I groan when I hear the phone ringing. When I move, I realize that I'm lying on top of Billy on the couch. He groans slightly but doesn't get up. As I walk into the kitchen, I notice it's barely seven in the morning.
I pick up the phone. "Hello?"
"I've called twice already," Steve tells me.
"I was asleep. It's seven am," I tell him.
"I'll be at your house in ten minutes to pick you up," Steve tells me.
"What? What are you talking about?" I ask.
"I'll explain everything," Steve assures. "Just get ready."
After a slight struggle to get Billy up I manage to get him out of my house just as Steve pulls. Billy kisses me before walking to his car. I know he sees Steve. I'm just surprised the two of them didn't go at each other.
I get into the backseat of Steve's car. For some reason Dustin is in the passenger's seat.
"Why is Dustin here?" I ask. "And what is this all about?"
"I'll tell you everything once you tell me what the hell Billy was doing at your house at seven am," Steve tells me.
"Leaving," I tell him.
"He spent the night?" Steve asks.
"Yeah," I tell him. "He did."
"Did you sleep with him?" Steve asks.
"Dustin is right here," I remind him.
"Did you?" Steve pushes.
"No," I tell him. "We made out before we fell asleep on the couch. Not that it's any of your business, Steve." Steve nods. "Now tell me what the hell is going on."
Apparently, Dustin found a baby Demogorgon and kept it. Well kept it until it got to be the size of a dog and escaped. So now Steve, Dustin, and I have to find it.
We stop on the side of the road by the woods. Steve has buckets of uncooked meat to hopefully attract the thing.
"Well, well, well, look who it is," Dustin says into his radio. "Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I'm pretty sure he's a baby Demogorgon. I'll explain later. Meet me, Steve, and Candy at the old junkyard. And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket."
"All right, let's go," Steve says.
Just be there, stat. Over and out.
We walk through the woods Steve and Dustin leaving a trail of meat for the thing to follow.
"All right, so let me get this straight. You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who... who you just met?" Steve asks Dustin.
"All right, that's grossly oversimplifying things," Dustin insists.
"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?" Steve asks.
"An interdimensional slug? Because it's awesome," Dustin reasons.
"Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I... I just... I don't know. I just feel like you're trying too hard," Steve says.
"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, all right?" Dustin says.
"It's not about the hair, man," Steve tells him. "The key with girls is just... just acting like you don't care."
"Even if you do?" Dustin asks.
"Yeah, exactly. It drives them nuts," Steve explains.
"Then what?" Dustin asks.
"You just wait until, uh... until you feel it," Steve states.
"Feel what?" Dustin asks.
"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know? You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this, uh... electricity, you know?" Steve explains.
"Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere..." Dustin starts.
Steve cuts him off, "No, no, no, no, no. Like a... Like a sexual electricity."
"Oh," Dustin says.
"You feel that and then you make your move," Steve tells him.
"So that's when you kiss her?" Dustin asks.
"No, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Romeo," Steve tells him. "Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy, like a... I don't know, like a lion." Dustin nods. "But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a... like a ninja."
"What type is Nancy?" Dustin asks.
"Nancy's different. She's different than the other girls," Steve tells him.
"Yeah, she seems pretty special, I guess," Dustin says.
"Yeah. Yeah, she is," Steve says.
"But this girl's special, too, you know. It's just, like, something about her," Dustin says.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey, hey," Steve says as he stops.
"What?" Dustin asks.
"You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?" Steve asks.
"Uh, no. No," Dustin insists.
"Okay, good. Don't," Steve tells him.
"I won't," Dustin assures.
"She's only gonna break your heart, and you're way too young for that shit," Steve warns. He starts walking again. "Fabergé."
"What?" Dustin asks.
"It's Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp... It's not wet, okay? When it's damp..." Steve says.
"Damp," Dustin repeats.
"You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray," Steve explains.
"Farrah Fawcett spray?" Dustin asks as he laughs.
"Yeah, Farrah Fawcett. You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass. You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?" Steve warns.
Dustin nods. "Yup."
"Okay," Steve says.
"Farrah Fawcett, really?" Dustin asks.
"I mean, she's hot," Steve offers.
"Yeah," Dustin agrees.
I laugh.
Steve turns to look at me. "What?"
"You're giving Dusting girl advice," I state.
"Yeah," Steve says.
"Hair advice sure. You've got great hair," I tell him.
Steve smiles. "You really think so?"
"But girl advice. Not your strong suit," I tell him.
"Why not?" Steve asks.
"'Cause... 'Cause you're you," I state.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Steve asks.
"I just... It's just that you and Nancy aren't exactly..." I start.
Steve makes a face. "That's not my fault."
"No," I tell him. "But you're still hung up on her."
"Remember when you dated Dane Shepard freshman year and he broke up with you after two months?" Steve asks. I wince at the thought. "You were hung up on him for months. You wanna give Dustin some advice?"
