Chapter Text
El was still trying to get used to this freedom. It was weird riding her bike around neighborhoods, and feeling the breeze run through her hair. She listened to Mike and Max biker ahead of her, Max slightly laughing as she stood on the back pegs on Lucas’s bike.Will trailed along beside her, smiling slightly at his friends.
“Time Wheeler!” Max yelled.
“We have time,” he said back. “His mom hasn’t even left yet, we can get the supplies and even have time to eat something before he gets home.” They had been waiting weeks for Dustin to get back from science camp. All the guys could talk about was what he could be doing, and what he could be learning without them. In his absence there had been less frantic yelling, and definitely less eating.
They crowded their bikes at the bike rack down the street from Melvalds, her new yellow bike standing right next to Mike's new taller one.
“You want a snack?” He asked grabbing her hand. She smiled up at him.
“What are you getting?” She asked. He pulled her along following their friends down the sidewalk.Will walked in between the two couples, looking through each store window as they pasted. She watched the boy as Mike talked, his answer becoming a ramble. Most times she tried to listen, but other times she found herself lost in the words that he spoke quickly.
“I think I won’t do sweet.” Mike said as they approached the doors of Melvalds. “Honestly all I want is water.”
“Same,” WIll said holding the door open for them. El looked around the space. She had been there once before with Hopper. Joyce sat behind the counter, talking to a woman at the cash register.
“Oh I don’t know,” Joyce was saying. She looked over to the kids, giving them a slight wave. Will hung back as the others moved further into the store. El turned to look back at Will as he rested his elbows on the counter, waiting for his mother to finish up. The past few months had moved quickly, and even though she had spent many moments at the Byers alone with Will she still felt as if he was a mystery to her. Both of them were too quiet, and neither of them really found the courage to talk about anything too serious.
“You can get whatever,” Mike said pulling her out of her thoughts. She turned back around to look at him, and then at everything that sat in front of them. The back of the store held two new fridges against the wall. The glass doors lit up with different assorted drinks. Lucas and Max stood together looking through the selection.
She looked back at the snack foods sitting on the shelf. So many options, one side sweet, the other salty. She couldn’t tell if she was hungry or thirsty, and in the end she decided on one water bottle.
“Dustin will never see it coming,” Lucas said with a grin as he handed Joyce a few dollars. He rolled up the poster board while she gave them a small smile.
“Don’t give him too much of a hard time,” She warned them. She looked back over to Will who still leaned against the counter. “I want you home by six,” she said pointing at him. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore,” Will rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the counter top and moving for the front door. El watched as Lucas and Max followed suit. She looked over to Mike as he placed down three waters. “Can you make sure he makes it back,” she said lowly to him. Both he and El look at Joyce with a small nod. It wasn’t anything new, her and Hopper had been strict on curfews. For El it was a miracle she was able to even be walking in sunlight.
“Sure Ms. Byer,” Mike said with a small smile. Joyce sighed.
“You can just take the water,” she said pushing them away.She looked over to El with a small smile. “Haven’t convinced Hopper yet?”
“We’re working on it,” MIke said handing her one of the waters. “He’s bound to break soon, and when he does I’ll be the first to buy you whatever you want.” El blushed, looking down at her clothes. The mall, she had been wanting to go since the commercials first started to air. She never really got embarrassed, but whenever her clothing choice was pointed out it made her feel slightly uncomfortable. Her and Mike had been trying to convince Hopper to let her go. Downtown had been so slow that he was more comfortable with her there than at Starcourt.
“I’ll make sure he’s home by six,” Mike said to Joyce. He led her out of the store. She looked back at Joyce, the woman's eyes drooping low with darkness. It had been a long few month, and she had yet to see Joyce look anything but tired and sad.
“Dude we are all pretty much restricted now,” Lucas was saying to Will outside of the store. They stepped back out into the hot sun, Will nodding his head in anger.
“Yeah, well at least you didn’t get stuck in another dimension and then possessed by an otherworldly creature. She is never going to let me do anything.” El had heard this argument before, she had even heard Joyce talk about it with Hopper. “I would at least like to act like nothing has happened for a day, but she just sits there scared and always wanting to take my temperature. She up late at night, checking on me, and crying in her room.”
“How about we focus on Dustin?” Mike said placing his hand on Will shoulder and leading him back to the bike rack. He handed the boy one of the waters. “How are we going to scare him?”
…
Hopper watched the kids ride down the street ahead of him. He had stopped following them a month ago, feeling it unnecessary to always watch her every move. He just so happened to be stopping by to see Joyce as they were leaving for Dustin's. El was laughing at something Max was saying from the back of Lucas’s bike. He watched them turn the corner before turning off his truck and hopping out into the hot sun.
