𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐱: 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧

❝ᴛʜᴀᴛ's ᴘʀᴇsᴜᴍᴘᴛᴜᴏᴜs ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜ.❞

𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐎 𝐆𝐀𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 shot up from her pillow. she looked around frantically, seeing if everything around her was back to normal. she saw the familiar wallpaper on the walls, which had been covered with various posters of her favorite artists and bands. her eyes then went over to the far right corner, her eyes scanning over the small bookshelf that held many vinyl records. a gray record player was sat on top of the bookshelf, small stickers scattered around it. her eyes went over to desk, seeing the books that were sprawled out on it. she placed her head in her hands as she started to calm down, wiping the beads of sweat from her forehead. she rubbed at her eyes tiredly, the nightmare flashing behind her eyelids.

there was this weird shadow in the sky. arlo could tell that it wasn't clouds because when she stared at it, she felt drawn to it. the scene around her was dark and the air was cold. everything was covered in vines, but it felt familiar. it was like the nightmare she had of will when he had disappeared the year before. the only source of light would come from lightning flashing in the distance, making the sky flash red and show the shadow more clearly. but the weird part was that the shadow was staring back. it didn't have eyes, or a face of any sorts, but she could tell that it was staring right back at her. and although she felt drawn to it, she could feel the power and the evil it held. she knew that it wanted to hurt people. it wanted to hurt her.

she looked over to her window, seeing the sun had barely begun to rise. she sighed, crawling out of bed and over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of jeans. she slipped them on before she buttoned it up, going over to her closet to pull out a baby blue nike crewneck. it was baggy because it belonged to steve, but she had taken it from him. she slipped on a pair of nike blazer. she went to the bathroom, brushing her teeth, washing her face and brushing her messy hair. she didn't do much to her hair, brushing the knots and tangles out of the strange before she brought her hands up to ruffle them up slightly. once she was done with that, she left the bathroom. she noticed that steve's bedroom was open, making her start to tiptoe. she peaked inside the slightly dark room, seeing her brother sprawled out on his bed with the blankets all over the place. she continued to creep pass, going down the stairs.

she went into the kitchen, grabbing a bowl before she went over to the pantry. she then opened the fridge up and grabbed the milk, sliding it onto the kitchen island where her bowl was. she then went over to the drawer where all of the spoons and forks were, grabbing one. she walked over to the kitchen island, opening the cereal box and pouring it into the bowl. she then grabbed the bottle of milk, twisting the cap off and pouring the milk over the cereal. she quickly twisted the cap back on before she sat down at the island, starting to munch away on the cereal. after awhile, she went over into the living room, putting a move on l. that's how she spent the next few hours, munching on cereal and watching whatever movie she could find to pass the time. finally, she heard her brother's alarm clock start to go off from upstairs, making her sigh in relief. for 30 minutes, she heard shuffling coming from upstairs, knowing that he was getting dressed.

"arlo! are you up?!" she heard steve's voice echo throughout the house, making the girl roll her eyes.

"i've been up for three hours!" she shouted back, getting up from the couch to put her bowl in the sink. she grabbed a granola bar from the pantry before she went over to the island, sitting down. she heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"another nightmare?" steve questioned as he got closer. arlo nodded as she threw the granola bar at him, the older boy catching it with ease. "you remember it this time?"

"yeah." arlo replied, nodding again.

"wanna talk about it?"

"not really."

"okay, that's fine." steve nodded, opening the wrapping of the granola bar. "you biking to school or you want me to drive you?"

"i'll bike." arlo answered, sending her brother a small smile. "what're you doing for halloween? going to a party or something?"

"i'm going to a party, obviously." steve responded, granola crumbs shooting out his mouth as he did so. arlo grimaced at that, shaking her head at her brother. "you not wearing your costume to school? i thought you guys did that?"

arlo shrugged, "not this year. i'll just come home and change before i meet up with the boys later to trick-or-treat."

"okay. we should start heading out, now. be safe, okay? make sure you watch out for that maniac that almost hit you yesterday." steve told her, sounding like a mother.

"i will, steve." arlo chuckled.

"okay, good." steve nodded. the both of them started to head towards the door, slipping on their respective jackets; steve's being the same jean jacket he's been wearing since school started, and arlo's being steve's. they both grabbed their bags from the floor before steve grabbed their keys from the hooks. he chucked arlo's set of keys at her, the girl catching them with ease.

with that, they left their house, steve locking the door behind them. he went over to where arlo was grabbing her bike, placing a kiss to her forehead before he went over to his car. he got in and pulled off within seconds. arlo climbed onto her bike but didn't take off. instead, she dug inside her bag for her walkman. when she had found it, she placed the headphones over her ears and clipped the walkman onto her jeans. she pressed the faded play button before she took off. she smiled when she's a rainbow by the rolling stones started to blast in her ears. as the song played, she couldn't help but think of max the whole time.

