Real stab to the back."

"You'll survive," she deadpanned, fighting back a grin at her friend's theatrics.

The two end up laughing, the banter easy, familiar. And God, did Rowan crave familiar right now. Crave the easy rhythm and arguing with her best friend, the person she knew she could rib and argue with, but know without a doubt she could confide whatever secrets and worries she had and he would listen, would keep her secrets, would do something like watching over Alistair for her without hesitation; if she had crushes or dated anyone like everyone else seemed to do, she knew that she could talk to Eddie about them as much as she talked to Chrissy and Robin, that he would probably tease her, but be very protective as well.

To anyone else, it seemed astounding she and Eddie weren't a couple already, the childhood friends to lovers trope brought to real life. But Rowan did not feel that way, and she knew Eddie felt the same. Besides, she preferred their friendship, rather than anything romantic. It was simple, sometimes messy, but solid and true, the kind of friendship where you knew the other person had your back, that they would support you and hold you up, but would drag you back down to earth and get your head out of your ass if you were being a dick, and you would do the same. If it was romantic... then Rowan knew it wouldn't be the same.

She was glad, for the friendship, for all of it. For it's familiarity and easiness, when everything seemed to be getting unfamiliar and uneasy, when Rowan felt her world was starting to tilt, to slip out from under her and that perfectly curated facade of normalcy would shatter, to reveal the mess of buzzing electricity and pieces of her that wanted to shatter and reform someplace else, to crush or lift things with a flick of a finger, that made up the vague shape of a girl. To reveal the gruesome dreams of children lying like puppets cut from their strings and girls in hospital gowns and monsters with teeth for faces.

She needed that normalcy of her friendships just as she needed the mundane normalcy of life in Hawkins, or she would break completely.

(It was why, aside from the danger, the risk, she hadn't told Eddie, Chrissy or Robin about her powers, to keep her normal life from her abnormal one, the same reason she knew Al didn't tell his friends, not even Will, aside from them not believing him)

So Rowan smiled, and pressed two fingers to her head before flicking them away.

"I need to head to class now, Eds. See you around."

"Same. Good dealing business with you, Graveswood."

"You mean extorting me, right?"

"Isn't that what business is? At least I'm honest."

Rowan snorted. "Bye, Munson."

"Bye, Graveswood. Have fun getting high at the sleepover and don't get caught!"

"Says the drug dealer!" Rowan shouted as she walked back to Hawkins High, the grin still on her face, even when she reentered Hawkins High's drab walls again.

She just needed to get through the day, and then...

And then she can get to the sleepover and have fun with her girl friends and not worry and be normal.

After she convinced Aunt Aco to let her go.

Rowan halted, the thought having not entered her mind until now. Okay. That's a serious problem, given her aunt's—understandable—fears of letting her or Alistair out of her sight and they end up being taken, with Will missing. And after Alistair's stunt last night...

Rowan sighed, wincing at the conversation to come.

God, she had to drag up her best charisma to pull this off, or otherwise she had to pull an Alistair and sneak out herself.

***

Rowan knocked on the blue-and-white painted door of the Buckleys' home, waiting for it to be opened.

A hand in her jacket pocket and the other gripping her duffle bag, Rowan moved up and down on the balls of her feet, craning her neck to look at where her aunt's car was idling, Aunt Aco watching like a hawk as she too waited for the door to open and Rowan could enter inside.

As she expected, the conversation had been... hard. Aunt Aco had been immediately opposed to it, arguing that with everything that was happening, it was too big a risk for her to go out at night, even if it would be at a friend's house. Rowan had quickly argued back that last night, her aunt herself had said that she could go out at night if she was at a friend's, and that Robin's place was closer to the trailer park than Chrissy's in the affluent suburbs.

That had finally convinced her aunt, but she had insisted she drive her to Robin's and stay until she got inside, and that if Rowan sensed something was wrong, then she call her and leave immediately. Rowan had agreed to them all, just grateful to whatever god was out there she'd been convincing enough.

Of course, her argument had Alistair also argue his right to have a sleepover with his friends, and after much arguing and yelling—mostly yelling—Alistair had reluctantly convinced their aunt that just for tonight, he was to be released from his grounding and be with his friends, which had Aunt Aco muttering as Rowan and Alistair beamed and got ready, " I don't know whether I should be proud or mad that they used my own words against me and twisted them into their favour. Guess I taught them something useful after all."

