Chapter Text
With 8 pm soon nearing, you had to get ready, and so did your family, which was a bit hard having to fit 3 people into a bathroom to get ready, wash off any dust, do make up, do your hair, anything to make yourself acceptable to go as guests.
It was especially hard when your mother didn't approve of ANY of the outfits you'd like to choose, which is understandable but really annoying nonetheless. It took at least 10 minutes for her to settle on something, claiming, "I didn't want you to go as guests looking like a homeless man." Fair but that's how you knew the outfit was actually good.
With a sigh, and a rushed yell from your parents to hurry, you fix up your hair and a jacket. You have a small eyeliner on your waterline, hair all set and sadly not in your most punk outfit, but at least you could save it for tomorrow, first day of school, you gotta look cool on that day. Getting the message through of what kind of person you are. Except many people think you're scary and loud and rude. Well. Only 2 is wrong about that part, you're loud yes, but the other ones surely aren't true. At least you don't think they are.
With another yell from your parents to hurry as it's already 7:52 pm, you now got even the smallest details fixed, you passed through the bathroom door, into the living room where they were waiting for you at the front door, with one hand from your mother already on the doorknob.
"Gyerünk! Nem késhetünk el!" "(C'mon! We can't be late!)" Your mom rushed you, opening the door wide, letting your father and you walk out of the door first before she locked the door behind herself after she stepped out too. Walking down the driveway, into the sidewalk they made their way to the right where the Hendersons' house was. Your mother walked up first to the door, sighing, she got the best smile on her face to greet their neighbor.
Bringing her fist to the door, she knocked softly, but firmly, not even having to wait too long before hearing a smaller boy yell "I got it!" Muffled by the door, before it swung open wide, and you saw the same boy who invited you guys from the morning, with the same toothy grin.
"Hey! Come, come on in, my mom is soon done with the dinner, I'll lead you three to the dinner table.." his tone happy, excited even, he let you guys inside their house, closing the door behind, he lead ya'll through the living room into the dinning room which was connected through a hallway.
Your eyes scanned the home, and you couldn't lie, it was homey, comforting, warm lights everywhere and the colors and the decoration reminded you of your grandma's house. It was very nice. On the way to the dining room, you guys passed the kitchen where you saw a lady, probably Dustin's mother. She was on the more chubbier side, in one of her hand she was clasping an orange cat, while she was stirring a wooden spoon in a big pot. Her hair was up in a bun, but only half of her hair was in it as it was mostly let down, she also had an apron on, so she doesn't get her normal dress dirty.
She seems like a nice lady, you thought to yourself.
You sat down at the dinner table, many kinds of food were already put out onto the middle of the long table. The chair was comfortable, the cushion was soft and not hard, not bad. A cloth covered the table, white with details like roses, and all kinds of flowers over it as decoration.
Dustin left the room with a "I'm gonna be just back" to go and help his mother with setting up the dinner table. You stayed there, eyes scanning through the multiple kinds of food, seeing already done fried chicken breasts, like the one you'd make in Hungary. There were some kind of plain cooked chicken- unseasoned- something you started to notice already from the cooking magazines your mother had pushed into your hands on the ride to Indiana. Some cooked rice, with peas in it, looked good, you couldn't lie.
You saw a big bowl full of mashed potatoes being brought out by Dustin, placing the hot bowl down onto a cutting board so it wouldn't damage the fabric on the table. Good choice, nodding to yourself. Going back to the kitchen then coming back, Dustin now brought a smaller bowl, with steamed carrots, both orange and white, stacked on top of it with cooked cauliflower on it too. Definitely from the soup that had that delicious scent which filled the room. No, even the house. Dustin went back into the kitchen once more to continue helping out his mother.
"Te is lehetnél ilyen segítőkész a konyhában." "(You could be this helpful too, in the kitchen)" Your mom joked with you, nudging your side with her elbow, a half smile on her face, knowing well that, that meant she wanted you to be like Dustin and help. Comparing once again, but it wasn't anything knew, you just laughed along and nodded, knowing well you'll forget about this moment either way.
Something else caught your eye that you didn't see before, on the opposite side of the table, there was a pink jelly, in a form of a pastry that you didn't exactly knew the name of in English. Jello wasn't exactly that common in Hungary, or at least not in your family, but seeing all the kinds of food they made in those magazines, it made you wonder if it actually tasted good.
It didn't take long to see Dustin's mother, later finding out her name is Claudia, come inside the dining room with a big bowl of soup in her hands that she made herself, which again, smelled really good. The cat wasn't in her arms anymore she possibly gave it food or hid like cats usually do.
