chapter six . . . adventures in babysitting
THE NEXT MORNING THE THREE WERE SET on a hunt to kill Dart. In just little time, it had transformed from a tiny, gooey, cat eating monster to now a demogorgon on the run. With no response from any of their friends, the trio decided it would be better to get it done sooner other than waiting around for someone to respond. A heap of raw meat piled into buckets and one singular bat seemed to do the trick for their hunt for Dart.
Before leaving the house for their adventure, Josie made sure to pile other essentials in her backpack: water, extra gloves for handling the raw meat and most importantly her walkie-talkie.
The three now walked in the midst of the woods on an old train track with Josie walking slightly behind the two boys while they chatted away about God knows what — her walkman clutched to her hip, bolting out her music as she dropped a trail of meat on the floor. The acorns and crisp leaves that had recently fallen to the ground were sprawled before them from the recent fall season, a chain of oak trees continued in their eye line.
"Alright, so let me get this straight." Steve started, "You kept something you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl who...who you just met?" He looked at the younger boy puzzled — even he wouldn't go that far to impress a girl.
"Alright, that's grossly oversimplifying things." Dustin threw back.
"I mean, why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?"
"An interdimensional slug?" Dustin smiled, "Because it's awesome. If Dart didn't eat Mews, Josie would've liked 'im."
"Well, even if she thought it was cool, which she didn't, I...I just..." Steve stammered, "I don't know. I just feel like you're trying way too hard."
"Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, alright?" Dustin frowned, his chin falling into his chest as he looked to the ground — even in such a threatening situation he still managed to keep his perfect locks in tact.
"It's not about the hair, man." Steve apprised the younger boy, "The key with girls is just...just acting like you don't care."
"Even if you do?"
"Yeah, exactly." Steve nodded, "It drives them nuts."
"Then what?"
"You just wait until, uh..." He paused, unsure if he wanted to explain to a middle schooler what sex was. "Until you feel it."
"Feel what?"
"It's like before it's gonna storm, you know?" Steve further described, "You can't see it, but you can feel it, like this uh...electricity, you know?"
Dustin nodded, certain he understood the concept. "Uh, like in the electromagnetic field when in the clouds in the atmosphere—"
Steve cut him off promptly, shaking his head. "No, no, no, no. Like a...sexual electricity. You feel that and then you make your move."
"Is that what you feel with my sister?"
His question caught Steve off guard, causing him to involuntarily look back at Josie — who thankfully was completely oblivious to their conversation while she stayed distracted by her music — and became a stuttering mess. "W-what? No. No, we're just friends, dude."
"Right, sure. That's what they all say." Dustin mumbled sarcastically, not convinced in the slightest as his voice went an octave higher. "Well, then what? Is that when you kiss her?"
"No, whoa, whoa." Steve exclaimed, "Slow down, Romeo." Dustin ushered a small 'sorry', "Sure, okay, some girls, yeah, they want you to be aggressive. You know, strong, hot and heavy like a...I don't know, a lion. But others, you gotta be slow, you gotta be stealthy, like a...like a ninja."
"What type is Nancy?"
"Nancy's different. She's just all over the place right now." Steve stated, a little pause between his words — if he was asked the same question a year ago he would've rambled on how perfect she was. "She's different than Josie, you know? It's crazy that I even met someone like her — Josie's special. She's someone you want to keep in your life or you'll feel completely lost without 'em."
Dustin intently listened to Steve's words in silence — how sounded sincere, "Just friends you say?" He raised his brows.
"Who's girl problems are we talking about here?"
"Sorry, sorry." Dustin rolled his eyes at the stubborn boy but switched the subject nonetheless. "But, this girl's special too, you know? It's just, like, something about her." He explained softly.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, hey." Steve put his arm out in front of Dustin, pulling him to a stop. "You're not falling in love with this girl, are you?"
"Uh, no. No." Dustin shook his head in denial.
"Okay, good. Don't." Steve advised, narrowing his eyes slightly. "She's only going to rip your heart, and you're way to young for that shit." He only masked his own heartbreak, feeling that it was better to insulate Dustin from the pain that he had gone through.
Sneaking another look back at Josie, Steve stayed silent for a moment, dropping pieces of meat just behind his feet. "Fabergé."
"What?" Dustin looked at him, puzzled.
He pointed to his hair, "It's Fabergé Organics. Use the shampoo and conditioner, and when your hair's damp...Not wet, okay? When it's damp..."
"Damp." Dustin repeated.
"You do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett Spray."
"Farrah Fawcett Spray?" It sounded almost comical.
"Yeah. Farrah Fawcett. You tell anyone I just told you that and your ass is grass." Steve threatened light-heartedly. "You're dead, Henderson. Do you understand?"
Dustin nodded, "Yup."
"Are you two ladies done gossiping?" Josie's voice made Steve's blood run cold in panic, giving him the idea that she had just heard everything they were talking about.
"W-what? We were— We were just talking." He blurted out, surprising her at his abruptness as well as receiving a look from Dustin.
"Okay then..." Josie walked around them, patting Steve on the back before continuing in her path — missing the longing stare from the Harrington boy.
"Not a word." Steve sternly told Dustin, following Josie's tail leaving the younger Henderson to roll his eyes at how stubborn he was at refusing to admit his feelings for his older sister.
The two teens agreed at Dustin's idea of going to the junkyard as it was an open space and completely isolated from questioning eyes — it was perfect to set up their trap.
Steve sighed, observing the field of grass before him. "Oh, yeah. Yeah, this will do." He removed his shades, walking down the small steep, "This'll do just fine. Good call, dude."
The trio walked to the middle of the junkyard, dumping the last portions of meat onto the ground. "I said medium-well!" A familiar voice that belonged to Lucas Sinclair exclaimed, sat on his bike beside a redhead — the girl who Josie remembered in the school parking lot.
"Who's that?" Steve narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar girl. Dustin stayed silent, swallowing down the spite that he felt seeing his crush and friend together.
Josie noticed her brother's stare on the two approaching, "Shit." She muttered under her breath.
Steve snapped his head over at her curse. "What? What?"
"Dustin clearly likes her." Josie whispered, "And he just saw his best-friend and crush together...alone."
"Jesus." Steve sighed, sneaking a sympathetic look over at the younger Henderson — this was exactly what he was trying to protect the boy from. "That's rough."
While Lucas and Dustin engaged in their own private conversation, ducking down behind an abandoned car, Max had approached the two teenagers apprehensively as they were complete strangers to her but nonetheless she stalked up to them, placing her skateboard off to the side. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Just find anything metal or anything we can use to shield the bus." Josie gave the girl a comforting smile, "I'm Josie. Dustin's sister."
"Max."
Eventually, the group had finalised setting up their bait — multiple metal sheets up against the bus for their safe base, tyres piled up on the roof. It was enough to protect them for now. Steve and Josie held cans of gasoline, pouring a trail just up to the door of the rusty vehicle until only a few drops were left.
Tossing the empty container aside, Josie observed their work silently, "Jose, we're gonna be fine. We have it all planned out." Steve told her, catching the slight concern in her eyes.
"I know." She answered softly, looking up at her best friend. "This is really extreme from just babysitting."
Steve smiled, "I'd say we're pretty good damn babysitters. Plus, these kids trust you with their lives — they always have. C'mon." Placing two hands on each of her shoulders, he guided her into the bus followed by Max, Dustin and Lucas as they were all now huddled in the small space of the bus — their plan now set in action.
It was now just a waiting game.
𝗝𝗘𝗦𝗦 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗦 !
it's been a while...