Now, Rowan was still standing before the Buckleys' door, looking at her aunt, and her brother, who looked out the window at her. She knew that unlike her, this "sleepover" at Mike's was possibly not a real sleepover; before they left, Alistair had confided in her that the girl was at Mike's, and he wanted to go and see whether she had powers or not. And while Rowan tried to think of how Mike could hide a possibly-super-powered girl from his mother and sisters—his dad didn't count; Mr. Wheeler was as oblivious as a goldfish—she reiterated to her brother that if she did have powers—and Rowan knew it was definitely more likely than not—Alistair did not tell her about his or Rowan's, no matter what. Alistair pouted, but nodded, grim with understanding. That same understanding stared out at her from the window, and he mouthed, "I'll let you know what I find out."

Rowan nodded, and turned to the door and raised her hand to knock, only for it to be swung open.

Robin stared at her, arms crossed and eyes narrowed; Chrissy peeked out from behind her. "Look who's finally decided to grace us with her presence."

"Sorry Robs, but I kinda had to argue my case in why I should be here to my aunt," Rowan explained.

Robin arched a brow, and Chrissy asked, "Did you win?"

"Of course. Wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Could have snuck out."

"Then why's my aunt's car idling in your driveway, Buckley?" Rowan asked, hooking her thumb behind her to point at the green car. 

When Robin saw it, and her aunt still watching her niece from inside it, she seemed convinced, and a smile crept on her face when she saw Alistair. "Why's Alistair in the car?"

"He also wrangled our aunt into letting him go to a sleepover's at Mike's," Rowan answered and Robin laughed.

"Man, that's gutsy after what he did last night."

"Yep, but he somehow managed to do it. I think our aunt was kinda impressed," Rowan said, and Robin laughed harder.

Chrissy, meanwhile, stepped out from behind Robin to wave at Alistair. Her brother waved back, smiling at the blonde cheerleader.

Looking back at Rowan, Chrissy asked, "Did you get the movies?"

"And did you get some weed from Eddie?" Robin questioned immediately after.

"Yes and yes," Rowan affirmed, opening her duffle to show both the movies she'd rented from Family Video (and ignoring the not-so-subtle advances from the greasy, acne-covered noodle named Keith as he stared at her while munching on Doritos) and the bag of weed nestled among them and her clothes.

She tried to ignore how, underneath her pyjamas and toiletries and underwear and spare change of clothes for tomorrow was her gun and holster and ammo and hunting knife. They were a precaution, and another condition Aunt Aco had insisted on before she left. She hoped her friends or Robin's parents didn't discover them; she had no idea how she could explain why she brought weapons to a harmless sleepover.

Though probably better Robin's parents find my weapons than Chrissy's, Rowan admitted to herself as she returned  the grins Robin and Chrissy were giving her.

"Come in, Ro. This party's not gonna start if we're all standing out here," Robin said and Rowan rolled her eyes, but stepped inside, after giving a wave goodbye to her family.

When the door closed, Rowan heard the faint sound of tyres squealing as her aunt left.

"Who was that, sweetie?" Robin's mom called out from the kitchen.

"Just Rowan's aunt!" Robin shouted back, racing to the stairs and stumbling slightly; her friend was not the most coordinated person. In comparison, Chrissy navigated the slightly messy, but cosy-feeling, Buckley home with the ease and agility given to a cheerleader.

Rowan followed at a more sedate pace, saying, "Hey, Mrs. Buckley."

Mrs. Buckley's head stuck out from behind the kitchen divider, a smile on her face. "Hello, Rowan. Do you or Chrissy want anything?"

"We're fine, Mrs. Buckley," Rowan said. "But I wouldn't mind some of your cookies."

Mrs. Buckley smiled. "Well, it's good I baked some earlier today."

Robin mock-groaned at her friends engaging her mom as Rowan and Chrissy walked to the counter as Mrs. Buckley filled a plate with delicious-looking cookies as she asked, "You both like chocolate chip, right?"