“I see the kids stopped by,” He said walking through the door. Joyce looked up from a magazine with a small grimace.
“I’m sure you knew they were going to be here. You make Mike recite every move they’re going to make.” Hopper shrugged his shoulders. “What brings you in today Chief?” She asked with a small smile.
“Well,” He cleared his throat. “I was thinking, that maybe you and I can get some dinner tonight?” He leaned against the counter with a slight smile. This wasn’t his first time asking, and she had given in a few times, but he had noticed her distancing herself lately. “El’s going to be hanging out with Wheeler and the others.” Joyce gave a small laugh.
“That sounds nice,” she slowly began to say.
“Don’t feel pressured,” Hopper reassured her. “Maybe Rasolines? I know you like Italian.”
“Wow,” Joyce said with a small smile. “Expensive.” Hopper shrugged his shoulders.
“I think we deserve expensive.” He said with a smile.
“How about seven. I want to make sure Will is settled.” She asked. Hopper thought about it for a moment, looking over Joyce. Her smile was thin, her eyes slightly drooped.
“Everything okay?” he asked standing up a little straighter. She looked down shrugging her shoulders.
“Just not a good day,” she said softly.” Haven’t been sleeping well. You know, the regular.” At that moment the store door dinged, a little girls giggle sang through the store.
“Joyce,” Karen came in wearing shorts and her swimsuit; her face painted with makeup. Holly ran down the ile to the back refrigerators. “It so nice to see you.” There was some clatter in the back. “Holly, just one drink babe,” Karen gave Hopper a small pat on the arm. “I hear my son has taken a liking to Jane.”
“Ugh,” Hopper said pushing himself off the counter. “I'd rather not talk about her romantic life.” Karen gave a small laugh, Holly came running to the front holding two cokes to her chest. She handed them to her mother. “It's perfect you two are here actually. We’re having a big barbeque on the fourth, we were wondering if you and your kids would like to stop by.” Hopper and Joyce shared eye contact. The last time he had seen Ted was picking Mike up a few months ago, the exchange was short. He knew Joyce had her opinions on Karen, but was too nice to say anything.
“That's so nice of you Karen.” Joyce said ringing up the two cokes. “I’ll talk to the boys and see what they're up to.”
“Uhh,” Hopper tapped his fingers on the counter. “I’ll do the same.” There was a moment of awkward silence, Hopper put his hands in his pocket and looked out the front windows. “Well,” he said clearing his throat. “I better be off. Those protesters are growing by the day and I promised the Mayor I would come out to make sure things don’t get out of hand.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to the door. He turned to leave hearing Karen say,
“This poor town, although that mall is something else.” He didn’t stay long enough to hear what else she had to say. All he could think about was tomorrow. He knew it was time, time to talk to Joyce, time to make sure she knew what he was thinking, what he was feeling.
…
“Don’t worry,” Mike whispered to her with a smile. They stood together in the hallway, Dustin’s surprise was a little more scary than they intended it to be. “One time Lucas got sand into Dustin’s eyes. He’ll be okay.” El smiled up at him, listening to Max talk on the other side of the bathroom door.
“Guys,” Will’s head popped out of Dustin's bedroom. “He got what we need,” for once Will looked excited, going back into the room. Mike followed him quickly leaving El to look at the bathroom door before deciding to follow.
Dustin dragged his duffle bag from the bed, letting it fall to the floor. The boys sat around it while he slowly unzipped the top.
“I have been racking my brain for weeks.” Dustin began. “I think Lucas was right with his dad’s extension pole. Luckily for me I was aloud in the radio room this summer,” Dustin pulled his supercom from his bag, a spool of wires, and a large folded up paper. Mike picked up the wiring, looking at it with questionable eyes.
“Where did you get this?” He asked.
“Well, they weren’t using it,” Dustin said with a shrug.
“You stole from science camp?” Will said grabbing the wiring from Mike. “Isn’t that against our moral nerd code or something?”
“Do you want to build this thing or not?” Dustin said grabbing the wiring from his hands. “Matt was my cabins leader this summer. He’s going to school for engineering and helped me figure out the materials needed. With everything we’ve got we’ll be able to reach all the way to Indianapolis.” They all smiled at one another.
“You’re lucky it's your welcome home party jackass,” Lucas said coming into the room, his eyes were rimmed red, Max tried to hide a smile behind him.
“You’re lucky it was just hair spray,” Dustin said glaring at Lucas, his gaze landed on El playfully.
“It wasn’t my idea,” she said through a smile. Dustin gave her a smile, piling things back into his bag.
