Play// Stranger Things

013

"What did you tell him?" Rachel questioned Valerie Archer as she made herself a cup of coffee. "Charlie? Nothing." Valerie lied, not looking back as her mother stared at her from behind. "Nothing?" Rachel questioned suspiciously.

"Mom, last night was really weird. Any explanation I come up with will be easier for him to believe than the truth." Valerie tried as she finally turned to face the young woman.

"Go with epilepsy, no one ever questions epilepsy," Rachel advised, causing Valerie to break into a small smile. "Got it." She hummed as she grabbed the two thermos bottles she had just filled with coffee before giving her mother a peck on the forehead.

"Valerie," Rachel called out, making the girl turn back around as her heart pounded against her chest. "Yeah?" She questioned a little louder than she had meant to. "Forgetting something?" Rachel questioned as she held up a bottle of pills.

"Right." Valerie quickly fished out a single blue pill and placed it onto her tongue before rushing out of the door. Outside sat Charlie wheeler, who was nervously tapping at his steering wheel as he waited for Valerie.

"Hey, Ready?" Charlie greeted Valerie as she slid into the passenger seat. Valerie turned to look over at Charlie, a goofy grin taking over her features. "Let's catch ourselves a moster."

Charlie chuckled lightly as he drove off, one hand remaining on the wheel and the other holding onto Valerie's knee. It didn't take much to realize that the girl was nervous.

"So, uh, how did it go with your mom?" Charlie questioned, trying to distract the girl as she picked at the red nail polish coating her manicured fingers. Valerie groaned, running a hand through her straightened hair as she tugged on it lightly.

"I just can't figure out what game she's playing. Everything she's done since the day I was born was to get away from here, and we just came back? It doesn't make sense." Valerie explained.

"Hey, deep breaths new girl." Charlie chuckled as he squeezed the girl's leg reassuringly. "Let's go kick some monster ass, and then we can solve our next mystery with some parent snooping."

Valerie broke into a smile as she glanced over at Charlie's own goofy grin. "You're gonna kick some monster ass? Yeah right, scaredy boy." Valerie sneered as the car came to a stop outside of a hunting and hardware shop.

Charlie let his eyes meet Valerie's, her doe eyes sparking even on a cloudy day like this one. The boy awkwardly cleared his throat once he realized he had been staring, causing Valerie to let out a soft laugh at his behavior.

Charlie quickly exited the car, opening the door for Valerie as he greeted his sister and Johnathan. "Took you long enough." Nancy scolded her brother as her and Johnathan finished loading his trunk up with bear traps.

"Sorry Nance, it takes time to look this good." Valerie joked as she leaned against Johnathan's car. The brunette didn't get a chance to reply as a burgundy car beeped the horn as it drove by.

"Hey, Nance! Can't wait to see your movie." Reed called out, making the group give each other similarly confused looks. "What the hell was that?" Charlie questioned as he removed his arm from around Valerie's waist.

"I don't know. " Nancy mumbled before walking off, the group following after her as she sped up, running towards the movie theater. "Nancy, wait!" Charlie and Johnathan both tried. "Nancy!" Valerie called out as they approached a crowd.