"Chocolate chip sounds delicious," Chrissy said as she took a cookie and began nibbling on it, while Rowan grabbed a handful and all but inhaled, sighing at the buttery, chocolatey goodness. Despite grousing earlier, Robin took a handful as well, munching on them.

Mrs. Buckley smiled. "I am glad you girls are still hanging out together, especially at night. With that little boy missing and everything."

Rowan paused mid bite and swallowed, the cookie tasting like ash and curdling in her stomach.  Setting down her remaining handful of cookies on the plate, her appetite gone as it was replaced by that twisting worry, she murmured, "Yeah, I guess so."

In her peripheral vision, she could see similar grim looks on Robin and Chrissy's faces at the mention of Will's disappearance. Mrs. Buckley, however, seemed to not notice the sudden change in mood from her daughter and friends.

"It's really terrible, how that little boy could just... vanish, without a trace! I cannot imagine what this must be like for Joyce, or for her other boy. It's truly terrible. I don't even want to think about how that could very well happen to all three of you! I know I would be so sick with worry and fear if you went missing, Robin. I just pray to God that he's found safe and sound."

"We're all praying for that, Mrs. Buckley," Chrissy said with a sweet smile as Robin muttered, "Thanks for the concern, Mom."

Rowan was silent, picking at the frayed ends of her cotton gloves she'd cut the fingers from years ago, not wanting to speak.

Mrs. Buckley looked at her and questioned, "Your little brother is his friend, right?"

Rowan nodded, jerky and robotic. "Yeah. Yeah, he is."

Mrs. Buckley shook her head. "Oh, I can't imagine what that is like, worrying about your friend... and they're both so young..."

"It's been pretty rough. Nothing compared to what Mrs. Byers or Jonathan are going through," Rowan said. She didn't bother to mention Will's dad. From what she heard secondhand from Alistair the brief times he and the other members of the party were at the Byers and what she witnessed when she babysat them before Will's parents split, his dad had been a real piece of shit that did not care at all about his kids, even less so for his youngest son. She knew he wouldn't be worrying himself to death and doing everything to find Will when he found out he was missing. Not like Joyce was.

Mrs. Buckley nodded. "Yes, yes, of course."

Silence petered out afterwards, heavy and awkward. Until Robin cleared her throat and said, "Well, Mom, I think it's time that we go up into my room and actually do the sleepover?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Have fun, and don't stay up too late! Remember that tomorrow is a school day, and I expect you to be up on time, Robin!" her mom reminded as the trio made for the stairs, Rowan taking the plate of cookies with her.

"I will!" Robin shouted back with a roll of her eyes while Chrissy and Rowan snorted and giggled.

As they made their way up their stairs, Chrissy stumbled. Rowan immediately grabbed her, and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

Blinking, Chrissy smiled. "I'm fine. Just felt a little dizzy. Just some leftover vertigo from the cheerleading routine we did today."

Rowan frowned. "You sure, Chris?"

"Ro, I'm fine. Just felt a bit dizzy, but I'm fine now," Chrissy assured, going up the rest of the stairs on her own. Rowan still frowned, but she didn't push; she knew better than anyone that if you did not want to talk about it, then nothing could convince you to talk about it.

Still, Rowan had a feeling that vertigo wasn't the cause, and that there was something much, much sinister behind it.

Opening her room's door, Robin all but collapsed onto her bed, groaning. "God, she can be so overbearing."

"She's nice, Robin. I like your mom," Chrissy said, and Rowan nodded.

"As do I. She's hell of a lot nicer than Chrissy's mom," Rowan said, then looked at her friend. "No offence, Chris."

"None taken. My mom... can be a lot," Chrissy admitted, eyes shadowed, and Rowan frowned, that feeling growing.

"But we can all agree that Rowan's aunt is the best?" Robin said, dragging Rowan out of her thoughts. "I mean, she is a con artist and a fake psychic, but that's hell of a lot cooler than my mom and your mom and possibly all the moms here in Hawkins."

Chrissy nodded and Rowan smiled and said, "Glad to hear that. But I won't say my aunt is cooler than all the moms in Hawkins; I think Mrs. Byers deserves to be there, too."

"Rowan's got a point," Chrissy replied, and Robin acquiesced, "Okay, Mrs. Byers is cool as well. But your aunt is still cooler than mine and Chrissy's moms."

