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━━━━  " 📂 "

𝙋 𝘼 𝙍 𝘼 𝘿 𝙄 𝙎 𝙀

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SADIE KNEW SHE WOULD REGRET IT as soon as she spread the spare coat over her seat. She was too cautious for this sort of thing, didn't necessarily enjoy the feeling that came of being drunk out of her mind. Or maybe, seeing as she hasn't actually experienced it, she was just paranoid for what she would end up doing.

Either way, she knew that the Halloween party that Tina Murphy was hosting that year was in no way her favoured choice of destination for the night. Sweaty bodies, loud music, gross drinks mixed with the stuff that Carol's brother supplied to them. It just wasn't her.

But she had promised too many people that she would he there to eventually disappoint. Although that didn't mean she wanted a lot of mess to clean up and thus, she had to cover her seat with something before all the fake blood ruined it.

Her hand on the wheel, bloody corsage circling her wrist and a promise to her mom to not drink to much and certainly not drive if she did, Sadie pulled out of the curving driveway in front of her home and began her journey across the dark, often dimly-lit roads towards Elm Street.

She could hear the music as soon as she turned around the corner, eyes on the driveway completely littered with cars. Sadie only added to it, parking her car at the end of the group before pausing. She didn't know where to leave her keys, and as she climbed out of the car, adjusting the far too short dress than she usually wore, glad for the shorts she had pulled on underneath, she decided the best place would probably be in the small bag she brought, which she would leave in one of the many rooms of the large house that most certainly wouldn't be touched by other party-goers.

As the girl approached the house, she was hit by the overwhelmingly loud music, the scent of alcohol combined with sticky bodies and the sense of regret only grew. But she had gotten that far, so why turn back now. Slipping past a Wonder Woman and several nuns, Sadie climbed the steps onto the front porch and entered through the open door.

"Hey!" There was a shout in her ear and she jumped, turning to find a drink being pushed into her hand by a caveman who danced away without another word. She rose the solo cup to her nose and smelt it, expression wrinkling before taking a hesitant sip. It was disgusting.. but the burn of alcohol wasn't awful and in fact, welcomed, and she drank another mouthful, head tilting back as she slipped past groups of people before finding a small spare bedroom that would definitely be used for something else later that night, but wouldn't be touched otherwise.

Sadie stuffed her bag into one of the uppermost drawers of a dresser, leaving the room behind with the cup in her hand, eyes darting around to try and find Nancy, or Steve or-

"Sadie!" A slurred voice joined an arm around Sadie's bare shoulders. "You look amazing." A glance to the side saw a head of fluffy ginger hair but although she had instantly assumed it to be Vicki, when she actually looked at the girl properly she found the senior girl staring back at her.

"Carol?" Sadie stared, watching as she took another sip of her drink, before offering it to her. "No - no, I have my own.. although it's pretty empty."

"Then lets get you some more!" It seemed that Carol Perkins drunk was far nicer than when she wasn't, and Sadie was lead through a mass of bodies further into the house and found the kitchen. "Drew!" Carol shouted at a guy dressed as some sort of Ancient costume, complete with a bedsheet toga and a crown on leaves.

"I've never seen him before." Sadie frowned slightly as Carol held both their cups out, the guy filling it with more of the reddish-pink of the alcoholic concotion in the massive glass bowl.

"He's in my grade... he's a bit of a nerd!." Carol shouted, before taking their drinks back. "Come on - Tina's been waiting for you." They left Drew behind, chanting 'pure fuel' louder than any of the music playing. Sadie took a gulp of her drink, knowing that she definitely couldn't be sober if she was going to get through this. "Did I say.. you look great?" Carol asked, draped around her shoulders again.

But no sooner than she had been asked, Sadie was yanked from Carol's grasp and into Tina. "Oh - thanks." The Henderson called over her shoulder, before she found Tina taking her hands, leading her into the mass of bodies. "Tina-"

"You invited Billy." The brunette smiled, taking a sip of her drink. "You got Billy to come.. here." She slurred, beginning to pull Sadie's hands above her hand. "Let's dance."

