It felt like I had just stepped into a memory as the three of us entered the junkyard, the cars and bus still in the same place as they were when we had first hidden from the Hawkins Laboratory scientists. I could feel the energy radiating from the place, the fear that rang in all our hearts as we sat under the broken bus's windows for hours, not knowing if help would arrive. Steve and Dustin smiled at each other, the older boy wearing a pair of navy blue sunglasses as the sun had now reached its spot in the center of the sky.
"Oh, yeah," Steve nodded, whipping the sunglasses off with a smirk. "This will do. This will do just fine. Good call, dude." Dustin grinned at the praise, and he went to follow Steve down the hill before stopping in place. The middle schooler turned his head over his shoulder and saw me pressing my hand against my scars, and his face fell.
"Are you okay?" he asked me, and I didn't know what to say. Too many memories were flooding back to me, and I almost swore that I could feel pain winding up on my stomach. "Rachel?"
"I'm fine," I assured him, but it was clear that was just a lie. Dustin offered me his free gloved hand, and I took it tightly with my own. The two of us followed after Steve, who was already dropping meat squares on the grass. Charity's car had already parked on the side of the road leading to the junkyard, the two waiting in the center of the field for further instructions. Standing next to them were Lucas and Billy's step-sister Max, the two waving at us.
"I said medium well!" Lucas called to us, and the redheaded girl smiled at his joke. I noticed the change in Dustin's expression, and Steve looked back at us with a sympathetic frown.
"That's the girl, isn't it?" I asked the boy. His hand let go of mine, and he gave the smallest nod. "Just brush it off, okay? I know it doesn't feel like it now, but this is good. It just means you're one step closer to being with the girl you're supposed to be with."
"What, so I can be like you and Steve?" he said bitterly, and my eyes narrowed at him. The boy sighed and stopped in his place, facing me and away from everyone else. "I'd have to be an idiot to not see that something is up between you two." I glanced back at Steve, who was watching our conversation from his spot in the junkyard field. "Just say something to him! Why do you both have to dance around the subject?"
"Let's just focus on the matter at hand, okay?" I told Dustin, ending the discussion. The boy rolled his eyes and continued downhill, heading toward his friend. I did the same, instead heading for Steve and the two older girls standing in a huddle. I avoided the massive pile of meat, pouring the rest from my bucket and dropping it on the grass.
"Is he okay?" Steve asked me as I joined the group, and I shook my head.
"He didn't really want to talk about it," I said simply, and the older boy nodded. "So... what's next?"
"We've gotta make landmarks all around this place," he told the three of us. "Take any of the large scrap metal pieces and build. Now, for us three..." Steve pointed his finger at himself, Diana, and Charity. "We have to do it by hand. Rachel, I assume you can just do your magic tricks and-" I shook my head at him quickly, and he understood just as fast. "... and find pieces on the outskirts. We'll stay around the center." Steve looked up to the sky, estimating a time in his head. "I'll say three hours tops before the dark hits us. Let's get as much done as we can as fast as we can."
"Won't we need weapons?" Diana asked him, much to his surprise.
"You both can just drive away when it's time, we'll handle it from here."
"We're not deserters, Harrington," Charity scoffed, taking Diana's arm in her own. "We'll find our own weapons, or we'll make them. You'd be surprised at the strength you can have if you're not a flier." The blonde gave me a wink before she and her friend turned away, going off to fulfill Steve's orders. The boy looked down at me, his brow slowly raising.
"So what all have you not told them?" he asked me, crossing his arms against his chest. I glanced back at my two friends, both dragging large scraps of metal and laughing at something another had said. I hadn't expected them to be so... compliant. Sure, there was the occasional comment from Charity, but they actually wanted to help. Maybe there was more than what you saw.
"They don't know about Eleven or Anya," I told Steve, giving a little sigh as I looked back to him. "And they don't know anything about me. If possible, I want to keep it that way."
