It's the morning and Eleven is pacing on the porch. She leans over the edge, takes a look around, then turns and storms inside the cabin.
El marches in and heads straight for the telephone on the wall. Hopper is in the kitchen preparing breakfast. Chris is standing up setting the table for Hopper and Eleven's meal. El dials.
"Is everything okay?" Chris asks worriedly.
He was quickly dismissed with a cold hard, "Yes."
~At the Wheelers~
Karen Wheeler is packing lunch and snacks.
The phone rings.
Karen answers, "Hello, this is the Wheelers." Karen listens to El on the phone.
"Yeah, just a sec." She responds.
Karen puts her hand over the mouthpiece, then yells, "Mike! Phone!"
Mike is in the basement pacing nervously.
"Okay!" Mike yells at Karen.
Mike walks stiffly to the phone on the wall. He takes a deep breath before picking up.
"Hello?" Mike says into the phone.
El goes into her room.
"It's nine-thirty-two. Where are you?" she asks while telekinetically closing her bedroom door.
Mike stammers, "Sorry, I was just about to call. I– um– can't see you today."
"What? Why not?"
"It's my Nana. She's very sick."
"But Hop said that your Nana was okay. That it was a false alarm." El questioned.
"Yeah– that's what we thought it was at first, but then it took a turn for the worse."
"Oh."
"Yeah. We think she might– die."
Karen's been listening in, "What?" She says.
A look of worry flashes across Mike's face before he covers the mouthpiece and yells upstairs, "Mom! Get off the phone! How many times?!"
Karen, still on the phone, but yelling to Mike, "Did Nana call?"
Mike yells in the direction of the kitchen, "No, Mum! Just get– off– the– phone!"
With a distraught expression, Karen scoffs, then hangs up.
Mike takes a deep breath and continues talking to El, "Sorry about that."
"Was that your Mum?" El answered back.
"Yeah. She's so upset, she's making no sense. Because we have to go to the nursing home. To see Nana."
"You can come over after?"
"No! I mean– I just think I need to be alone today," he's thinking, "With my feelings?"
"Do you lie?"
Mike says aghast, "What?! No. Friends don't lie."
Mike is scared that if the conversation went on for much longer, El would find out that has been lying the whole time.
He covers the mouthpiece, "What, Mum?"
He waits for Karen's "response" before uncovering the piece and speaking to El again, "My Mum's calling me. Better go. Talk to you tomorrow. Miss you already. Bye!"
He quickly hangs up.
El stares at her receiver in bewilderment.
Mike leans his forehead against his phone and sighs.
El comes out of her room to hang up. Hopper is standing in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal.
"Where's Chris?" El asks Hop, hoping that Chris could help with this situation.
"Going to the Wheelers, why? What's going on?" Hopper answers.
"Aren't you going to drive him there?" El asks frowning.
"No. Strangely enough, he said he'll walk there."
Without answering, El trudges back to her room and telekinetically slams the door behind her.
~Later~
Patrons eating.
Couples by the fountain.
Worker's preparing food.
And teenagers being. . . teenagers.
Robin Buckley glumly hands a father and daughter their ice cream cones.
"Have a nice day." Robin says to them emotionless.
"Thank you!" The daughter replies enthusiastically, before turning away from the counter.
Dustin Henderson is standing right behind them. He approaches Robin at the counter. Dustin's toothless smile– beaming with the contrast of Robin's depressed face.
"Hi!" Dustin says.
"Hi." Robin replies morosely.
"I'm Dustin."
"I'm Robin."
Dustin's energy does not radiate onto Robin, "Please to meet you. Uh, is– is he here?"
"Is who here?" Robin replies.
Steve Harrington swings open the door from the back room.
"Henderson!" He exclaimed excitedly.
Robin sighs.
Dustin laughs.
"Henderson! He's back!" Steve continues as he makes his way towards Dustin.
"I'm back! You got the job!"
"I got the job!"
Steve pantomimes and imitates a trumpet before he and Dustin do a complicated handshake, including a duel with lightsabers where Steve, ultimately, "dies" after being disemboweled. They both laugh and grin widely after Steve "spills his guts."
"How many children are you friends with?" Robin questions, slightly mocking him.
Steve's smile fades as he points to his ruthlessly mean colleague.