“Don’t give into peer pressure El,”he said back to her. Mike roll his eyes at Dustin.
“Let's pick up the other stuff and get out there. Mr. Clark gave me the old transmission from the broken Heathkit” he said, grabbing El’s hand. She still didn’t really understand what they were doing, but was excited for another normal day.
…
The best thing about this stupid town was that it was so easy to get whatever he wanted. Billy stared at himself in the mirror, slathering sun tan oil across his chest. He could already feel the stares he was going to get. He placed his whistle around his neck, fixing his hair slightly before walking out of the lifeguard locker room.
He tuned out the stupid children laughing, all the overweight dads passing a beach ball around. He gave a slight smile to Mrs. Howard who smiled right back. He passes by Jackie, the hot lifeguard he fooled around with yesterday. He felt the world move in slow motion as he made his way to his post.
He stood at the base of the lifeguard post, staring out into the crowarded pool. He spotted Mrs. Wheeler with her small daughter, helping the girl stay afloat in the shallow area. She looked up at him with a smirk, her eyeliner smudge in all the right ways. He gave her a smirk back taking a seat to watch the show.
…
“Welcome back Chief,” Flo said from behind the counter. She stood, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth. “While you stood around at city hall you missed same calls.” She put his cigarette out in a filled ashtray, pulling messages from her small notebook. Hopper took his hat off, the cool A.C. chilling his head. “Calvin called again, said he still thinks Tony is taking a few dollars from his register.” He gave a sigh, looking through the empty police station. “Ms. Callispsky called said Troy is stealing apples from her tree, and finally Murray is in your office.”
“What?” he asked in surprise. The last time he had thought about Murray was when he pitched a chair outside of the lab.
Hopper could feel his body shut down, he didn’t give Flo the opportunity to say why; stomping his way to his office.His mind went to El, riding her bike that afternoon with her friends. She was still with her friends, she was okay. He shook his head trying to reassure himself. He looked down at his watch, 3:45, she would be home in two hours, dancing in her room to the radio, watching Soaps, or warming up dinner for the two of them.
He stepped into his office, Murray looking over his book shelf.
“Well, well,” Murray said. His eyes just as crazy as the last time he had seen the man. “Long time no see Chief.” Murray walked closer to him, reaching for the door and closing it. Hopper glared at him.
“Can I help you Murray?”
“More like can I help you. I have some interesting information you might want to listen to.” Hopper let out a long breath, pulling his cigarette pack from his shirt pocket.
…
“Fun houses can be scary,” Mike said through a rushed breath. He squeezed El’s hand leading her up the grassy hill. Sweat was building over his neck, and the breeze was too thick to provide any comfort. He was trying to explain the Fun Fair to El as they made their way up the large hill. She had seen a poster for it last week, the colors had drawn her attention. “I think you’ll like them though. I think you’ll like all of it. There are amazing colors and lights, and music coming from all over.”
“Sounds overwhelming,” she said slightly out of breath. He looked down at her with a small frown. Sometimes he forgot, that maybe it would be hard to even do something so happy.
“If it is we could just leave, it wouldn’t be a big deal. We could come here instead, it’s going to look over the fairgrounds.” He watched as she smiled up at him, her hair moving in the wind. He couldn’t help himself. For too long they had been deprived from one another, and any chance he could get he had to touch her hand, or kiss her cheek. He leaned closer to her, giving her a kiss on the lips, she wouldn’t let him pull away. They stood there on the hill, kissing one another slowly, getting lost in the time.
“Can we focus?” Max’s voice called their attention. They both quickly pulled apart, looking over to the party; all four staring at them in discussed “Maybe next time get a room,” Max said making her way back up the hill. They all followed, Mike cheeks getting a little red.
“Do you hear that?” El said next to him. He looked down at her curiously. He focused, the sound of white noise. El looked behind them, Mike supercom turned on by their bikes in case Hopper tried to call.
“What did you hear? He asked.
“I don’t know,” she said slowly moving her eyes away from the bikes and back up the hill. “Can we find some shade?” She pulled him towards the tree line. He looked up at his friends, all of them putting down their bags at the top of the hill. It had been his idea to build their own radio antenna in order to reach El by supercom. He had convinced Will first that it would make it easier to hear him all the way out at his house too, you know, just in case. He felt guilty making them do all the work, but as El dragged him along he felt that guilt faid. He still had to tell El about the ferris wheel.
…
“And where did this information come from,” Hopper said leaning back in his chair. Murray pulled out another folder from his bag, it was thick and filled with photos. Hopper could feel the coffee he had drank hours ago kick in. Papers lay around his desk, folders of different people; numbers.
