in which an unlikely relationship forms between two girls over the summer of '85...
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ever since andy harrington and max mayfield met in the fall of 1984, there...
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"You think this is some kind of sick prank, Harrington?"
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AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE HOURS of them waiting, the boys finally returned to the parking lot. Mike told them the plan, and the gang headed to the storage rooms to get the things they needed for it to work. Max stayed in the parking lot to keep watch on Billy, and Andy went with Mike and El. From what Andy heard, the plan was to wait until everyone left the pool and somehow lock him in the sauna. They would then raise the temperature to 220 degrees and, depending on what happens, they would determine if he is the host. So the kids headed to the storage rooms and after they had gotten everything Mike said they needed, the only thing left for them to do was wait.
Hours passed by, and less and less people were at the Hawkins Community Pool and by 9 pm the only people there were Billy and the kids. They waited anxiously as they heard the shower run, and they knew they couldn't turn back now.
The shower squeaked to a stop and Billy was now getting dressed at his locker when one of the kids pulled open a door and let it close, instantly catching his attention.
"Pools closed." He said, annoyed, pulling up his swim trunks. Andy opened one door near her and shut it loudly.
"Hey! Pool's closed!" He yelled in response, closing his locker. He stormed to the door that had been shut and they heard his hand slam onto the door as he attempted to open it, but miraculously, the lock held. Suddenly, the lights flickered off, leaving the kids and Billy in complete darkness.
"Billy!" They heard Mike's voice mock a few times into the walkie, his laughter echoing throughout the otherwise silent locker room.
"Who's there?" He replied in a mocking tone similar to Mike's. They listened as Billy yanked each of the shower curtains open, growing dangerously close to them by the second.
Mike laughed into the walkie-talkie, "come and find me."
"You think this is funny, huh?" Billy smirked, watching as the door that led to the sauna slowly closed. "I find you, it is your funeral."
A wide smile overtook his face as he peered through the sauna's window to what looked to be the silhouette of a human. Convinced it was real, Billy laughed and clapped wildly like he'd just won the lottery. "Got you."
"Come and get me, you piece of shit!" Mike mocked through the walkie just as Billy opened the door, revealing the lifeguard dummy. Seething with anger, he choked the poor thing, lifting it in the air with just one hand.
"Hey," Mike said on the walkie taped to the dummy. "Behind you." Before Billy turned around, El had jumped from her hiding spot. He dropped the dummy and whipped his head around, coming face to face with Eleven.
"Hi." She hissed, to which Billy lunged toward her. One step ahead of him, she nodded her head and Billy flung onto the sauna's wall, falling face first onto the floor below. Maroon blood trickled from the fresh cuts on his back and created a small pool of red underneath him. Large tiles of the wall had cracked on impact and fell on the floor next to him, making it possible for him to use them to escape.
