Chapter 14: The Sleepover
WITH a deep sigh, the red haired girl got off the bus and made her way to Hopper's cabin.
She was taken aback to see Jim not occupying the living room as usual, but what really gave her a stun was the sight before her when she opened El's bedroom door.
"Hey, Jean." Max casually greeted, and El simply waved at Jean after looking up from a magazine. The two girls looked at her like it wasn't the weirdest thing in the world that they were suddenly laying in bed next to each other and sharing a magazine.
"Umm? Hi, guys." Jean hesitantly said, still genuinely surprised at the other redhead's presence.
"We're having... a sleepover." Eleven announced, the word seemingly foreign to her but she sounded ecstatic as she said it.
Placing her bag on the bedside table, Jean looked at the two younger girls, her brows raised. "Really?"
Max sat up from her lying position, crossing her legs. "Yeah, but I'm good with sleeping on the floor."
"Oh, no, you don't have to." Jean shook her head and was quick to reject the notion, prompting El and Max to look curiously at her. "Actually this is perfect because I'm staying at Sinclair's tonight."
"Why?" Max asked, pinching up her face.
Plopping down beside the two on the bed, Jean sighed. "Erica will be alone in the house because her parents are off to get their family for uncle Jack's party." She declared, shrugging at the end. To her knowledge, Lucas was set to sleep at the Wheeler residence for the night, while she was supposed to stay with his younger sibling. Jean didn't mind, since she was getting paid extra. Also, despite her cold exterior, Jean enjoyed Erica's company, and she liked to think the same could be said for the ten year old.
Jean's green irises caught sight of the shopping bags labeled from 'the Gap' in the corner of the room. "Are those new clothes?" She asked, head slightly tilted to the side. She saw El's lips pursing and Max was quick to answer.
"Yeah, we went to the mall today."
Jean raised a shaply brow at the gutsy girls.
Both El and Jean knew that the redhead was meaning to take her to buy some new clothes, but she'd been so busy for the past few days that they kept delaying it. "You went shopping without me? I'm hurt." She joked, feigning being upset at Eleven. She was immediately riddled with guilt when she saw El looking down dejectedly.
"..Sorry."
"You don't have to be, I'm just messing with you." The tall girl shook her head, smiling. "You have good taste."
Her compliment made her reciprocate the lighthearted expression. "Thanks." She coyly said.
Her new style was really nice, Jean was sure Mike would love it. Speaking of which..
"So, no Mike tonight?" Looking at the time and Max's mysterious presence, Jean couldn't help but wonder what happened.
"We...broke up." El hesitantly said.
Jean frowned. "What happened?"
"He lied to her and said his Nana was sick when she wasn't." Max exclaimed, rolling her eyes at the mere thought of the Wheeler boy.
Seeing the dejected look on El's face, Jean placed a comforting touch on the heartbroken girl's hand. "I'm sorry. But maybe he had his reasons?"
"Doubtful." Max bit out.
Looking between the two redheads, Eleven repeated Maxine's words, imitating her in tone. "Yeah.. Doubtful."
"We saw him hanging out with Lucas at the mall." Max hissed.
Jean gasped. "Oh, no."
"Anywho, I'm glad you went to Max for advice instead of me." She mumbled with a downcast look.
Max's frown deepened. By the confused and troubled look on her face, she was positive that something happened. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I got ditched by my date last night." Closing her eyes, Jean confessed. While she was embarrassed to say so, she was also relieved to get the truth out of her chest.
"What?!" Both Max and El yelled in unison.
"By who? Steve?!" Max said unbelieving that the brown haired boy who had such an obvious crush on Jean would ditch her.
"No.." The telepath trailed off, feeling utterly stupid for even agreeing to go with him in the first place. It was probably just a game to him and once he got sick of her, he told her to stay away. And after what he'd done and said, she didn't anything to do with him either. "It was Billy."
Maxine made an 'oh' face. "Wait, you had a date lined up with him?" She asked, thinking that Jean was too good for Billy.
Jean nodded shamefully.
Both girls held incredulous expressions as they gazed at Jean. "Why did he?" His stepsister questioned. It just didn't make sense to Max.
"I don't know. Maybe he's just not interested anymore."
Contemplating on Jean's words a moment, Max showcased her disbelief. "Well, I thought he really liked you."