"Oh, no doubt about it," Rowan said, grinning, Chrissy smiling as she murmured, "I guess being a convicted and unashamed criminal might give you coolness points if it isn't hurting anyone."

"Exactly, my fellow blonde," Robin said, grinning as she sat up.

Sitting down on the floor, Rowan put her hands behind her and leaned back as she asked, "What snacks did you get, Robs?"

"Just the usual stash," Robin said with a wink, leaning over the side of her bed to pull out a plastic bag full of Doritos, chips, Reeses Pieces, Twizzlers, Skittles, M&Ms, marshmallows, popcorn, soda, and other assorted snacks and candy.

Rowan grinned widely. "You never disappoint, Buckley."

"I'm the snack queen, Graveswood. You should all bow and fear me," Robin declared in a lofty voice, Chrissy and Rowan laughing as they mock-bowed to her, Robin preening from her perch on the bed.

As they tore open the first bags of snacks and dug in, Chrissy asked, "What movies did you get, Rowan?"

Licking Dorito dust off her fingers and opening her duffle bag, Rowan got the movies she'd rented out, saying, "I got Grease, Flashdance, The Outsiders, The Apartment, Children Of Paradise, The Hidden Fortress, The Seven Samurai and because it's my pick of movie genres, I got some good ol' horror and thriller. Carrie, Alien, Friday The 13th, The Shining, The Thing, Psycho and Halloween."

As her friends looked at the spread, Chrissy looking grim-faced as she eyed the horror movies, Rowan smirked and said, "If Robin's the snack queen, I'm the movies queen. Be in awe of my excellent taste."

"Well, if that's what you two are claiming for your titles, I'm the sleepover queen, because I'm the one in charge of all the other stuff and therefore hold a higher position," Chrissy announced with a smug smirk, with half-hearted protests from Rowan and Robin, before the three girls dissolved into laughter.

Popping a marshmallow into her mouth as her chuckles faded, Rowan looked at Robin and Chrissy and asked, 'Well, what do you girls want to do?"

Robin hummed, her knee bouncing while Chrissy twirled her ponytail, lost in thought, before the cheerleader suggested, "We could paint each other's nails, and watch a movie while they dry?"

Rowan nodded. "Sure. Sounds good. What does our host think?"

All eyes turne to Robin, who gave a shrug.

"You both know I like doing my own nails, so it would be nice to do it and then watch a movie after," Robin said making Chrissy beam as she all but leapt for her bag, which Rowan assumed is where her nail polish kit or whatever it's called is.

When she pulled the pale pink bag out, unzipped it and took out the nail polishes, lining them up like soldiers in an army, Robin got off the bed to lay on her stomach while Rowan just remained sitting, wiping lingering marshmallow powder and Dorito dust on her jeans, leaving streaks of white and orange on the faded denim, and said warningly, "I like doing this, Chrissy, but you better not paint my nails hot pink or something. There's nothing wrong with pink, I just don't want to ruin my reputation with blazing pink nails."

"Shame. I was just thinking of painting your nails the brightest shade of pink I had," Chrissy said, sarcasm in her words as she smiled, Rowan rolling her eyes with a smirk while Robin muffled her laughter with chips.

Soon, Chrissy was ready, and the strawberry blonde cheerleader scooted across the floor to where Rowan sat. "With pink out of the question, what colour would you like your nails, Ro?"

Rowan tapped her chin in thought, before she said, "Surprise me."

Chrissy arched a brow. "Really?"

"Yup. I'm giving you free control of what colour my nails will be. Surprise me, Cunningham," Rowan affirmed, sticking her hands out, wiggling her fingers. "I trust you to not make them horrendous or anything."

Chrissy rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Grabbing a nail file, she filed Rowan's nails, mumbling, "You need to stop biting your nails, Ro," until they were at a satisfactory length.

Setting it down, Chrissy painted a thin layer of base coat on; when she'd first done it, Rowan had protested on how long it took, Chrissy saying pointedly back if she wanted them to last for more than a week or not. Rowan had shut up and let Chrissy do her process.

