DANCIN' ► DUSTIN HENDERSON [1]

3/4

I'm kinda having an existential crisis about this book. This is gonna sound selfish but it feels like nobody is reading this book and I'm working really hard it on oof. I hope y'all don't hate me or this story :(

JASPER HARDLY NOTICED the three boys approaching her and El, bikes at their side. She was still freaking out over the fact that Hopper was her real dad, and nobody told her.

Questions had been buzzing through her head all day. Did Ruby know? Why didn't Hopper ever bother to tell her? Did the man she believed to be her father all this time leave because he found out Jasper wasn't his?

El knew how much of a toll this newly discovered information was taking on Jasper, but she didn't have the right comforting words for her. She looked at Jasper with sad eyes as she clambered onto the back of Mike's bike.

"Jas? Are you okay?" Dustin murmured in a small voice, riding his bike very close to hers. "You seem...quiet."

Jasper hesitated, her lips parted open but no words coming out. She didn't know if she wanted to tell Dustin or not. "Wait until we get closer to Mirkwood," Jasper finally answered.

The curly haired boy nodded, knowing that something was wrong. He could sense the storm brewing in her eyes, which refused to look at him.

Once they reached the woods, everyone hopped off their bikes and began pushing them. Jasper rested one hand on the seat and the other on the handlebars as they continued walking.

Mike and Eleven led the pack, talking amongst each other quietly. Lucas walked by himself in the middle, with Dustin and Jasper trailing behind in the back.

"Now can you tell me?" Dustin pressed, eager to find out what was bothering her.

Jasper pursed her lips together, her eyes glued to the forest floor. "My last name, apparently, isn't Marrow," she sighed heavily, brushing back a loose strand of red hair.

Dustin recoiled in shock, freezing in his tracks. Jasper stopped too, looking back at him curiously.

"What do you mean it's not Marrow? What is it?" he questioned gently, walking by her side again.

"It's...Hopper," Jasper admitted, her teeth grinding together as the word slipped past them. It felt strange to say that her last name was Hopper, after 13 years of believing it was Marrow.

"Hopper?" Dustin exclaimed in shock. Mike, Eleven, and Lucas looked back at them in bewilderment

Jasper whirled around and slapped a hand over his mouth, both hers and Dustin's eyes widening as they stared at each other. "Seriously?" she snapped in annoyance.

"Sorry!" Dustin whisper yelled as she peeled her hand away. "But you're related to Chief Hopper?" he lowered his voice as he spoke.

"Not only am I related to him..." Jasper breathed, shaking her head. She still couldn't believe the words she was speaking. "He's...my dad."

The boy's jaw flung open as he prepared to let out another scream, only to be silenced by Jasper's hand again. "Dustin! I didn't tell you so you could expose my secret to the world!" she growled through clenched teeth.