"W-what makes you say that?" The eighteen year old cursed herself for being flustered for that fraction of a second. He wouldn't have acted that way if he liked her.
"He sort of said your name in bed with a girl." The Mayfield girl revealed.
Jean didn't know what to make of that.
Eyes widen in sheer curiosity, El glanced to Max, her innocence preventing her from understanding how lewd that situation was. "Sleeping?"
Max and Jean cringed.
"...Something like that."
The Dig Dug champ hadn't witnessed the scene play out, it was about a week ago, but at the time she heard the distinct yelling of a girl Billy had been with. She was angrily asking who 'Jean' was and why he said her name when he was with her. When Billy failed to answer, the nameless girl stomped away, slamming the door behind her.
That night, Max laughed until she got a headache.
Jean resisted a shudder, she didn't even know how to feel about Max's words right now. So she chose to act as if she didn't hear them.
Still clueless as to what Max had meant, El didn't let go of the topic and she turned to Jean. "Is that why you couldn't sleep last night?" The brown haired girl asked, referring to the all nighter Jean pulled after waking up from a nightmare. When asked, Jean lied and said that she wasn't sleepy. In actuality, she was afraid of what she would see when she shuts her eyes.
"No, that was...something else." She mumbled.
The teenage telepath had premonitory dreams in the last days, though she falsely dismissed them as fragments of her imagination.
"Well, do you want El to spy on him and find out what he's up to?" Max suggested, a small smirk played on her lips. She still held the amusement from before when her friend went into the Void and checked what their boyfriends were up to.
Of course, Jean knew of Eleven's tele-communicative abilities. It was her experience with it that Eleven was able to coach Jean with her mind reading. The redhead had to admit, it was a pretty neat gift to have.
"No, I'm good." Jean said with a chuckle. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, she realized that she better head to Erica by now before her parents left. "I have to go now."
"Whyy? Can't you stay a bit longer?"
"Yeah, staay."
Jean was touched by both Max and Eleven's disappointment at the thought of her leaving. She quickly packed the stuff she needed to stay the night at another house and smiled sadly at them both. "I can't, I'm late. But maybe next time?"
"Totally." Max assured, her and El grinning at the older girl.
Exiting the room, Jean walked out to see Jim sleeping on the chair facing the TV. Her eyes softened when she approached his snoring form after she gently shut the bedroom door. She turned down the loud television and brought a blanket to cover him with.
Once she draped the piece of cloth over his out-cold figure, she saw him slightly shift, groaning as he did. He settled instantly, his mustache lifting with a sombre smile. "Night, Sarah." He mumbled, causing Jean's confusion. But she didn't have much time to think when she heard the sound of Mrs. Sinclair's car honking.
Groaning, Jean moved her head. Her green eyes flickering open when she couldn't recognize the scent of the pillow.
Nightmares were something that happened to Jean now quite often.
She tiredly sat up, and her bloodshot eyes traveled around the guest bedroom. She threw the covers off her body and swung her long legs over the edge of the bed. Sighing at the cold feeling of wooden floorboards underneath her toes, Jean looked over to the alarm clock on the bedside counter and she heard the shower running. The Sinclair's would be arriving soon with their extended family.
The unfamiliar room glowed under the sun rays that shone through the glass windows and the transparent white drapes.
Quickly standing up from the bed, Jean picked up her rumpled clothes, tossed askew on the Sinclair's guest room floor. She moved over to the small armchair and plopped herself down on it, shoving her stuff into her bag.
Then she heard the shower stopping and then a minute later the bedroom door swung open.
Erica stood at the threshold, drying her hair with a pink towel. "You gonna take a shower or what?"
"Yeah, thanks. Your parents are on their way, right?" Jean asked before standing up and pulling her hair up into a loose bun.
"Yup." The ten year old confirmed before going back to her room.
Once Jean greeted Mrs. Sinclair and the rest of the family, she went straight home. But much to her disappointment, Jean found that there was no one there.
She frantically called out El's name, worried at her absence, but relief washed over her when she found a note explaining why she wasn't present. A smile crept up on Jean's features once she read that El and Max would be having another sleepover but at the Hargrove-Mayfield residence this time.
Jean was over the moon with their newly formed tight friendship.