~Later~
Steve and Dustin are in a booth. Dustin is enjoying the banana boat ice cream.
"No, no. No way. Hotter than Phoebe Cates?" Steve denies.
"Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth." Dustin explains.
Steve struggles to maintain a neutral expression.
"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. That's kinda romantic. Just– like, wow." Steve comments.
"So do you really just get to eat as much as you want?" Dustin asks, taking another scoop of ice-cream.
"Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. I gotta stay in shape for the ladies." Steve justifies.
Robin is cleaning and organizing near the counter.
"Yeah, and how's that working out for you?" Robin comments, yet again mocking Steve.
"Ignore her." Steve says.
"Seems cool." Dustin adds.
"She's not," Steve protests, "So, where are the other knuckleheads?"
"They ditched me yesterday. Except Chris, he fell asleep. At least he tried to hangout with me."
"So your best friends left you with some douchebag?"
"My first day back! Can you believe that shit? And Steve, Chris is not a douchebag, he's actually a really cool guy."
"Whatever you say, but seriously?"
"I swear to God. Mm. They're gonna regret it, though. Big time. When they don't get to share in my glory."
This catches Steve's attention, "Glory? What glory?"
Dustin scoots closer to Steve, and lowers his voice.
"So, last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie– and, uh– " He glances around, covers his mouth, and whispers very quietly, "I intercepted a secret Russian communication."
A look of confusion crosses Steve's face, "What?"
Dustin looks around, and repeats softly, "I intercepted a secret Russian communication."
"Just speak louder." Steve suggests.
"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin shouted at near full-volume.
Patrons stop what they're doing and look.
"Jeez, shh. Yeah, okay that's what I thought you said," Steve says, "What does that mean?"
"It means, Steve, we could be heroes. True American heroes." Dustin elaborates.
"Ah!" Steve realizes.
"Mm-hmm."
"American heroes." Steve repeats.
"Just think, you could have all the ladies you want and more."
"More?" Steve says, slightly dumb-struck.
"More."
"I like more."
"Mm-hmm." Dustin agrees.
"What's the catch?" Steve asks.
"No catch, I just need your help."
"With what?"
Dustin unzips his backpack and pulls out a Russian to English Dictionary.
"Translation."
~Later~
Max Mayfield skateboards out front of her house. She attempts an Ollie but fails. She tries again, nearly falling this time, and sending her board rolling away.
The board rolls to a stop at El's feet. She kicks it up into her hands.
"Hi." El says while giving Max her skateboard back.
"Hi?" Max answered back confused.
"Can we talk?" El muttered shyly.
~Moments later~
El is sitting on the edge of Max's bed. Max paces.
"And then he said he missed me. And then he just hung up." El remarks.
"He's a piece of shit." Max added.
"What?"
"Mike doesn't have jack shit to do today and his Nana obviously isn't sick. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now."
"But friends don't lie." El states.
"Yeah, well, boyfriends lie. All. The. Time." Max rebuts.
~The Wheelers~
Mike is pacing, "She knows I'm lying. She knows I'm lying." He says, worried.
Lucas Sinclair is sitting in the recliner listening intently. Will Byers is sitting at the game table, setting up D&D, not interested in the conversation. And Chris is doing pull-ups off the floor boards from the room above.
"I don't even understand. Why lie?" Lucas asks Mike.
"Hopper. He threatened me." Mike mentioned.
"Did he say he'd kill you?" Lucas questioned.
"What? No!"
"So then, what's the big deal?"
"The big deal is, if I don't do what he says, then he'll stop me from seeing El. Like, permanently. You don't understand, Lucas. He's crazy. He's lost his mind."
"Hey, guys, I'm almost set up here." Will stated, but everyone ignored him.
"I had no choice, Lucas. I really had no choice." Mike remarked.
"I just wish you'd consulted me, because the way you handled this, you're in deep shit."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It switches between scenes so much here, I really didn't know how else to do it. Just bear with me guys.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Max's house~
"You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls. As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist." Max says.
"Doesn't exist?" El repeated intrigued.
Max went on, "He treated you like garbage. You're going to treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Give him the medicine." El noted.
"Mm-hmm. And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass." Max asserts.
~The Wheelers~
Mike flops down on the sofa.
