[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗧𝗪𝗢: 𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧, 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞]

SAGE WHEELER WAS CURRENTLY sitting next to her twin brother, micheal wheeler, aka mike. both her and mike were currently getting questioned about eleven, and where she was last seen so she can get taken back to the lab.

"go back to the beginning," a woman told the twins.

"we told you everything." sage said harshly while holding her younger sister, holly, in her arms. "i understand this is difficult, sage and michael." a man said. "we don't know where she is." mike told the male.

"and even if we did, we'd never tell you. we would never tell you." sage finished off, glaring at the man in front of her. "i know it's difficult to accept, the stories she told you were not true," the woman then explained. "she's a very dangerous individual."

"if she contacts you, you two must tell us." the man told the twins. sage scoffed and look forward, seeing the familiar shaved head girl she grew to have a connection with, at the window. "el," sage whispered softly.

sage nudged mike gently and motioned towards the window, the two detectives not noticing.

"otherwise, you're putting yourself and your entire family at risk. do you understand, kids? do you understand?" the woman continued before noticing the twins weren't replying.

"sage? michael?"

"kids?"

the two detectives looked at the window in the direction the twins were looking at.

soon enough there was a search outside for the girl. sage snapped out of her trance to the sound of holly crying. the brunette girl began to shush her gently and she then looked at her brother.

"eleven," they both whispered.

   SAGE WHERLER WAS STANDING next to her mother, trying to hold in the laugh she had as her mother took pictures of mike in his ghost-busters costume.

"all right, that's the last one," mike said, trying to escape the pictures his mother his taking. "no, just one more. come on, please? maybe sage could get one with you even if she's not wearing a costume." karen wheeler suggested.

"what? no!" sage immediately butted into the conversation. "yeah, sage! take pictures with me!" mike told his twin sister.

"go on, baby!" karen told her daughter.

sage groaned and gripped the backpack strap of her bag and stood next to mike. the two twins stood next to each other, annoyed looks on their face as their mother took the picture.

"can we go to school?" sage asked.

"wait, wait," karen said to her daughter, holding up her camera again. "okay, mike, say, "who you gonna call?" " karen told her son.

"no!" mike whined.

after their mother took enough photos mike and sage got on their bikes, heading straight for school with dustin and lucas while singing the ghostbusters song.

"who you gonna call?"

"ghostbusters!"

sage locked her bike in the bike rack and turned around to see will. she smiled and gave him a quick hug before lucas attacked the bowl-cut boy in a hug.

"egon! yeah!"

"venkman!"

"woah, woah," mike cut in, seeing lucas' name tag. "what?" lucas asked, confused. "why are you venkman?" mike asked him.

"because i'm venkman." lucas stated as if it were obvious. "no, i'm venkman." mike told him.

"why can't there be two venkmans?" will asked, trying to solve the situation between the two.

"because there's only one venkman in real life. we planned this months ago." mike told the bowl-cut boy in reply. "i'm venkman, dustin's stantz, you're egon, and you're winston." mike pointed at his friends as he spoke. "and sage . . . she's herself cause she's boring as always."

sage rolled her eyes at her brothers comment.

"i specifically didn't agree to be winston." lucas chirped. "yes, you did!" mike told him. "i don't think he did," will spoke up.

"he didn't," sage said to will.

"no one wants to be winston, man." lucas stated. dustin shook his head in agreement. "what's wrong with winston?" mike asked in confusion.

"he joined the team super late, he's not even funny, and he's not even a scientist!" lucas listed, his voice raising after every word. "yeah, but he's still cool." mike tried reasoning.

"if he's cool, then you be winston," sage cut in, crossing her arms over her chest. "i can't!" mike told his sister. "why not?" she asked.

"b-b-because . . ."

"b-b-because you're not black?" lucas mocked. "i didn't say that!" mike interjected. "you thought it." lucas added in.

"wow mike . . . i didn't expect you to ever be racist!" sage comment with a gasp. "shut up, sage! you know i'm not!" mike said and smacked the back of her head.

"ow! hey!"

"guys . . ." dustin said. "guys! guys!"

the teens turned around to see kids walking out of the busses, no costumes on. sage snorted and was quick to walk inside the school building.

"why is no one else wearing costumes?" dustin asked, not noticing sage walked away. "crap."

the four teen boys walked inside of the school, sage walking next to them.

"sage, you piece of shit," dustin whispered in her ear. "hey . . . i love you too!" sage smiled.

students laughed at the teens as they walked through the halls.

"when do people make these decisions?" dustin questioned. "everyone dressed up last year." will commented. "it's a conspiracy, i'm telling you." dustin told his friend group.

"just be cool." sage told the boys.

"who you gonna call? the nerds!"

"don't forget the lesbo!"