I turn to Dustin. "My advice is don't listen to Steve."
Finally, we arrive at the junkyard.
Steve sighs. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do. This will do just fine. Good call, dude."
"I said medium-well!"
I look up and see Lucas standing there with Billy's stepsister Max.
"Who's that?" Steve asks.
"I don't think we've officially met," I tell Max. "I'm Candice, but everyone calls me Candy."
"Max," she says. "You've been hanging around Billy."
I nod. "Yeah. A couple of times." I take a breath. "You two don't get along well, do you?"
"My stepbrother's always been a dick," Max tells me. "But now he's just angry... all the time and... Well, he can't take it out on my mom, so..."
"He takes it out on you," I say. "He doesn't hit you, does he?"
"No," Max shakes her head. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this."
"Probably 'cause you're sick and tired of keeping it to yourself," I reason. Max doesn't say anything. "You know you and I can be friends." Max still just looks at me. "If you want to talk, I'll always listen."
"Hey! Dickheads!" Steve shouts. "How come the only two helping me out is this random girl and Candy? We lose light in 40 minutes. Let's go. Let's go, I said!"
"All right, asshole! God!" Dustin remarks.
"Okay! Stupid," Lucas says.
Once we have our trap set for the monster we hide inside the bus. Lucas is being look out sitting on top. It's dark and fog is starting to roll in.
"So, you really fought one of these things before?" Max asks. Steve nods. "And you're, like, totally, 100% sure it wasn't a bear?"
"Shit. Don't be an idiot. Okay? It wasn't a bear," Dustin tells her. "Why are you even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."
"Geesh. Someone's cranky. Past your bedtime?" Max taunts as she climbs the ladder to the roof.
"That's good. Just show her you don't care," Steve says.
"I don't," Dustin tells her. Steve winks. "Why are you winking, Steve? Stop."
"Dustin do not listen to Steve," I tell him. "He is the last person to get relationship advice from."
"No, Sugar, I think that's you," Steve argues.
I hear growling outside. Dustin, Steve, and I rush to look out the window. It's ridiculously foggy outside.
"You see him?" Dustin asks.
"No," Steve and I say at the same time.
"Lucas, what's going on?" Dustin asks.
"Hold on!" Lucas shouts. "I've got eyes! Ten o'clock! Ten o'clock!"
"There," Steve says as he points to the thing.
"What's he doing?" Dustin asks.
"I don't know," Steve says.
"He's not taking the bait," I state.
"Why is he not taking the bait?" Steve asks.
"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin offers.
"Maybe he's sick of cow," Steve offers.
Steve backs up from the window. He turns to walk towards the door.
"Steve? Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin asks.
"Steve?" I ask. "Steve what the hell?"
Steve tosses a lighter to me. "Just get ready."
Steve steps off of the bus with his bat in hand. He starts to whistle. "Come on, buddy."
Max climbs back down the ladder. "What's he doing?"
"I wish I knew," I tell her.
"Expanding the menu," Dustin says.
"Come on, buddy. Come on, buddy," Steve says. "Come on. Dinner time. Human tastes better than cat, I promise."
"He's insane," Max says.
"He's awesome," Dustin counters.
"He's stupid. Incredibly stupid," I state.
I can see the monster coming out of the fog. It's a lot bigger than Steve and Dustin told me it was.
"Steve, watch out!" Lucas shouts.
"A little busy here!" Steve shouts.
"Three o'clock! Three o'clock!" Lucas warns.
Another Demogorgon is coming out of the shadows.
"Steve!" I shout.
"Steve! Abort! Abort!" Dustin yells as he opens the bus door.
Steve jumps, barely missing being hit by the Demogorgon. He hits another with the bad.
"Steve, run!" Dustin shouts.
"Steve, hurry!" Lucas yells.
"Steve, run!" I scream. "Steve!"
Steve barely makes it into the bus before the Demogorgon. He falls onto the floor next to me.
"Are they rabid or something?" Max asks.
Steve puts a loose piece of metal in front of the door to keep the Demogorgon out.
"They can't get in! They can't!" Lucas shouts.
I scream as the whole bus shakes. The Demogorgon breaks through the door and Steve hits it with his bat.
Dustin gets on his radio, "Is anyone there? Mike? Will? God! Anyone!" Another Demogorgon rocks the bus. "We're at the old junkyard, and we are going to die!"
One is on top of the bus. It growls as it looks down the emergency exit. Max screams.
"Out of the way!" Steve holds his bat up to the Demogorgon. "Out of the way! You want some? Come get this!"
The monster scratches and then suddenly it's gone. It shakes the whole bus as it jumps off. Steve is the first to step off the bus.
"What happened?" Lucas asks.
"I don't know," Max tells him.
"Steve scared 'em off?" Dustin offers.
"No." I shake my head. "No way."
"They're going somewhere," Steve states.