Once the base coat was done, Chrissy moved on to Robin, who wanted her nails blue. Once the base coat on Robin's nails were done, Chrissy turned back to Rowan's nails, pressing on them with the pad of her finger before turning to her polishes and unscrewing the one she chose.

Rowan stared at the colour she'd chosen. "Red, huh?"

"You said you wanted to be surprised," Chrissy said with a smile, but it faltered as she went on, "But if you wanted it to be a colour you like more, I can do that."

"No, no! Red's fine," Rowan assured, smiling. "Paint my nails crimson, Cunningham."

"It's 'Ruby Kiss' actually, but close," Chrissy muttered as she did the first strokes.

After the first layer of brilliant red was on, she did Robin's nails a bright blue, alternating between them as she waited for them to dry. She waited another minute when she finished the two layers on each of Rowan and Robin's hands before she did the final layer of top coat, before declaring it done.

Now that their nails were done, it was time for Chrissy's to be. The cheerleader tapped the yellow nail polish and said, "Don't make my nails look too bad."

Rowan and Robin gave mock gasps of offence at Chrissy's doubt in their nail-painting skills—okay, maybe Rowan felt a little real offence, since she and Eddie literally painted each other's nails every other weekend and Rowan could confidently say she was pretty damn good at it—before they decided to go all in and prove their skills, chatting as they did, with Robin talking the most and Rowan talking the least and Chrissy being in between. They talked of the newest music, (with Rowan talking excitedly at how the records store manager told her when she visited this afternoon that they would be shipping in a new Rolling Stones album this week, and Robin rambled how the store held an album of a band she liked that had also recently come out she was gonna buy this weekend and inciting Chrissy to interject that she loved the new albums that had been released from Irene Cara, Pat Benatar, The Doors, Rita Coolidge and Paul McCartney, causing them to have a three-way, half-serious argument about who's music tastes were better), talked of the movies that had been released and the ones they would watch tonight, the latest fashions and Chrissy half-subtly trying to ask Rowan if she might like a makeover, with the dark-haired girl giving a firm "No", griped about their upcoming assessments, and of their interests, Robin rambling about band while Chrissy talked of the cheer routines the squad had practiced today while Rowan nodded in interest, and Rowan and Robin badmouthing Steve Harrington while Chrissy half-heartedly tried to defend the self-proclaimed King, and of other sleepover activities.

They didn't talk about Will, didn't want to bring attention to the dark reality outside of their bubble of fun and girl time.

Eventually, Chrissy's nails were done, and Rowan, being the one who's nails were mostly dry, set to work putting in a movie. She decided to not immediately jump straight into horror and put in Grease, sitting back and making grabby motions for the cheese puffs that Robin reluctantly handed over, Rowan wearing a triumphant grin as the black screen opened up onto the beach and music filled the room, Chrissy blowing on her nails so that she could eat the Reese's Pieces.

Rowan gawped at that. "Hey! Save some for me!"

Chrissy grinned wickedly and purposefully had a large handful while Rowan scowled and Robin almost choked on her M&M's due to her snorts of laughter.

Rowan glared darkly, until a wicked idea came.

Grabbing a bag of Twizzlers, Rowan shovelled a handful into her mouth while keeping eye contact with Chrissy, knowing full well these were her favourites.

Her reaction was what Rowan had been expecting.

She gaped and narrowed her eyes, lunging for the bag, but Rowan was quicker, holding it upward as Chrissy tried to grab for the bag. "Rowan! Give it back!"

"Spare the Reese's and I will spare the Twizzlers," Rowan declared, Chrissy looking murderous at the ultimatum before surrounding the Reese's Pieces. Rowan gave Chrissy the Twizzlers and they settled back to watch the movie, Robin holding a grin on her face.

"Well, that was certainly more entertaining than the movie," Robin said, Chrissy kicking the other blonde with a socked foot.

Which reminded Rowan that out of all of them, she wasn't in her pyjamas. Excusing herself—and telling Robin to watch her snack, with Robin solemnly swearing and Chrissy protesting she wasn't aiming for the Reese's anymore—Rowan grabbed her pyjamas and went into the bathroom, changing into her PJs—a Mötley Crue band tee from when she and Eddie went and saw the Indianapolis concert of the Boys In Action Tour last year and sweatpants. Now fit for the sleepover, Rowan rejoined her friends, hearing the strains of Summer Loving from the TV.

