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AMARA MADE SURE SHE HAD EVERY TEXTBOOK she required for the school day in her backpack, folding her costume and placing it in the middle pocket. Robin had no band practice that day, meaning they could immediately leave school for her house and do their homework before getting ready for the party together. Amara still wasn't sure if she wanted to go, but was glad that Robin would be attending with her.
She unhooked her calendar from where it hung on the bulletin board above her desk. Concealed behind it was the chart she had created after moving to Hawkins two years ago, all for the purpose of making it through high school without anyone noticing something off about her. She had already failed her most important objective by becoming friends with Robin, Jonathan, and Nancy, but Robin also risked being shunned because of who she was, and her friendship with Nancy and Jonathan was mainly contrived from their shared experiences. The few friends Amara had made in Hawkins were so dear to her that she barely gave a shit about that goal anymore, but attending a party was a bigger hazard; more than a quarter of the school would be there, and one wrong move would lead to the entire town declaring her a freak in a matter of hours.
She was silent as she occupied herself with her cereal. Scott was reading the Hawkins Post as per usual while Eurydice made coffee for herself and her husband. Kevin was in the midst of a phone call with one of his friends from college, his breakfast left untouched as he spoke rather loudly for someone who had awoken only a half-hour ago.
"What do you mean 'you're fifty dollars short'?" Kevin exclaimed into the phone, earning a shush from his mother. "The concert's in three days and you just realized this?!"
"I'm sorry man, my brother needed money for a new walkman and he still hasn't paid me back," came the response. Amara wasn't sure which of Kevin's friends was on the line, but he had mentioned having three close friends. The four of them had been raising money to see Queen live for months and had settled on a concert in Chicago on the 3rd of November.
"Okay... okay," Kevin muttered, attempting to keep his voice down. "We'll figure something out today, but we're running out of time. I gotta go, I'll see you later."
"Bye, Kev," the person on the other end said before the line fell silent. Kevin quickly positioned the phone back on the hook before nabbing his backpack and blueberry muffin and bolting out the door, in too much of a hurry to say goodbye to his family.
"Well that was an interesting start to Halloween," Eurydice remarked, handing Scott his coffee before sitting back down. It was only then that she noticed how unusually quiet her daughter was as she mushed her fruit loops into a pulp. "You okay, sweetie?"
Amara hadn't told Eurydice about the party. As far as her mother was concerned, she would be celebrating Halloween by watching scary movies with her best friend and eating more candy than her dentist would approve, not attending a party ripe with liquor and mischief. Part of it was because Amara didn't think Eurydice would allow her to go, but she herself didn't think going was the right decision. The only reason she wanted to go was to keep Nancy company, and even then she had been unwilling to unless Robin joined her.