"You can try," Steve said, and I looked at him in confusion. He rolled his eyes and gave a shake of his head. "We're talking about a Demogorgon, Rachel. If anything goes south, there's no way you can try to save the day without your powers and not feel guilty if someone gets hurt."
"You know me so well."
"Well, it would be hard for me not to," he smiled back. We both stood there for a moment as the expression faded. "Nancy and I... that's done." I stood there curiously, wondering where he was going. Steve cleared his throat uncomfortably, rubbing the side of his nose twice with the bend of his pointer finger. "I wanted to confirm that with her, but... I think she already knows."
"How are you holding up?" I asked him, and he shrugged.
"Well, you know..." he said honestly, "it's hard to really think about stuff like that when you've got a hell creature on the loose. I don't know, I guess... I guess I had already grieved enough."
"Well, I'm here for you," I said, and Steve smiled at me. There was a loud groan of metal that caught my attention, and my head turned in the direction of Billy's step-sister. Max was struggling to pull a piece of scrap almost the size of her, her arms shaking as all of her strength was being used. "Hang on!" I called out to her, running to the girl and picking up the other side. She seemed shocked at the fact I had offered help, her blue eyes narrowing suspiciously at me. "Didn't want you to hurt yourself. I'm-"
"Rachel," she finished my introduction for me, walking backward as we led the scrap over to a pile. "Billy and Lucas told me about you. Really different things about you, but it's nice to actually meet you." I chuckled at her response, and she seemed to loosen up at that. "I'm Max."
"Nice to officially meet you, too," I smiled. "Just curious... what has Lucas said about me?"
"Oh, nothing much," she assured me as we dropped the scrap metal down. Max dusted her hands against each other before pulling her fiery red hair out of her face. "You can actually move stuff with your mind?" I quickly looked up at Diana and Charity, the two girls too far away to have heard me. A curse word was ringing in my head toward the younger boy.
"Yeah, but not everyone knows about that here, so let's keep it on the down-low," I told her, and she gave me a quick nod.
"Gotcha," Max agreed, giving a small smile. "That's... that's really cool."
"I think so too," I told her truthfully with a chuckle. "Only issue is that if I do it, it's not undercover. We're talking a decently bloody nose."
"Ew, gross," Max laughed, her nose scrunching up in the act. She was so different from Billy, and perhaps Lucas and Dustin were a big factor in her being so open with me. There were no sarcastic comments or questionings about my boundaries. I think she could tell along the lines of what I was thinking, her face somewhat concerned. "You know, Billy..."
"There's no hard feelings about the car thing," I reassured her.
"No, that's not- honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you had hard feelings about the car thing," she admitted. "Billy likes you a lot. From the way he's talked about you, I think you're his only friend here. A true one, anyways." Max shuffled her feet, her head hanging. "I don't know what would happen if that changed. You've seen his temper." My expression softened at that, and I set a hand on her shoulder. Max flinched for a moment before her shoulders relaxed, and I removed it.
"If he ever... does anything," I said. "I'm always a call away. I'll give you my number after this to make sure of that." The girl's face lit up at that. She looked relieved, as if this was the best news she had heard in a while.
"Really?" she asked me excitedly, and I smiled.
"Promise," I told her, and I offered my hand for a low high-five. Max took it happily, a big smile on her face. At that moment, I immediately thought she and Eleven would be perfect friends. "We girls have to stick together after all."
"I'm starting to see why Dustin likes you so much."
♢♦︎————————♦︎♢
All seven of us were sitting quietly on the floors of the bus after night fell and fog began to coat the ground, each feeling a mixture of boredom and anxiety. Lucas stayed close to the ladder that lead to the skylight, binoculars in hand to tell us when the Demogorgon would arrive. Diana and Dustin were playing a silent game of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors,' and an occasional sigh would carry throughout the vehicle to signal which person had just lost. Steve was flipping his lighter open and shut, watching the small flame for a few seconds before cutting it away from the world. Charity and I sat across from each other in a middle row, the blonde laying on her back and her head upside down in the aisle.