Deciding to keep herself busy, Jean went with the idea to clean the cabin. Especially after drinking in her surroundings and seeing that the living room was a hot mess. There were kitchen magnets scattered all over the floor next to the fridge, which she found extremely odd, but she picked them up nevertheless.
As the Grey girl organized the place, she sighed. The cabin felt darker and emptier without the presence of Eleven in it and hardly a day had passed since she left.
While the redhead was taking her clothes out of her bag to launder them, a piece of paper fell out of the bag and flopped onto the wooden floors.
Perking a quizzical brow, Jean bent down and took the card in hand, wondering how this thing got in there. Figuring that it must've went in by mistake, Jean went to place it with the rest of the mail, but paused at her steps once she found that it was addressed to her.
So she read it.
"There is no one else I'd rather be with.
You make me smile in a way no one else can.
You entered my heart slowly, quietly and passionately.
Your hair burns like rays of the sun.
I see, and I am lit.
For you are beautiful beyond compare,
The girl with crystal clear eyes and fire for hair."
A heartwarming sensation overtook Jean. Her fingers smoothed out the surface of the paper, green irises skimmed the words slowly. Jean failed to notice that she was reading it over a couple of times, her lips, moving softly as she silently read the written words. A wide smile on her face.
It was the most passionate, honest and romantic thing anyone had ever addressed to her. She felt incredibly happy and loved, like she got the best gift ever.
Jean could only wonder who wrote such words, her heart was pounding at the mere thought.
She then looked over at the last line of the poem.
"..fire for hair."
Jean was only called that once; by Billy Hargrove at the party she was invited to a while back. She had a momentary doubt that it could've been him, but all the kindred thoughts that such a lovely poem came from him dissipated just as fast as it came. He wouldn't have done what he did and said what he said if this is how he felt about her. Plus, she was sure that he was definitely not the type of guy who wrote love letters.
So as the green eyed girl raked her brain to figure who it was, she paused. Could it be...
Steve?
Jean Grey was excited. Because after she was done with babysitting Erica for the day, she would be dropping her off at Tina's sleepover. And with the following day being the day of her uncle's party, Jean was to be having the first day off in a long while. Hallelujah.
That was until Robin, Steve and Dustin approached them both.
"You want her to do what?" Jean incredulously asked, perking a brow at the three. Erica stood by her side, mirroring her bewildered expression.
"Come on, we just wanna see if she can fit in the vent." Robin argued, while Steve and Dustin shuffled on their feet.
"Why?" The dark haired girl asked, looking at the nerds with widened eyes like they had lost their mind. "Did staying so close to the freezer for so long affect your brains?"
Jean released a chuckle, seeing their offended faces.
After they begged once more, Erica reluctantly agreed to check the vent, she walked into the backroom and Jean followed suit. Once they'd stepped inside, the door swung closed behind them.
Grabbing a flashlight, the short girl climbed the ladder to inspect the space all the while Jean, Steve, Dustin and Robin waited for her patiently.
"What is this for again?" Jean curiously asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Steve who stood by her side, pursed his lips before slicking back his hair. "It's a long story." He muttered, placing the palm of his hand against his chin.
"Hmm- Yeah, I don't know." Erica hummed, getting off the ladder.
"You don't know if you can fit?" Robin asked.
"Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to."
Jean Grey had an idea on what Erica meant, but the rest just looked confused. The girl was an opportunist, is what she found out.
"Are you claustrophobic?"
Erica snickered, not entertaining the mere thought of her having ridiculous fears. "I don't have phobias."
"Okay, well, what's the problem?" Steve asked.
"The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica." The ten year old maintained slapping her hand on the metal table.
Nautical tunes played outside as the group sat at one of the customer tables.
Each and every item on the menu was placed in front of Erica Sinclair as an advance on her payment for the upcoming job (which she still didn't fully agree to yet).
"More fudge, please." Erica demanded, sliding over the sundae back to Steve Harrington. He sighed, his brown eyes looking between Dustin and Robin, wondering if these boxes were worth the humiliation.
Erica acted like she was the boss of him, waving her hand for him to quickly do as told. "Go on."
With a slam of his palm on the table, Steve got up, and Jean was hot on his tail.
Once the two teenagers reached the counter, Steve huffed in frustration. "Fot godsakes, how do you handle that kid?" He asked, adding the fudge on the sundae that 'Princess' Erica asked for.