"I don't know - I.." But that was the end of Sadie's protests as she threw caution into the wind and drained the rest of the cup, red plastic joining the mass of debris on the floor. It wasn't often that she let loose, but with a little alcohol in her system anything was possible, and she found the music, drink and atmosphere flooding her senses, propelling her further towards fun with an utter lack of the constant attention she usually forced onto her surroundings.

Sadie had never done this before. She had never thought of doing it before, knowing that her mom would worry and that she had to set a good example to her brother and the three boys that were her best friend. She had an reputation she had built up; she was smart, she was quiet, she was polite and friendly and a favourite of many teachers. In the past year that had changed quite drastically from what she was used to, but Sadie hadn't altered anything about herself other than perhaps being a little more outgoing and susceptible to the attention from Tina and other people of the same likes.

But not until now had she thought of doing this. Attending one of the parties she thought she would hate so much she would constantly stay away. And although she did hate them, maybe one or two would be fun. This certainly would be - or at least the punch made her think so.

Even if she denied invitation the next time something like this came up on the social calendar, it didn't mean she was going to waste her time at this one.

✧

Carol had disappeared after Tina had taken over ward of a tipsy Sadie, but she soon reappeared to inform the host that Tommy and Billy were planning on doing a keg stand - something that Sadie considered insanely stupid but would no longer contest against - and the brunette began to lead them both towards the door into the yard, continuing to dance amongst the press of bodies until they emerged.

"Come on!" Tina shouted, but Sadie paused.

"I think I'll get another drink." She shouted her reply, the Henderson having used the time that Tina had used to pull her outside to scan the room, eventually managing to find both Nancy and Steve, although Nancy was stood quite the distance from him and talking to Heather Holloway. "I'll be right there." She repeated, when Tina looked confused. "You go watch Tommy!" She confirmed.

Tina nodded before turning towards the cold air, stumbling as she stepped through the open doorframe.

Sadie turned around quickly, slipping back into the thick crowd. Her mind was only a little hazy, and she could still determine that it would be stupid for her to try and traverse around the edges of the constantly moving group. "Excuse me." She said, every now and again, with a volume that battled with the sound of the Madonna song currently playing. "Excuse- oh!"

She was almost by the edge of the crowd, just needing to get past the guy dressed as Danny Zuko, when his hand reaching out and pulled her closer, dancing up closer to her until she managed to yank her hand away and slip under his arm.

"Nancy - Nancy." Sadie managed to catch her friend's attention as Heather slunk away into the party, heading towards the drinks once more. "Hi, Nance. You and Steve look great."

"Thanks." Her voice was a little dull, glancing over to where her boyfriend was stood a few feet away. "We worked on the costumes for months... took me ages to find this top."

"Well it paid off. You look good." Sadie confirmed, a smile on her face as Steve met her eyes for a moment before turning back to Nancy, adjusting the straps and neckline as it dipped slightly uncomfortably down, running her thumb below the pink satin and pulling it up. "Is something wrong?" She asked, when she saw the dejected look on the Wheeler's face. "Nance?"

"Everyone forgot but me and you. They're going to keep looking for her until the day they die because they don't know." Nancy spat bitterly. "But we do. We know. We know and we can't tell them for our own protection."

"Nancy." Sadie looked more than disapproving. "You know it's not just us right? What about Dustin and Mike - they've already been through enough after all the questioning about El. What about our parents? What about Steve and-"

"Well he just wants to have fun, so he's obviously not worried about being killed or put in prison so who cares, right?" Nancy shook her head. "We're just being stupid teenagers for the night, right?"

The blonde's eyes flickered over to Steve, Nancy's words echoing his own from hours before. "Nancy, it's one night. Is it so bad if we just.. let loose? I mean - I never let loose like ever, and just having fun feels good. Better than-"

"Well it's nice that you're the life of party, but I don't think that's my thing. And I didn't think it was your's either." Nancy turned away, ending the conversation on a more than bitter note.

No matter what Sadie had said about her having fun, nor how much she had drunk thus far, she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling that came from Nancy's out-of-character words. "Fine.. if you want to be like that." She muttered to herself, shoulders raising in a shrug as she met Steve's eyes once more. Moving away from the pair, she decided she wouldn't be dealling with whatever the hell that was until the next day, when they were all sober and thinking coherently.

