⋆⭒˚.⋆ 𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐎𝐍 ᵃ ˢᵗʳᵃⁿᵍᵉʳ ᵗʰⁱⁿᵍˢ ᵃᶠ

𝟎𝟏𝟏

ELEVEN

-- THE UPSIDE DOWN --

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"YOU'RE NOT coming with us!" dustin pushes matty back down into his seat on the bleachers, glaring at his cousin. "how many times do we have to say that for you to actually shut up and agree?"

"she's our friend, not yours!" holly has to admit, matty's right. it should be them going to the upside down, but mike and his friend have all decided that it's "too dangerous," or whatever. "you have no right to do this!"

"maybe not," lucas interjects, shrugging. "but we're older and more experienced, and if you actually want to see meg again, you'll stay here."

matty looks at zach and holly for their opinions, and when holly shrugs, he crosses his arms and sits back in frustration. "fine. but you owe me ice cream for life, d."

dustin's smile is hesitant, and holly catches the look that robin and steve share behind him. it's beyond obvious that the adults have been hiding things from them this entire time, and holly is sick of it. it may be true that her brother and his friends are doing it for their safety, but it's still unfair. even with all the things they've told them, it's clear they don't want to tell holly why they're acting so reluctant to save meg.

"you guys aren't going to, like, die, right?" chris raises his eyebrows at the large group of people assembled in front of him. "i mean, the upside down, or whatever...you guys know what you're doing? it'll work out?"

"it'll work out." max says, nodding as her eyes meet chris's. "we'll get meg back just fine, and no one is dying."

chris nods slightly, looking away.

"well..." nancy looks at holly, and then meets mike's eyes. "what are we waiting for? let's go get our girl."

betsy leans forward and plants a kiss on chris's cheek before turning back to the group. "let's go."

it had been quite a debate for them to decide whether betsy goes to the upside down with the other adults. although she has just as little experience as the kids do, it's her daughter. joyce had ultimately been the one to step forward and tell everyone to shut up, because betsy was coming with them and that was that.

and yes, that was that. zach gives the group one final run down on where he found the lab, on top of the two other maps he had drawn and the numerous explanations he had given before. and then steve and hopper push open the doors to the hawkins high gym, and they're gone.

"well," ella raises her eyebrows. "guess we're in charge, now."

"oh, shut up," zach leans forward with his elbows on his knees, resting his chin in his hands. "you don't know what's going on any more than we do."

shrugging, ella sits down beside zach. "yeah, well. i guess we just wait."

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"first group just left," he leans forward, squinting at the blurry security footage. "we going now, boss?"

"including the girl?" the man standing at the door raises his eyebrows. "she's the one we need out."

"yes, sir, including the girl."

"get the first team in the vans and have the second ready to go. i'll meet them at the school."