𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

33

𝐀𝐒 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑, sheridan had successfully faked a stomach bug to joyce and bob in order to get out of taking will trick-or-treating. her mother and her boss knew better than to disturb her, being sick and all, so thankfully, they would fail to notice that she'd locked her door.

just after she turned the bolt as quietly as she could, she knelt beside her bed. the girl flipped up her orange comforter and slid out the rolling tray. she examined its contents with a huff. the papers, cones, her grinder. it was time to put an end to this; after tonight, of course.

the landline on her nightstand began to ring, and sherrie knew exactly who it was. she cleared her throat a bit, dawning her best sore throat voice. "got it," she hollered, her tone low and gravelly. dani placed the phone between her ear and shoulder and plopped atop her mattress, tray still in hand. "hello?"

"we still a go for tonight, sherrie?" steve asked quietly on the other line. a smile formed on the girl's face as she plucked a paper from the small cardboard container.

"yes, we're still a go," she confirmed.

"i can't wait," the harrington boy disclosed as sheridan licked the edges of the paper like an envelope. "have you decided what you're going as?"

"not yet." she gripped onto both the top and bottom of her speckled grinder, twisting rhythmically as costume ideas flashed through her mind.

"i'm sure you'll come up with something. you always do. and i can't wait to see it," steve complimented. dani's smile widened, the grinder still pumping in her hands. "so i'll be at yours around 8? we can hang out a bit before picking nancy up and heading over to tina's?" right. nancy.

sherrie's smile fell. "sounds good," she mumbled. her fingers gently pinched a heaping of green from the grinder and sprinkled it down the middle.

"great. i'll see you then, sherrie."

"bye, steve," she stated lowly. without letting him get another word in, she set the phone back on the switch and sealed up her joint. once she was done with the first one, dani took another paper out of the box and prepared to roll a second; she'd never smoked weed with steve before, and figured tonight was as good as any.

✽

𝐀𝐓 𝟖:𝟑𝟎 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐓, three quick, quiet taps against sheridan's window nearly caused her to mess up her face paint. she huffed and scurried over to the window, steve pushing his sunglasses back into his gelled hair. the boy beamed at the half-finished vibrant red and blue lightning bolt that streaked down the right side of dani's face. "the jean genie!" he recognized, stepping into her bedroom. sherrie rushed back over to the mirror, sitting on the floor in front of it to continue painting the pièce de résistance of her costume. "great choice, sherrie," steve commended as he gently shut her window.

"thank you, thank you very much," dani replied in her best elvis presley impression, pausing her makeup to use the paintbrush as a microphone.