━━━━ 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 !
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
Will wasn't sure where he expected Argyle to take them, but Surfer Boy Pizza was at the very bottom of his mental list of possibilities — no, scratch that. The idea was so outlandish that it didn't make his list at all.
"You've got to be shitting me," Mike groaned, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead as he hopped out of the faded yellow van.
"Trust me on this one, my dudes," Argyle proudly exclaimed, his brown eyes fixated on the vibrant, surfboard-shaped sign above the establishment.
Merely days ago, Will wouldn't have had a single ounce of faith in his brother's long-haired friend. However, after witnessing him point out the tire tracks that led them to Eleven, he realized that he was far brighter than he seemed. There was no doubt that he was capable of locating enough salt for a sensory deprivation tub.
˗ˏˋ꒰ 🎱 ꒱
Upon waltzing into the pizzeria, which reeked heavily of greasy pizza and cleaning chemicals, the group was met with a teenage employee sanitizing the menu screens perched above the countertops. He appeared to be the only one working the closing shift, as the restaurant was dead silent.
"Surf's up, my dude!" Argyle greeted the stranger with profound confidence, making it appear as if he knew him personally.
The employee automatically whipped his head around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice and dropped the rag he was using. Once he realized it was just a group of teenagers and not a serial killer, he let out an evident sigh of relief.
"Uh, whoa. Nice shirt, my dude!" He exclaimed, nodding toward Argyle's eye-catching ensemble.
"Thanks, my dude!"
"Uh, listen. I would love to feed a fellow Surfer Boy, but kitchen closed, like, five minutes ago, so . . . no more pies tonight, man."
"That's all right, my dude," Argyle chuckled. "We're not here for your tasty pies."
The employee quirked an inquisitive eyebrow as if he were silently requesting some form of clarification.
"You see this weird girl behind me?" Argyle motioned his head in the direction of a mildly uncomfortable El, who shot an awkward smile at the employee. "She needs a tub with a bunch of salt so we can enhance her psychic powers so she can save the world from this super bad dude. But to make this salty tub, we require your kitchen."
"Ah," The employee slowly nodded, his tired eyes staring off into space. "Well, it's just, uh . . . I'm supposed to meet Chaz at Taco Bell in, like, ten. So . . ."
"My dude," Jonathan spoke up, his eyes watery and bloodshot from the marijuana. "We're not asking you to help for free."
He swiftly reached into Argyle's shirt pocket and yanked out a spare joint as if he were performing some sort of magic trick.
"You ever partake in Purple Palm Tree Delight? It'll make all your troubles float away like the seed pods of a dandelion in the wind."
Jonathan's poetic approach was somehow convincing enough to get the employee to exit the establishment, giving himself and the rest of the crew the perfect opportunity to get to work.
˗ˏˋ꒰ 🎱 ꒱
Argyle located the pizza dough freezer within three seconds of being in the kitchen. He then proceeded to slide it open and grab a semi-frozen ball of dough from inside.
"First-ever mind fight held in a pizza dough freezer," He beamed, his eyes fixated on the sphere of dough in his hand. "Pretty rad, right?"
The five teenagers began to empty the entire freezer, forming a makeshift assembly line to quicken the process. Once it was completely void of ingredients, Will cranked on the faucet as Mike used a hose to fill the freezer with warm water. In the meantime, Argyle began to craft a fresh pizza for El to eat before her upcoming battle.
Jonathan poured hundreds of pounds of salt into the tub of water while Mike sprinted out to the van to snag a pair of sunglasses from the glove compartment. Everything was all set and almost ready to go, but first, they needed to eat.
˗ˏˋ꒰ 🎱 ꒱
"Okay, almost done," Mike hummed as he made the final adjustments to the pair of sunglasses he was shielding with the remnants of a pizza box. "Okay, so, hopefully this blocks out any peripheral light, right?"
The ravenette then proceeded to slide the sunglasses over his eyes to test his theory.
"And it's totally dark, which means it works!" He exclaimed with excitement. "But I have one more important question — do I look cool?"
El immediately burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. Mike looked absolutely hilarious with the pizza box glasses shielding his eyes. It definitely eased some of her anxiety regarding the upcoming battle with Vecna.
"I feel like I look really cool," He continued. "Are you giggling? You're giggling because I look awesome. I can't see it, but I know you're smiling because I look so good, right?"
"Mike," El interrupted him, her bubbly laughter lingering beneath the sudden wave of seriousness in her voice.
"Yeah?" He responded, setting the glasses aside to prove his attentiveness.
She wiped her grin away and replaced it with a serious expression. Then, she placed a delicate hand on the table and took Mike's in her own.
"I . . . missed you," The girl whispered, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
Mike went silent for a moment, as if he were processing the information he had been given, before smiling and nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, I missed you, too," He said. "You know, the last few days, I . . . I've had time to think about the last talk we had. You know, before the cops and . . . the whole world went to shit and everything?"
Rather than responding, El quickly turned her head away. She had an instinctive feeling that she knew what Mike was implying, but she didn't want to hear it. She wanted the truth. If he was about to profess his love, she was going to be extremely disappointed. It was a lie — she knew he didn't love her. But, as Max Mayfield often told her, "friends don't lie, but boyfriends do."
"I . . . I guess I just . . . I don't know. I guess I just wanted to say that . . ."
WHAM!
An interruption — thank God.
"Surf's up, Romeo!" Argyle exclaimed after dropping a tray of piping hot pizza onto the table.
Mike grimaced when he realized the pizza contained pineapple. Fruit on pizza? Really? In his opinion, the sweet addition transformed the slices of pie from mouthwatering to inedible.
"Oh, uh, too much flavor awesomeness can't overpower your battery, can it?" Argyle joked.
"Dude, this is pineapple," Mike complained, holding up a slice to emphasize his point.
"Try before you deny," He shrugged.
Even though El was a bit skeptical about the slice on her plate, she didn't complain. Instead, she took a large bite without hesitation. After a few seconds of allowing her tastebuds to absorb the flavor, her face lit up and her eyes widened.
"Good," She declared with a mouth full of pizza.
"It's good? What do you mean?" Mike gasped.
"Really good."
"What? That's insane! Blasphemous! Putting fruit on pizza?"
"Did you try it?" The girl inquired.
"No, I didn't try it," Mike snapped.
El lifted a slice of pizza and waved it in front of Mike's face as if she were attempting to spoon food into a fussy infant's mouth.
"Try before you deny," She sang as Argyle held his shoulders in place.
"Enough! I'm not a dog!" Mike protested while the other two teenagers continued to torment him. "No, I'm not a baby! Thank you!"
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Will had his eyes set on Mike and El. He knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but he couldn't stop himself from listening to their entire conversation. After seeing how affectionate they appeared to be despite being broken up, he felt hopeless. They were soulmates. They were destined to be together. He knew it shouldn't have been a concern considering the circumstances everyone was in, but it still sucked nonetheless.
All he wanted was for Mike Wheeler to love him the way he seemed to love El.
𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 !
hi i'm leaving to go to work in like 10 mins but here's another chapter for you! my goal atp is to finish this story before 2023 bc i take forever to update LMAO