Strange as IT Seems

Chapter: Halloween Part 2

A/N: October 31st, 2023. In honour of Halloween, I wanted to publish a chapter that I've been working on for a long time and as you can tell from the title, is related to this very holiday. I will be publishing more chapters before this one to fill in the blanks. I hope that you can still enjoy it.

"I'll pick you up around midnight," Zack says, pulling up in front of the house. Loud music is blaring all the way to the street. Teenagers line the outside of the house doing various things including smoking and hooking up with one another. There was no alcohol to be seen, but neither passenger was that stupid.

While most of the time, Zack Denbrough would be calling the police and having any of these illegal activities shut down, he knew that Mia needed to be more social and make some friends. He can remember when he went to parties and did various things that he was not proud of either. Both he and Sharon knew that their niece needed the chance to be normal and not always hide in her room. The threat of Joel Rogers was always looming, but he had not been seen and the last sighting of him was in September in the Florida Keys. Why he was there, no one knew nor cared. It was safe enough for her to be a teenager. Break some rules and have fun.

"Thanks, Uncle Zack," she says. Her hand hesitates on the handle.

...

"Don't you think I'm a little old for these parties?" Steve asks as he and Robin enter through the back door. The house was boiling hot and smelled of sweat, alcohol, and various other substances. The music is blaring so loudly that they can barely hear anything unless they practically yell.

"Hey, you promised you wouldn't be such a downer," Robin says, handing him a cup of punch.

"I'm not being a downer, I'm just saying, do we really need to be here? Even you said you were too cool for this shit."

Neither of them really cared for this kind of scene and didn't bother in terms of costumes. Steve is literally in jeans and wore his dad's leather jacket and said he was the guy from Knight Rider. Robin didn't do much better, she wore dark and baggy clothing and said she was Allison from The Breakfast Club.

Several girls walk by with revealing costumes and both friends ogle at them. Robin smirks.

"You were saying," Robin smirks. "You and I have a better chance of hooking up tonight due to the alcohol and therefore the clouding of rational thought."

Steve rolls his eyes, knowing that was a jab at him, but also herself. He hates that his friend is okay with putting herself down like that. She deserved to find someone and be happy.

"CHUG! CHUG! CHUG! CHUG" is being chanted across the room as the future frat boys are doing handstands to drink from the nearby keg. Like life having cruel irony, the one doing the handstand is Billy Hargrove. The asshole of Hawkins high... a title he once held, but had long since made himself a better person. Holding Billy up to support his handstand over the metal bucket is his former friend, Tommy Hagan. Always the follower and decided that Billy was his best friend, all in an effort to remain popular.

Robin nudges Steve and he follows her gaze to Tammy Thompson, dressed like Dolly Parton, big hair and all, in the corner, laughing at some other person's joke.

"Again total dud and let's hope to God there's no karaoke," Steve says. "If you're planning to hook up, set your standards a little higher."

"Roger that Dingus," she says saluting him before beginning to wander away to find someone else to talk to.

"Just don't get so drunk that you hook up in the bathroom," he says before leaving his friend to find some fresh air. "Believe me, it's not worth it."

He passes by Johnathan and Nancy, standing against the wall by an antique piano. It's a mystery as to why they were even there. Johnathan hated any kind of social gatherings and while Nancy was more outgoing than her boyfriend, Steve knew that she'd only ever done parties like this to fit in. be seen as popular, and because she was with him at the time. He nods to acknowledge them but then heads out to the back deck where some idiot thought it would be a good idea to make a bonfire with a trashcan and his shirt.