✓ Her Mixtape, Stranger Things

xxxvi. heart of glass

　Mike rolled his eyes, his face slowly turning red with anger as Rue kept looking at him with a smug grin. "You're a piece of shit."

　"And you have a small dick."

　"You don't even have a dick!"

　"Yet mine's still bigger than yours!"

　"Guys, stop it!" Nancy cut in, her chest rising as she glared between the two. She was stressed out, and everyone was. But as Nancy glared at the broken window to the record store and the two arguing kids, she was at the brink of snapping. "Here," She gave Rue the bags of snacks that were in her hands and took the bat from Mike's hands. "This is mine now."

　"But—"

　"No! Go get whatever you wanted and meet us in the car as fast as possible," Nancy said sternly, giving them one more dirty look before spinning around and hurrying towards Will and Max, who were waiting for her with tubs of ice cream they've taken from Scoops Ahoy despite Alex's protests.

　Maybe Nancy had a point, with a monstrous flesh-monster, and the Flayed hunting them down, Rue and Mike's arguing was childish. However, the sound of a road trip to safety was welcoming, and they had almost forgotten all about it. Rue swung the plastic bag of stolen candy and chips over her shoulder as she gave Mike another look before stepping into the record store, the boy close behind.

　"Your dick isn't bigger than mine," She heard Mike mutter as their shoes crunched on the glass. Rue chuckled as she blindly walked to the cash register, trying to find the light switch.

　"Why? Do you want to compare?" Rue said sarcastically, flicking the light on so they could see. When she spun around, she noticed Mike's face turning bright red, and he was frowning at her as if he tried to find an answer. "I was kidding," she finished, walking past him when a record caught her eye.

　"I knew that!"

　"Sure you did," Rue teased. The girl beamed at the sight before her — it was Michael Jackson's Thriller album on a cassette. She already had it as a record disk at home, but as a cassette, she could listen to it one her walkman — a walkman! Yes. Rue grabbed the cassette from the shelf before walking further down the aisle to grab a new walkman and batteries.

　Rue had a small skip to her step as she walked back out of the store, where Mike was already waiting for her. "What did you get?" She asked him, stuffing her stolen items in the bags Nancy gave her.

　The two began to walk out of the mall to find everyone else stuffing everything they've bought into the car trunk. "I got ABBA," he said, waving the C.D in her face.

　"There was ABBA?" Rue gasped, stopping in her steps to look back at the store. "Tell them to wait — I just—"

　"Rue and Mike! We're leaving!"

　"But I need ABBA!" Rue told Jonathan.

　"You don't need ABBA," He shook his head, and there was a hint of a smile on his face as he took the bags from Rue's hands and walked back to place them in the car.

　"But—"

　"Let's go! We've got a long ride ahead of us," He pleaded.

　Mike nudged Rue's shoulder, waving the C.D in her face with a smug grin before he got in the car. Rue gave him a bitter smile, but once he was out of her sight, she flipped him off with both hands. "Asshole," she grumbled, and the night breeze brushed her hair from her shoulders. — "I got ABBA," She mocked him quietly, opening the car door and squishing her way between Will and El to sit next to Max.