𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐁𝐘 𝐌𝐄- (ᴇᴅᴅɪᴇ ᴍᴜɴsᴏɴ)¹

𝟎𝟔|𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐅𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞!

𝐒𝐢𝐱⊰᯽⊱┈──("𝐼𝑛𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑡 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑦𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑠 𝒉𝑒𝑟𝑒.")

⊰᯽⊱┈──╌❊ ¤ ❊╌──┈⊰᯽⊱

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆.

It was already far after sundown, and Elias had yet to see or hear any signs of a slimy monster slug. If all of this turned out to be one huge prank, he was going to kill someone then himself.

Okay. Considering what he had done before, Elias probably wasn't the type of person to have been making suicidal jokes, if it even was a joke.

Sitting next to him in one of the ratty bus seats was Bridget, because of course it was. For the most part, he tried ignoring her and tried focusing on the way Steve was playing with his lighter.

Dustin paced in the most annoying way possible, Max— the redhead who was apparently Dustin's crush— was slumped on the seat next to theirs. Both Yoshi and Lucas were on top of the bus, keeping watch for the monsters, and Elias was so incredibly bored.

After the, honestly, ridiculously spun tale Bridget narrated to him a few hours ago, Elias was expecting this monster hunting experience to be more exciting, with less sitting around and more running for their lives. He felt like he was wasting time with these people. He was bored. He was bored and he needed to go home now.

"Alright. That's it," he declared abruptly, startling everyone in the bus. "I'm out of here. This is a complete waste of time and I'm still convinced that this a fucking joke."

"Yeah," Max added in support. "Are you guys totally one hundred percent sure that it wasn't a bear or something?"

Dustin stopped his pacing and faced Max. "Shit, don't be an idiot, okay? It's not a bear. Why are you even here if you don't believe us. Just go home."

Max shook her head in slight disbelief. "Yeesh. Someone's cranky." She stood up and took a step towards the ladder leading to the top of the bus. She gave Dustin a look. "Past your bedtime?"

And up she went.

Steve looked at Max as she went up, then at Dustin with small grin. "That's good," he said, nodding in approval. "Show her you don't care."

"I don't."

Steve winked at the poor boy, and Elias couldn't  believe what he was seeing. "Why are you winking Steve? Stop it."

Elias was ignored, and so he sunk back into the seat with despairing sigh. Morons, the whole lot of them. He considered leaving the bus without a word, because it seemed like whatever he had to say was not important at all.

Bridget nudged him with her elbow, and he turned to look at her. "What the hell was that about?" Bridget asked without looking at him.

He saw her eyeing Steve and Dustin judgementally, and he could wholly agree with that sentiment.

"I tried to stop him you know," he said to her, his tone coloured with regret. She looked at him and quirked an eyebrow in question. "He's trying to give him girl advice, and he's actually doing a shit job."

Bridget rolled her eyes and smiled a little. "Of course he is. I don't think your typical straight white guy knows exactly how girls work," she replied, and her choice of words made Elias pause his train of thought. "That's to say, most straight guys of any race hardly know anything about the subject at all."

Elias parted his lips in mild surprise, and he went to speak and ask what she meant by that, but he was interrupted when Yoshi climbed down from the roof. He paused in between Steve and Dustin, smiled at the younger boy but then scowled at the older one. The slight bored look on Steve's face was wiped off clean, and he instead seemed a bit sheepish.