"Did I miss much?" she asked.

"Nope," Robin said as she tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth. "Sandy and Danny have just started pining for each other via musical number."

"Of course," Rowan muttered, offering a hand for popcorn. Robin tipped some in. "I'm kinda stunned they never met again during that whole thing. How big is that school?"

"Very big. Disbelievingly big," Robin snarked.

"Should have guessed."

Chrissy gave them both reproaching looks. "Both of you, shut up! It's  a sweet moment that shows they still love each other, logistics of the school building or not!"

Rowan raised her hands. "Okay, yep, I hear. Shutting up now."

"Yeah, no more sarcastic commentary or quips from here on out," Rowan vowed, hand to her heart. "We'll be quiet."

"Silent as the grave."

"You won't even think we're still here."

"You're both insufferable," Chrissy muttered with an eye roll, but a smile quirked at her lips at her friends' antics.

They did keep their vows, but barely; to Robin and certainly to Rowan, the movie deserved sarcastic commentary, but they did not want to ruin Chrissy's viewing experience, even if the film was one of their staple films. It seemed that singing along was allowed, as eventually Robin and Chrissy were singing along to the songs, jumping up and dancing about as the music blared. Rowan stayed out of it, preferring to watch than sing along to the cheesy songs.

However, when the end came and Sandy reappeared with a new outfit and attitude, it was all Rowan could do to keep from yelling sarcastic comment after sarcastic comment about how wrong it seemed for Sandy to change who she was just for Danny, and how come no one else was questioning it.

After the final dance number and the screen went black, Rowan leapt up to take it out and put in a new movie. She immediately put in Carrie, and grinned as it started. Along with Alien, Carrie was her favourite horror movie, and she loved watching it, though she wouldn't deny that she felt sorry for Carrie, that she snapped only because of the bullying and her mother's abuse. And that her telekinetic abilities reminded Rowan uncomfortably of her own abilities, and how dangerous they could be.

Especially if she wasn't in control.

Robin watched the movie with a moderately good poker face, but had to turn away at the gruesome deaths, while Chrissy was visibly terrified, jumping and gagging at the horror elements, Carrie being covered in pig's blood, and the carnage that ensued, and the final deaths of the film.

When the screen went dark over Carrie's hand protruding from her grave, Rowan took the video out and was about to move on to another—she was debating whether to put in Alien or The Apartment—when Robin said, "Hey, why don't we take a break from movie watching?"

Rowan looked at her friends, and noticed the residues of terror still on Chrissy's face, and got it.

Shrugging, she said, "Sure. What do you wanna do instead?"

Robin and Chrissy looked at each other, sharing a grin. Robin walked over to her cassettes and pulled out a familiar tape, shaking it before she put it in her stereo.

"Of course," Rowan muttered as the first strains of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun came through. Immediately Robin started dancing to it as Chrissy grabbed her arms, moving them up and down as she grinned.

"Come on, Ro!" she exclaimed, a sunny grin on her face.

Rowan rolled her eyes and pretended to look neutral, but she could not help her smile and let herself be dragged up and pulled into dancing as they belted out the lyrics together, varying in bad singing with Robin being arguably the best one, as they sang out loud together, "Oh girls they wanna have fun! Oh girls just wanna have fun!"

But more often or not they were giggling, dancing and spinning, twirling each other and throwing their hands up and shout-singing the lyrics, kicking snacks and drinks out of their way as they did, not really caring how loud they were being as the poppy music and Cyndi Lauper's voice cried out from the stereo.

In the midst of the song, Robin tripped and fell, but she just laughed, and then Rowan and Chrissy were laughing, smiling broadly as they helped her up.

When the guitar riff of Blondie's Call Me began, Rowan was fully invested in it as they mouthed to the lyrics and screamed out the chorus.

"Call me! Call me! On the line, call me, call me any, anytime! Call me! Call me! I'll arrive, you can call me any day or night! Call me."

