It Gets Stranger [Stranger Things x Reader]

thirty one

seven months later

"you're late." lucas says, his arms crossed, as mike quickly makes his way over to us. he puts his bike in the bike rack before turning to us.

"again." max adds.

"we're gonna miss the opening." will complains.

"yeah, if you guys keep whining about it. let's go!" mike says.

"'if you guys keep whining about it. nyeh-nyeh-nyeh.'" lucas mocks him.

"just please stop talking." mike rolls his eyes, following us into starcourt mall.

"let me guess. you were busy." lucas smacks his lips a few times before laughing.

"oh, yeah. real mature, lucas." mike says, clearly annoyed.

"'oh, el, i wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends.'" i join in, causing will to giggle.

"guys, stop." max says.

"will thinks it's funny." lucas smiles.

"because it is." the small boy chuckles.

"yeah, it's so funny that i wanna spend romantic time with my girlfriend." mike throws his hands up in the air.

over the past few months, mike and eleven had gotten together. after the snow ball, i really thought mike had a thing for me. but i guess those feelings quickly went away the more he hung out with eleven.

"i'm spending romantic time with my girlfriend." lucas says.

mike simply laughs, looking over at me for a split second.

"oh my god, please stop before i puke." i joke.

we slide in between people down the escalator, apologizing each time we pushed someone to the side. once we reach the bottom, mike bumps into an older girl and she gives us dirty looks.

"watch it!" she says, furrowing her eyebrows.

"sorry." i mutter, pulling mike with me.

"yeah! watch it, nerd!" i hear a familiar voice say. i turn to see erica, lucas' little sister, sitting with her friends.

"isn't it past your bedtime?" lucas asks her.

"isn't it time you died?" she snaps back.

"psycho!" lucas rolls his eyes.

"butthead!"

"mall rat!"

"fart face!"

lucas blows a raspberry at her before max grabs his arm, pulling him towards her. "oh, now that was mature."

we walk into scoops ahoy ice cream parlor, where we're greeted by robin, a tall girl with short, brown hair.

mike dings the bell repeatedly and she gives him an annoyed look. "hey, dingus, your children are here."

the windows behind her slide open to reveal steve, who gives us a tired look. "again? seriously?"

none of us say anything. instead, mike dings the bell a last time.

"alright, come on." he sighs, motioning for us to follow him. he opens the back door and we run down the long hallway towards the movie theater.

"i swear, if anybody hears about this-" steve starts.

"we're dead!" we all finish.

"this way." mike says, leading us. he opens a door and looks inside. "all clear."

we follow him into the movie theater, where they were playing day of the dead. he grabs my hand and leads me towards two empty seats, while the others found their own seats. will follows us and sits next to me.

"see, lucas? we made it." mike says.

"we missed the previews." lucas responds.

"still made it, fart face." max says, softly.

will opens his backpack, allowing mike and i to grab some snacks. we pass some snacks to the others as the movie starts playing.

the woman on the screen seemed to be looking at a calendar on a plain, white wall.

suddenly, the audio slowed down and the screen went black. everyone in the movie theater groaned and began to throw their snacks at the screen.

"what happened?" i asked.

"not sure. maybe the power went out?" mike shrugs.

a few moments later, the movie started playing right where it left off, causing the crowd to cheer.

i shoot mike a smile before looking back at the big screen. out of the corner of my eye, i notice will looking straight ahead with a blank expression. he reaches towards the back of his neck and starts breathing heavily.

"hey." i whisper. he gasps, looking over at me.

"you okay?" i ask.

he looks down for a split second before looking back at me. "yeah."

"are you sure?"

he nods, forcing a smile. "of course."

—

"okay, now." mike nods at eleven and she closes her eyes. i hear a whirring sound come from dustin's room and we all look at one another.

we were inside of dustin's house, ready to surprise him. he'd gone to camp for the past few weeks and we were excited that he was finally coming back home.

i hear the toy noises get closer and dustin's voice. "it's just a dream. you're dreaming." he tells himself.

will gives me a nod, so i turn to el. "now!" i whisper.

she opens her eyes and the whirring noise stops. max motions for us to come out, so we follow her into dustin's living room, where he was crouched down, examining his toys.

max counts us off and some of us blow into our noisemakers while others scream "surprise!"

dustin screams and turns to us, spraying lucas in the face with his farrah fawcett hairspray.

they both start screaming and mike pulls me out of the way.

dustin continues spraying him until finally realizing that it was us.

"oh." he breathes heavily. "hey guys."

"what the fuck?!" i scream.

"oh my god, lucas, come with me." max grabs his arm and leads him to the kitchen sink.

"nice to have you back, dustin." mike laughs.