CHAPTER FIVE.
FRIENDS? FRIENDS.

☆ミ ☆彡

AS THE NIGHT DRAGGED ON, Challan could feel herself growing tired. She just wanted to go home. Max's arm had slipped from hers a while ago and the redhead was now talking to Lucas about something Challan wasn't listening to. Instead, she kept her attention on all of the candy she had accumulated in her bag. She didn't even feel like eating it anymore.

A nudge to her arm caused her to look over at Dustin, who had what seemed to have an apologetic glint in his eyes. "Hi," he said quietly.

"Hey," Challan mumbled.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I said. Sometimes the words that come into my head just fall out of my mouth before I can even think to stop them. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything. Sorry," he apologized.

Challan sighed and shook her head, "I overreacted, it's fine."

"No. If anything, you underreacted. I probably deserved a lot more than I got. If I thought you were a witch, w-which I don't by the way, I would have thought you would hex me or something," he said.

She frowned, "So because I didn't hex you, you don't think I'm a witch?"

Dustin began to stutter, his eyes avoiding her own as he tried formulating words. She shook her head lightly with a breathy laugh, "I'm kidding."

A sigh of relief escaped his lips and he laughed nervously. "You know, I didn't think you'd be like this," he admitted.

She furrowed her eyebrows, "Like what?"

He shrugged, "You know, relaxed and kind of cool."

"You think I'm cool?" She questioned, that familiar feeling of disbelief swelling within her. She hadn't done anything that warranted being cool, why had two different people call her cool within a short timeframe?

"Yeah I mean, you like the Addams Family which is insanely cool in my book," Dustin said, gesturing to her Halloween costume. "I'm sure you have other qualities that make you cool. Maybe we can hang out sometime and get to know each other. You and Max, me and my party. It'll be fun," he suggested.

"Yeah, sure, I guess," Challan said and Dustin grinned.

"Cool."

Challan smiled, feeling better than she had a few minutes ago. Maybe this night would end on a good note after all.

She had spoken too soon.

A scream startled the two out of their conversation and their heads turned quickly to see Mike running and Will nowhere in sight. Dustin and Lucas were quick to run after him as Challan and Max looked at each other in confusion before following after the boys.

They ran to the back of a house, running down some steps as Mike was crouched in front of a frightened-looking Will.

"Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed as he hurried down the stairs.

"Is he okay?" Lucas asked in concern as they all stopped in front of the two.

"I don't know," Mike said before turning, his eyes landing on Challan unthinkingly. A look of accusation crossed his face as his gaze landed on her. He pointed a finger at her, "Did you do something?" He wouldn't admit it to her face, but when Will had initially gone missing, he too was one of the people who thought she and her family had something to do with it. He knows now that she hadn't, but seeing her there brought those thoughts back and he just wasn't thinking rationally, too concerned about Will.

"M-me?" Challan's hand pressed against her chest, bewildered by his question.

"Yeah, you. What did you do?" He asked.

"Don't be an asshole, Mike," Max snapped, eyes narrowed. Mike ignored her, his eyes still glued to Challan's form.

"I didn't do anything! Are you serious right now?" She exclaimed, her annoyance returning. This was unbelievable.

"I-it wasn't her. It wasn't her," Will said so quietly, that they almost didn't hear him. Will knew it wasn't her. It was something else. Something sinister. Something from a place he never ever wanted to return to. And deep down, Mike knew it wasn't her too. He just didn't want it to be what he was thinking it was. He was almost hoping that she had done something, thinking that it would somehow have been better if it wasn't related to the Upside Down. Maybe he was right.

Mike turned back to Will, "I'm gonna get you home, okay? I'm gonna get you home. Hold on."

Dustin went to help Mike lift Will off the floor, but Mike pushed him off. "I got him. I got him."

Dustin stared on in disbelief, "Mike?"

"Keep trick-or-treating. I'm bored anyways," Mike said with finality before walking away with Will. Challan had no intentions to continue trick-or-treating, Mike's accusation being the icing on the cake. She was over this and was going home.

"What's wrong with him?" Max asked the two remaining boys. They just looked at each other and said nothing.

Challan began making her way back up the stairs.

"Hey! Where you going?" Max asked, running to catch up with her, the two boys following.

"I'm going home," Challan said, eyes beginning to well up with tears.

Max looked down at her watch and then back at the shorter girl, "But it's not even 9:30 yet."

Challan shrugged her shoulders, "I'm tired." Max grabbed her arm and turned her around. The redhead's face fell as she saw Challan on the verge of tears. She turned back to Lucas and Dustin.

"I'm going to walk her home," Max informed. The two nodded, a chorus of 'Good nights' following as Max took ahold of Challan's hand and began pulling her in the direction of where her home was.

"I'm sorry," Max spoke after a moment of silence. Challan quietly wiped a fallen tear from her face and shrugged.

