WORD COUNT : 2.2k

As it turns out, Owen and Barb got along perfectly as lab partners. The two of them had aced every experiment and assignment they were given since Owen had arrived in town. Mr. Kaminsky had even commented on their excellent teamwork, solidifying that it wasn't just them who thought they were fantastic. In fact, if there were such a thing as chemistry lab soulmates, those two would surely qualify. Owen had even thought about asking Barb to hang out outside of a lab setting – hell, outside of a school setting altogether. It was pretty rare for her to get along with anyone as well as she had with Barb, which intrigued the pink-haired girl immensely.

Owen's hands were stuffed deep within her jacket pockets as she stepped out of the high school. Her eyes searched for at least one of her brothers through all of the students rushing around the parking lot at the end of the day. Often, Law would be too busy talking to someone to realize that the bus came and went. As a result, she had to practically drag him onto the yellow hellhole with her just to make sure he made it home. However, her attention was caught by Barb headed over to her car through the groups of people. Owen hurried over to her friend, deftly dipping in between students to get to her.

"Hey, Barb," Owen breathed, already gasping for air by the time she reached her friend's car. She held up her index finger as a pause, her breath coming out in thick huffs. Barb couldn't help but laugh at how winded the short jog made the other girl. Once Owen finally caught her breath, she plastered a cheesy smile on her face and placed her hands on her hips proudly. "What are you doing tonight?"

Barb rolled her eyes animatedly, returning to unlocking her car. "Nothing. I still haven't told Nancy, but my parents said 'no way' about the party at Steve's tonight." Owen's head tilted in confusion that must have been evident on her features. "The Halloween party that Nancy ditched me for," she reminded her friend, chuckling softly. The realization of what day it was struck Owen at that point, having completely missed the fact that such a holiday snuck up on her like that. Clearly, all the hustle and bustle of moving and starting school so soon after was getting to her.

"Totally didn't mean to rub it in like that. I was genuinely just going to ask you to hang out," Owen swore, hands up in defense. Barb laughed openly at the mistake, tossing her bag into the back seat. "I mean, I'm down to do whatever it is you and Nancy would do on Halloween," she continued, shrugging as she leaned her back on the side of the car. "If it requires trick-or-treating, though, I will say that I don't have a costume on hand," she added, admittedly a little disappointed over missing out on any potential free candy.

"Wait, you're actually interested in doing our Halloween tradition?" A true, happy grin tugged at the edges of Barb's lips at the thought of being able to participate in the holiday after all.

"I mean, I guess so. Unless you guys do some absolutely insane shit every year. In which case, I may have to think twice about it," Owen chuckled. She already knew that Barb was hardly one to participate in anything that may be deemed as "insane". And truthfully, she was okay with that as long as it meant having a solid friend to spend time with.

"No, nothing insane. Just pigging out on some comfort food and watching scary movies at my house," the redheaded girl assured, already trying to figure out which movies Owen would want to watch out of her family's selection. "I can give you a ride, if you want. We can head over to Benny's and grab something to eat."

Owen's eyes flashed with excitement at the thought of being able to avoid the dreaded school bus. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the damn thing pulling into the parking lot, sure that her brothers were looking for her. She then glanced back at Barb, her lips pursed sadly. "I think I've got to ride the bus with my brothers, but thanks." Glancing at her father's old, likely incorrect watch that clung to her wrist, she added, "I can get to Benny's at around 5."

Barb motioned towards the backseat of her car, laughing lightly. "I'm pretty sure I can fit your brothers back here just fine. I'll just give you all a ride home and then you and I can go to Benny's together," she insisted. The small act of kindness caused Owen's eyes to widen comically.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, totally sure. But you better get them before the bus leaves," Barb chuckled, pointing towards the school.

With a nod and an animated salute, Owen took off again towards the school bus, seeing the last of the kids loading onto the bus. She stopped a couple feet away from the side of the bus, eyes scanning the windows and looking for those telltale Webb curls. It didn't take much searching, before Law made her job easy and stuck his head out of the window to speak to her.

"You know you've gotta be on the bus in order for you to get home, right?" Law shouted to her, grinning from ear to ear at his own joke. Owen rolled her eyes at the sarcasm, shaking her head.

"Yeah, well... You enjoy that bus ride home. I'll be sitting nice and comfy in my friend, Barb's car. Her nice car with two extra seats..." Owen trailed off, but her brothers were already scrambling off of the bus. However, when they arrived in front of her, there was one more joining them than the usual two. There was some kid standing in between the two boys with long, dark hair and an almost sickly complexion.

"This is Frank. We met at lunch the other day," Law explained, shrugging. He smiled tiredly at Owen, waving towards her despite her staring confusedly at him. She looked him up and down, eyeing him closely and critically for just a moment.

"Frank, you wouldn't happen to be in sixth grade, would you?" Owen questioned him, eyebrows furrowing in suspicion.

The boy shook his head, glancing at Law nervously. "No ma'am. Just started tenth grade," he replied quickly.

Owen looked him over once more, nodding in approval. "Okay, good enough," she concluded, whirling around on her heel to head back towards Barb. "Let's hope this kid can fit in between you guys in the backseat."