"OKAY —" sage turned around to the kids, ready to attack until mike held her back. "ignore it, sage!" mike told his sister making her scoff and wiggle out of his grip.

sage walked over to her locker that was next to max's locker. she got her stuff out then saw max come over to the locker on her skateboard.

dustin and lucas eyed her with heart eyes before speaking up.

"we gonna do this?" dustin asked lucas. "not right now. we look like morons." the boy replied. "maybe she likes ghostbusters?" dustin shrugged and watched sage and the red head talk.

"of course she likes ghostbusters, but that's not the point." lucas stated. "the point is we're dressed up and she isn't."

"i didn't bring regular clothes. you?"

"no."

"then we have no choice. we gotta do this. it's now or never." dustin concluded. "right!" lucas agreed, rolling his shoulders to prepare.

"let's engage."

just as the two boys were about to walk over to max — the red head shuts her locker and walks away with the wheeler girl.

"we could ask her after class," dustin suggested immediately. "yup!" lucas agreed and shut his locker. "okay," dustin said and shut his own.

"YOU'RE PLANNING TO TRICK or treat, right?" sage asked her red headed friend. "obviously." max replied with a sarcastic eye roll. sage smiled at her.

"guys! look! the lesbo has a girlfriend!" someone in the halls shouted.

sage's smile fell and it turned into a frown. "shut the fuck up!" the brunette shouted.

"lesbo?" max asked, turning towards the wheeler girl. "you're a lesbian?" sage nodded. "yeah, i came out at a young age . . ."

"when did you come out?"

"age of nine —"

max's eyes widened at the answer. "nine?!"

"yeah . . . it's surprising! but i never really had a true crush on men — well boys. i may have found them cute or slightly attractive, but i'm not sexually attracted to them as i am with women." sage explained to her friend, looking at her when she finished talking.

max stared at her before her lips twitched up into a smile. "i've always wanted a friend who's apart of the lgbtq community," max said.

friend, sage repeated in her head.

"well, now you have me," the brunette told the red head and smiled widely. "have you ever kissed a girl before?" max suddenly asked with a smirk. sage chuckled softly.

"no . . . i've never had my first kiss."

"really? huh, that's surprising."

sage turned her head to look at max. "why do you ask?"

max shrugged. "i was just wondering..."

the wheeler girl nodded and stared at the mayfield girl. she still couldn't believe that a beautiful girl like her would accept her the way she is, and automatically began her friend.

"do you wanna come trick or treating with my brother and friends?" sage blurted out. "you want me to go trick or treating with your stalker friends?" max asked with a chuckle.

"they aren't that bad! trust me, they're really fun people." sage told the red head. "they're fun?" max said and looked over at sage. "yeah! come on, give them a chance!"

the mayfield teenager put the question in thought. "i'll think about it," she told sage and softly smiled at her. "really?!" the brunette asked and smiled widely at the red head.

max nodded, smiling more at sage's excitement.

"thank you! thank you! thank you!" sage repeated and hugged max. the red head wrapped her arm around sage and hugged her back tightly.

the wheeler girl immediately felt butterflies and pulled away.

"thank you, max,"

"anything for you, sage."

AFTER SCHOOL LUCAS AND DUSTIN made sure to immediately go to max's locker like they said they would, and ask her to go trick or treating with them.

max and sage walked up to their lockers, not noticing lucas or dustin standing there — not until dustin clears his throat.

"um . . ."

max snapped her head to look at the two and sage sighed, giving her friends a look.

"hi, max. i'm dustin and this is —"

"lucas," the dark skinned boy finished off. "yeah, i know. sage told me about you guys. the stalkers." max told the boys. dustin and lucas looked at each other, stuttering. "uh, no. actually . . . we weren't stalking you." lucas told max.

"no, we were just concerned because, you know, you're new and all." dustin added in after lucas.

"yeah, for your safety!" the dark skinned boy said. "mhm." max hummed, listening to them.

"there are a lot of bullies here." dustin chirped making sage make a face in agreement. "so many bullies, it's crazy." lucas added in.

"is that why you're wearing proton packs?" max asked sarcastically. "well, these don't function. but . . ." dustin reached towards his trap. "i do have this handy-dandy little trap here."

"and look, it even opens and closes. look, look, look — sage watch this too!"

max and sage watched as dustin opened up the trap, max with an unamused look, and sage with a "stop trying to win her" look.

"volià!" dustin smiled and chuckled. "it's cool, right?"

he then saw the look on maxs face then looked at sages. "no? okay. but, um. so, we were talking last night, and you're new here —" dustin began.

"— so you probably don't have any friends, besides sage over here, to take you trick-or-treating, and you're scared of bullies, so we were thinking that it would be okay if you come with us." dustin asked, lucas smiling at him and patting his shoulder.

" "it'd be okay" ?" max asked, once again, sarcastically. "yeah. our party's a democracy the majority voted you could come!" dustin replied.