"have you seen her dressed in blue?" arlo sang quietly. "see the sky in front of you. and her face is like a sail, speck of white so fair and pail. have you seen a lady fairer?"

arlo pulled in front of the school, her eyebrows shooting up her forehead once her eyes landed on the four boys that she's lucky to call her best friends. she snorted when realized that they were all in their ghostbusters costumes, bringing one hand up to take her headphones from around her ears. she parked her bike next to dustin's, the henderson boy sparing her a glance before he turned to look at the other kids that were coming from the school bus. will waved at her when she joined him, the girl whispering a "hey" as she watched mike and lucas argue over something.

"guys. . . guys! guys!" he yelled, gaining the attention of will. mike and lucas stopped arguing, looking over at dustin to see why he was calling them. they then saw what he was seeing, the both of the looking over to where arlo was. "why is no one else wearing costumes? arlo, why aren't you wearing your costume?"

"i didn't want to." arlo simply shrugged, which was the honest truth. she waste tired to put effort into putting on her costume that morning.

"oh, my god. why did you guys wear your costumes?" the voice of perseus williams questioned, making the party turn towards him to see that he was wearing a normal outfit. all of the boys ignored his question as they entered the school, causing arlo to snort again. she wrapped her arm around percy's shoulders, dragging the boy as she followed the other party members into school.

"when do people make these decisions?" dustin asked as they walked around the halls. not one student was dressed in a costume. they all looked at the four boys, concealing their laughter, earning a glare from arlo.

"everyone dressed up last year." will reasoned, earning a nod from everyone else. "how come you guys didn't dress up this year?" he then asked, looking back at percy and arlo.

the harrington girl shrugged, "i just didn't want to." she repeated.

"and my costume isn't finished." percy answered.

"it's a conspiracy, i'm telling you." dustin mumbled as the group continued to walk down the hall.

"just be cool." mike told his friends as they passed a group of kids.

"who you gonna call? the nerds!" a boy teased. arlo quickly turned around to go yell at the boy, but both lucas and percy grabbed her by the arm and dragged her after them. lucas chuckled when he heard arlo cursing under her breath, shaking his head at the girl.

the party split up to go to their lockers, everyone's being in different halls. arlo put in he combination before she opened her locker, a small sigh escaping her mouth. she took the headphones from around her neck and unclipped her walkman from her jeans, placing them gently on the shelf that held all her books. she then grabbed the books that she needed, stuffing them into her bag. she then slipped steve's jacket off before she placed it on one of the hooks that were in the locker. she place her bag onto her back before she let her arms drop to her side. the sleeves to steve's crewneck slipping over her hands.

"cherry!" the voice of max mayfield yelled, making the girl in question turn around to look at her. a smile immediately made its way onto her lips once she saw the red. max hopped off her skateboard, kicking it into her hand as she smiled down at arlo. "looks like someone's excited to see me."

arlo hummed, tilting her head. "i'm not so sure about that. i'm just being friendly." she lied, knowing damn well that she was more than excited to see max.

"uh-huh. sure." max nodded, not believing a single word that came from the harrington girl's mouth. she was just as excited to see arlo. "you wanna come with me to my locker?"

"sure." arlo beamed. why was she beaming? she had no idea. but she just wanted to stay around the mayfield girl longer. max giggled at that, hoping back on her board and skating down the hall. arlo followed her like a lost puppy, noticing the fact that lucas and dustin were at their lockers, watching them. "you know, you're not supposed to the skate in the halls, right?"

"are you gonna tell on me, cherry?" max teased, hopping off her board once she was at her locker. she started to put in the combination. "cause i was just starting to like you."

"just starting to?" arlo repeated, rolling her eyes. "you've liked me since yesterday morning. you know it. i know it."

"whatever." max chuckled, opening her locker up. she placed her board inside before she grabbed the books that she needed.

"so. . . have you thought about joining us in trick-or-treating?" arlo questioned awkwardly, looking around so that she could avoid max's gaze. her eyes fell onto lucas and dustin, who were watching them. the two boys quickly looked away, lucas somehow hitting himself with his locker. arlo had to stop herself from snorting. "i - i mean, you don't have to, if - if you don't want to."

max looked at her through the corner of her eyes, smiling as she grabbed her books. "i'm still thinking about it." she could see how arlo was, but decided not to bring it up.

"yeah, no. that's okay. that's cool." arlo mumbled, nodding her head frantically as she turned back around to face max. she was was about to say something else, but the sound of the bell stopped her from doing so.

"i'll see you later, okay?" max told her, closing her locker before she started to walk backwards.

"yeah." arlo smiled. with that, max turned around and started walking to her class. arlo watched her disappear around the corner, the girl letting her head fall back onto the locker she was leaning on. she looked back over to where dustin and lucas were at, seeing that they were still staring. she rolled her eyes, pushing herself off the locker and starting to make her way towards them. "let's go, or we're gonna be late."

