𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 | 𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕕𝕚𝕖

chapter sixteen: monster mash

After they finished their breakfast, Mike, Will, Richie, and Eddie all paid the bill to the restaurant.

The whole experience was very strange.

The food was decent, a little soggy, but decent, but Jim and Jane wouldn't stop staring at the group. They seemed odd and suspicious, but no one decided to question it.

The main focus on the boys' minds was to get as close to California as they could in the shortest amount of time, which meant that they had to keep moving.

After paying the bill, Will spoke, "I totally forgot that today's Halloween!"

Mike gasped, "shit, we're gonna miss Dustin's party! We haven't even got our costumes yet!"

"Halloween?" Eddie said confusingly in a meek voice.

Mike, Will, and Richie all turned to face they boy where they stood, just outside the restaurant.

"Eddie," Richie spoke, "do you not know what Halloween is?"

Eddie shook his head, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment. "Forget I said anything."

Things just started to piece together in Richie's mind. How far had Sonia Kaspbrak's abuse gone? To the extent of shielding her son from being a kid.

Richie nodded to Mike and Will, gesturing for them to go to the car and wait for them.

"Eddie, you don't have to feel embarrassed." Richie said and tried to think. "Halloween is a holiday where you dress up scary and get candy for it."

"You get candy for being scary? I don't think I'd be very good at that." Eddie snickered, trying to ease the tension.

"Oh, you can be very scary sometimes." Richie nudged Eddie, "you snore loud. You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"Go to a Halloween party!"

"Okay, first of all," Eddie wanted to roll eyes, "we're literally on the run. And second of all, where on earth are we gonna find a Halloween party?"

"Well, if we wear good enough costumes, no one will recognise us! And you really underestimate me."

★

Eddie had decided that Illinois was his favourite destination thus far.

There was something about Illinois that had Eddie feeling nostalgic with tears brimming his eyes. The tears threatened to fall and stream like rivers down his face, but the confusion as to why this could happen forced them back into the ducts.

Richie disliked Illinois to some degree. Something about it made him uncomfortable as if he was called on by the teacher after having a daydream about what he was going to eat for dinner. It was awkward and weird.

Eddie and Richie would go down in history, but they didn't know it yet. They didn't know that every destination they hit, would be recorded in books, biographies, and even movies. But enough of that.

Finding a Halloween party to sneak into was surprisingly easy for Richie.

The hard part was finding Halloween costumes that were good enough to hide identities.

Not only would they have to hide Richie and Eddie's identities, but they also had to hide Mike's due to his identical appearance to his cousin.

All four boys hopped out of Mike's car in hopes of being able to have a bit of fun while not being themselves.

Not surprisingly, the shop had 'Monster Mash' playing on their small crackly radio.