"I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna be bad. But, you can fix this," Lucas rises from his seat, "It's just one little mistake. I've made hundreds, thousands. Max has dumped me five times! But what have I done? Huh? Have I despaired? No. I've marched back into battle, and I've won her back. Every. Single. Freaking. Time." Lucas declared.
"How?" Mike asks, astonished.
"I'll show you. Come on." Lucas insist's.
~Max's House~
"Come on." Max insist's
"Where are we going?" El asks.
"To have some fun. There's more to life than stupid buys, you know." Max answered.
~The Wheelers~
Mike and Lucas run upstairs.
"Chris, come on! You'll need to know this stuff, you power-house." Lucas calls out.
"Hey, at least I'm trying to get fit. Unlike you, skin-and-bone." Chris argues.
They forgot about Will.
"Wait, guys! I'm still here!" Will yells.
Will cranes his neck toward the stairs.
"Guys?"
~Later in the Day, Starcourt Mall~
Mint chocolate-chip. Robin's hand, holding a small sample spoon, scoops.
Robin gives it to Erica Sinclair, who, with her three friends standing close behind, accepts the free sample. She tastes it.
"Can I try the peppermint stick?" Erica asks.
"Haven't you already tried the peppermint stick?" Robin questioned.
"Yes, and I'd like to try it again." Erica clarifies, annoyed.
Robin rolls her eyes.
"Steve!" Robin calls out.
Steve, eating a banana, is pacing. Dustin is sitting at a table. On the table is the Russian to English Dictionary and a microcassette recorder. Which is a recording Dustin made of the secret Russian communication plays. In the background of the recording, the instrumental song, "Daisy Bell" by Harry Dacre plays.
Dustin turns off the recorder, "So, what do you think?"
"It sounded familiar." Steve answers.
"What?"
"The music. The music right there at the end."
"Why are you listening to the music, Steve? Listen to the Russian! We're translating Russian!"
"I'm tryin' to listen to the Russian, but there's music playing– "
Robin bursts in.
"All right, babysitting time is over. You need to get in there."
Robin instantly turns her attention to the wall mounted white board. It no longer shows Steve's "YOU SUCK" ratio. Instead, the Russian alphabet and its English equivalent.
"Hey, my board! That was important data, shitbirds." Robin nagged.
"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data."
"Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good, anyways?" Robin questioned, half revealing that she eavesdropped all their conversations.
Dustin turns to Steve in shock, and without a hint of irony asks, "How does she know about the Russians?"
"I don't know." Steve says with a mouth full of banana.
"You told her about the Russians." Dustin accuses.
"It wasn't me."
"Hello, I can hear you." Robin implies making her presence still be known to the boys.
Steve and Dustin regard Robin.
Robin continues, "Actually, I can hear everything. You are both extremely loud. You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but you haven't figured out a word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do. Sound about right?"
She reaches for the recorder, but Steve snaps it away.
"Whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Steve asks.
"I wanna hear it." She asks.
Steve and Dustin says in unison, "Why?"
"'Cause maybe I can help. I'm fluent in four languages, you know."
"Russian?" Dustin asks.
Robin replies with, "Ou-yay are-yay umb-day."
Steve and Dustin are impressed, but what they didn't know is that it translated to "You are dumb" in Pig Latin.
"Oh-ho-ho!" Steve exclaims.
"Holy shit!"
"That was Pig Latin, dingus." Robin notified them.
Steve smacks Dustin with the banana peel.
"Idiot." Steve says to Dustin.
"But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I've been in Band for twelve years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me." Robin says.
Steve is skeptical.
"Come on, it's your turn to sling ice cream, my trn to translate. I don't even want credit, I'm just bored." Robin continues.
The service bell at the counter rings.
Steve and Dustin glance at each other resignedly. Then, Steve trades the recorder for Robin's ice cream scoop.
Mall patrons get off the bus. Including El and Max.
"So, what do you think?" Max asks.
El gazes worriedly.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"Too many people. Against the rules." El implies.
"Seriously? You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?" Max comforts El.
Max and El are inside and Max asks, "So, what should we do first?"
El looks at Max blankly.
"You've never been shopping before, have you?"
El shakes her head.
"Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything. Come on."
Max takes El by the hand and they run into The Gap.
At that moment, Mike, Lucas and Will walk past, neither notice the other.