And so it went, dancing and singing along to the lyrics—they had all held each other as they sang into hairbrushes, "You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen," when ABBA's Dancing Queen had come on, before dissolving into helpless giggles. Rowan grinned when she heard Joan Jett's I Love Rock 'N' Roll come on, performing an epic air guitar solo that she knew would have Eddie smile but die on the inside since she was never gifted with the guitar or any instrument, but had Robin and Chrissy whooping and applauding and shouting "Encore! Encore!", Rowan only smiling and giving a dramatic bow.

And as Joan Jett's gritty rock guitar was replaced by ABBA's cheery pop beat again, the girls collapsed onto the bed, but not for long as Rowan saw a way to make this better.

Grabbing a pillow, she slammed it into Robin, the band nerd gawping before she grabbed her own pillow and declared, "Oh, it's on, Graveswood!"

They engaged in a pillow fight, Chrissy soon joining in as it turned in a three-way battle Royale, pillows thumping against bodies as they rose up on their knees, laughing and trash talking each other, before Chrissy gave a merciless barrage of pillows against Robin, who conceded defeat. Rowan lasted a little longer, but she too yielded, leaving Chrissy the victor as she smiled smugly.

After the pillow fight, another contest was demanded, with Robin deciding to see who could fit how many marshmallows in their mouth. Chrissy found herself defeated, only able to fit five in her mouth before coughing on it, Rowan ending up with an impressive fifteen, and Robin besting them all with twenty, her own smug smirk on her face as she basked in her victory.

Determined not to be bested, the next and final contest was seeing how many Skittles could be successfully thrown into someone else's mouth. Rowan proved herself victorious, smiling as she had her hands on her hips.

Now, with music still playing, the girls danced again to the music, just... enjoying themselves and tonight. Rowan especially was enjoying tonight. With all the worry and fear and paranoia she had the past couple of days... she had needed this. Needed to be with her friends, needed to have this sleepover to watch movies and eat junk food and do silly sleepover games and do each other's nails and dance to music she would deny listening to any other day but would listen shamelessly to with Chrissy and Robin.

To feel like the regular teenage girl she so desperately pretended to be.

After their second dancing session, Robin collapsed onto her bed, panting. Rowan and Chrissy joined her, breathless from dancing and throats hoarse from singing, and slightly sweaty from dancing so much, and Rowan wondered if her friends' hearts were racing from dancing as much as hers was. When they had caught their breath, Robin said, "Do you wanna smoke some weed, Rowan?"

Rowan blinked, at first confused, before she remembered. "Oh, yeah. Sure! I mean, we have to use this stuff, after Eddie practically twisted my arm in having to pay for it."

Robin snorted and sat up, sitting criss-cross as Rowan padded over to her bag and rifled through it. Her fingers briefly grazed the cool metal of her gun, shocking her out of her happy mood and reminding her of the danger of her regular life.

Rowan shook her head, refusing to let go of her joy of tonight, and found the bag. Fingers closing over crinkly plastic, she pulled it out, rattling the contents. "Ready to get dizzy and high, Buckley?"

Robin rolled her eyes and said, "Of course, Graveswood."

Walking back to the bed, Rowan plonked herself between Robin and Chrissy, opening the bag, grabbing the paper she'd also put in the duffel and beginning the process of rolling a joint, memories of watching Eddie do it and the single time she had done it herself when she shared a joint with Eddie when she was thirteen and he was fifteen leading her fingers. Chrissy shifted so that there was distance between her and them.

"Okay," Rowan began when the joints were rolled up. "Do you have a lighter, Buckley?"

Robin's eyes widened, and she shook her head. "Shit, no. I forgot."

"It's fine! I think I might have mine," Rowan assured, going once more to her bag. She did find her lighter, flicking it open.

Fire danced, and she lit up the ends of the joints, the faint smell of weed and smoke emanating.

Passing a joint to Robin, Rowan lifted hers and said, "Cheers to a good trip, Buckley."

Robin grinned. "Cheers."

She raised it, then asked, "How do you, uh... smoke these again?"

Rowan blinked. "Have you... not smoked weed before?"

"No?"

Rowan gaped."Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously! I mean, my parents smoked and did LSD and all that shit back in the Sixties, but this is my first time! I am a virgin! A weed virgin!" Robin defended, slightly rambling.

Rowan stared, then said, "Well, I've done this before, with Eddie. So,  I can help you. And you're not alone. Me and Chris are here with you, especially if you have a bad trip."