“At first I just thought it was an actual energy supply lab, until I saw this.” Murray opened the folder slamming a picture down on the table. Martin Brenner, walking across a small parking lot. Hopper could feel his head get dizzy.
“When was this taken?” Hopper asked, picking the picture up. “This had to be taken years ago.”
“This,” Murray said, grabbing the photo. “Was taken a week ago, along with this one.” He placed another picture down on his desk. Brenner talking to some man in a black shirt. By his muscle and stance he looked military, but Hopper couldn’t say for sure.
“Who am I staring at?” He asked.
“They say this man in special opps, only works under strict orders from the government. His name and life whipped clean.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I know everything,” Murray whispered with a smile. “At first I didn’t know what to think. Brenner was one of the first names marked off on my investigation with Barb, because he was dead. Yet, here he is.” Hopper rubbed his hands over his face, trying to fully take in what was being said. He looked down at his watch. An hour had passed. If he was smart he would take El tonight, leave the state and never look back, but what good would that do if the government was involved.
El, what was he going to tell her. How was he going to tell her? She was finally able to live the life they both had been wishing for, and as soon as he felt that weight off his shoulder it was back on again.
“So what now?” Hopper asked. “What else have you found out? Is there any sign of them coming here?”
“That's the thing.” Murray said. “I followed this man here,” he pointed to the man in the picture. “But, he breezed right through town, didn’t stop. I thought it couldn’t be a coincidence that he would even come this way.”
“Where did he go?” Hopper Asked pushing the picture back to Murray. “Why aren’t you still following him?”
“I lost him in Chicago,” Murray said. “I think I’m going to stay in town for a little bit. People watch, one of my favorite pastimes.”
“Yeah you do that,” Hopper said. He looked around at the papers, picking up a stack of folders. “Can i keep these?”
“Read them over,” Murray said taking a few papers and placing them into his bag. “I’ll be checking in, but don’t worry I’ll have my eyes and ears open.” Murray ducked out of his office, leaving Hopper alone in the silence. Chicago, what could be there? He guessed the most important thing was that Brenner nor that man were anywhere near Hawkins at the moment.
…
I thought rain came in the spring,” El said. Her and Mike sat in tree line, watching their friends raise the pole onto it’s pegged legs. In the opposite direction, far from them El could see clouds towar high, rain would come later that night.
“It does,” Mike said with a smile, playing with a leaf he found on the ground. “Rain can come whenever though. Weather can be complicated, maybe that will be the next book I bring by.”
“I would like that,” she said shyly. “What are we doing tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” Mike looked over to her with a smile. “We can do whatever you want. The guys want to go to the mall, horace Steve for a little bit, but I can come and hangout with you while they do that.”El thought about the past few weeks. Everyone rushing to the mall to eat icecream and play at the new arcade. Mike had stayed behind, making sure to keep El company while everyone else enjoyed their freedom.
“You should go,” she said with a sad smile. “I think I might try to read some more, maybe go on a walk.” She picked at some grass.
“Well,” Mike began slowly. “We probably won’t go until night. Maybe I can come by during the day, and we can find something to do.”
“I don’t want to swim,” she turned her body to face him, crossing her legs under her. She sighed, feeling jealousy build in her chest.“I want to go to the mall,” she rolled her eyes. “If we could convince Hopper I would to buy new tapes for my radio, and actually clothes meant for me.” They smiled at one another.
“What tapes would you buy?” Mike held up his hand before she could answer. “If you say B-52’s I might die.” They both laughed.
“They’re fun to dance to,” she said in shock. “Like you have amazing music taste.” Mike stared at her with his mouth open in surprise.
“That hurts,” he said to her. “Just because I said once that I might like Starship doesn’t mean I have terrible music taste. I change my mind like fifteen minutes later.” El gigled shaking her head.
“It was already too late,” Mike grabbed her hand laughing with her. They looked into one another's eyes, El could feel her hairs stand on end as they leaned closer into each other.
“Hey love birds!” They both quickly pulled apart, Dustin waving his hands above his head. “Are we testing it out or what?” Mike stood, pulling her up with him.
“Lets go before they skin us,” Mike dragged her out of the shade. She smiled all the way up the hill, and stood with Max as the boys began to play with Dustin radio and the transmission box at the bottom of the radio pole. Max fished through the suitcase she had carried up the hill, pulling out a granola bar and broke it in half, handing some to El.
“We must refuel,” She said with a smile. “I have a few new magazines to bring by. I haven’t done the quizes yet, promise.” El gave her a smile. It had been hard with Max at first, but El was able to find that talking to a girl was sometimes way easier than talking to a boy. There was an understand between them that the others didn’t really have, and she was starting to think that Max was the closest she would ever feel to having a sister.