"I just– I don't understand what we're looking for." Mike asks Lucas.
Lucas reveals his plan, "Something pretty and shiny that says, I'm sorry."
"What, just something that literally says I'm sorry?" Mike clarifies.
Lucas exasperates, "No!"
Max smiles as she trails behind El who pursues racks of clothes. Her mouth agape, El stares up at an outfit display.
Max notices El's expression, "You like that?"
"How do I know– what I like?" El asks in return.
"You just try things on. Until you find something that feels like you."
"Like me?"
"Yeah. Not Hopper. Not Mike. You."
~Later~
Eleven tries on different clothes in front of a full length mirror while Mike, Lucas, Will and Chris are browsing for pretty shiny things that say "I'm sorry." Mike sees a small golden teddy bear behind the glass counter. He gets the attention of the salesman, Parker, early 40s, standing nearby.
"Excuse me, sir. How much for this little teddy bear here?" Mike asked, Parker eyes Mike then smiles politely.
~Moments Later~
Lucas, Will, Mike and Chris leave the store, heading south.
"Three-hundred? Three-hundred." Lucas repeats.
"I should have shoved that little teddy bear right up his– "
~Later~
The boys are about to enter the lingerie store but stop dead in their tracks when noticing several women, 20s and 30s, perusing sexy lingerie.
Mike gawks at thigh-high stockings.
Lucas stares at a mannequin in a bra and panties.
Will sees bikini bottoms on a mannequin's lower-half.
Chris' innocent mind can't take this and throws up in his mouth a little.
The boys back away from the store, then take off.
El has found a colourful romper. She smiles as she checks herself out in the mirror.
Max and El leave the store. El wearing the romper and Max wearing red framed sunglasses.
Mike and Will sniff sample fragrances.
Lucas sprays a bottle into the air and smells it.
"Hey, Mike." Lucas calls out.
Lucas sprays Mike's face.
Will looks over to Chris who is putting on all the fragrances.
"Why are you putting so much on?" Will asks.
"So people can choke on the fumes, why?" Chris answers.
Will just looks away without saying a word.
Max and El go into a photo studio. They pose in various different costumes. While the flamboyant photographer, Toby, 30s, snaps pictures.
"Wardrobe change! Wardrobe change, thank you!"
More cheesy poses in extravagant outfits.
"Shake it! Shake it out for me." Toby continues.
In the shoe store, Max helps El walk in a pair of heels. El twists her ankle and falls, cracking up.
Three girls, 17, are looking at a display of Heels. They roll their eyes at the immature behaviour. Max and El just burst into laughter.
Near Burger King, Max and El peek around a corner at the group from before chatting with a teen boy, 17, out front of Orange Julius. The girls are enjoying a tall frothy Orange Julius beverage.
El concentrates momentarily, then jerks her head upward.
Just then, the drinks that the group are holding explodes, covering them with the beverage.
Max and El run away giddily.
As they run away Max rehearses, "See, what did I tell you. There's more to life than stupid boys."
Max and El run by, still unaware of the boys' presence. Sitting on a nearby bench, with potted plants behind, Will, Mike, Lucas and Chris sit gloomily.
"Can we please play D&D now?" Will asks.
Mike and Lucas answer in unison, "No."
Chris' stomach rumbles, nobody heard it as the sound was drowned out with the rest of the noise in the mall.
"Can we go into the forest?" Chris asks.
Will, Mike and Lucas turn around to meet eye-contact.
"For what reason?" Lucas questioned.
"To eat."
They stare blankly at Chris.
"I'm joking! Why so serious?"
"Fine, just go on your own." Mike responded, waving his hand in the direction of the entrance.
Dustin is sitting at the table
Max and El burst out the Mall entrance, enjoying their ice cream cones.
"You wanna trade?" Max asks.
They switch cones. Max and El stop when they hear Mike at the bicycle rack nearby.
"That's ridiculous. Why can't I just mow Old Man Humphries' lawn?" Mike talks to Lucas.
"You've gotta be shitting me." Max says to El.
Lucas and Mike carry on, "He hasn't got that much." Lucas says.
"Yeah, but– okay, what if we split it?"
"Split it with what? That doesn't even make sense."
Max and El march over.
Max announces her presence there, "Isn't this a nice surprise."
Mike drops his bike and points at El.