Robin wouldn't; if Rowan knew Eddie, and she did, his stuff was clean. A bad trip was as minuscule as her hopes of getting an A in Calculus.

But Chrissy still nodded in support, and Robin gave a small smile.

Sighing shakily, she put the joint to her lips and breathed in the smoke. Instantly, she began coughing. "Fuck."

Rowan laughed. "Damn, you are a virgin, Buckley."

Robin glared at her, then muttered, "I think... I think this might be enough for me."

"Okay," Rowan said, nodding in understanding at the underlying meaning; unlike cigarettes, she didn't take weed, or any sort of drugs, as she did not know how they would affect her powers, with the exception of that smoke session with Eddie, but she wanted to try weed again. She pressed the joint to her own lips and inhaled the smoke.

It filled her lungs, and she exhaled outward. Already, she could feel the effects, the haziness coming over her brain, her body feeling light and airy.

She smiled, feeling really relaxed.

The next half hour or so was a blur, but Rowan remembered bits and pieces; her and Robin feeling as if their senses had been intensified, sounds and smells and colours so much more vivid and better, feeling as if her mind had entered some higher state, perceiving things she couldn't have perceived before. They mostly acted normally, perhaps a bit happier and sillier, pulling Chrissy in to dance along to Don't Stop Me Now as Freddie Mercury singing sounding like the best thing ever, of throwing marshmallows, popcorn, M&Ms and chips into each other's mouths, failing more than not as their reactions were skewed by the drug, Rowan putting in The Apartment and watching the movie as the rest of the music in the mixtape played.

When the music and movie ended, Rowan felt herself coming down from the high. She looked at Robin, who similarly looked like she was crashing down, and her friend said, "I think... maybe we should head to bed?"

Chrissy nodded. "I second that notion."

Rowan nodded, yawning as she did.

So they got the movie out and got ready for bed, packing up the snacks and movies and putting the pillows back in place and putting the weed back in Rowan's bag, Chrissy cracking the window open to clear out the remaining smoke, as she was still the only one who had not gotten high. She also rewound the mixtape, the music playing as they got ready for bed.

They hummed along to Waterloo, and couldn't resist one more dance to the music, singing along to I'm Still Standing, One Way Or Another, Heart Of Glass and Hit Me With Your Best Shot.

When Total Eclipse Of The Heart, the final song on the mixtape, ended, Robin took the mixtape out, more or less a sign of sleep.

As they crawled into Robin's bed, with it being big enough for all of them to sleep somewhat comfortably, Rowan felt the heaviness of sleep press down upon her, increased by the drug still lingering in her system, and Rowan sent a silent prayer that she hadn't lost control of her powers while under the drug's influence; she could explain flickering lights on faulty wiry, but visible surges, moving from one spot of the room to another without walking, and things lifting at her command? No way could she get away with a flimsy excuse.

So as she sank into sleep, listening to Robin's snores and Chrissy's steady breaths, Rowan had a smile on her face, at this night of happiness, of being with her friends and feeling like a normal girl.

But as she finally succumbed to sleep, Rowan would learn sooner than later that this night would be the last of many happy moments in the coming days.

And it would start, the moment she closed her eyes and began dreaming.

***

(Spotify link to the full mixtape: )

( https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2bzYr60pXtjPlmwYo9hloH?si=EShmWp_OR1yTBKWG29wSzQ )

Okay, this was super fun!!!

Confession time: It was only after I wrote this that I realised that the vigil for Will wasn't a lie that Nancy made up to go to Steve's party, but an actual thing. I had the sleepover and this last moment of fun already planned out before I realised the vigil actually happened, so... they just didn't go? *shrugs*

Anyway... I loved writing this chapter so much! I love writing Rowan's friendship with Eddie—their banter, as always, is just so fun to write :3—and writing her friendships with Robin and Chrissy makes me feel warm and happy. As was writing the sleepover scene; I have to admit, my favourite part is them dancing and singing along to songs they put on a specific mixtape for these sleepovers. And if I'm being honest, finding all those peppy songs was the best bit.

But with this happy chapter out of the way, we're back on the plot (and angst and nightmare fuel) again...

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!