October 31st, 1984

Wheeler Household

Laying on Nancy's bed, I watched as she put the finishing touch on her Lana costume from Risky Business. "It looks good, Nance." I spoke from my place as I watched her adjust the bow of the costume for the fifth time in the mirror.

"Thanks. Just something looks off, right?" She asked holding up the white sweater before turning to face me. "No offense Nance, but it's just a white sweater. It looks fine." I said sitting up, while she continued to look at the costume almost in anger.

"What's wrong? You've been in panic mode all day." I walked towards her and slowly pulled the sweater out of her grasp. "I'm fine." She smiled up at me but the look in her eyes told me differently.

"Nance, it's okay to not be okay." I rubbed her shoulder and her eyes slowly started to get glossy, "I feel like I'm living in a lie. All I want to do is tell Barb's parents the truth, but I can't." She blurted out and held her hands against her eyes.

"And all Steve cares about is keeping quiet, like he doesn't feel guilty. Why would he want to keep living in a lie." She asked, pulling her hands away from her eyes to stare into mine.

"Maybe because he doesn't want to see you get hurt from all of this." I tried but she shook her head. "He's just to scared to face the facts. He hates dealing with consequences." She muttered, now placing her hands on her temples as she sat down on the bed.

"Nell, can I ask you something?" Nancy asked once she had slowly started to calm down, the tears no longer evident in her eyes. "Of course, anything."

"Could you live comfortably in life, knowing that it's all bullshit?" The question hung in the air as she stared up at me. "I don't think anyone could live like that." I answered simply with a shrug.

Nodding, she slowly looked away from me and back down at the costume. "It's a stupid costume, but I actually kind of like it." She muttered, holding the sweater to her chest with a smile now on her lips.

"It looks great, Nance." I nodded, walking towards my bag to pull out my own costume.

"You and Steve are gonna look awesome tonight." I stated as I laid out the sweater to my costume. "Who are you going as again? Sorry I haven't seen the film yet." She asked as she looked at the glove mom had purchased.

"Freddy Krueger. I wanted to be scary this year, and it was either this or dress up like a ghost for Will." I laughed at the thought.

