Crush Culture [M.Wheeler]

[23] HALLOWEEN

The boys cheerfully bike to school on their ghostbusters costumes, excited for Halloween. While Nori struggles to bike in her long, flowing, orange dress, which she wasn't even sure why she was wearing in the first place, though Mike insisted.

"Who you gonna call?" Dustin, Lucas, and Mike sing while placing their bikes in the bike rack. "Ghost busters!" Will exclaims, joining in from behind them.

"Guys, it's really hard to bike in a dress, you know." She says in exhaustion, pulling up. "Who am I again?"

"You're Dana Barrett." Dustin responds. She nods, then pauses. "Am I supposed to know who that is?" She asks, squinting her eyes.

"You're Venkman's girlfriend." Lucas smirks, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, pointing towards his name tag. "Woah! Woah!" Mike cuts in.

"What?" Lucas asks. "Why are you Venkman?" Mike points to his name tag. "Because I'm Venkman." Lucas states. "No, I'm Venkman." Mike argues.

"Why can't there just be two Venkmans?" Will attempts to reason with the boys. "Because there's only one Venkman in real life. We planned this months ago." Mike states.

"Oh, please, the only reason you wanted to be Venkman is so that you could make Tiny your girlfriend." Lucas crosses his arms while Nori stands behind him uncomfortably.

Mike glances back at the girl, then sighs. "I'm Venkman, Dustin's Stantz, you're Egon, and you're Winston." Mike says, pointing to Dustin, Will, And Lucas.

"I specifically didn't agree to Winston." Lucas denies. "Yes, you did." Mike says. "I don't think he did." Will chimes in, shaking his head.

"No one of wants to be Winston, man." Lucas adds while Dustin agrees. "What's wrong with Winston?"

"What's wrong with Winston?" Lucas repeats. "He joined the team super late, he's not funny, and he's not even a scientist!" Lucas explains. "Sounds a lot like Dustin." Nori comments, causing the boy to flip her off.

"Yeah, but he's still cool." Mike states. "If he's cool, then you be Winston, or do you not want me to steal your girlfriend?" Lucas smirk, gesturing towards Nori.

"Lucas, cut it out." Nori sighs. "I can't be Winston!" Mike speaks up, drawing the attention away from that topic. "Why not?"

"B-Because..." Mike stutters. "Because you're not black?" Lucas mocks. "I didn't say that!" Mike yells. "You thought it."

While they continue to argue, Dustin turns to look at the school bus, noticing something. "Guys... Guys! Guys!" He shouts.

No one was wearing a costume. Not one single person. "Why is no one else wearing costumes?" Dustin asks. "You guys brought extra clothes, right?" Nori looks to them.

"No." Will shakes his head. "Well, sucks to suck, I guess." Nori chuckles, walking off. "Wait! Where are you going?" Mike calls out.

"I brought a few magazines! I have clothes!" She states. The boys watch her leave in shock. "I don't know how she does it, but she manages to scare me and amaze me more everyday." Dustin comments, the other boys agreeing.

***

"When do people make these decisions?" Dustin asks as the five of them walk through the halls, Nori in her regular clothes. "Everyone dressed up last year." Will nods.

"It's a conspiracy, I'm telling you." Dustin mutters while the other kids continue to stare at them. "Just be cool." Mike adds.

"Who you gonna call? The nerds!" Someone sings out, laughing along with their friends. Nori can't help but chuckle, causing the others to send her a nasty glare. "What? It's funny." She defends.

"Hey, did you really make me Dana Barrett because—" Nori begins while she stands beside Mike at his locker. "No. Nothing like that. It's just— she's one of the cooler girl characters so.." Mike trails off, denying it.

"Oh. Okay. Well, just so you know, I don't mind either way." She admits, coughing to cover up her nervousness. "Cool. That's.. cool." Mike sends her an awkward smile.

"Oh, and here." She says, handing mike a pair of pants and a shirt. "What's this?" He asks, looking down at the clothes. "I got them when I was changing." She explains. "Got them?"

"Yeah. So you wouldn't have to walk around in your ghostbusters costume all day." She nods, flashing him the magazine. "I transformed into this guy and took the clothes, then turned back." She adds.

"You can do that? Don't the clothes just turn back into your regular ones?" Mike questions. "Not if I take them off." She responds.

"Oh. Well, thanks, Nori." He grins. "Don't sweat it. Just don't tell the others or they'll get mad at me. Just say you found it in the lost and found or something." She states. "Yeah, I will." He says.

***

"I still don't understand where you got those clothes, Mike." Dustin comments while they bike off from school. "I just— I found it." Mike lies, glancing at Nori.

"Really, everyone dressed up last year." Dustin sighs. "Look, maybe the school sent out a letter than we just didn't get?" Nori suggests.

"That all four of us didn't get? That Will didn't get? I mean, Tiny, Mrs. Byers constantly checks her mailbox. I think at least Will would know." Lucas argues.

Suddenly, they hear a car rev loudly behind them. "Hey, guys?" Dustin speaks up, turning around. They begin to panic, pedaling as fast as they possibly could.

Nori quickly swerved off to the side, falling down onto the leaves beside her, followed by Dustin, who had also fallen beside her.

"Nori, you okay?" Mike asks, helping her up. "Yeah, I'm fine." She sighs, brushing off her clothes.

"Ah shit! Was that..." Dustin asks, pointing to the car as he stands up. "Mad Max." Lucas finishes.

authors note
Nothing really big is happening in these chapters, but I promise towards the end of season two you'll get more Mike and Nori content <3

Also: any ship name ideas?

I'm thinking something like Meleanor 🤷🏻‍♀️ is you have any other ideas then comment