𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

xvi. NOT SAFE

  

After Charles walked out of the house, he isn't that surprised to see Poppy on her doorstep, smoking a cigarette. "Hey." He said as he got to the road, holding his bike and she smiled, waving. She walks over, stopping at the other side of the road. "Hey." She said and Charles smiled back.

"Is it your parents again?" He asked, knowing how her parents were and she sighed. "Yeah.. Where you headed off to?" She asked as she noticed his bike and his backpack on his one shoulder. "Uh, just out with some friends, though it's not for another.." He paused to look at the watch on his wrist. "Half an hour.. Wanna talk?" He asked her.

She sighed, shrugging, "kinda just wanna only hear about you, cool cat.. Sit and talk?" She then asked and he smiled. "Sure." He said and so the two sat outside the Dumont home, on the small set of stairs leading up to the front door.

When Charles started talking, he started talking about Will right away and Poppy smiled softly. "You like him.." She whispers. "Sorry.. Liked." She says as she looks at Charles who looked down. "Sorry by the way. For your loss." She said and he glanced at her with a small forced smile.

     "No big deal.. I'm fine." He tells her and she smiled with a small nod at him. "Except.. it isn't but it's okay, you don't wanna talk about it.. But just tell me one thing." She says and he sighs. "Tell you what, Poppy?" He asked, looking at her.

    "You're gay." She said with a small smile and wink at him. He started blushing a lot, looking away. "What? No. No way." He denied and she rolls her eyes. "Come on.. You are, aren't you?" She said and he looks at her, sighing again.

"Fine.. Maybe.. I don't like girls." He says and she smiled widely. "Oh my God, my little boy is a queer! Aw, I'm such a proud lesbian mother." She said with a hand to her chest and he chuckled at that. They did seem like that kind of relationship nowadays, she was so smart and so much wiser.

"Not queer, just.. trying to figure things out." He says and she nodded with a small smile at him. "But.. you do like boys right?" She then asked and he nodded with a smile at her. "Oh, no, I have to meet up with my friends in ten minutes." He said, sudenly getting up and she nods.

"Alright, I better go home anyway, my mom will lose her shit," she says and Charles nodded at that, grabbing his bike and getting onto it. He starts driving away as she headed into her house.

     "How much further?" Lucas sighed out as he, Charles and Dustin walked together down the traintracks, following the compasses in their hands. "I don't know. These only tell direction, not distance." Dustin answered him.

     "You really need to learn more about compasses." Dustin then said to the boy and Charles snorts. "I'm just saying. How do we know when we get to the gate?" Lucas asked and he did have a point, Charles actually wondering that himself.

     "Uh, I think a portal to another dimension is gonna be pretty obvious." Dustin said and Lucas sighed then he looked behind them. Charles did the same, right when Eleven raised her hand and wiped her nose with the sleeve of the jacket she was wearing. "Do you think she's acting weird?" Lucas asked the two as he looked back at them.

     "You're asking if the weirdo is acting weird?" Dustin asked and Charles rolls his eyes. "I mean, weirder than normal?" Lucas said and Charles sighs. "I don't know, who cares?" Dustin says.

     After a while more of walking, the four boys and Eleven reach a junkyard. Dustin comes to a stop, looking around. "Oh, no," he says and Charles looked at him right away with worry.

"Oh, no? What's oh, no?" Lucas asked then Dustin turned to them. "We're headed back home." Dustin explained and Charles sighed. "What?" Mike asked right away as Charles looks at him then back at Dustin. "Are you sure?" He asked as he looked all around the junkyard.

"Yes, I'm sure. Setting sun, right there. We looped right back around." Dustin explained as he pointed up at the sun and Charles scoffed softly. "And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas asked, annoyance clear in his tone as he raised his arms.

"Why is this all on me?" Dustin raised his voice, looking at them all. "Because you're the compass genuis!" Lucas also raised his voice. "What do yours say?" Dustin asked and they all raise their compasses to look at them. "North."

Lucas sighed. "Makes no damn sense." Dustin said and Charles sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Maybe the gate moved." Mike said as he sighed. "No, I don't think it's the gate." Dustin said as they all looked all around. "It has to be something else screwing with the compasses." Charles said.

"Maybe it's something here." Mike said as Lucas turned away, towards Eleven. "No, it has to be like a super magnet." Dustin said and Lucas raised his hand. "It's not a magnet," he said as he pointed at Eleven. Charles turns around, "she's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass." Lucas said and Charles sighed.

"Why would she do that?" Mike asked. "Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor!" Lucas raised his voice then started to walk over to the girl. "Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike asked as Charles followed, standing on the right side of Lucas as Mike came to the left side of the boy who now stood face to face with Eleven.

"You did it, didn't you?" He asked her but she stayed quiet. "You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will." Lucas said and she continued to stay quiet. "Lucas, come on, seriously, just leave her alone!" Mike says.

"Admit it." Lucas said and Charles saw the look in her eyes. "No." Eleven said in a small voice, Charles felt bad as Lucas then raised his voice, "admit it!" Charles was gonna say he was going too far, that he shouldn't be so aggressive or loud but then Lucas grabbed the girl's arm roughly.

He raised it and Charles sighed, looking down when he saw the blood. "Fresh blood. I knew it." Lucas said as he smacks her hand down. "Lucas, come on!" Mike yelled at his friend. "I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!" Lucas yelled back at Mike.

"Bull! That's old blood. Right, El?" Mike said as he looked at Eleven, she stayed quiet, staring back at him. "Right, El?" He said and Lucas looked at Eleven. "It's not.. It's.. Not safe." She said, she sounded like she was close to tears.

authors note eleven is so smol protect her always😤
+holy shit part one is gonna be so long lmao