Your mother stood up, smiling at the woman, placing a peck on each side of her cheek before introducing herself to Claudia. "Oh it's so nice meeting you, I'm Y/M/N L/N, I'm so happy we have a neighbor like you two!" She exclaimed, her accent well noticable but definitely had a better English than you. Well, she practiced more, that's why. She sat back down, Mrs Henderson seemed flustered about the unexpected peck which wasn't anything romantic, it's normal, or at least you think it is because that's how you greet your neighbor and family members in Hungary.
"Oh! I can say the same! What an adorable family you are, I'm sure you guys will feel right at home." She smiled, sitting down at the table, and so did Dustin who sat across you. You waved at him, he smiled with his usual toothy grin and waved back.
"You're Y/N right? Dustin told me about you!" You turned your head towards Mrs Henderson, for a second not even noticing that she pronounced your name wrong. Again. You smiled at her, your hands kept fiddling with the rings sitting on your fingers.
"It's uh, Y/N, actually. But yeah, that's me." You corrected her with the right pronunciation, she made an 'oh' sound, understanding her mistake. She just smiled again before starting to speak again. "Ah, sorry sorry, still unfamiliar with the foreign names!"
"Dustin told me how cool you were, he wants to be friends with you-" she was cut off by Dustin when he realized what she was saying, even though it was true, he of course didn't want to get embarrassed. "Mom!" You couldn't help but snicker at that. Wow, someone thought you were cool? It made you feel nice inside to know someone actually thought you were cool instead of scary. But he didn't see you yet in your full punk outfit, you were lazy today and you couldn't exactly go over here in an outfit like that either. But you were glad either way.
"Ah how could I forget?! What kind of host i am, here let me get me help." Mrs Henderson stood up, shooting a hand to her forehead as she started to put out some soup into the bowls placed down infornt of you guys. You thought of doing it yourself before hand but that was in the past then, she moved quicker. Picking up the plate with the steamed veggies which were apart of the soup before being separated.
She offered the veggies, your mother declined them while your father asked a small portion of everything from the soup. You just simply asked for some of the steamed orange carrots, chopping it up into smaller pieces with your spoon.
She poured some for Dustin too and herself, hearing a quiet meow from under the table, you saw the same chubby orange cat she was cardling while cooking. Which the fact made you wonder if any cat hair had fallen into the food but not wanting to think too much about that fact, you petted the cat's head, unsure if you were allowed to give them a piece of meat or not so you just played it safe and didn't gave them anything.
"Oh meows!" She exclaimed, picking up the cat into her lap. You took a spoonful of your soup, before smiling at Mrs Henderson. "I have a cat too." You simply stated, your cat never actually had a name you just called whatever insult you could im Hungarian in a sweet tone and he would just listen, actually quite adorable and funny if you think about it, but it can be embarrassing to explain when someone asks what's his name.
"Ah right! That little cat always leaves hair everywhere! He has such a thick coat, I can never get it out of any clothes!" Your mom snickered, explaining a very common experience any pet owner has or had. She usually wasn't this happy about the cat hair problem.. which made you raise your brow in suspicion but it wasn't so uncommon for your mom or even father to act differently when being woth others, first impressions are important ey? But you didn't wanna ruin your mood by thinking into this too much now, that comes later in the dead of night, so you just turned back to the mother who was petting just petting the cat.
She only agreed, saying how it was the same for her but she never mind it, then silence fell comfortable over the table, only the occasional clanging of the spoon against the porcelain dishes was heard. Simple, small talk questions came up between your own and Dustin's mother, how was school back in Hungary, what kind of job they had and will have, how is moving in, how's the town, when an interesting holiday came up. Halloween.
"Halloween? Oh i only saw stuff about that in stores! It was never exactly common in Hungary, we have something called All Saint's day when we go out to cemeteries to bring flowers and candles for our passed loved ones." Your mom explained, it was true, Halloween wasn't even known in Hungary, you never exactly heard of it before. But you did see some 'spooky' decorations in stores and all even going around the neighborhood you already saw some interesting decorations.
"What is Halloween exactly about?" You asked, looking up from your already finished bowl. Curious as you really never heard of it and it peaked your interest, cause what can't be interesting if it involves scary things?
"Oh well! Nowadays its just the kids going trick or treating-" Dustin's mother tried to explain before Dustin abruptly interrupted. "Its really cool! You can dress up as anything you want, any monster from any TV show or even as something you came up with and go around with friends house to house doing something that's called trick or treating, basically saying if you dont give candy we will do something- which is not true because they usually always give candies- and you can get so many candies together! Especially in the more rich neighborhoods.. it happens on October 31!"
You blinked twice at the boy who was enthusiastically in a rapid pace explaining what Halloween was, or at least what it was to him. Not having a really good grasp in English yet definitely made it harder to register what he just said but you just nodded along. From what you got so far, it didn't seem like something boring. Mostly for the younger kids so sadly that didn't mean you. Probably.