Sister, she hadn’t used the word since Chicago. She shook her head from those thoughts. Those memories were stored in a part of her brain she tried to forgot. On nights she couldn’t sleep she would open up to those memories; the lab, papa, her sister. Her mind came back to the present, the sound of the boys arguing bringing a smile to her face.
“Totally cool,” El said, trying out the phrase for the first time. She took a bite out of the granola, as the boys began to bicker. Will rolled his eyes as Mike called Dustin stupid, and Lucas began to fiddle with wiring.
“Rad,” Max said back.
“Point that side of the rod to the north,” Dustin said grabbing a hold of the pole.
“What does it matter,” Lucas said.
“Did you not read the manual on antenna tuning and placement from last year? Mr. Clark lent it to us when he was installing the new heathkit.”
“It was a snooze. I don’t think thats north,” Lucas said moving the pole a little more to the right.
“Not this again,” Dustin said putting his hand into his pocket. “Why must you always question my directional knowledge.” He pointed over the hill, past the tree line Mike and El had been sitting under, and towards the clouds that were building far in the distance. “Thats north.” He pulled his compass out, El looked over to Mike with her eyebrows raised. He sat down on the grass listening to his friends bicker while squinting in the sun. Will closed the small transmision box at the bottom of the pole. “Uhhh,” Dustin tapped his compass looking up, and then right to El.
Lucas grabbed the compass from him, looking down at the device then over to El. Mike stood taking the device from Lucas.
“What is it?” he said looking down at the small circle in his hand. “That doesn’t make sense.” Mike walked around the antena, looking down at the compass as he did it. He spun in a circle slowly frowning. He walked to the back ledge of the hill, looking over the field where they were building the fairground. Past that they could see the town skyline, the mall further ahead. “This isn’t north.”
“Could it be the antena?” Max asked standing from her spot next to El. She walked over to Mike; everyone following her. El stood from her spot, watching her friends from a distance. She thought about the day they had years ago, following the compass to the gate. Her stomach dropped, she wanted to throw up.
It couldn’t be that. She had closed it. She had watched the walls of the gate seil, the smoke of the monster slipping further into the upside down. It wasn’t open, it couldn’t be. Everything was getting too warm, her friends looking down at the compass and then back up at the the city. Will turned, his eyes filled with worry, looking back at her.
“Calm down, the gates closed,” Mike said loudly, slamming the compass into Dustin’s chest. “If anything it could just be from all the equipment from the fair. I mean look at all the wiring they have, it could be from that.” They all looked down at the fairgrounds, none of them, not even Mike seeming to be convinced.
“I don’t think that’s how it works,” Dustin said. Mike looked over to her, and then over to Will.
“Drop it,” Mike said. He looked down at his watch. “I have to make sure Will gets back on time.” Mike looked to Will and then over to El.
“You don’t have to babysit me,” Will said with a frown. “I know how to get home.”
“Will,” Mike began to say.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” Will took one more look towards the city landscape, finally turning around to meet her eyes. He stormed down the hill, Mike deflating.
“Get out your radio stalker,” Max said head back over to El as if nothing had happened. “We’ll try radioing Will in a little bit to see if it works.”
...
“How do you think they get their information?” Jonathan parked his car next to the side walk, taking a glance at Nancey who sat in his passenger seat. She held the Hawkins Post news paper, the over head light flooding out the dark downtown around them. He looked across the street, squinting through the darkness at the building the news paper was published.
After news of the lab had leaked, many people found comfort in a new journalist that choose Hawkins as their next journalistic experiment. Jonathan had yet to meet the person, but had read a few of their articles on the business closer throughout the downtown area.
“I mean, Galispby would rather die than talk to a journalist about his Army Supply store, he's a loon.” Nancy folded up the paper and looked out the window with Jonathan.
“Maybe they're just really convincing,” Jonathan said. “Are you really going to go tomorrow?” He looked over to his girlfriend as she shrugged her shoulders.
“If I want to get anywhere I should probably start with some experience,” she said. “You can always apply to intern too, you take the pictures, I write the collum.”Jonathan gave a small laugh.
“I don’t think I’m cut out for the work,” He said. “Plus my mom would kill me. They keep calling to do a piece on Will.” Nancy rolled her eyes.
“Even more reason to be on, you can convince them not to do it.” they stared at one another.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. “How about we do that date we talked about.” Nancy gave him a smile, unbuckling her seat belt.
“All you had to do was ask,” she said making her way out of the car. Jonathan took one more look at the Hawkins Post sitting in the passenger seat, before following his girlfriend to the movies.