There wasn't time to waste to get another drink for herself, the chanting outside of the house only getting louder and louder before they reached the thirties and came to a stop and without waiting Sadie stepped out into the yard, passing a few people before coming to rest against a wooden pillar.

Across from her, Tina was jumping up and down and waving, an action which Sadie returned quietly, watching as Tommy H and one of his cronies (some idiot called Jason) held Billy Hargrove - who was, rather unsurprisingly, going shirtless yet had a leather jacket pulled over his shoulders and the same silver chain hanging around his neck - up over the keg.

And well... Sadie was wrong. She did very much care about the outcome of keg stands after all, and did care about how stupid a thing they were to do. Sure, the quick intake of alcohol almost made it quicker to be hit by the feeling that came with it, but it wasn't a good idea at all, and she wouldn't be afraid to speak on it.

The chanting that announced the seconds that Billy had been upside down for pushed through the veil of drunkness that removed so many of the blonde's usual worries and only caused her fingers to tighten around the empty cup in her hand that she so easily discarded onto the floor. It was a bad idea, there wasn't a question of that.

There was a cheer as Billy was set upright again, after the climbing numbers had reached forty-two, Sadie shaking her head as she watched him shake his head, having easily swallowed the beer he had been chugging.

When Tommy finally let go of the shoulder he was so enthusiastically slapping, Sadie found their eyes meeting and the small bubble she had found herself in against that wooden pillar popped by the aproaching boy. The crowd was still cheering but all too suddenly there was a head around her waist, leather easily felt through the thin satin.

"Do you know how bad that is for you?" She asked, gaze passing through the crowd, over the metal keg and up to meet his eyes. "Like really bad."

"I don't care, princess." Billy was already feeling the beer flooding his veins and senses, an increased euphoric numbness boosting his confidence. Sadie's eyebrows raised. "Like really don't care. Your boyfriend - although I've heard otherwise - didn't let us finish our conversation earlier."

She frowned for a moment, trying to remember through the haze of enhanced senses over the past hour, since arriving at the party "Steve isn't my boyfriend. And we didn't." She replied.

"Could've fooled me. So.. he's just a friend, huh? King Steve, ready to protect his princess from the big bad wolf?" He jeered, so close to her face that the smell of alcohol, cigarettes and cologne easily permeated her senses, yet she wasn't protesting.

"Steve's dating my best friend." Sadie shifted on her feet, so glad that she had worn her sneakers like Dustin had advised. She definitely would have broken both ankles and perhaps even her entire leg by now if not. "I can protect myself anyway." The self defensive barrier that seemed to become a reoccuring safety blanket to many of the times when the Henderson seemed to be forced into proving she could fend for herself - crucially without a boyfriend. "Speaking of, I don't think it's a good idea for me to help you."

"You are, without a doubt, the best person for the role." If she hadn't figured it out already, Billy Hargrove was one hell of a sweet-talker. Even if it seemed so out of character for him to be complimentary or nice, he for sure knew when to turn it on and when to leave it be. Even when he was slowly growing drunker and drunker. That was another thing; he could handle his alcohol. "So, Princess, why the hell not?"

She folded her arms over her chest, noticing how his eyes flickered down to the neckline of her dress only briefly before meeting her eyes once more. "You almost knocked my brother over with your car.. maybe seven hours ago?"

Billy stared blankly at her. "I almost ran over your brother?"

"I told you about him, although you seem to have forgotten. Eighth grade, definitely knows your step-sister, curly hair and wearing a Ghostbusters costume. Riding a bike on his way home from school." Sadie snapped. The cold air was most definitely sobering her up, and thank God, because this conversation needed to be had. "Yes, and unlike you and your step-sister, family means something to me and I'd rather that Dustin didn't end up six feet under."

His expression changed from somewhat tense and confused to easygoing and far more relaxed in seconds. "You need to lighten up, Henderson. I was teaching her a lesson."

"Do I really?"

"Come on, let's get you a drink." Sadie didn't have room to complain as the arm around her waist swept her forward, but all in all, she wasn't necessarily against it and didn't mind so much when he was leading her through the crowds of people with more care than she had allowed herself, especially when reaching the punch bowl.