✯

A burger that was practically the size of Owen's head sat in the middle of a red plastic basket on the table in front of her. The burger was surrounded by perfectly golden brown french fries that Owen had thoughtfully drizzled in ketchup. Gordon and Law would absolutely lose their minds if they could see the size of her meal right now. After all, they were probably at home having a steaming plate of Gordon's signature Hamburger Helper, instead. The thought of getting to rub it in their faces later widened her smile even more as she glanced up at the girl across the table.

"I swear I'm gonna do more than just stare at it. I'm just kind of speechless," Owen chuckled, finally attempting to get a good grip on the burger. "You're stuck with me for the rest of the evening no matter how hideous I look while eating this, though," she warned teasingly, leaning in and taking a dramatically large first bite.

Barb mimicked the salute Owen had given her earlier in the parking lot, already a couple bites into her own burger and her mouth too full to reply. The girls ate in comfortable silence for a while, too wrapped up in devouring all the food in their baskets to chat much. There would be time to talk later during movie reruns, anyway. Once Barb finally looked up from the fries on her plate, she couldn't help but openly giggle at her friend across the table. A mixture of ketchup and mustard were smeared at the corners of Owen's mouth, napkins clearly long forgotten during their meal. The pink-haired girl's eyes snapped up at the sound of laughter from the other side of the booth.

"I warned you this would be bad! Just for the record!" Owen laughed along anyway, her hands scrambling to grab some napkins out of the silvery container. She wiped her face with a wad of them, the both of them still unable to hold back their giggles. As the two girls held their stomachs in unrelenting laughter, Owen was filled with a kind of elation she wasn't sure that she had ever experienced before. For the first time in her life, she felt like a regular teenage girl – a teenage girl with an actual friend, sharing a meal, and having fun together after school.

Owen couldn't imagine that that party with Steve could be any more fun than right here in this moment with Barb.

✯

"God, this part always gets me," Barb mumbled, her voice muffled through the pillow that she was holding in front of her face. The girls had aptly chosen the original Halloween movie to watch last – somewhat of a finale to their evening together. The movie's protagonist and final girl, Laurie leaned against the doorframe of the room containing a presumably dead Michael Myers. In preparation, Barb ducked her whole face behind the pillow just as the masked villain eerily sat up just over Laurie's shoulder. Even Owen leaned into the girl beside her for some emotional support, teeth clenched as Michael slowly approached Laurie from behind.

One glance over at Barb confirmed that she was, in fact, watching again. Her eyes were peeking just over the top of the edge of the pillow, watching timidly as Laurie and Michael fought on screen. Owen pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Her chin rested atop her knees, the closest thing she had to a comfort pillow at the moment.

"Thank you for coming tonight, by the way," she murmured, so quietly that Owen had to glance over just to make sure she had even actually spoken. The sound of gunshots coming from the television also likely had a hand in masking the hushed gratuity.

"Thanks for sharing you and Nancy's tradition with me. I've had a lot of fun," Owen replied, a gentle smile taking shape on her lips. Fully prepared to leave it at that, she returned her gaze to the television just in time to hear the iconic Halloween theme song play over the final montage scene.

"Sometimes it feels like Nancy and I are growing into two completely different people. Or like, maybe she's the only one who is actually growing up, but I am exactly like I was when she and I met," Barb confided, brows knitted together in a frown. Such information caused Owen to look back over at her again, chewing at the inside of her cheek.

"I mean, Nancy has a boyfriend and she goes to parties on Halloween now. Meanwhile, I'm still wanting to do the traditions that we came up with when we were twelve," she continued, lips screwed into a grimace. Again, she rested her chin on the pillow in her arms, shoulders slumping. "Do you ever just feel like you are way behind everybody you know? Like, you just aren't hitting those social milestones as easily as everyone else is?" Her eyes met Owen's worriedly, not knowing how much her words resounded with the pink-haired girl.

"If it tells you anything... This is my first time actually going to a friend's house. Like, ever," Owen admitted, offering a sheepish smile. She chose not to dwell on Barb's shocked expression following her confession. "So, the fact that you were having these nights with Nancy at age twelve and beyond just confirms that you have always been totally able to hit those social milestones that you mentioned."

"Maybe at twelve. But recently, I've just felt like Nancy has been... pulling away, I guess? Almost like she would rather hang out with Steve, Tommy, and Carol than hang out with me," she sighed, realizing that that was the first time she had actually vocalized that feeling. Seeing the fear of abandonment written all over Barb's face, Owen leaned towards her, pressing their shoulders together. Such a simple movement was all she knew to offer as solace while someone was potentially losing a long-term friend.

"Well, if Nancy would rather hang out with all of those airheads over you, then there is something deeply wrong with her. It's definitely not because of anything you did or didn't do," she reassured, absolutely confident in her assessment of the situation. Barb was an excellent friend, as far as Owen could tell, and anyone who couldn't see that was probably dropped on their head as a baby. The girls sat in silence for a bit after that, watching the flickering of pixels at the end of the Halloween VHS tape. Finally, Barb looked back over at her with a bittersweet smile. Owen could see that the smile didn't quite reach her eyes, though.

"Thank you for being here, Owen."

"Anytime, Barb."