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ू ₒ ु ─── » » » ↳ episode three ↴
↳ THE DOCTOR arrived a couple of minutes later. Everyone was surrounding Angela and her group with worried looks. As if what she did wasn't mean or cruel. Melanie was proud of El for standing up for herself. She hadn't done that before.
"Can you tell me your name?" the doctor asked Angela as one of her friends held the tissue to her face. "Um, Angela," she presented. "Angela," the doctor repeated.
The doctor asked Angela several questions, and luckily, she was able to answer. Melanie looked up to see Jonathan and Argyle, barely arriving at the scene.
She looked back down and put her hand on El's shoulder. She saw El bouncing her leg, crying. Melanie let out a sigh, making eye contact with Mike.
✧──────✧
"I know this may be, like, upsetting and shit, but that future prom queen is gonna be fine." Argyle turned back to look at the kids. "It's just, like, rubber wheels,"
"Plastic," Melanie leaned against the van door. "Oh." Jonathan turned to the back. "Not like hard plastic. Just.." he looked forward. "Just the soft kind."
"Totally," Argyle agreed. "But you ever wonder why the wheels aren't wood, man? Or metal," Melanie groaned quietly. "Ah, jeez."
Mike rolled his eyes. "So people don't get hurt when they get shmacked," Melanie adjusted herself on the floor. "Oh." Jonathan wore a blank face.
"Because it happens more than you think, man." Argyle turned to the back. "Roller-skate attacks," he turned to the front. "Man. Hey, at least it wasn't an ice skate."
"That nose would've been sliced clean off, man." Argyle signaled his hand down his nose. Jonathan exclaimed, acting like he would've felt it.
Argyle turned back to the kids again. "It could've been so much worse." Jonathan did the same. "So much worse,"
Will glared at Melanie. "In the grand scheme of things, it's just a little blip," Melanie bit her lip. "That's a funny word, man." Argyle chuckled.
"Blip,"
"Blip,"
"Blip,"
Argyle and Jonathan continued repeating "blip" over and over. The four at the back stared blankly. "I want what they're on." Melanie sighed.
The other three slowly turned their heads. Melanie glared out the window until she made eye contact with the others.
"What?" the three stared at her. "What?!" she repeated. Will, Mike, and El said nothing.
✧──────✧
El opened the door for them to go inside. "Mom?" Will questioned as Argyle closed the door. They all made it to the living room, seeing a familiar figure in the kitchen.
The man turned around. "Well, well! Aren't you lot a sight for sore eyes, huh?" he yelled. Jonathan waved. "Hi, Murray," the Byers boy smiled. "You kids like risotto?"
Everyone sent him confused stares. "Yeah." Jonathan laughed. Everyone was sitting down at the dinner table, eating the food.
"There I was, headed down the I-5 going to see a client out in Ventura. I'm looking for a motel to stay for the night, and suddenly, bam, it hits me. Didn't the Byers move here?" Murray explained.
"Small world, isn't it? It's a small world," Joyce grinned. "So I thought, hey you know what? Why don't I just drop in, say hello to my old friends?" the man chuckled.
"It's so sweet of you." Joyce complimented. "Sweeter of you to let me stay," he chuckled again. "And he cooks, too."
"Mm, and cleans. A regular little housewife," Murray laughed. Melanie picked at her food. "You should just stay," Joyce offered.
"I'd be tempted, Joyce, except, you know, you have that, uh.." Murray gave her a signal. "Right, that business trip," Joyce pointed out.
The four kids sent Joyce confused glares."Business trip? What business trip?" Will questioned. "Oh my gosh," Mrs. Byers chuckled. "I almost forgot to tell you guys."
"This thing came up at work.." Melanie could barely hear what Joyce was saying since Argyle and Jonathan were having their own little conversation.
"And it turns out I have to go to a conference tomorrow. In Alaska,"
Melanie choked on her beverage. "Alaska?!" she responded at the same time Mike replied with. "Tomorrow?"
"Crazy, right?" Murray chuckled. "That's where they're based, the.. Britannicas," Joyce paused near the end of her sentence.
Murray nodded at her in agreement. "Joan and Brian Britannica." Joyce looked down at her food as Murray let out a sigh.
"So do Eskimos, like, still live in igloos, or, uh, are they, like, fully-blown, like, living in the.. in the suburbs now?" Argyle asked Murray as he ate.
Murray titled his head, motioning to Argyle. "Who is this?" Joyce completely ignored his question. "So, Jonathan, this means you're gonna have to, you know, take charge while I'm gone."
Jonathan chewed on his food, having no idea about what was going on. "Wait. What? What's going on?"
Will facepalmed himself. "Oh my.." Melanie closed her eyes, obviously annoyed. "Your mom's going to Alaska," Argyle whispered to the Byers boy.
Jonathan turned to his mom. "You're going to Alaska?" Joyce furrowed her eyebrows. "What's going on in Alaska?"
"The Britannicas are there," Argyle told him before looking down at his plate. "The Britannicas?" Argyle sent him an "mhm".
"Jonathan, what is wrong with you?" Murray smiled to himself. "I think I know what's wrong with him,"
Melanie sent him a glare as she slouched in her chair. "We just had a super stressful day," "Stress, huh?"
"This girl got shmacked in the head today at the roller rink," Argyle informed. El kept changing the direction of her glare between Jonathan and Argyle, nervously. "Shmacked?"
"Yeah, it was one of those vicious skate attacks," "A skate attack?" Melanie kicked Argyle under the table, but he didn't notice. "Yeah, but it wasn't an ice skate. It was.. It was a plastic skate,"
Melanie took another sip of her drink. "No, it was, like, rubber." Argyle thought differently. "Rubber. Rubber. Rubber. You know what? I'm not sure,"
"Anyway, she looked like she's gonna be fine," "She's totally fine." Melanie clenched her jaw. "She didn't look fine." everyone glared at Mike.
El scootched her chair back, throwing her napkin on the plate. "El, aren't you gonna finish your— What..?" Melanie watched as El went upstairs.
She stood up, following El. "Wait— Melanie.." her mother began. Melanie didn't bother listening and continued to follow El who went into her room.
✧──────✧
El walked into her room, attempting to shut her door. Melanie put her hand on the door, stopping it from closing. "El.."
El sat down on her bed, tearing up. Melanie sat next to her, putting a hand on El's. "It's okay.." she comforted her.
A tear fell down El's cheek. "It's not okay." Melanie wrapped her arms around her. "It is, it's okay. She deserved it anyway."
Melanie comforted her the whole night, she woke up a couple of times. There were tears, but Melanie was able to calm her down.