Billy found a clean cup, filling it with the mixture before holding it out to her. "Promise you won't kill my brother with your car?" She asked. He extended his arm further, the reddish-orange liquid swirling as she took it and took a sip.

"So you'll help me." Billy's eyes flashed, his hand already on her's and pulling her towards the door again, already reaching for a cigarette. He managed to get her around the crowd with ease, Sadie's gaze flashing around the room for a moment and finding Steve's gaze already on her, the same emotions that had been there when he pulled her away for the first time earlier that day.

Before she could reassure him, however, Billy was leading her back through the door and she once again praised her brother for her choice in shoes amongst a haze of other compliments she had for the curly-haired middle schooler, finding Billy leading her to one of the quieter areas; the end of the back porch, where the noise of people had been limited to a few metres away.

He lit his cigarette quickly, taking a drag only moments later. This time he didn't hesitate to hand it towards her and feeling a little drunk off of the attention he was giving her, Sadie took it, blonde hair tumbling down the red-stained dress as she blew clouds of smoke out into the dark night. There was a certain point where she knew that the combination would do her no good and she would realise that, but it was a night of firsts and onlys, and she wished to relish in it whilst it lasted.

She leant back on a pillar, mirroring her prior actions as she looked over him, handing him back his cigarette and instead trading it for a sip of her drink. It was disgusting, and she couldn't understand why she had been sipping on it for the entirety of her night. "Why aren't you interested in Tina?" Sadie asked before she could think properly.  "Or Vicki?"

"So the shit she mixed in the bowl is some sort of truth serum." Billy's eyebrows raised. Clearly, he wasn't used to being asked such questions and quite frankly, he couldn't understand why she was asking that. From what he could see, Sadie Henderson received far more attention than she believed.

"I'm not being truthful." Sadie waved the accusation away with extravagant waves of her hands "I'm just curious. Why? Even after I said.. shit after you almost killed my brother." She paused, eyebrows furrowing. "No - no.. that was completely justified."

For a moment they were silent, the noise of the party also seeming to come to a stop, a song playing but no longer joined by the chatter  and cheers that went hand in hand with it. Sadie leaned forward, oh-so-slightly to try and see what it was, only to find that in her direct view was Nancy and Steve facing each other, a stain seeping through the white of her sweater.

"S'pose it is." Billy continued to smoke despite the distraction, his eyes across the yard from where the guy who he thought to be the one behind the counter at the Family Video two nights before. "I'm not interested in them because they go all giggly and shit."

"Coy."

"What?"

"The word is coy." Sadie had somehow managed to procure the right word through mangled drunken thoughts. Billy looked away from the guy, having noticed his gaze on Sadie slowly transferring over to the one who was actually returning his look.

"What?"

"They go all coy." Sadie continued. "That's the word for it.."

He was staring at her now - Billy that was. The cashier guy had looked away embarrassed once he realised he had been caught. Billy had never really considered that she could be anything more than his first hook-up at Hawkins. She had potential to be - girls like her tended to be fun - but there was a little more to it than Tina or Vicki, who he would no doubt move onto at a later date.

"Your fake blood smeared." He pointed out, placing the cigarette between her slightly parted lips to reach for the spot on her forehead where the red stickiness had begun to merge with her hair. "That's gonna be a bitch to get out in the morning."

"Yeah." Sadie let out a sigh, the roll of paper now hanging between her middle and index finger. "I know. This dress is ruined  too. I only got it for tonight but.."

"It makes you look good." Now Billy wasn't really in the business of fishing out compliments, but after all he was drunk and anyone weakness could be a pretty girl smoking in front of him. "Yeah. You do." He nodded, adjusting his seat before hearing his name being called.

It was Tommy, Sadie turning away when she noticed the freckled face. Carol might seem to like her as a drunk, but her boyfriend was still on the edge. "Go." She handed him back the cigarette.

Billy didn't hesitate to stand up, adjusting the leather jacket around his shoulders. "Looks like your boyfriend is coming for you." He said, flicking the rest of the cigarette under the slats of wood before heading towards his friend, clapping none other than Steve Harrington on the shoulder as he passed, brief words exchanged before he shoved his shoulder and disappeared into the house.

It appeared like Sadie wouldn't be alone for long.