✨CHAPTER 24✨
"Am I bullshit?" Steve asks, laying comfortable on Hailey's bed, right next to her, he was staring up at the ceiling. "No, your not bullshit, why would you even think that?" Hailey asks, staring at him in question. Steve gave out a deep sigh.
"Nancy told me, I'm bullshit, and that she doesn't love me, and that we killed Barb." Steve told her, not mentioning the last bit of their conversation, still trying to wrap his head around what Nancy said.
Hailey couldn't believe what she was just told, it angered her even more, with how Nancy was putting blame on innocent people. She grabbed his hand in hers, making him look at her.
"Steve your not bullshit, your quite far from it, your the most considerate person I've ever met, and if she can't see that the last year, everything you've done for her, than to be honest, she's blind, because I've seen all of it, and that makes you the greatest person in my eyes." Hailey told him with honesty, she just wish Nancy wasn't so focused on herself, and actually paid attention to what others has done for her.
Steve was shocked, nobody as said anything good about him, except for Hailey, when he needed to talk to someone about his problem, he did so with Hailey, because no one else wanted to listen, the two stared at each other, without saying anything.
A knock of urgency came from her door. "Hailey!! I need you!!! Like right now!!" Dustin yells from the otherside of the door, making them look away from each other. Hailey got off the bed, sliding out of her room, so that her brother can't see into her room.
"Why are you acting sneaky? Is someone in there?" Dustin bomered his sister with questions, she only stared at him like she wasn't hiding anything. "No, and why do you need me this time at night?" Hailey asked him annoyed.
"Oh yeah. Come on." Dustin says running to his room, she didn't want to, but she followed him anyway.
Dustin took turtle out of it's cage, Hailey was getting confused. "What are you doing?" She immediately asks, staring at him in utter confusion.
"Sorry, Yertle. Temporary eviction, buddy." Dustin says, picking up his fake ghost trap, he threw out the creature he found in their garbage can, making sister jump away staring at the thing in disgust.
"Dustin, what the hell is that thing?" Hailey demanded, Dustin only shook his head, staring at it curiously. "I have no idea, but I found it in our garbage just now." He told his sister, who slowly moved closer to get a better look.
"You hungry?" Dustin asks, before throwing out all his candy on the bed, Hailey couldn't stop staring, until she remembered she has company.
"Uhm, I don't know what your planning on doing with that thing, but you better figure it out, and fast. So if you'll excuse me, I'm tired, so I'm going to bed." Hailey says, giving a fake yawn, escape out of her brother's entering her own.
"So, what did your brother want?" Steve asks lazily from her bed. Hailey got back on laying down. "He just wanted to show me his new pet he found in our trash can." Hailey stuttered out in disgust, making Steve laugh at her.
Hailey was seated on the bench in the gym, watching a basketball ball game, taking place, it wasn't anything serious, but still entertaining to watch. Steve ended up sleeping over, and the two came to school together.
Billy had it out for Billy as he kept on staying in Steve's way, Steve grunts went he bumped into him turning his back, so that Billy can't get the ball. "Harrington, right?I heard you used to runthis school. That true?" Billy tries striking up a conversation, but Steve didn't answer only focused on the game.
"King Steve, they used to call you, huh? Then you turned bitch." Billy says trying to work on Steve's nerves.
"Hey, maybe you should just shut up and just play the game." Steve tells him, and that's how Billy was able to get his hands on the ball, and Steve ended up on the floor, and Billy made the shot, much to Steve and Hailey's annoyance.
"Whoo!"
"That's what I'm talking about! Whoo!" Tommy yells out.
"Steve?" Nancy calls from the doors.
Hailey didn't feel like listening in on their conversation, so she didn't follow them, but Billy kept staring at her, with a certain look in his eyes, it made her shiver, but it also made her wanting to put his car on fire.
"What are you doing here?" Was the first thing Steve asked her, when they got outside.
"What do you think? Where were you this morning? I missed first period." Nancy questioned him, confused with why he was acting like this at the moment.
"I figured Jonathan would take you." Steve tells her.
"Wha... What are you talking about?" She asked confused why he would think that, it only made Steve scoff at her. "Jesus, you really can't handle your alcohol." He states in annoyance.
