³𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐄, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 ✔

013-in her head

The girl sighed and hung the phone back up, Carla frowning at yet another no, Mike and Max's argument falling behind her.  Nancy walked over to the Byers boys—Jonathan crossing off the places his girlfriend called, Will sitting on a stool beside him—asking, "Who's next?"

"There is no next." Jonathan stated, "Unless you want to start calling random people's homes."

"It doesn't make sense." Nancy threw her notepad onto the counter in frustration.

Carla countered, "When has anything in the past few days made sense?"

Nancy turned to look at her sister, firing, "There's a pattern, okay? A consistency to their behavior. They've been feeding on these chemicals since this started, and—and what, they just stop out of the blue?"

"Maybe they have all of the chemicals they need." Will added to the conversation, "Maybe they've all turned into those....things."

"Fuck those things." the Wheeler muttered to herself from the rocking chair.  The memories from the night before flashed before her eyes—the monster over her, it's hot breath fanning over her face, its roar piercing her ears.

"But what about the source?" Nancy continued speaking, trying to state her point that something was off, "I mean, did the Mind Flayer just suddenly stop infecting people? And even if the Flayed are monsters now, why can't El find them?"

Before anyone could speak on the matter, Max interrupted the conversation to state her own problem, "Okay, can you guys settle an argument for us?" The redheaded girl made her way up to where the others were, Mike trailing after her. "Who do you think should decide El's limits.  Mike or Eleven?"

"The way that you frame that is such bullshit." Mike argued.

The Mayfield's voice rose as she replied, "It's not bullshit, Mike.  This is your whole problem.  And is also precisely the reason why she dumped your ass."

Damn.  While Carla knew that her brother and Eleven hadn't been in the best of terms the past couple of days, she didn't know Eleven had actually dumped him. 

Nancy's eyes widened, "El dumped you?"

"Good for her." Carla shrugged.  While she loved her brother, lying about their Nana being sick wasn't the best move, especially as a first time boyfriend.  He didn't know how to apologize to Eleven, nor did he know how to win her back.

"Not necessary, Carla." Mike sent a side-eye her way at the comment before continuing on, "And, yes, because she—" the boy sent a look towards the redhead beside him, "—is conspiring against me.  She's corrupting her."

"No, enlightening her." Max corrected the Wheeler boy, continuing the argument, "The fact is, she's not yours.  She's her own person, fully capable of making her own decisions."

So far, Carla had to side with the redheaded girl.  While she understood why her brother was upset—he had been dumped, and was just worried for his ex-girlfriend—El wasn't his to boss around. 

"I agree with Max." the Wheeler girl stated from the rocking chair, "I get it, Mike, but Max isn't corrupting her by wanting to show her the real world.  If I'm being honest, it was really nice to see Eleven smiling, to see her exploring the world around her."

Mike sighed, "She's risking her life for no reason."

"For no reason?" Nancy repeated, looking at her brother with raised eyebrows, "Mike, the flayed are out there doing God knows what."

"Killing, flaying....." Lucas trailed off.

"Transforming into monsters." Will added. 

The Wheeler girl continued to talk, "And El's not stupid.  She knows her abilities better than any of us."