"For what?" Challan asked.

"For tonight. I completely ruined your night. It would've been better if we didn't include the boys. O-or if I hadn't asked you to come trick-or-treating with me in the first place. I'm sorry," she explained.

Challan was silent for a moment before she shook her head. "It wasn't your fault. I had fun before all of this stuff at the end. I'm glad you asked me to come. So, thanks. For inviting me. You didn't have to."

Max squeezed Challan's hand, which was still in her own. "I wanted to," she affirmed, a smile dancing across her lips as she felt herself relax, knowing that her new friend wasn't upset with her.

The two continued to Challan's house in a comfortable silence.

••••

When Challan had gotten home that night, her parents wanted to know all about her time trick-or-treating with Max. Challan only told them the good stuff that happened, and that she had fun. Her parents were thrilled at the fact that she was making friends (plural!) but kept that to themselves. Just saying that they were happy she had fun.

Challan had gone straight to bed after that, not even eating any of her candy. She didn't have an appetite for candy, still upset about how the night had ended. She had been so excited to go trick-or-treating with someone for the first time. She wished that Dustin and Mike hadn't ruined her night. And while Dustin had apologized, he had already upset her and Mike just made it ten times worse.

The next school day, Challan had ridden her bike to school. This is what she did on school days when she didn't want to ride the bus and was mainly only driven to school when her parents were available and willing.

She took off her helmet, locked her bike to the bike rack, and headed into the building and to her locker. After placing her helmet inside, she stared into her locker, an empty look on her face. She absolutely dreaded going to school and it being five times a week made it worse. She just wanted to be at peace in that town and it didn't seem like she was ever going to get it.

A hand slammed her locker shut right in front of her. She quickly jerked her head back to avoid being hit, hearing giggling. A shoulder slammed into her own, shoving her into the lockers. "Watch it, witch!" Challan took in a heavy breath, pushing herself off of the lockers and turning back to hers.

She retwisted the combination into it and pulled it open again, quickly grabbing what she needed for her first class before closing the locker. As soon as she turned, however, her books were smacked out of her hands and scattered onto the floor. "Whoops," Lilly shrugged, laughing with Abigail and her other friends. Abigail kicked away the notebook Challan had been reaching for.

Challan sighed, tears pricking in her eyes. "My bad," Abigail taunted.

"What the fuck is your problem?" A new voice exclaimed. Challan looked up to see Max marching up to them, Lucas right behind her. The curly-haired girl stood up fully.

Abigail and her friends turned to face the redhead as Max came to a stop in front of them. "What? It was an accident," Abigail defended, a faux sincerity in her tone though a smirk was on her face.

"Didn't look like it to me," Max snapped back.

"It's not my problem if you can't see clearly," Abigail retorted.

Max stepped up closer to the blonde, a glare settling into her features. "Why don't you fuck off and leave Challan alone," she said.

Abigail's face hardened, "You really wanna do this, Maxine? Defend her?"

Max looked over at Challan and nodded, turning back to Abigail. "Yeah, I do. She's my friend." Challan found herself smiling.

Abigail scoffed, "Friend? Yeah, we'll see about that." The blonde turned around and walked away, her friends following.

Max turned to Challan, "You okay?" The concern in her eyes seemed sincere.

"Yeah," Challan replied.

Max then turned to Lucas, "Get her books." Lucas nodded hurriedly, snatching them off the ground as Max picked up Challan's notebook and some of the papers that had fallen out of it. Once they had gathered everything, they handed the items back to her.

"Thank you," she said, taking her books and notebook from the two before turning back to Max. "You didn't have to do that."

"Uh, yeah I did. I wasn't just gonna stand by and let them do that to you," the redhead said.

Challan sent her a smile, "Well, thank you."

Max smiled back, "What are friends for?" Challan's smile widened. The three began walking down the hall and to class, Challan standing in the middle of them.

"What you did, was so awesome," Lucas said to Max and Challan nodded in agreement.

"Someone had to do it," Max shrugged.

"Yeah but no one has ever had the guts to stand up to Abigail Benson. I mean, that was legendary," Lucas continued. He stared at Max in awe and Challan's eyebrow quirked up curiously. It seemed like he had a crush on Max. She could be wrong though.

Max merely shrugged again. Lucas turned to Challan, "You sure you're okay though? Abigail can be pretty brutal."

She sent him a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine. You get used to it."

Max scoffed, a deep frown on her face, "You shouldn't have to get used to that." She shook her head, her anger rising. "But don't worry. We're friends now, I'll make sure she doesn't mess with you again."

The three walked into Mr. Clarke's classroom. And for the first time ever, Challan hadn't been the first one in the classroom.

••••

Max is the ultimate Challan defender, we love to see it. Please vote, comment, and support, it gives me the motivation to actually write.