"Uh... You remember going to Tina's party last night, right?" He asks her.
"Yes."
"And then what?" He asked again, to see if she actually remembers or not.
"I remember dancing, and... spilling some punch. You got mad at me because I was drunk... and then you took me home." Nancy told him, another scoff came from Steve, as he says, "No, see, that's where your mind gets a little bit fuzzy. That was your other boyfriend. That was... That was Jonathan."
"I don't understand." Nancy states in confusion staring at Steve who was pretty annoyed by this point.
"It's pretty simple, Nancy. You were just telling it like it is." He says, holding the towel that was around his neck, struggling to look at her.
"What?"
"Uh... apparently, uh... we killed Barb and I don't
care, 'cause I'm bullshit... and our whole... our whole relationship is bullshit, and... I mean, pretty much everything is just bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Oh, yeah, also, you don't love me, because the only reason your dating me is because Hailey is interested in me" Steve slowly listed everything that Nancy mentioned last night.
"I was drunk, Steve. I don't remember any of that." Nancy says, trying to cover up that she hasn't actually hurt the person standing infront of her by saying those things.
"So that makes everything that you said... It's what? Just bullshit, too?" Steve asks her, not believing she was once again playing the innocent card.
"Yes."
"Well, then tell me." Steve says.
"Tell you what?" Nancy asks, not understanding what he wanted.
"You love me."
"Really?" Nancy asks, like it was a stupid request coming from him, the doors bangs open, as one of Steve's teammates came out.
"Harrington! Dude, we need you, man. That
douchebag's killing us. Let's go!" He informs him.
"All right!"
"Come on!"
Steve stood infront of Nancy waiting for her to say something, but she didn't say anything.
"I think that you're bullshit." He told her as he walked away.
Hailey was on her way to her usual place she would sit and have her lunch, when her radio went off in her school bag.
"Hailey? You there?" She heard Will's voice, she took it out wondering why he was calling her.
"Hey my little wizard. Is something wrong?" She asked concerned.
"It's about Dart." He says, sounding almost afraid.
"Dart?"
"Yeah, Dustin's little pet."
"What about it?" Hailey asked confused, remembering the disgusting little creature from the night before.
"I think it's from the upside down, it looks exactly like the thing I threw up, a month after I got back from that place, and it even make the same sound as the creature's I've heard in that place." Will told her honestly.
"Will, are you sure?" Hailey asks him, even more scared now.
"Yeah, they want to show it to Mr Clarke after school." Will informs her.
"Will listen to me carefully, you have to find the strength to tell Mike during the day, so that you can stop them after school, they can't show that thing to anyone. I'll head right over, after school, okay?" Hailey instructed him.
"Okay, I will."
She just put the radio away when Steve joined her looking ready to punch something.
"What did Nancy want?" Hailey calmly asks, taking out her lunch. "She doesn't remember anything that happened last night, which just make all of it bullshit too. How am I suppose to act like none of it happened just because she doesn't remember? And when I asked her to tell me she loves me, she just kept quiet." Steve rambled on, and Hailey listened closely to every word.
"Look, knowing you you'll forgive her and feel bad about the way you talked to her, so you'll probably go and apologize, but for once Steve try thinking about what will make you happy." Hailey advised him, leaving him in his own thoughts the rest of lunch period as they sat there in silence.
Just as Hailey told Will, when school got out, she immediately went over to the middle school, only to find the boys locked in the AV club room and a red haired girl banging on the door. Hailey lightly pushed the girl away, knocking on the door.
"You idiots better open up this damn door right now, or I'll kick it down." She stated, raising her voice.
Mike was the one who opened the door for her, when Max thought she could come in as well she was stopped by the door slamming in her face.
"Hello? Hello? Guys, come on. Can I come in yet?" She yells from the door, as she kept on knocking, she couldn't understand why the teenager was allowed in and she wasn't.
"No!" Hailey and Mike yelled. Hailey finally realized they were informing them of what Dart really is.
"I don't understand." Lucas says.
"What do you not understand?" Mike asks staring at him.
"Will saw something that looked like Dart last year?" Lucas asks, trying to understand.
"Kind of, but there was no tail." Will points out.
"But then he heard it yesterday. The exact same sound." Mike adds.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Dustin suddenly asks, speaking up for the first time.