"is that why sage asked me first? didn't realize it was such an honor to go trick-or-treating with you." max gave him a sarcastic smile. "we know where to get the full-sized candy bars." dustin chirped making sage nod.

"i — well we — figured you'd want it." sage piped up. "that's presumptuous of him," max told the brunette girl, smiling at her.

dustin stood there confused for a little before speaking up as lucas stood there with a smile on his face.

"yeah. totally. uh, so, um . . . you'll come?" dustin asked.

max rolled her eyes and shut her locker, patting sage's cheek with a smile before walking off. sage smiled at her, a blush creeping to her cheeks at the movement.

"we're meeting at the maple street cul-de-sac at 7:00." dustin announced. "that's 7:00 on the dot!" sage shouted after max, smiling still.

max raised her hand and gave sage a thumbs up at the sound of her voice.

"man, she hates you guys," sage told her friends, turning around to face them. " "presumptuous" that's a good thing, right?" dustin asked sage and lucas, ignoring what the wheeler girl said.

lucas turned his head to look at him, staring at him as if he were an idiot before walking off, singing out.

dustin frowned at him then looked at sage for an answer. the brunette pressed her lips together before walking ahead of dustin, not replying to him making dustin frown more.

"is it bad?" he asked his friends before chasing after them. "lucas, sage, is it bad? guys? son of a bitch, guys! is it bad?"

MAX SKATED OUT TOWARDS A CAR seeing a older teenager with blond locks standing on the trunk of of. max slowed down and put her foot to the board, picking it up with ease.

"you're late again." the blond stated, staring up forward. "yeah, i had to get catch-up homework with a friend." max told him. "jesus. i don't care. you're late again, and you're skating home. do you hear me?" then older teen said.

max rolled her eyes and got in the car. soon enough, the two were on the road.

"god, this place is such a shithole," billy complaint, sighing in annoyance. "it's not that bad," max defended, looking at her step-brother.

"no?" the blond questioned before lowering the window, and inhaling deeply while plugging his nose. "mm! you smell that, max? that's actually shit! cow shit."

"i don't see any cows," max pointed out and highered the window back up. "clearly, you haven't met the high-school girls." bill said.

max stayed quiet with an annoyed look on her face. billy scoffed.

"so what, you like it here now?" the blond asked the red head. "no." max lied. "then why are you defending it?" billy questioned.

"i'm not." max stated and looked at her step sibling. "sure sounds like it," billy told her. "it's just we're stuck here, so . . ." max began..

"hmm. so it's not just about your little friend?"

max stared at the blond and hesitatingly shook her head. "well, you're right. we're stuck here." billy said, not convinced about max's answer. "and whose fault is that?"

"yours." max murmured quietly, rolling her eyes.

billy glanced at his sister, angered. "what'd you say?" he asked. "nothing." max replied.

"did you say it's my fault?"

"no."

"you know whose fault it is. say it."

max stayed quiet, staring down at her feet as her heart pounded against her chest.

"max . . . say it."

no response.

"SAY IT!" billy screamed at her and began speeding up on the road.

the red head stared at the road in front of her, seeing the four familiar bikes come into her view.

"really, everyone dressed up last year," dustin commented as he rode his bike next to lucas.

"billy, slow down," max told the blond. "oh, these your new hick friends? isn't that your little girlfriend you told me about?" billy asked, looking at his sister as he hit his hand against the steering wheel. "no! well, sage she's my friend! not my girlfriend! i don't know the rest of them!" max exclaimed.

"i guess you won't care if i hit 'em then, huh? i get bonus points, i get 'em all in one go?"

"no, billy, stop. it's not funny." max said sternly, glaring at her step sibling as he kept hitting the steering wheel, looking back at her in boredom.

sage, hearing a car behind her, turns her head around to see max's step brothers car charging straight at her and her friends.

"hey, guys?" sage called. "i think we need to pick up the pace —"

"billy, come on, stop it! it's not funny. stop! you're gonna hurt her! you'll hurt them!"

the three teens began peddling on their bikes as the car gets closer to them.

"go, go, go, go!"

"mike, you need to haul ass!" dustin shouted at him.

"billy, stop it!" max shouted and took the wheel, and directing it to the other side.

the three teens got off the road just in time for the car to pass them.

"yeah! that was a close one, huh?" billy asked in a shout, looking at max.

the red head turns around and sees sage looking at the car in shock.

at least she's okay . . . max thought.

"holy shit!" dustin breathed out, standing up. "was that . . ." dustin began and moved to see the car. "mad max." lucas concluded.

"guys, just call her max!" sage told them.

max sighed as she kept staring at the four teens, making a mental note to call sage later to apologize for her step brothers dumb mess.

AUTHORS NOTE //

took me a while to update this but here it is!

bee <3