"You know, I've gotta ask," I said to her quietly, and her eyes flicked up to me as she waited for me to continue. "On Halloween at Tina's party, you said... you said you sell yourself off to learn secrets. What did you mean by that?" Charity groaned, shaking her head at her past self in annoyance.
"God, one day I'll learn to control my alcohol," she muttered before flipping over on the bus's seat. The girl clicked her tongue, tilting her head to the side with a sigh. "Um, well... it's not the greatest tidbit about myself." I stayed quiet, egging her on to continue. "I've lived in Hawkins my entire life just like my parents. Right before freshman year, I couldn't help but look at the life we lived. Same house on the same street my dad grew up in, like, with a grandfather living in the basement until he kicked the can. I asked myself, 'Do I really want to have a family here?' Same ol' town, where nothing changes and the most exciting thing is teenage drama."
I nodded as she spoke, following along with the story. "I lost my 'v' card to Thomas McKeen," she continued bitterly. "He was a senior, and he had everything. Wealthy parents, a good car, popular friends... I felt like royalty around him. I liked the rush and people looking up to me for a change. So, after he graduated... I found a new senior. I found loads of guys, each one with a different way to pay me off for a job well done. Secrets are like stocks: you hold them until the perfect moment and then turn them in for a maximum profit. Once we started senior year... and everyone started to apply to college, I got scared. The hush-hush of Hawkins would never pay enough to get out of here."
Charity sat up and leaned against the wall of the bus, swinging her left leg over the edge. "I'm not smart enough to go out-of-state, much less get enough scholarship," she admitted. "I'm... it's so scary to think that the only people who will remember you after you're gone are the same people your parents know. I was willing to throw myself at anything different than the typical Hawkins life." The blonde peered over at Steve, who was still fascinated with his lighter. "Now, I'm waiting in a trash dump to kill a demon or whatever. Yippee."
"You really think you're gonna be stuck here forever?" I inquired, and Charity shrugged.
"Who knows?" she told me sarcastically. "Maybe one of those lab scientists will come to sweep me off my feet." The girl chuckled to herself, rolling her eyes. "It sounds so stupid now, finding other people's dirt and spreading it around. Literally so childish. When you joined the cheer squad, I was desperate to find something out about you. I thought you were just a pushover. Then I find out you and Steve were making out on Christmas Eve-"
"Hang on- how?" I questioned her.
"Friend of a friend's dad was hunting that night and saw you both, I guess. They didn't know it was you two, but I was able to put two and two together. I thought it was real juicy stuff, but like I said: childish. Who knew you were fighting monsters and pissing off the government?" I scoffed at that, shaking my head at myself in disbelief. I really worked up so much stress about her statement on having information on me... just for it to be that. Not Eleven, not me and my powers, just a quick kiss.
"Just go home!" Dustin said angrily, and the two of us leaned forward into the aisle to see what had happened. Max was staring the boy down in shock while Diana and Steve watched, both exchanging glances. Dustin didn't seem embarrassed by his outburst, turning away from the girl with a frown.
"Geesh," Max huffed, her arms crossed against her chest as she stood up. "Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" She climbed up the ladder to the skylight, and Steve gave Dustin a proud smirk.
"That's good," he told him after the young girl disappeared. "Just show her you don't care."
"I think we're ignoring the fact a Demogorgon could be here any minute!" I shot back, climbing around the seats toward them. "There's a difference between not caring and being rude."
"You weren't even here for the situation; my boy Dustin's got it," Steve defended the younger boy, who glared at him.
"Dude, stop it!" Steve shrugged, giving Dustin a wink, but that only seemed to aggravate him more. "I'm serious. Knock it off."
"Alright, alright." Diana's head shook back and forth in disbelief, her eyes wide at the predicament.
"I'm really spending my night with middle schoolers and Steve Harrington," she muttered to herself as I got closer. "What else to spice things up?"
