_________
c h a p t e r t h i r t y - n i n e
Morning comes, and along with it comes Max, Dustin, Robin and Steve, all packed into Steve's car, waiting for Sam to leave the house.
"Oh, are you going out?" Gianna smiles from her cup of coffee.
"Yeah. Steve and I are gonna get some breakfast, maybe stop by Lover's Lake. Where's dad?"
"Sleeping in. He worked late last night."
"He's overworking himself," she sighs. "You are too."
"Samantha, all you need to worry about is enjoying your last year before going off to that school you always dreamed of."
"Is that why you guys are doing so much overtime? Because of school? Because I got a full ride to Bloomington and-"
"Everyone would be better off..." she could hear Billy's voice echoing in her mind, replaying like a broken record.
"No, no, no. You're on a scholarship," her mom's voice breaks her daydream.
"It's not a full ride."
"Samantha. Go be a teenager. Enjoy not having to worry about anything while you still can."
"Ma."
"Go," she gives a stern look, forcing Sam to oblige and leave the house.
Once she gets in the car, her friends couldn't help but notice her melancholic demeanor. Sam was not easy to read by any means, keeping practically every out of place feeling or thought to herself, but quite literally everyone could sense something was weighing on her mind.
"You alright?" Steve whispers.
"Yeah," she smiles just a bit too enthusiastically, only furthering his suspicion. "I'm great. Let's go."
"Okay..." his gaze lingers for a moment, reversing out of the driveway anyway.
It seemed like a recurring situation for them, as for the past couple days she'd been unusually jumpy and guarded, obviously upset but unable to express why.
He'd hoped it was just the Pratt thing, but it seemed a bit more serious than that.
He had no idea just how serious it was.
____
"Just open the door, I'm sure he knows we're coming," Sam suggests.
"I'd rather not get another beer bottle to the neck," Steve argues.
"Okay, I'll open it," Robin pushes the door open, startling the long-haired boy inside.
"Jesus!" he shouts from his spot at the window, visibly jumping at the sound.
"Delivery service," Dustin singsongs.
"We brought cereal, chips, and Yoohoo," Sam lists, placing the bags down in front of him.
He immediately reaches for the Honeycombs and Yoohoo, digging in, as Sam grimaces at the sight.
"We've got good news and bad news. How do you prefer it?"
"Bad news first, always," he says with his mouth full.
"Bad news. We tapped into the Hawkins PD dispatch with our Cerebro, and they're definitely looking for you."
"Also, they're um... just a bit convinced you killed Chrissy," Sam hesitates.
"Define just a bit, Flores?"
"Like a hundred percent," Max responds.
He takes in a breath at that, letting it out before asking, "And the good news?"
"Your name hasn't gone public yet. But if we found out about you, it's only a matter of time before others do too, and then once that gets out, everyone and their shallow-minded mother will be looking for you," Robin explains.
"Hunt the freak, right?"
"Exactly."
"Jesus."
"So before that happens, we need to find Vecna, kill him and prove your innocence," Dustin details the extremely half-baked plan.
"That's all, Dustin? That's all?" he narrows his eyes.
"Yeah, that's pretty much it."
"Listen, Eddie. I know everything that Dustin's saying sounds totally delusional, but we've actually been through this kind of thing before. I mean, they have a few times, and I have once," Robin assures. "Mine was more human flesh based and theirs was more smoke related, but bottom line is, collectively, I think we got this."
"You are a woman of words, really," Sam jokes. "But she's right. We have dealt with this kind of thing before, and while we are missing a few key players..."
"Key players?"
"You see, we usually rely on this girl who has superpowers, but, uh, those went bye-bye-" Steve adds.
"So we're technically in more of the..."
"Brainstorming phase."
"Brainstorming, yeah," Steve snaps.
"There's nothing to worry about," Dustin assures, unconvincingly.
"Right," Sam gives yet another overly-enthusiastic smile, and even Eddie could tell she was full of it.
Before he can respond, however, sirens blare near the house, sending the group into a minor panic.
"Shit," Eddie drops out of sight from the windows, and Sam tosses the tarp over his form, while Dustin and Steve watch the cop cars drive past.
"How many cop cars are there?" Sam frowns.
"Like 3."
"That's not a good sign."
"They're driving away-"
"To another crime scene?" she raises an eyebrow, prompting Steve to grab his keys, leading them out.
"We'll be back, Eddie."
They follow the cop cars down the road, coming up on what really was a crime scene, with Nancy standing in front of it, talking to a cop.
