1983 || Stranger Things

ᴇɪɢʜᴛ | ᴛʜᴇ ғᴜɴᴇʀᴀʟ

      Julie and Jonathan walked into their house later that night to find an unexpected visitor and a hole in the wall. Upon seeing said visitor, Julie wished she had a hole in her head.

      "Hey kid." Lonnie said to Jonathan, sitting up in his seat on the couch beside Joyce.

      "What's going on?" Jonathan asked, and Julie bit her lip, looking at the ground with her arms crossed.

      "Your dad's, uh, gonna stay here tonight. On the couch." Joyce explained, and Julie interally winced. She hated Lonnie having only met him a few times, Lonnie hated Julie having only met her a few times. It was mutual. It worked.

      "Yeah, I'm here as long as you need me, okay?" How are you holding up." Lonnie asked as Jonathan left Julie's side to inspect the wall. Feeling as if a family arguement was brewing, Julie ducked out of the living room and went to her room.

      Chester was sleeping on Julie's bed, but he perked up when she walked over to him. Seated on her bed, Julie pulled off her converse and then her clothes, changing into her pajamas.

      The teen lightly treaded to the bathroom to brush out her hair and brush her teeth, silently retreating to her safe bedroom and flopping into her bed. Chester snuggled next to her, and Julie switched her lamp off, shutting her eyes.

      But it wasn't quiet as she had hoped it would be. Her ears were filled with the same screeching sound she had heard the day the lights flickered. There was squelching, rumbling and growling, sounds that belonged to a monster. Julie covered her ears in terror, but the noises didn't subside.

      She forced herself to roll over, to grab her walkman on her nightstand. With shaking hands, Julie slid her headphones on and fumbled with the buttons, finally selecting play and allowing Another One Bites the Dust to fill her ears. It wasn't enough to stop the noises, so she turned it up to the maximum volume.

      Julie laid there that night, listening to a forty minute track of the same song on repeat, until she finally fell asleep with Chester next to her just before the final repetition.

•••

      The next morning before Will's funeral, everything was gloomy and tense. Julie pulled on a simple long sleeved black dress with her panty-hose and her black heels that she cherished. She pulled her thick hair into an intricate low bun with braids on either side of her head.

      When she emerged from her cold room, the phone rang, and Julie answered it being the closest to it.

       "Hello?" she said, holding the phone with her right hand.

       "Julie! I need your help!" a familiar voice shouted, making Julie since at the volume.

       "Dustin? Are you okay?" Julie asked the young boy who she cared for immensely.

      "I need you to come help me tie my tie. It's urgent." Dustin said, and Julie sighed.

      "I'll be over in a few." Julie hung up the phone and grabbed her coat, walking into Will's room where Joyce was seated.

      "I have to help Dustin. I'll meet you at the funeral, okay? I love you." Julie whispered the last part, and Joyce nodded. Julie leant forward and kissed Joyce's head, fixing her hair before leaving the house.

      The Henderson's didn't live very far, so Julie was able to make the brisk walk in under ten minutes. When she arrived, the door opened before she could even knock, revealing an out of breath Dustin.

      "Took you long enough." he said, pulling her inside and to the direction of his room.

      "Watch your tone if you want my help." Julie scolded the boy with her finger raised, and the boy backed down.