"I wasn't sure." Will admits
"A coincidence." Dustin says staring at his friends.
"Or it's not." Hailey says, standing closer to Will.
"What if when Will was stuck in the Upside Down, he somehow acquired True Sight?" Mike informs the others, of what he has been thinking about all of the things Will keeps experiencing.
"True Sight?" Hailey asks, waiting for him to elaborate on his thoughts.
"It gives you the power to see into the ethereal plane." Dustin explains, making Lucas sigh.
"Elaborate."
"Maybe these episodes that Will keeps having aren't really flashbacks at all. Maybe they're real. Maybe Will can somehow see into the Upside Down." Mike gives them an explanation to a bigger picture.
"So that would mean..."
"Dart is from the Upside Down." Hailey states, fearing it's happening all over again.
"We have to take him to Hopper." Lucas says.
"I agree." Mike says as Will and Hailey nodded in agreement.
"No way. If we take him to Hopper, Dart's good as dead." Dustin says opposing to the idea.
"Dustin maybe he should be dead." Hailey told her brother, he looked up at her in disbelief, asking, "How can you say that?"
"How can you not? He's from the Upside Down." Mike says with seriousness in his voice.
"Maybe. But even if he is, it doesn't automatically mean that he's bad." Dustin states, trying to argue against the idea.
"That's like saying just because someone's from the Death Star doesn't make them bad." Mike points out.
"We have a bond."
"So your willing to get everyone killed around you, because of a stupid bond? Why because he likes nougat?" Hailey snaps at her brother for not thinking rationally about this.
"No, because he trusts me!" Dustin states.
"He trusts you?" Lucas asks in disbelief of what he was hearing.
"Yes, I promised I would take care of him." Dustin yelled, the creature in the fake ghost trap started screeching loudly, and the box started moving viciously.
The box fell over, Mike grabbed the microphone, ready for attack.
"Don't hurt him." Dustin says to him.
"Only if he attacks."
"Just open it already." Lucas speaks up, Dustin moved forward opening it up, to see Dart has already grown by a lot.
"Holy shit!"
They all watched as it's back legs grew out, it growled at them.
"Oh, shit!"
"No!" Dustin stops Mike from hitting it, Dart jumped off the table making a run for it, just then the door opens, and he was out of the door.
"What the..." Max trailed off, as the thing passed her.
"Oh, shit!"
"Where'd he go?" Lucas asks coming out of the clubroom.
"What was that?" Max asks the group confused.
"Dart!"
"What?"
Hailey turned towards the girl in completely annoyance. "Nice going Red, you just let him escape! You just couldn't see that you weren't wanted." The teenager snaps, shocking everyone at how mad she was.
"Why did you attack him?" Dustin asks Mike, but he only was ignored.
"Come on."
"Don't hurt him. Don't you hurt him!" Dustin yells loudly, watching everyone split up looking for Dart.
Hailey went to look inside all the girl's bathrooms since the boys couldn't go in there, to see if Dart was hiding in there.
"East is clear. No sign of Dart." Mike says over the radio.
"West is clear, too. Will?"
"South is clear. Lucas? Anything?"
Lucas took awhile to respond, worrying the others, but when his voice came over the radio they were relief.
"Nothing here, man. Hailey?"
"All the girl bathrooms are clear. There's no sign of the little monster." Hailey says over the radio having her brother immediately on her back.
"He's not a monster!" Dustin shouted over the radio, in a ver defensive tone.
They kept looking for Dart anyway, they needed to find him, and fast.
"Guys... I found him." Came Will's voice over the radio.
"Where?" Dustin was the first to ask.
"In the bathroom by Mr. Salerno's." Will informs anyone.
"Copy that."
Hailey quickly ran in that direction meeting up with Mike and Max on the way. When they got to the bathroom, Dustin was already there, but no sign of either Will or Dart.
Hailey started to get worried, she didn't care about finding that little monster, she needed to find Will and fast, he could be in danger, and she wouldn't be able to carry that kind of guilt again, if something were to happen to him.
She quickly ran through the hallways, until she saw him standing on the fields, staring up at something. She ran towards him, yelling his name, as he started shaking right where he was standing.
*°Unedited°*