"Is that Nancy?" Sam squints.
"Yeah, what is she doing here?" Steve parks, and they all exit the car.
The brunette looks past the cop, spotting them with sad eyes. She gives a lackluster wave, only leading them to be further confused.
"I think the bigger question is who died?" Robin points to the body bag, leaving the group more unsettled.
____
In Lenora, Bianca walks downstairs to see two plates of Eggos, presumably one for her and El.
"I, uh, I made you guys Eggos," Mike hesitantly announces, meeting her eye.
"Thanks," she smiles awkwardly, it coming off as more of a grimace than anything. "She still hasn't come down?"
"Nope," Will sighs, and she mirrors his expression, taking a bite of her waffle.
"Hey guys, there's a 4:00 PM showing of Police Academy 3. Could be fun," Jonathan suggests, looking up from the paper.
"Maybe we should stay home today," Will shrugs.
"What is this? What, you guys just gonna mope around all break?"
"No one's moping. It's just... The movie's supposed to suck," he retorts.
Bianca takes the silence as her chance to go talk to El, excusing herself from the table promptly.
"I'm gonna go check on her. Also, we're not seeing Police Academy 3," she points at Jonathan, earning an unimpressed look.
Quickly heading upstairs, she reaches El's door, knocking softly. "It's just me, El. Mike made Eggos for you. I think he feels bad."
"Come in," El whispers.
When the brunette opens the door, she sees El at her desk, painting what looked to be a replica of Hopper's cabin.
"Oh, Hopper would love this. How long have you been working on it?" she looks over her shoulder with a fond smile.
"A while," she mumbles. "It got messed up."
The silence after that is deafening, turning the air thick as Bianca searches for an opening.
"El, do you wanna talk?"
"About?"
"Anything? We can talk about school, or movies, or even boys. Anything. I just really think we should talk."
"Why?"
"Okay... Okay, um, I know you've been having a tough time here, El," her voice drops as she inches closer to the desk. "And I'm not saying you had to tell me about it... But why didn't you? And why lie?"
"Because you wouldn't get it."
"I wouldn't get it?" Bianca frowns, eyebrows furrowing. "El, you literally had to save Mike, Dustin and I from our bullies. There are people I've been going to school with my entire life who are just now realizing my name isn't Bug Eyes or Mexico City or Metalmouth. The only reason people don't bother me is because they're afraid of Sam. I know how it feels. Mike, too."
"No, you don't. I am different. I do not belong."
"Being different isn't bad. It's what makes you special. It's why we understand each other so well," Bianca's eyes widen, feeling incredibly guilty for not seeing there was something deeper going on.
"But if being different is okay, then why does everyone look at me like a monster?"
"Because people fear what they don't know. Fear is a really strong emotion."
"Mike knows me. But he looked at me like... Like he was scared of me," her eyes water.
"He didn't mean it. I know he didn't mean it. He just panics and says things on impulse sometimes. Trust me, we all wanted a turn teaching Angela a lesson."
"But it's not about Angela. It's about me."
"El, I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you. I'm just some girl, okay? Some girl who got lucky enough to be best friends with a literal superhero. You're freaking Wonder Woman," she smiles.
"Not anymore."
"El..." she sighs. "Your powers-"
They get interrupted by the sound of the doorbell, which shouldn't have unsettled Bianca as much as it did.
Her intuition seemed to be on point when the girls walk out of the room, seeing cops at the door.
"A warrant? That's crazy, this doesn't need to happen," Jonathan argues with the cop, who spots El.
"Hey there. You Jane Hopper?"
In what feels like a split second, El gets put in cuffs as they read her rights.
"Wait, wait, you can't just do this," Bianca steps in front of the cops as they try to lead her to the car.
"Miss, please step out of the way."
"She's just a kid and it was an accident. What are you even arresting her for?"
"I'm not gonna ask again," the other officers steps forward.
"Don't touch me. My dad's a lawyer."
"Bianca-" Mike warns, knowing this would end badly for her if she didn't stop now.
"Fine," she moves out of the way. "E-Jane, do not say anything without a lawyer present."
"Can we at least know where they're taking her?"
They completely ignore them, pushing past to place El into the back of the police car.
"I have to call my dad," Bianca runs in the house, Jonathan following to call Joyce.
As she dials the number, all that fills her mind is one question: How the hell are they getting out of this one?
a/n: hi guys so very sorry i've been gone, but I am back and will try to update as regularly as i did in the summer
xo, author