"we totally wasn't watching you guys talk." dustin decided to inform, putting an innocent smile on his lips. this earned him a slap to the arm from lucas, the boy looking at him like he was crazy.

arlo hummed. "yeah, sure. and lucas didn't hit himself with his locker door when he looked away. let's go." she retorted, starting to walk down the hall.

"aw, man! you saw that?" lucas questioned, following the latina to their class.

"i think everyone saw it." arlo answered with a smile.

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 just rang, all of the students rushing out of their last class so that they could go home. arlo walked out of the class, struggling to stuff her books into her bag as she made her way to her locker. suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm, making her flinch at the sudden action. she looked up to see that the someone was max, the taller girl once again dragging arlo to her locker. the harrington girl didn't object, trying to zip her bag up, stumbling over her feet as she did so. when the two had finally gotten finally gotten to max's locker, arlo looked at her expectedly.

"so are we just gonna pretend that you didn't drag me all the way to your locker?" arlo questioned, putting her bag onto her back. "h - how did you even know what class i had?"

"i might've asked around." max mumbled, avoiding eye contact as she placed her books into her locker.

arlo hummed, nodding her head. she smiled as the words processed in her mind, a warm feeling appearing in her stomach. "you asked around about me?"

"it's not a big deal. i just wanted to give you an answer to your question before we left school." max explained, her freckled cheeks turning crimson. she saw arlo perk up out the corner of her eye, making her smile slightly. "i'd love to go trick-or-treating with you and your stalker friends."

"i promise, they're not stalkers. they just -" arlo started to defend them, her smile widening at max's answer. she would be able to spend more time with the girl. but she was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat, making her and max turn around to see dustin and lucas standing there with welcoming smiles.

"hi, max. arlo." dustin greeted, the latina sending him and lucas a nod with raised eyebrows. dustin's eyes went back to max. "i'm dustin, and this is -"

"lucas." the sinclair boy finished.

"yeah, i know. the stalkers." max nodded, putting emphasis on the last part just to annoy arlo. she smiled when she saw the shorter girl roll her eyes.

dustin and lucas shared a worried look before they face the strawberry blonde in front of them. "uh, no. actually. . . we weren't stalking you." lucas corrected, although his voice wavering made it obvious that it was a lie.

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

"yeah, for your safety." lucas continued.

dustin hummed. "there are a lot of bullies here."

"so many bullies, it's - it's c - crazy." lucas stuttered. arlo shook her head at her two best friends, bringing a hand up to her face before she dragged it down.

"is that why you're wearing proton packs?" max questioned, looking between the two boys.

"well, these don't function. but. . ." dustin informed, reaching behind his back to grab the trap that he made himself. arlo smiled slightly, knowing that he had worked hard on it. "i do have this handy-dandy little trap here. and look, it even opens and closes. look, look, look. . ." he continued, making it as a grin took over his features. "viola! it's cool, right?" his smile dropped when he saw max's unimpressed face. "no? okay." he mumbled, making arlo snort. "but, um. . . so, we were talking last night, and you're new here, so you probably don't have any friends to take you trick-or-treating -"

arlo turned to look at max, her eyebrows furrowed. "am i invisible? am - am i not here?" the taller girl didn't answer, but she smiled from arlo's sarcasm.

"- and you're scared of bullies, so we were thinking that it would be okay if you come with us." dustin finished, sending arlo a small glare. the harrington girl simply stuck her tongue out, earning a nudge from lucas. she nudged him back, the boy wincing.

"it'd be okay?" max repeated, looking over at arlo with furrowed eyebrows.

"yeah. our party's a democracy, and the majority voted you should come." dustin explained.

"i didn't realize it was such an honor to go trick-or-treating with you." max commented sarcastically, a smile pulling at her lips as she looked between the boys.

"yeah. i mean, we know where to get the full-sized candy bars. we figured you'd want in." dustin smiled, not picking up on the sarcasm that was dripping from max's tongue.

"that's presumptuous of you." max told him.

arlo snorted once again when she saw the confused expressions make their way onto the boys' faces. "yeah. totally. uh, so, um. . . you'll come?" dustin nodded, not sure what the word meant

instead of giving a verbal answer, max rolled her eyes before she slammed her locker shut. arlo yelped when she felt max start to drag her again, quickly sending lucas and dustin a wave as a blush crept onto her cheeks. lucas looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, confused on why the girl was blushing, but was still trying to figure out if the word presumptuous was a good thing or a bad thing.

"we're meeting at the maple street cul-de-sac at seven. that's seven on the dot!" dustin yelled after the two girls.

"can you slow down so i can walk properly?" arlo asked the freckled girl. max did what was asked of her, letting go of arlo so that she could walk next to her. "so now i don't have to tell you where we're meeting. that didn't just. . . make you not wanna go, right?"

"i'm still gonna go, but not because of the stalkers. i'm going because i told you, specifically you, that i would go." max told her, making a smile appear on arlo's lips.

"cool." she mumbled, nodding her head.

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daij speaks!
heyyyyyyyy. i'm loving the marlo scenes that im writing. omg. plus the boys being