"Oh, don't jinx yourself now," I warned her teasingly, sitting on the top of the bus seat so that my legs dangled beside her head. "Trust me, so much more could happen. Maybe will happen. Keep an open mind, I guess."
"That's the spirit," Steve grinned, giving me a nod of approval. There was a loud shriek, a guttural one, and we all jumped to the windows. Dustin and Steve peered through the exhaust grate together, their fingers clinging to it like it was a prison bar. My hand went up to my scars, and I dug my fingers into it anxiously.
"You see him?" Dustin asked Steve. I looked over to Charity and Diana, both of their faces white with fear.
"No," the older boy responded. Charity's eyes were wide, and I realized she was shaking.
"That wasn't a bear," she whispered, shrinking back a step from the window.
"Lucas?" Dustin called up to his friend. "What's going on?"
"Hold on!" Lucas called back, leaving us to continue staring out the windows as we waited for an official word. I couldn't see the beast, but I could feel it. It was close, and it was hiding. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten- ten o'clock!" My breathing was hitching and my eyes were wide as I tried to find it, a soft ringing in my ears.
"He's not taking the bait," I heard Steve say to Dustin. "Why is he not taking the bait?"
"Maybe he's not hungry?" the younger boy offered. I glanced over to Steve, who gave a little twitch of his head.
"Maybe he's sick of cow." My stomach churned at that. Steve began to back away from the grate, and all eyes in the bus went to him as he began to head for the exit.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Diana sputtered,
"Steve?" Dustin stammered, taking a few steps to follow after him. "Steve, what are you doing? Steve?" The older boy was breathing heavily, and I knew it to be fear. He held up his lighter for all of us to see before tossing it to Dustin, who caught it with both hands and a dropped jaw.
"Just be ready," he ordered him.
"I'm coming too," I piped up, and Steve's eyes narrowed as I approached.
"Absolutely not."
"Bullshit, Steve, I'm not letting you go out there on your own!"
"And how do you plan to fight that thing?" he questioned, his face just a few inches from my own. He was right; all I had to defend myself were the powers I didn't want to show. I dropped my head angrily, and Steve nodded. "Stay in the bus." Right before he exited out the door, he grabbed the nail bat he had propped for himself at the entrance. I didn't waste a second before moving to the exit, staying inside like he had requested but peering through the thin windows to watch him closely.
"He has a death wish," Charity said out loud as we watched him take slow, careful steps into the junkyard field. The base of the bat was clenched tightly in both of his hands, raising the weapon slowly. The Demogorgon chittered from its hiding spot, baiting him to come farther out and into the unknown. My hands lowered slowly to the side, my fingers extended in preparation for a fight. Steve whistled as if he was calling for a dog, his head lifted as he tried to look over a car.
"Come on, buddy," he called the Demogorgon, continuing the whistling. He let go of the nail bat with one hand, swinging it around in his left nonchalantly through the fog. There was a creak as Max hurriedly climbed down the ladder, standing by Dustin's side nervously.
"What's he doing?" she questioned the boy, who was still peering through the grated window.
"Expanding the menu," he said simply.
"Expanding the what?" Diana repeated with a gasp. My eyes didn't tear away from Steve, watching him approach the meat pile we had poured hours prior. "He's insane."
"Thinking the same thing," Max told us.
"He's awesome," Dustin retorted, and I could tell from how his words were spoken that he was grinning. Steve continued to swing the bat across the grass, and I covered my mouth to keep from screaming as the fog finally parted to reveal the Demogorgon. It wasn't even a fully grown one, walking on four legs as it growled at Steve. Its flower mouth opened partly as it made the noise, but it stood there watching him, not moving a muscle.
"Steve, watch out!" I heard Lucas shriek from the roof, and my heart gave a jump.
"A little busy here!" he yelled back at the boy, not tearing his attention away from the baby Demogorgon. Diana let out a little yelp of terror, and that's when I saw another Demogorgon approaching low in the fog. We weren't dealing with only one.
"Three o'clock!" Lucas screamed, his voice cracking. "Three o'clock!"