"YOU'D THINK THEY WOULD CARE THAT I'VE BEEN GONE FOR A FUCKING MONTH"
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DUSTIN HENDERSON HAD BEEN AWAY at geek camp for almost a month now.Frankie could have sworn it was longer, but he had left as soon as school got out at the end of May and low and behold it was now the end of June. It was weird, them being apart that is. She had known him since he was born and had always been around him, even sharing bedroom windows where he had once spent an entire summer talking to her every night about what he did that day.
To say she missed him was an understatement.
She had begged Claudia to let her go pick him up and even though it was a two hour drive, she had endured those two awful hours just to be the one to first see him.
"Dustin!" She yelled over the crowd of kids as she spotted a curly mop of brown hair.
Seeing his toothless grin, Frankie sprinted over to the younger boy. Wrapping her arms around the boy who was almost as tall as her, she felt a laugh rip through her throat as he gripped onto her waist and spun her around. It seemed as though she wasn't the only one who was missing someone.
"Come on, I left the car running." Frankie grabbed one of his duffle bags and began to speed walk back to the car, hoping that no one decided to do a little grand theft auto in the thirty seconds she wasn't there.
Throwing the bags into the back seat, Frankie looked at Dustin with a large smile. She still couldn't believe they had been apart for a month.
"So...how was it?" Frankie started as she backed out of the parking spot, almost hitting a kid and their parents. Waving with a grimace, she tried her best to get out of that crowded area as fast as possible.
"It was so great! I learned so many new things and met so many new people. Our first week we got to build what Mrs Sanchez called a 'passion project', which was just something that we were familiar with that we'd get to rebuild during our last week. I built just a simple ham radio and then..."
Listening to Dustin talk about his time made Frankie's heart swell. Yeah sure she missed the little doofus, but knowing he had such a great experience while he was gone made the days where she missed him the most melt away.
"Yeah and my girlfriend, Suzie-"
"Girlfriend?!" Frankie slammed on the break and stared at the younger boy with her mouth opened in shock.
"Yeah, my girlfriend." Dustin said with a smug grin. Frankie stared at him for a second too long, the car still stopped, her foot planted firmly on the brake.
"Like, as in a girl thats a friend or like a uh..."
"Girlfriend Frankie. As in a girl who I'm dating." Dustin joked.
Frankie turned to face the road and finally felt her foot release from the brake pedal. Slowly turning up the gas, Frankie still couldn't believe what Dustin told her. A girlfriend? He's too young to be dating anyone. He's barely going to start high school. He can't have a girlfriend.
"So...what's she like?" Frankie asked as they finally began to speed down the road.
"She's practically a genius. She's smarter than me and the party combined. Also she's absolutely gorgeous, so hot. I can talk about her for hours."
Feeling her bottom lip begin to turn down yet up, Frankie let out the most obnoxious yet genuine 'aw'. Dustin felt his cheeks start to burn and swatted the air near Frankie to get her to stop.
"She sounds amazing Dustin, and although I think you're too young to date, I'm glad you're happy."
Dustin stared at her with furrowed brows. "Too young to date? No offense Frankie, but if I take advice from you on when to start dating, I'll be thirty."
Frankie's mouth opened in shock.
"So, I see not only did you get smarter at this camp, you also got ruder."
"It's more rude, Fran."
"Dustin!"
⟡⟡⟡⟡
The two had made a pit stop around forty minutes before they would hit Hawkins. Dustin had to use the bathroom and Frankie was getting antsy driving so long. When Dustin came back from the little gas station off the highway, he immediately went through his bag in the back seat. Looking for something specific, he finally found what he was looking for and Frankie groaned when she saw the walkie talkie and headset.
"Really, Dust?"
He put his hands in the air defensively. "Hey, I just want to make sure they remembered I'm coming home today."
"They do remember Dustin, no sweat." Frankie reassured the boy as they both got back into the car.
"Gold Leader returning to base, do you copy? Over."
Frankie frowned as nothing came through the walkie. It felt just like last year when they were trying to reach his party and seemingly everyone was busy. She honestly couldn't believe any of them were answering, they had just talked about Dustin's return last night.
"Maybe they're on their way to the house?" Frankie offered.
Dustin just ignored her and repeated his spiel into the headset. This went on for another thirty minutes.
"I repeat: This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over." Dustin repeated for the millionth time, growing more and more frustrated every time they didn't answer.
"I repeat: This is godamn Gold Leader-"
"Dustin!"
"What, Frankie? I'm in range and they won't answer me! You'd think they would care that I've been gone for a fucking month."
Frankie looked at him with wide eyes. "Wow."
Dustin looked moodily outside the window which made Frankie frown. He was really upset about this and Frankie could understand why. Those kids better make it up to him.
"I know they didn't forget, Dustin. We literally talked about you coming home last night! Maybe they're off doing something not in range or waiting for you. You can call them when we get there."
Dustin turned towards her with a smile. "You're right Fran."
The car finally rolled into the Henderson driveway. Not shutting off the engine, Frankie jumped out of the car and got his backpack and duffle out of the backseat. Dustin reached for his bigger duffle bag that carried his clothes and the two walked to the front door. Frankie grabbed the key from the lanyard around her neck and unlocked the door.
"I have a shift at the pool today so I'll come see you later."
Dustin nodded, still distracted by his lack of friends.
"And Dustin?" The boy looked up at her. "Trust me when I say they'll be here."
While Dustin was kicking stones on the walk to the porch, Frankie had noticed wheels of bikes from the side of the house.
"I'll see you later, kid. Love you!" Frankie shouted as she sprinted off to her car and got back in. Seeing him wave bye, she did the same before backing out and making her way to her second job. Dustin was gonna be okay, Frankie knew it.
AUTHORS NOTE
you guys are so sweet and im so thankful that you're already so invested in this story. I'm really proud of how it's turned out so far and I hope you like it. no Steve yet lol but he'll get here trust me! love you all and just thank you! see you next chapter