…
Billy found himself smooshed against the lockers in the lifeguard equipment room. Jackie had her hands on his chest as he slipped his tongue past her lips. She gave a moan, which made him satisfied in his quest to getting what he wants. She pulled back from him, staring up into his eyes. For just a moment he was willing to listen to her, but then realized how stupid that sounded.
“Bored already?” he asked her with a grin.
“I was just thinking,” she said with a small smile. Billy let out an icey sigh, pushing her gently from his chest. “Maybe we can go get a burger somewhere.” Never get too close , something he had learned at a young age. He decided on a small laugh to her request.
“I told you this was only fun,” He turned around, opening his locker and pulling his shirt out. The pool had closed only fifteen minutes ago, he had bigger fish to fry. Like Mrs. Wheeler. He figured leaving before she could say something would be easier for the both of them, less room to talk meant less fighting.
“God gross,” for a split second Billy thought she was talking about him. He turned to look at her to see her staring at a larger rat standing on top of some old plastic chairs. He rolled his eyes, remembering the speech his manager had given him about the rat traps Billy had yet to put out.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said lowly. He would rather have to take care of the rat now than have to deal with it later. He moved to the small tower of chairs, swatting his hands at it to get a move on. “Fucking move,” he growled at the animal. The rat stood still, watching him as he tried to shoo it away. Billy wasn’t ready for what would happen next. The rat jumped, latching onto his left arm before biting down onto his upper forearm. He quickly beet the thing off of him, stomping his feet as it landed on the floor, and scurried away.
“Are you okay,” Jackie said moving closer. Billy placed his Hand over the bite, just a small pinch, but the blood just kept oozing out.
“I’m fine,” he said harshly. He could feel damage to his ego, but before she could say anything else he walked out of the room; anger burning through his veins.
...
It was past six by the time the Will made it home. The sun was almost under the horizon, his mom's car parked in the dirt driveway. He let out a sign. His mind went to what just happened, to the compass is Dustins hand. They had told him the story, of when they had tried to find him. He wondered if it was still out there, if she really didn’t close it.
“Will?” His mom stood at the front door, her arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t look mad, more disappointed, which was worse. He could see the worry lines on her forehead,
“I didn’t mean to be late,” Will said parking his bike along the house. He came up the porch and walked past his mom into the dark house. A lit cigarette sat in the ashtray on the coffee table, all the blinds pulled down on the windows. She had the T.V. going on the local news.
“I just want to make sure you’re back before dark,” she said closing the front door.
“Well, I was back before dark.” he turned around to look at his mom. When had he gotten so tall? She looked up at him, sadness in her eyes. “What?” he asked, letting his empty red bag fall to the floor.
“I’m sorry,” she said moving to the couch. “I know it feels like I’m crowding you, but I can’t help myself.” He let a sigh fall past his lips, his shoulder shagging slowly. He didn’t know why it was making him so mad. Maybe it was because everytime she looked at him like that it just reminded him, he was never going to go back to that life, where he was happy and carefree.
“We were just at the hill by the fairgrounds. You know, the one that looks over the town. We weren’t out there getting into trouble.” His mind raced back to the compass, to the concern in El’s eyes. “We were just working on the antena now that Dustin’s back.”
“I know honey,” she sat back down on the couch. “I know.” they sat in silence, his mom staring into space.
“Alright,” WIll said, moving to his room. He could hear a sniffle coming from his mother, but he honestly was tired of it. She cried every night, and at some point, he learned to tune it out.
…
Joyce listened to Will close his bedroom door; His radio sounding. She said on the couch, tears falling from her eyes. She didn’t know when it had become so difficult, tp just talk to Will like she used to. She could see something in his eyes change, and honestly something in her had changed as well.
She didn’t want to leave him alone tonight. If it was going to rain she didn’t want the thunder to bring back any memories he had of that thing, of that place. She looked at the small watch that sat on her wrist, picking her cigarette back up. If she hurried, she could get her makeup on, put on some nice clothes and make it to Roselines for dinner; she loved Rosaline's.
She brushed a tear from her cheek, looking around her dark living room. It really hadn’t been that long, since she had axed down her wall, listening to Will cry over the phone for help. It hadn’t been that long since the monster flew through her window; since she had seen Bob.
A fresh new tear fell from her eye. She was tired of it all, of this house, and its memories. For a while now she had been thinking of where they could go, if she would really leave town. She was scared to leave Hopper behind, to tell Jonathan he had to drop everything to come with them. But the more she thought about it; the more she imagined a fresh start, the more she wanted it.