Jean released a laughter. "I don't. I just roll around, stay still and wait for it to be over." Her words made Harrington's frown to be replaced with an amused look.
Although seemingly calm, the Grey girl still couldn't fathom the strange things they'd just told her. It was a lot to process. Evil Russians caught on tape broadcasting a code. And the shipments they were delivering to possibly plot the country's demise.
Shouldn't they have alerted the authorities? When she'd asked, Dustin said that they needed confirmation before any action was taken, because they might not believe them. But maybe it was also that they wanted the credit to themselves, knowing full well that the government would take over and announce it as their own achievement. Or maybe it was just the summer boredom. She couldn't tell.
"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" She asked, stepping closer to the boy.
Steve sighed. "It's Dustin, he insisted to keep it top secret."
"But you told Robin?" She asked, raising her brows. From what she heard, the blonde teenager was an indispensable cog in their spy machine; translating the words and singlehandedly cracking the code. But Jean was slightly hurt that when she'd asked them what they were up to, they just lied about it.
Steve's eyes widened from panic. He wanted to tell her, it was Dustin who forbade him not to. "No, no, it's different. She overhead us and pushed her way in. It's not like that, I swear." He babbled.
Jean smiled, pushing away the miniscule feeling of being left out. "It's okay, I forgive you." She chirped with a playful note that reached her eyes.
Licking his lips, Steve hesitated before sliding over and leaning against the freezer, just a foot away from her. The electricity from her touch was literally calling out to him, begging for the slightest brush his hand against her smaller one, but he didn't move an inch.
Being so close, he noticed the very faint bags under her eyes, and the constant shifting of her feet. She seemed agitated. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
Jean looked up to him, a little surprised that he'd caught her momentary distress as she recalled the recurrent nightmares she'd been having. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I haven't been getting enough sleep lately."
"Well, that sucks. How come?"
She waved a dismissive hand at him, not wanting to get into whatever the hell was going on with her. "Just..nightmares. Nevermind." Jean gave him a shrug and a smile, and so Steve reluctantly let it go.
"So," She started before they could go back to the table ruled by the controlling child. "I'm off tomorrow. Do you wanna go to the fair?" Jean queried, smiling at the brown haired male. She assumed they would be done with whatever this was by the next day and they would be free to attend the fourth of July celebration.
Oh, she had no idea.
"Umm, yeah! I mean that'd be great." Steve exclaimed, trying to hide his enthusiasm, but failed miserably.
He was excited, no doubt about it, but Steve was also terrified on the inside. If he was being honest, the boy didn't know how to act in front of Jean anymore, not after slipping that love letter inside her bag.
Panicked and concerned thoughts were a common occurrence in his head now. What if she figures out it's me? What if she finds out and doesn't feel the same way?
If Jean had tapped into his head, she would have had the answer to her question from earlier.
"Just us?" He nervously asked. If it was, then the whole thing would be veering into a date territory.
Jean's eyebrows furrowed at his jittery act. "I mean, yeah, unless you wanna bring Dustin along." She offered, but there was a small part of her that was screaming, hoping that it would be just the two of them.
Steve's eyes grew wide and he shook his head vigorously. "No, he's good, he's got..homework." He lied and Jean gapped in disbelief.
"It's summer."
Steve released a heavy breath, shrugging. "Well, I don't know what to tell ya, their school works them to death." He was surprised at how smoothly his lie went because she just chuckled. "So, do I pick you up at 8?" He asked.
"Great." Jean said, giving him a dazzling smile.
"Great." He repeated, a lovestruck grin morphing his features.
It's a date, he thought. And Jean heard him.
Her heart seemed to stop in her chest for a fraction of a second at the intense gaze Steve had on her. "Steve?" She breathed out.
"Yeah?" The boy in the sailor's uniform muttered. The two were leaning against the side of the counter, standing by each other, their faces directed at one another.
Jean felt like her senses were in overdrive as she was highly aware of Steve's body standing beside hers. She gulped with her heart pulsing overtime in its ribcage. "Listen, did you- by any chance-"
The redhead was unable to finish the sentence as Erica's soft pitched voice bellowed from across the place. "Sailor man, where's my fudge?!"
Steve slumped his shoulders, clenching his teeth so tightly that Jean could see the strain of his jaw muscles. "God, I hope the Russians end up kidnapping me."
"The ice cream melted, get me another one."