stupid // steve harrington

f o u r

i rode for three miles. my feet were aching from pedalling so quickly and my legs burned, but i had to find her. i had that gut feeling that something was wrong, something fishy was going on. i came to a screeching halt at the arcade. some fat guy was lingering in the middle of the crowds of excited kids, only he would be the manager.

"hey!" i shouted, pushing some little girl with pigtails out of my way. he didn't respond. i shoved past another group of kids and tapped his shoulder. "i said, hey!" he turned around and smirked.

"haven't seen you around before." i shuddered and smiled politely.

"that's because i don't play arcade games. i actually came here to look for my sister. her name is max, about this tall," i pointed to my eyebrow, "had beautiful red hair, umm-- oh! she goes by mad max and she really knows how to give me a panic attack." i laughed and put my hands on my hips. i waited for a response, but it never came. "didn't you hear me?" my picture perfect smile was fading rapidly. he remained vacant of any emotion. "look, asshole, my sister snuck out - which she never does, by the way - and i can't find her anywhere! have you seen her or not?" the arcade fell silent.

"what's in it for me?" he winked. i groaned and stormed out of the shitty arcade. i stopped and turned around, glaring at him.

"you know why i don't play arcade games? because this place smells like shit! it smells like b.o. and depressed kids who compete with each other over who can go without brushing their teeth for longer!" i whacked a slurpee out of some stupid kid's hands and gave everyone the finger before slamming the door behind myself. i picked up my bag and began cycling to nowhere-in-particular.

where would kids go to be rebellious? i asked myself, they could have gone to a quarry, but they don't have any of those that are worth visiting here. i bit my lip and stopped on my bike as an epiphany washed over me. i smiled and laughed, thanking god that i made friends with a single mother in her 40s.

+

i pulled up to the abandoned bus, hiding behind a fridge-freezer. there she was, as clear as day perched on top of a bus with lucas. part of me wanted to strangle her, but another part of me was warmed deeply. i was living vicariously through my thirteen year old sister and i was entirely unashamed. i hopped up walking directly towards the pair. they hadn't noticed me, but i had noticed the massive mound of chopped meat. ignorance is bliss. it was easy to climb up the side of the bus, but it was hard to hard for much longer after being beside them. lucas went wide eyed and pointed at me. max whipped her head around, slapping me with her long red hair.

"hey, darl. wanna tell me why you snuck out and are on top of a fucking broken down bus?" my voice was sickly sweet, mocking the situation. she let out a long, uneasy noise.

"it's a date." lucas interrupted her beautiful, monotonous groan with a lie. i rolled my eyes and brought my knees below my chin.

"tell him, m." i whispered.

"she's, like, really good at spotting lies." lucas let out an exasperated sigh.

"do you guys see something?" a deep voice called from inside the bus and i rose an eyebrow at max. i crawled to the hatch and dropped down. i dumped my bag at my feet and dazzled my audience with jazz-hands.

"oh, she has to go," a boy with chubby cheeks and overwhelmingly curly hair muttered, "she has to leave!" he shouted, rising to his feet. max peeked her head down the hatch.

"she's my sister, i don't know how she found us." she seemed bewildered and i let out a smug laugh and wagged my finger at her.

"my dear friend, joyce byers, let me in on a little secret. she told me that she couldn't find will once - well, aside fromt he time where he disappeared for a few months - and she looked everywhere until she stumbled across an abandoned schoolbus, where he and his friends were playing dungeons and dragons." the boy slapped his forehead and said something about sons and bitches.

"you have no idea what's going on here, janice. leave while you can." there that deep voice was again. i pivoted to see steve harrington. a deep crease developed between my eyebrows and i struggled to find the right words. "don't question what's happening, just think of me as a babysitter." he put his hand on my shoulder and i shrugged it off.

"you're...a pedophile?" my face was contorted as i took in the setting. the windows were boarded up, it smelled god-awful and the kids looked terrified. "you're a monster!" i screamed and shoved him. he stumbled back and lucas shouted something, causing the boy with curly hair to look even more panicked. steve clambered to his feet and looked equally as panicked as curly. the both ran to the slits in the boarded up windows.

"ten o'clock!" lucas shouted.

"what's ten o'clock?" i muttered, pressing myself to the same window as curly. all i could see was fog. "what's ten o'clock?" i repeated, louder so everyone could hear me. curly shoved me.

"shut up, he'll hear you!" he whispered. he? so we're playing the pronoun game, huh? i shook my head, completely flabbergasted by the situation. i looked out again, still seeing nothing but fog. then i realised what was going on.

"wait. this is a prank? good one max," i laughed, pulling away from the pane and earning a rough shove from curly. nobody in, or on, the bus was joking.

"holy shit!" lucas gasped from above. i rushed to the window. it was a dog, were they stupid or had they just never seen a dog before?

"are you sure it's not a dog?"max whispered. great minds think alike. but then i saw it a little more clearly. it's mouth was...wrong. it looked like the opening to a mcdonalds drink, the hole the straw went into. it was slimy, too, black and slimy and angry looking. i couldn't see any eyes or ears, either. my mouth went dry and my skin went cold. the entire bus was still and stagnant with fear. steve poked me and i looked at him.

"see, just a babysitter."

//

okay so i cbf finding an online script of the season, so i'm going from memory with the dialogue (if you couldn't tell from this chapter and its predecessor).

also i graduated today (yay) so im tired and therefore did not edit