꧁꧂

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱɪxᴛᴇᴇɴ: ɪ'ᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ

ᴏɴᴇ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ

Sat at my doorstep, I waited in the sunshine, taking in all that Vitamin D the doctors said could be good for you. Everything was so much better than it was in October and November. Everything had changed for the better. Except for that tiny little thing I have for Max. But that'll go away eventually, right? I mean, I am ninety percent sure Lucas is going to ask her to dance at the Snowball, so it's not as if I'm going to get in between a couple like them two. They'd be cute together, anyways.

"PARK?" I hear Mom call my name before she even opens the door.

She's been better, too. Although, I say better in a loose term, because you should never expect a woman her age to be fully sane or mentally stable after her boyfriend dies to another dimension's creature.

"YEAH?" I called back with a small smile as the door opened.

Mom looked at me sat on the porch, waiting patiently. "Are you going to the Snowball?" She asked, a small, hopeful smile showing on her face.

Sighing, I glanced over in the distance, a figure skating towards me. A red head. "Yeah..." I began, looking back at my mother. "On one condition." I tell her, of who was over the moon that I was finally thinking of going and not sitting on the couch with her to re-watch Little House on the Prairie. "No makeup."

She nodded. "No makeup." My mother agreed.

"No dress." I added, and she nodded, repeating my words again. "I'm wearing trousers. Some smart trousers and a shirt that... somewhat goes together." I confirm. I don't think I'd seen Mom this happy since she'd last been with Bob. Would she care if I liked girls?

"Hey, Parker." I turned my head to a calling voice in the distance. Maxine. She looked perfect, as per usual.

"Hi, Maxine." I tell the better-looking person, standing up and picking up the skateboard beside me. Max was still in the early days of teaching me, but the red head was adamant I was better to teach than any others of the party would be.

Looking back at my Mom, I raised an eyebrow. "You didn't agree with me." I pointed out, but she seemed as though she was thinking of something else. "It's deal or no deal."

My mother looked back at me from wherever she was looking before. "Yeah." She smiled so broadly I almost felt as though I had to call the doctors. "Deal."

"Trousers." I repeated, beginning to walk towards a waiting Max. "No skirts- or dresses."

"Trousers." My mother agrees, thumbs up from the doorframe over at me. Mom had been teaching Will to dance slowly for about a week now, and let's be real- when your own mother is teaching you to dance, there's not going to be a more awkward moment of your life there and then. Unless the older brother is filming it, of course. Which he was.

"What was that about, good-looker?" She asked as I walked over, holding the newly bought board in my hand.

"I may or may not be going to the Snowball tonight." I say, glancing around and not at her exactly.

"Thank God." The red head muttered as we began to walk down the dirt road. "Don't think I would be able to go the night with just the boys."

"And El is meant to go." I tell her, making the girl give me a look. "Okay- just give her time." I say. "Like the time you're giving me and this sweet board."

The girl let out a chuckle as I dropped it to the floor. "No offence to Eleven, but I don't think I'm ever gonna spend the amount of time I spend with you, with her." And I don't know why, but there was a feeling in my stomach right there and then I could not ignore.

⊹˚˖⁺

"Is it even possible to fall over that many times?" Lucas asked me, causing me to glare. That boy was significantly close to getting a hit on the head from a nail-bat if he wasn't too careful.

"I've done much worse..." Max murmured beside me. Seventeen times today alone, I'd fallen over at the park. I wouldn't have lived it down if I was with someone other than Maxine, though.

"Is that-" As someone, or more importantly something, caught my eyes across the hall, all eyes also turned to look at where I was also looking. Dustin's hair was certainly... something.

"HOLY SHIT-" Everyone stood as Dustin got closer, all attention going to the hair. "What happened to you?" Lucas was full of compliments tonight, huh...

Dustin's smile fell at the question. Aw, poor Dustin... "What do you mean What happened?" He didn't see the problem.

"What?!" Mike had nothing other to say due to the pure shock. I could take a good guess where the inspiration came from, though.

"Dude..." Will murmured.

"Your hair..." Max says, with all of them stepping forward to get a closer look.

"Is there a bird nesting in there...?" Lucas asked, going to touch the hair as he made the remark.

"No- what do you mean what's wrong with my hair?" Dustin questioned us, not having it. "There's no bird nesting in here, asshole. Okay?" He snapped at Lucas, making me smile slightly as the others laughed. "I worked hard." He insisted, still making sure it was all still in place.

The song changed dramatically to a slower one and I rolled my eyes, couples beginning to do that couple thing of getting together. An awkward moment passed, and I turned to look around at the group only for a second before announcing how I wasn't going to be sticking around like a total looser, making my way towards the food and drinks.

Cakes, and little candies that probably were advertised to be healthier for children were set along the table. And punch, of course. Nance stood behind the punch, handing a boy a cup full of the drink before dreamily looking over at my photographer of an older brother. I definitely shipped it from the beginning, just don't tell Steve...

"Hey, Nance." I say, invading her daydreaming time.

Her eyes diverted to me and my awkward standing as the slow dances went on. She probably wanted to dance with Johnathan. "Parker! Hi!" The older girl's voice went high pitched at my name, showing she'd not seen me at all.

"Park is fine." I smiled, helping myself to punch, knowing she'd not really actually care if I took several cups worth of the drink.

"Where's your date?" She asked, looking around the hall. Ouch.

"Right here." I say, looking down at myself and my lovely non-Farrah-Fawcett-sprayed hair.

"Oh." I could hear the guilt and smell it a mile away. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

Shaking my head, I dismissed her with a wave of a hand, drinking from my cup and momentarily glancing around. El had arrived and Mike was so head-over-heels for her. Still. Then there was Max. She was with Lucas. I called it, so I don't know why it hurt me in any way.

"Can I ask you a question?" I say, asking Nancy a question when I looked over at her. She nodded, seeming interested where I was going with it. "Is it wrong to like the same gender? Instead of the opposite?"

There wasn't any time for her to even think of an answer, due to the fact she shook her head rather rapidly. She knew that answer for a fact... "Why? Someone got to you?" Part of me wanted to reply with something like that, but I held back.

"I was just thinking about something I read." I tell the girl in pink, taking another sip from my drink. Silence ran along between us. "So, theoretically," I began, not being theoretical at all, "if I were like that, people... wouldn't care?" I handed her back a cup, asking for a refill.

The expression I got in return was far different to the last one. Oh. "It's against religions, Park." She told me, and my stomach practically dropped. Probably two thirds of the Hawkins population was religious. Great. Yippee. "But, theoretically," She said, slightly mocking. "that shouldn't hold you back." As she spoke, Nancy then handed me back a filled cup of punch.

"Theoretically," I continued. "if two thirds of the town I lived in were against what I theoretically am, that would mean I'd have to be careful who I told, right?"

Her smile was sweet in return. "Theoretically," Nance says, leaning over the table. "your secret would be safe with me."