"You aren't gonna like, melt your face right?" Nancy asked with a disgusted look on her face as she put the glove down. "I wish, but the make-up was too expensive." The grimace remained on Nancy's face before she quickly stood up from her bed. "We should start getting ready, Steve said he would get us around six."

~~~

A knocking on the Wheeler's front door had been the cause of Nancy and I rushing down the stairs of her house and towards the door.

"Wait, girls!" Mrs. Wheeler yelled from the kitchen stopping the two of us in our tracks. "Mom, we gotta go." Nancy tried to avoid her mother as she hurriedly adjusted the bow on her neck. But Mrs. Wheeler made her way towards us with her camera in hand anyways.

"Just one picture, please?" Mrs. Wheeler held up the camera as the two of us awkwardly stood next to each other as another knock sounded at the door. "Fine." Nancy groaned, pulling me closer to her.

With the two of us flashing a smile, Mrs. Wheeler snapped her photo happily.

Rolling her eyes, Nancy pulled me towards the front door.

With another knock against the door, Nancy quickly turned the handle to reveal Steve in his own Risky Business costume. "Evening, ladies." Steve flashed a smile, tilting the black shades on his face down to reveal his hazel eyes.

"You're enjoying this too much." Nancy stated before walking past the boy and towards his car that sat on the side of the road. "What are you supposed to be?" Steve asked with a smirk as he looked down at my basic costume, pulling at one of the tears in my sweater.

"You wouldn't get it." I stated with a smirk, smacking away his hand with my gloved one, before making my way past him as well and following Nancy to the car.

The ride to Tina's was quick, though the heavy silence in the car was unbearable. Keeping my gaze out the window and playing with the rim of the hat that I had paired with the costume, all I could hear was the tapping of Nancys nails against the center console.

With the sun now fully set, the three of us had pulled down onto the street that Tinas house was on, finding that multiple cars of the other teens had already started to park along the road.

"This is going to be great." Steve said, placing the car into park, smiling at the two of us as he took off his seatbelt. "Totally. Now, let's go act like stupid teens." Nancy stated as she opened her door and made her way out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her.

With the awkward tension still hanging, Steve and I quickly made our way out of the car to catch up with the frustrated teen. Walking beside her, Steve lazily threw his arm around her shoulder before waving at the other teens that made their way inside the house, along with the ones that lingered on the front lawn of Tina's place.

"Let's get a drink!" Nancy said excitedly as we made our way through the house and past the kitchen that was littered with multiple bottles of alcohol and bowls of only God knows what kind of concoctions.

"Why don't we just dance?" Steve tried but Nancy gave him a stern glare. "Or Nance, I get us some drinks and you and Steve can dance." I asked, pushing the two towards the crowd of dancing teens.

"Sounds good to me." Steve said with a grin and pulled a shrugging Nancy to the dance floor.

Grabbing three solo cups I filled them with the mysterious, red liquid. Hopefully its just punch.

"Hey, what is this stuff?" I asked a dude wearing a Greek toga as he downed the liquid. "Fuel! Pure Fuel!"He exclaimed before pouring himself some more.

"That's not an answer." I rolled my eyes at the guy, but continued to fill the three cups.

Making my way back towards the two, I found that instead of dancing, the couple leaned against the wall almost exactly where I had left them earlier.

Passing Nancy and Steve their cups, Tommy H. walked up with Billy by his side.

Shirtless in just a leather jacket, Billy seemed to be covered in a mixture of sweat and alcohol. "Looks like we have ourselves a new Keg King, Harrington." Tommy stated while Steve pulled his shades off to appear more threatening to the two.

Taking a sip from my drink, I watched as Nancy rolled her eyes before downing the whole cup. "Good for you Hargrove means your liver will fail before Harrington's." I stated with a smirk, finishing my drink as well, as Nancy made her way away from us and towards the kitchen.

Steve followed close behind Nancy as she made her way back towards the kitchen to fill her cup. I watched as she downed another cup while Steve looked over at her disappointed. "Sexy Krueger, huh?" Billy asked with a smirk as he tipped the edge of my hat. "Just Freddy Krueger." I mumbled as I fixed my hat. "You wanna dance, Byers?" Billy asked with a smirk as he walked closer to me.

"Hargrove, do you even know my first name?" Standing there silent, I nodded and smirked back up at the boy, "Then that's my answer." I stated and walked back towards the punch bowl.

"Do you know what's up with Nance?" Steve asked still standing next to the bowl, watching as Nancy made her way through the crowd of teens and away from him.

"She thinks you don't care about anything, plus the truth about Barb is eating at her." I stated as I filled my cup again. "Maybe you guys shouldn't drink." Steve groaned as I downed almost half of the cup.

Trying to push the cup away from me, I rolled my eyes at his actions. "Maybe it's exactly what we need, Steve. Besides, you're not my boyfriend. And you certainly don't make my choices." Avoiding his hurt gaze, I made my way after Nancy in the crowd.

"Think they're gonna play the Monster Mash?" I asked with a grin as Nancy and I swayed to Girls on Film.

Shrugging Nancy took another drink from her cup but stayed silent as she glared at the others around us.

"Nancy, what's up?" I asked, as she took another gulp from her cup. "Nancy, maybe you should slow down." I tried but she shook her head. "Maybe you should start telling the truth." She slurred out, now fully facing me.

A slightly drunken Nancy continued dancing to the song. "What are you talking about?" I asked causing a small grin to form on her face. "Don't bullshit me, Eleanor. I know, about you and Steve." She rolled her eyes, taking another sip.

"Nanc-" Shaking her head, she placed a hand on my shoulder. "You said, you couldn't live in a lie. So stop lying." She grumbled. "Nancy, there's nothing between us." I tried again, receiving another eye roll. "You're a terrible liar. Besides, I don't know what I find shocking, you sleeping with Steve Harrington or you actually being straight."

"Way harsh, Nance..." I mumbled, backing away from her as Steve made his way towards the two of us.

Ignoring the tears developing in my eyes, I swallowed more of my drink as Nancy started dancing with Steve.

Walking away from the two, I made my way outside to catch my breath and to get away from the deafening music.

"Eleanor." Jumping at the voice, I turned to find Billy again, this time not covered in beer from the keg stand. "Jesus! Announce yourself next time." I groaned, turning away from him as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"Want one?" He asked as he placed one between his lips. "I think I'll stick to one toxin tonight." I stated as I took another drink from my almost empty cup.

"So what's your deal, Eleanor." He asked, standing a little too close to me now as I stared up at the sky. "What do you mean? Also, just because you learned my name doesn't mean you have to use it."

Looking over at him, I realized that he had been staring down at me the whole time. "Just call me Nell or Nellie or nothing. It doesn't really matter."

"Okay. Nellie, what's your deal?" He tried again, moving a little closer to me.

Shrugging I looked away from him again and through the glass doors to see that Nancy and Steve were still on the dance floor, looking like two normal teens. "I'm just trying to be better for everyone around me." I mumbled.

"What's so wrong with you?" He asked as he took a long drag from the cigarette. "I don't seem to think enough. Like, about how my actions could take dramatic effects on everyone around me."

Furrowing his brow, Billy blew out the smoke from his lungs. "No offense, what makes you think that you could affect people so much?" He asked, seemingly sincere.

"I mean maybe I don't affect them like I think I do. Doesn't mean I can't stop myself from taking the blame." I thought about all the choices I've made in life that affected the ones I love around me.

"You ever think, maybe, you should work on yourself?" Billy spoke, though I was too busy watching the scene that took place behind him.

As Steve and Nancy fought over a cup of punch, with her trying to drink more and him trying to stop her. Soon the cup landed on Nancy's white sweater, quickly dying the white material red.

"Nellie?" Billy pulled my attention away from the couple as Nancy ran away from Steve and upstairs.

"I'm sorry, Billy. This was a great chat but I gotta check on something." I finished my cup and went to open the door, only for Billy to quickly grab my wrist.

"You gotta let Harrington go." He tried but I pulled my wrist out of his grasp, "Just because you gave me some advice, doesn't mean you can tell me what to do." I stated, opening the door and making my way back inside the party.

Stumbling slightly inside, I groaned realizing just how much alcohol I consumed.

Bumping into another teen, I stopped to apologize only to realize it was Jonathan. "What the hell?" I turned him around to face me, pulling him out of his conversation with a girl dressed as a Kiss member.

"What are you doing here?" I tried to not slur as he looked down at me with a smirk, "Are you drunk?" He chuckled, "Not the time Jonathan. Why aren't you with Will?"

"We both agreed he deserves a normal night, just don't tell mom? I'm gonna pick him up at Mike's at nine." He shrugged and turned back to the Kiss girl.

Rolling my eyes, a person bumped into me as they quickly made their way through the crowd.

Turning to complain to the retreating figure, I realized that the costume belonged to Steve. "What's up with him? Where's Nancy?" Jonathan asked, watching Steve walk away.

"Jonathan, please go find her, I'll go talk to him." I quickly followed Steve outside away from the party.