"What are you doing here?" Mike starts.
"Shopping." El responds sternly.
"This is her new style. What do you think?" Max calls upon.
Mike ignores her question and immediately bites back, " What's wrong with you? You know she's not allowed to be here."
"What is she, your little pet?" Max questioned.
El repeats Max, "Yeah. Am I your pet?"
"What? No!" Mike says in disbelief.
"Then why do you treat me like garbage?"
"What?"
"You said Nana was sick." El clarifies.
Mike's heart drops, "She is. She is sick," He motions to Lucas for back up.
Lucas catches on, "Yeah, sick– she's sick."
"She is sick." Mike finishes.
"She's super sick. That's why we're here, actually." Lucas continues.
"Yeah, we're shopping– Not for us, but for her, for Nana." Mike explains nervously.
"For Nana!" Lucas repeats yet again.
Mike turns and looks at El directly, "Also, we're here to get a gift for you. Just– we couldn't find anything that suited you. And I only have, like, three dollars and fifty-cents, so it's hard."
"Super. Hard. It's expensive."
Nope. Not working.
El continues, "You. Lie," Mike looks at El guiltily, "Why do you lie?"
Just then, the bus pulls in.
El glares as she steps closer to Mike. He stands his ground– albeit very nervously.
"I dump your ass."
Max's jaw drops as she follows El away leaving the boys staring dumbly.
El and Max take their seat on the crowded bus. They high five.
The boys watch the bus pull away.
"Now can we play D&D?" Will asks for the fifth time.
"No." Lucas says yet again.
Mike stands. Heartbroken.
~Later - Night~
The mall is closed. The food court is vacant. Shops' barred gates are down and locked. Except for Scoops Ahoy, the only shop in the mall whose lights are still on.
Robin, Steve and Dustin are making progress.
Robin, Dustin and Steve all say in unison from the whiteboard, "The week is long. The silver cat feeds. When blue meets yellow in the west.
~Moments Later~
Steve closes and locks the gate.
"I mean, it just, it just can't be right." Steve says.
"It's right." Robin states.
Steve joins Robin and Dustin as they walk through the closed mall, heading towards the south exit.
"Honestly, I think it's great news." Dustin implies.
"How is this great news? I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense." Steve says.
"It's not nonsense. It's too specific. It's obviously a code."
"What do you mean, a code?"
"Like a super secret spy code."
"That's a total stretch."
"I don't know, is it?" Robin questions.
"You're buying into this?" Steve says surprised.
"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What'd you think they were gonna say, fire the warhead at noon?" Robin makes a note of.
"Exactly." Dustin agrees.
"And my translation is correct. I know that for sure, so, the silver cat feeds. Why would anyone talk like that unless they were trying to mask the meaning of their message?"
"Exactly." Dustin repeats.
"And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?"
"Exactly!" Dustin repeats himself yet again.
"So I guess that confirms your suspicion."
"Evil Russians." Dustin finishes.
"I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians."
"So how do we crack it?" Dustin asks.
"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges." Robin replies.
"A pattern. Right, like maybe silver cat is a meeting place?" Dustin suggests.
"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but– " Robin pauses and realizes Steve's missing, "Where's Steve?"
Steve is standing next to the Indiana Flyer mechanical horse, going through his pockets for change.
"What are you doing?" Robin asks.
"It's a quarter. I need– do you have a quarter?" Steve answers.
"Are you sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Robin mocks.
"Quarter!" Steve exclaimed angrily.
Robin tosses Steve a quarter and he puts it into a slot on the machine. The ride comes to life. The song, "Daisy Bell" by Harry Dacre plays.
"You need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin asks, teasing.
"Shh!" Steve tries to silence them.
Dustin laughs at him.
"Would you two just shut up and listen?" Steve snaps.
"Holy shit. The music." Dustin realizes it's the music from the recording.
Dustin takes off his backpack and kneels down.
"The music!" He exclaims.
He takes the recorder out of his backpack and presses play. The secret Russian communication plays with the same song behind it.
"I don't understand." Robin queries.
"It's the exact same song on the recording." Dustin explains.
"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia." Robin puts forward.
"Indiana Flyer? I don't think so. This code, it– didn't come from Russia, " Steve looks at Robin, "It came from here."
~The End of Chapter Two~