Maybe Bob had been right. She could leave and go somewhere else, where the memories weren’t so in her face. She could take them to Maine, like what Bob had wanted to do. She could get a small house, in a small town, and watch the world go by in peace.
…
It was nice to sit in the grass, even though it kind of made El’s arms ich. They had all watched the sun go down together as Lucas and Dustin continued their soft arguments about North. El tried to tune it out as Mike and Max sat on either side of her. Max talked about the sunsets in San Diego, how she would sit on the beach with her dad eating hotdogs and watching the sun fall past the waves.
“We never saw stars like this though,” She said as they lay on their backs. El looked at the little dots, trying to figure out which one was furthest away.
“They’re brighter the further you move away from town,” Mike said back. “The one time I ever went camping was with my dad, and the stairs were so bright they lit up our campsite.” El closed her eyes, trying to imagine what that was like. She thought about the first time she had seen stairs. There was too much panic to really pay attention. It wasn’t until she was with the boys that she really looked to the sky. When she looked up at the stars as she held on to mike on the back of his bike.
“Thats stupid,” Lucas said loudly. Max signed next to her, sitting up on her elbows.
“No it’s not,” Dustin said back. El couldn’t remember if they had fought this much when she first met them. Some could tell that something had changed in their relationship and she didn’t know what. Max stood from her spot, walking over to Lucas and taking his hand.
“You promised a chocolate shake,” she said to him with a smile. Lucas smiled back. Dustin looked down to the ground. El didn’t know what she was seeing, but she could tell there was a pain in his eyes. She could compare it to the moment she saw Max and Mike together. That word Mike had taught her many months ago, jealousy.
“We’ll be back tomorrow,” Lucas said to him with while Max pulled him away with a smile.
“Bye El!,” she shouted, running down the Hill Dustin watching after them. Mike turned on his stomach to look over the town skyline. He looked down at his watch and then over to her, his head hovering over hers as she continued to lay on her back.
“I have to get you back,” She said to her with a small frown. She let out a disappointed sigh.
“Five more minutes,” she said with a smile. “Just show me one more star you haven’t taught me yet.” Mike thought about it, finally laying on his back again.
“Show her Venus,” Dustin said, taking a seat with them. There was a sadness in his voice, but her and Mike tried to ignore it.
“Venus,” Mike said back with confirmation. “You see that really bright star there, next to the moon?” El nodded, sinking into the grass with a smile.
…
“I think one of the best decisions we ever made together was putting barbeque sauce on pizza,” Hopper said pulling another slice from their plate that sat on the coffee table. He had come back late with a frozen pizza, which was perfect since Mike had gotten her home later then her curfew. He had been dressed nice, something she wasn’t really used to. At first her seemed slightly grumpy, but as he changed she warmed up the pizza, he began to relax. She sat back against the couch taking a sip of her coke. El watched the commercial in a daze, StarCourt mall, it looked like magic.
“The others are going to the mall tomorrow night,” she said slowly looking up at him. She tried her best at puppy dog eyes, but Hopper was too busy taking a big bite of his pizza to notice. “They’re all going together to say hi to Steve, and to play some game.”
“Mmhmm,” was all Hopper gave her.
“I was thinking,”she started putting her soda can on the coffee table. “My clothes are hot, and too big. All I want if a few things, maybe some shorts. Maybe a hot iron for my hair.” Hopper sighed finally making eye contact with her. “I can shop with Max, she knows all the stores and can help me find the right size.” They sat in silence as she watched the man think.
“What time were they going?” he asked.
“Umm, I don’t know. I just know they are going at night.” Hopper took another bite of his pizza, letting out a sigh.
“I drop you off, and pick you up.” he pointed his finger at her. “You don’t leave that mall unless it is to get into my car.” El sat up quickly. “I’ll give you a little money, but don’t blow it on anything crazy. I want to see some good clothes, nothing revealing.”
“Nothing revealing,” she repeated. “I can go?”
“You can go kid.” El jumped up in excitement.
“Oh my god,” she didn’t know what to do. Did she dance, did she jump up and down? “I need to look at magazines. I need to get ideas.” She moved away from the couch, rushing to her room.
“Bring them out here,” Hopper yelled at her. “I want to make sure your liking the right clothes.” El rolled her eyes, grabbing Max’s old magazines from her bedside. “Nothing revealing, and nothing you see on MTV.”
“Sure,” El giggled.
…
Erica had been sneaking into Lucas’s room for a week now. His radio sat on his bed, and it was always easy for her to quickly grab the device and sneak back to her room. He hadn’t been home much for the past few weeks, mostly staying the night at Mikes, or hanging out with Max at the mall.
