Say Anything | Steve Harrington |

Ch. 20 Sheet-Faced

October 31st, 1984
Wheeler Household

   Time couldn't move fast enough once I found myself stuck in Nancy's room, I had gone between picking at the quilted material of her comforter and mumbling an unenthusiastic, "It looks great, Nance." From my place, as she continued to adjust and put the finishing touch on the couple's costume she and Steve had landed on. How they deemed Joel and Lana's relationship in Risky Business to be the perfect fit, I'll probably never understand. 

   "It looks good, Nance..." I muttered, placing my chin in the palm of my hand as she turned to face me rather than the mirror that she had been focused on for the past ten minutes; her mind set on placing the black bow in just the right place.

   Releasing a light huff, she quickly nodded in agreement before turning to look at her reflection once again, quickly pulling at the material of her white sweater. "Thanks... It's just- Something looks off, right?" She questioned, quickly turning to face me once again, only now a deep frown graced her delicate features. 

   Scanning my eyes over the costume, I could only offer a hesitant shrug in response as I wasn't exactly sure what I was meant to be looking for. "No offense, Nance... But it's just a white sweater. Nothing out of the ordinary, kind of hard to mess up." Though my words offered little help as she continued to look down at the costume she wore, only now a certain anger lingered in her blue eyes.

   "Hey, Nance... Come on, what's wrong? It's like you've been in panic mode all day." Standing from my place, I carefully pulled the sweater out of her grasp as she continued to anxiously pull and twist the fabric. "I'm fine." She whispered, offering up an all-too-fake smile while her eyes betrayed her as they quickly grew glassy.

   "Nance, talk to me... It's okay, even when it feels like it'll never be okay." I mumbled softly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, watching as she released a shaking breath before nodding in defeat. "I feel like my life's a lie... There's so much that I'm holding back and- and I just want to scream... The worst part is all I want to do is tell Barb's parents the truth... what happened to her but I can't..." She had finally confused what had been weighing her down all day, and once she started; it was as if she couldn't stop.

   "And Steve... It's like all he cares about is staying quiet, he never wants to talk about what happened... like he doesn't feel guilty. Why would he want to keep going like this?" She questioned me suddenly, pulling her hands away from her eyes to stare into mine.

   "Maybe because he doesn't want to see you get hurt from all of this..." I tried to offer her a semblance of relief but she was quick to shake off the thought. "No- No, he's just too scared to face the facts, rather avoid the truth than face it..." She muttered, pulling her lip between her teeth as she took a seat on her bed. "Nell, can I ask you something?" She whispered after a small bout of silence fell between us, her tears now having completely vanished. 

   Offering a curt nod, I placed my hand lightly over hers. "Of course, anything."

   Nodding to herself, Nancy seemed to think over her words before finally settling on her question, "Could you live comfortably in life, knowing that it's all bullshit?" The question hung heavy in the air as she stared up at me. "I- I don't think anyone could live like that," I answered simply with a frown.

   Nodding, she slowly looked away from me and back down at the costume. "It's a stupid costume, but I actually kind of like it." She muttered, pulling at the sleeves of her sweater and offering up a giddy smile.