Foolin'

Part 10

Orange, reds, and yellows painted the town of Hawkins. It was the week of Halloween, which fell on a Thursday this year. On Monday, Kat spent most of her classes daydreaming about a costume or if she'd even wear one at all. It wasn't until lunch that day that her plans for the week started to solidify.

"Hey, Kat, what are you up to later?" Eddie asked in a hushed tone.

"Uhh, nothing important." She responded.

"'Kay. You're coming with me to pick up pumpkins for this week's campaign. I wanna have it all decorated and shit for them." He pointed his chin quickly at the freshman additions to the Hellfire Club.

Kat shrugged, but then froze and slowly turned to look at him. "Oh no. You're gonna make me carve them too, aren't you?"

Eddie gave her his token devilish smile. "You know me too well." In response, Kat gave him her token eye-roll, only this time she did it playfully. She accepted her fate within the midst of Eddie's group and, not that she would admit it, was looking forward to spending time with him later. "Just follow me home after school and leave your car at my house."

"Alright, that works, because I, uh, wasn't exactly paying attention on the drive that one time I was there..." Kat trailed off with a sheepish look on her face. Eddie lightly laughed as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch.

The pair went their separate ways until it was time to reconvene once school was over. Kat was blasting her mixtape as she followed Eddie on the drive back to his home. She found herself paying close attention to every twist and turn of the road. Now that she was fully alert this time, she essentially had the route memorized. As she pulled in on the passenger side of Eddie's van, One Hundred Years by the Cure was blaring from her speakers. Eddie was quickly running inside as Kat cut the engine and got out of her car. While she was waiting, she leaned against his van, pulling a cigarette out of her purse, lighting it, and taking a long drag. Half way through, Eddie came out with a tiny tin box. He looked at her inquisitively.

"Since when do you smoke those?" He asked.

Kat shrugged. "Only when I feel like it."

"Fair enough. Here." Eddie responded, tossing the box towards Kat, which she caught. She had her cigarette hanging from her mouth as she inspected its contents. Inside, a handful of pre-rolled joints. Kat smiled as she climbed into the van.

Once she was situated she handed Eddie her cigarette, "Here," she said. Eddie began to finish it off as Kat took one of the joints, lighting it, and taking a hit from it. "So where are we going on this little adventure?" She asked after exhaling a cloud of smoke and putting the joint in the ashtray Eddie had in his cup holder.

"So on the outskirts of town is the pumpkin farm. Merrill's Pumpkin Patch I think it's called? Last year there was some super weird disease that killed all of them and like every living plant around. I heard they were almost back to normal this year, so hopefully they have some. If not, we'll have some pumpkin huntin' to do."

Kat nodded in response as she leaned over to fiddle with the radio. "Uh, you know I have some tapes–" Eddie started. "Yeah well, sometimes I like to see what's on the radio." She said as she turned the dial, scanning through all the stations. It wasn't until she came across the opening piano riffs to Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero'' that she became excited. "This is my song!" She excitedly said as she began shimmying in her seat and air drumming.

"Are you... Oh, yep. She's serious." Eddie commented as he split his glances between her and the road.

"Don't even tell me you don't know it. There's no way you only listen to metal." Kat said before she belted out the lyrics. Eddie loved seeing Kat like this – genuinely happy and having fun. It was infectious. Just before the chorus started, Eddie let out a sigh, caving in. Together they sang at the top of their lungs, "I need a hero, I'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night, He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast, And he's gotta be fresh from the fight." Eddie was using the steering wheel as a drum as he got into the song, swaying and shaking his head. Kat was just belting her heart out and air drumming her favorite part before the chorus. "See? I knew you knew it." Kat smirked at Eddie.