I absolutely love Stranger Things, so this is my way to fill the gap between now and the 4th of July. Absolutely no ownership here, just love and awe for these characters and their wacky inter-dimensional demon dilemmas. If you like, please review! All based on trailers and speculation. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy! "Ahoy!"

Chapter 1: Of Skate Parks and Shopping Malls

So many things went missing, and so many have been found. So many things lay waiting beneath the ground. So many things left unfound. I could wake them with a single sound. I might. I may have done. They may have already come.

The first thing El asks Max to teach her is how to skate. Turns out, she's a natural. She takes to the board, rolling down ramps and rails, focused as a laser.

Max is impressed, hooting and riding beside her. Several others in the skate park stop and stare at the duo. Max does a flip before riding down a staircase and El follows right beside her. Their audience follows close behind. They know they should be more low key, but it's hard when you're a baddie.

"Do you want to try something new?" El asks, a sly smile emerging.

Max is gleeful. "Yeah…what do you mean?"

"Come on, we can't do it here," she says secretively, looking over her shoulder at the group still cheering them on. They skate down the street, leaving their audience in the dust.

"What's the craziest trick you've ever wanted to try?"

Max's eyes widen. "I've always wanted to do a wall ride…but I'm not there yet."

"If you want to try, I could help…so you get the hang of it."

"Like, you would protect me? Make sure I don't fall or something?"

"Exactly. And then you could try. Sound good?"

"Yes. But if you do this for me, you have to let me do something for you too."

El nods in approval.

They find a secluded spot behind an old garage with a smooth wall on which to skate.

"So, how/em are we gonna do this?" Max asks, dubious.

"Just focus on doing the trick. I'll help you through it."

Max props up a large slab of wood against the wall to give her height. Then she walks back to where El is standing so she can get some speed going. "Here goes nothing," she says, taking off. She zooms up the wood plank and then seemingly takes flight, skating across the wall with ease, landing like an ace, her arms joyfully flared out. "That was amazing! You are amazing."

"That was all you. I was just looking out," she says, but a tiny bit of blood coming from her nose tells a different tale.

"Come on, now it's my turn to look out for you," Max says, hopping back on her board.

"What do you mean?"

"I think it's about time your wardrobe got an upgrade."

"My what?" El asks, but Max is already skating ahead of her. She catches up, and they take off towards the lights in the distance.

They arrive at the Starcourt Mall, a place El can't quite fathom. It's huge—far bigger than the lab was. "All they do is sell things…it doesn't make sense," Elle mutters, as she and Max step inside.

"I know consumerism is supposed to be bad and everything," Max admits, "but sometimes you just need a little self care, you know?"

El shakes her head. She does not know—but she's about to learn. She marvels at all of the lights, fountains, colors, people happily walking about. She feels joy around her in waves as everyone discovers their new favorite spots. The mall has only been open a week or so, and energy is high.

Max leads her into a large clothing store called Merry Go Round. El is instantly drawn to all of the bright, colorful patterns. She touches the soft fabric, and feels suddenly horrified by the faded blue flannel shirt she is wearing. "Let's try on a few things!" Max encourages, grabbing hangers by the fistful. El is shocked to see this blatant disregard for common sense, and decides to join in, grabbing as many colorful pieces as her heart desires.

The first thing she tries on is a polka dot red sundress. She smooths her hair in the mirror and fluffs her skirt…she thought she would never be the kind of girl who looked like this… so pretty.

A knock on the dressing room door. "Can I see?" Max asks, clearly excited to show her what she is wearing as well. El opens the door, and Max's jaw drops. "Oh my god, yes! I love this! How do you like these?" she asks, modeling a pair of light wash jean shorts and a yellow t-shirt.

"So cute," El agrees, blushing.

"I can't wait to see everything else!"

They both end up spending all of the allowance they've saved for months, but it's worth it. El feels more like herself today than she ever has. No one is telling her where to go, what to wear, or who to be. It's an exhilarating feeling—to be free.

Before heading home, they stop at Scoop's Ahoy for some ice cream.

A teenage boy has his back to the counter, drizzling sprinkles. "Steve?" Max asks, aghast at seeing him in this silly sailor uniform.

Embarrassed, he turns around slowly, but when he sees it's just Max and El, he relaxes. "Well hello, ladies."

"Don't you mean 'Ahoy'?" Max asks, poking fun.

He shrugs, raising an eyebrow. "What can I get you landlubbers?"

"I'll have pistachio in a cone, sailor," El says in good humor, feeling sorry for him.

"Chocolate for me," Max orders.

They giggle at him as he prepares the dessert. "Sprinkles?"

"And whipped cream," El adds.

"And cherries as well."

As he's handing over the cones, he adds, "Hey, umm, how're things with your brother? He hasn't been bothering you, has he?"

"Not since we showed him who's boss," she says. "Thanks for asking." Now she feels kind of bad for bossing him around…but not really. It's too much fun.

"Hey, yeah. You kind of saved my life so…I've got your back."

"Me too."

A teenage girl about as tall as Steve steps out from behind the counter. Her name tag reads Robin. "More friends of yours?" she asks dryly as the girls walk away.

Enjoying their ice cream, they continue to walk around, window shopping and gossiping. "It's not that I'm not still into Lucas. I am. It's just…he's always staring at me with these googly eyes, and it's just a bit overwhelming sometimes. I mean, how often can two people kiss each other before it becomes redundant?"

El shrugs. "I don't know. I could kiss Mike all day. And the day after, and after that…"

Max laughs, holding her hands up. "Yeah, I get it. But you guys are different. You have the star crossed lover thing going for you."

"What does that mean?" El crinkles her nose.

"You were separated for a year. All either of you wanted to do was see each other again, so now that you can, it's like—electric. I'm telling you, it's the stuff of romance novels."

"Like those old movies?" El asks, thinking of the days she spent trapped in the cabin, watching old romance films.

"Yeah. Whereas Lucas and I are…"

Max is still talking, but Elle can no longer hear her. Her senses spike and her eyes widen as she watches a janitor pass by them—a janitor who looks oddly familiar. Her mind flashes back to being dragged towards the soundproof room by orderlies…she would cry out, beg and plead for them to let her go—and then it hits her. He was there, in the lab, a long stun baton hanging from his hip. He wheels the garbage passed her, and she whirls around to watch him walking away.

"What's wrong?" Max asks, putting a hand on her shoulder.

El's heart is pounding, and it takes everything in her not to shatter all of the glass surrounding them in a fit of rage. She looks around her for other enemies, which is when she notices all of the cameras—like the one that was mounted in her room in the lab—one on every corner, several aimed at her right now…She looks back towards the janitor, but finds that he is gone.

"Hey, are you okay?"

El shakes her head. "We should go."

Tell me what's wrong."

"That janitor…I think he worked at the lab."

"What? Well, they closed it down right? Maybe this is the only job he could get," she suggests, trying to make sense of this.

El nods, still feeling nervous and exposed. "Still, let's get out of here. I have the creeps."

Max nods in agreement, unsure how she should feel about El's sudden change in mood. Had she actually seen someone from her past, or was she so used to suffering that she just couldn't have a good time? Her biological dad was a therapist in LA, and he would talk about people with post traumatic stress a lot. Maybe El just needed more time to adjust. Or maybe the cameras recorded their every move inside the mall. Maybe the janitor took the garbage outside. Or maybe the garbage was a decoy that he left in the hallway before entering a code in a secret elevator, taking him down, down, to the devil.