Breathless~Stranger Things

chapter three✔︎

Joey pulled his sweater closer to his body. Sighing, he checked his watch for the fifth time. It had been twenty minutes since school ended and there was still no sign of Billy. Joey huffed, kicking off the wall.

Feeling the back pocket of his jeans he groaned. He had left his wallet at home. Now he had no ride home and no money. The walk home was a mile and a half and there was no way his shoes were built for that.

Joey picked up his bag and began to walk, knowing he had no other choice.

-' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -

The walk home was peaceful. The trees had begun to change their leaves, the back roads of Hawkins looking like a sunset. A cool breeze wafted through Joey's grey sweater causing him to shutter. Based on his surroundings and how close he was to Hawkins Lab, Joey still had half a mile to go.

Exercise was not something Joey excelled at nor particularly cared for. He wasn't one of those boys with washboard abs and pecs to die for. He had a little chub and his stomach wasn't totally flat but he was okay with that. Not to mention exercising made his insides burn and hurt. That was probably from the lack of exercising, but who's to say?

Joey focused his gaze on the ground, watching as each crack of asphalt disappeared under his feet.

His shoes hit the ground in a steady pattern. 

Left

Right

Left

Right

Left

Ri-

A loud honk followed by a forceful gust of wind shook him from his thoughts as a familiar blue Camaro sped past.

"That asshole!" Joey seethed.

Joey Dare was not one to be easily angered. Even when he was younger he was quiet and calm. He spoke his mind when he needed too but never had an outburst. But this...

"I can't be-lieve that mullet wearing asshole! He just left me by myself! Am I the type of person that can walk a mile? No! Does he know that? No. But he still left me out in the cold!" Joey ranted, throwing his arms around, gesturing wildly.

Shaking his head, Joey continued on his journey home, his face red from the cold and anger.

-' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' -' - 

Daniel flinched as the front door slammed open. Dustin looked at him with wide eyes, Daniel waving him off.

"What's wrong with you?" Daniel called out, still focused on their costumes. Joey yelled something incompressible as he stomped up the stairs to his room.

The two middle schoolers continued on their project, the radio playing faintly in the background. "Is he normally like this?" Dustin questioned, playing with the trap.

"Sometimes," Daniel shrugged, "He hasn't been like it for a while though."

Dustin nodded silently. He looked around the living room. None of their party had even been inside the Dare's house. Will and Dustin were the only two who had even met Joey since they were the closest to Daniel. The Dare boy had been accepted into the party a year ago when Mike finally gave in to Dustin's begging. He was the mom of the group, always having bandaids and snacks. Dustin couldn't remember what it was like without him.