"October 31? That's right around the corner." Your mother looked over to the other, tilting her head just slightly. "Ah yes! I do recommend having some candy that night.. or having a sign that there's no candy because kids can get pretty rowdy around this neighborhood." She chuckled, maybe she was right. Taking in consideration that it was your mother, you guys Definitely won't have candy out. At least not this year when money was important because your father still didn't find the correct job here in the US, and your mother will be going on a interview right tomorrow.
"Hm" your Mother hummed, "maybe this year we won't have, money can be tight, especially right now.." her brows knitted upwards, she frowned, trying to appear like she was feeling bad about not having candy around. Its not like any of you had a sweet tooth in the house, maximum your mother whem she had cravings but that's it. You knew well she couldn't care less about those kids. I mean, they have other houses to go so what's the problem.
"Awh, that's understandable, there will be many more Halloweens so im sure it won't be a big problem!"Mrs Henderson cooed, placing a hand over her heart before standing up to take away the empty bowls, leaving a flat plate under it for the second dish. Dustin helped his mother carry the dishes to the kitchen while she put out a good portion of mashed potatoes for everyone.
Dustin came back, she sat down along side with him and just told that you guys were free to pick whatever you want. Knowing your father he picked a small portion from almost everything, while your mother ate as little as it was accepted in visit. Typical. Not caring much, you picked whatever meat and veggie looked good, it wasn't much either but it would do the job of being filling and healthy.
Comfortable silence filled the room once again, occasionally small talk come up or Dustin was rambling about whatever star wars movie he loved at the moment, maybe some words about his own friends and whatever campaign someone called 'Mike' made that week and how cool it was. Probably one of the kids he usually biked with around the neighborhood cause these names you heard a lot being shouted. Something you will most definitely have to get used to.
It didn't take long for everyone to finish, not like dinner was long usually, for now the time spent over at the Hendersons was only and hour and half. The food was mostly gone, it was enough for five people so it was probably calculated right, and its better to not have many left overs as, in your opinion at least, food is always the best when its fresh, and you're sure many other people would agree with you.
"I hope you enjoyed the dinner, im not the best cook but I still hope it was good!" Now standing at the front door, already got your things, you nodded along, "oh it was great!" Your mother exclaimed, now seeming genuine, which you can agree with because her cooking was indeed very good.
"Yeah!" You added with a nod and smiled at her, she was just shorter than you, meerly. Wow people in America are sure tall, even the kid was quite tall for his age. Only 13 and already around 165 cm? You were barely 150 at that age.
"I'm glad we have a new neighbor like you three! I'm sure you'll feel right at home." She interrupted your train of thought walking the three of you out the front door with an enthusiastic smile on her face, still pretty excited. She definitely was happy that you guys were their new neighbors, who knows maybe the last ones were a prick or something. "If you need anything, just come over or call me, okay?"
She nodded along, still holding her adorable fat cat in her arms, as she waved her hands. She sure was a really kind neighbor, and you were also glad that this neighborhood wasn't so bad. The apartment you last lived in with your family was the complete opposite of this. So it truly was a nice change for once.
"Bye, thank you for the dinner, we really appreciated it!" Your mother waved back, so did you, mostly to Dustin who still had that toothy grin on his face, he was a sweet kid, you couldn't lie. The door closed as the cold air bit at your cheeks and the tip of your nose, it really didn't take longer than 2 minutes to get back into your own home.
Where you simply started to get ready for bed, because tomorrow is school and you couldn't really afford going there sleepless. Yet at least. As you weren't even so sure where Hawkins high-school was yet, which means you Definitely have to wake up quite the few minutes earlier just in case you'd get lost. To your luck, you were abke to borrow your father's car for the morning so you can get to school as he and your mom will be busy with the oven and most definitely setting up any other furniture as soon as possible.
Seeing how the clock already said 10 pm you were sure that it really is time for bed, so you went to the bathroom while everyone else was busy with something you couldn't care less about, and took a quick shower, brushing your teeth and even washed your hair for tomorrow, drying it with your mother's hair dryer. You came out of the shower with only your towel as you didn't bring pajamas with you to the bathroom but to your luck your room wasn't far from the bathroom.
Getting changed, and quickly putting back your towel into its designated place, you headed back to your room, already thinking about where you could set up your drum set tomorrow as it needed quite the few space. Which now you have, to your fortune. But that was something you'll deal with tomorrow because now. Now you ahve to get yourself mentally ready for school. And the possibility of already finding bullies, which from what you heard weren't really uncommon in Hawkins town.
You crawled under your covers, looking out the window, staring into the dark night from your bed, the second your head hit the soft pillow, fatigue took over and you could feel your eyes dropping heavily, closed as the quietnesss of everyone also soon asleep filled up the house. Only the occasional loud steps of your cat was heard as it made his way into your room and taking his comfortable space at the end of your bed.