It was two weeks ago that Erica had heard it. It was almost like a song being played through Lucas’s supercomm. She had only listened for a few seconds before hearing someone on the other side. A small hello being whispered through the speaker. They had sounded scared, maybe lonely. Erica had taken it on herself to figure out what was happening. She had yet to get a response back, but every once and awhile she could tell that someone was listening. The white noise would lessen and the song, almost like a whale singing, would play for her.
“Suzie, do you copy?” she said through the supercomm. She sat and listened to the white noise for two minutes, giving them sometime to come through. Suzie had been a name she picked for who ever was on the other side of the radio. She thought maybe it was a girl; in need of someone to talk to.
She check the clock on her bedside table; 9:45. She was late today, but she knew her brother was going to be home any minute, and she wanted to at least try once.
“Suzie, do you copy?” There was silence. Today there would be nothing, and as Erica moved back to her brothers room she turned the supercomm off with a sigh.
“Erica,” her mother yelled from the stairs. She quickly put the radio where she had found it, tiptoeing out of the room and shutting the door. “Dishes!”
“Ugh,” Erica moned moving toward the staircase. “But I did them last time!” she yelled with an eye roll.
…
Lucas could feel drops begin to fall onto his face as he stood outside of Max’s window. Max sat on the roof of the small firewood house outside of her room looking up at the sky. They had just left the old burger joint, both of their tummies filled with chocolate shakes.
“Storms are different here,” Max said looking back at him. “The clouds get higher than they did in San Diego.”
“Does it even rain in San Diego?” Lucas said with a smile.
“Sometimes,” she said shrugging her shoulders. “Do you think Dustin's mad?”
“Why would he be?” Lucas’s face scrunched up in confusion.
“Well,” she looked down at her hands. “He was so sure that something was up with the compass. I know I wasn’t here when all that went down, but it is kind of weird.”
“I think we are all a little scared,” Lucas said. He took a seat next to her on the small roof, grabbing one of her hands. “I don’t think it’s anything,” he said. “El would know if it was. I mean she was the one to open the gate the first time, and she was the one to close it. If something was going on I’m sure she would know about it.” Max pursed her lips and shrugged.
“I think you should get home before it really starts to rain,” she said standing from the small house. “Tomorrow I’m going to beat your new high score,” she said with a smirk. Lucas stood with her, taking both of her hands in his.
“Yeah right,” he said back. “I’ve been saving my quarters, Dig Dug is next.” Max gaped at him.
“Whatever stalker,” She stood on her toes, bringing her lips to his before jumping up and going through her window. Lucas smiled up at her, the sprinkle of rain starting to become a drizzle. “Get home before you get a cold,” she said from her room. Lucas gave her a small wave as she closed the window. He moved to his bike with a smile.
…
El was too excited to sleep. She listened to the rain fall on the roof of the cabin, lightning lighting up her room every few minutes. At first she didn’t like storms, but now it was a reminder of where she was, and where she wasn’t. It was comforting to know that she could hear the weather, that she could hear the rain.
She sat up in her bed. Looking around her room out of boredom. She could hear Hopper in the other room, snoring through his sleep. She grabbed a piece of cloth that sat next to her bedside. It had been awhile since she had visited her mother. She new it was late, but just one check in wouldn’t hurt.
She grabbed her pink radio from the dresser, turning it to a halfway point between stations. She let it sit at the end of her bed, tying the blindfold around her eyes. She took one long breathe in, trying to find her center a gravity before being pulled into the darkness.
Everything seemed cold, but for her it didn’t matter. She walked through the water surface, looking in the distance for her mother. There was a drip, the sound of water falling. She turned her head to the right, and in the distance she saw a tub, a head barely seen at the edge. She moved forward slowly, the dripping becoming louder. Her mother's face coming into view as she listened to her breathes coming out staggered.
Her mother sat, in her nightgown, alone in a tub filled with water. Her eyes zoned out like they usually were, and her nose bleeding. El could feel her heart race as her last few steps quickened. Her mother didn’t move; didn’t notice her presents. A scream in the distance made her jump, her mother slowly deteriorating as El put a hand out to touch her.
Before she good do anything, before she could really get a good look at her, she was gone. It wasn’t rare for this to happen. Her aunt had told her once that she had found her mom one night at the end of the driveway; just staring off into space. She wondered what her mother could be thinking, what she could be doing in her head to make her nose bleed. She wondered if she was going anywhere, if she was going to visit someone just like she was doing.
El pulled the cloth from her eyes with a sigh. Maybe she would try again tomorrow, but for now she was ready to sleep. And one her head hit the pillow, she was out.