The girls take the bus to the outskirts of town, then walk the rest of the way to Hopper's cabin. Faye knows the boys will have ended up back at her house, so there's no question of going home anytime soon. When Max suggests having a sleepover, Faye agrees before the words are fully out of her mouth.
"What's a sleepover?" asks El as they climb the porch steps.
"Where me and Faye sleep at your house," Max explains. "We stay up late, watch scary movies, do each other's hair and tell secrets."
El blinks. "What secrets?"
"Anything, the juicier the better!" Max grins.
"Juicier? Like orange juice?"
Faye laughs. "No like embarrassing stuff. Things you wouldn't want anyone else to know."
The kind of sleepovers Faye is accustomed to involve all-night D&D campaigns, Ghostbusters movie marathons, and fort-building in the Wheelers' basement. The closest she's ever been to Max's sleepover itinerary is when Dustin once got gum in her hair and Lucas and Will tried to cut it out with scissors, while Mike nearly wet himself laughing. Faye had gone to school with a bald patch for weeks and still hadn't quite forgiven Dustin for it.
As El flicks the lights on in the cabin, Faye's eyes are immediately drawn to the fireplace in the corner. It's currently unlit, but in her mind all she can see are flames blazing and writhing in the grate to try to burn the Mind Flayer out of Will. This is where it happened Faye thinks This is where we tied Will to the bed and locked the doors and windows so that the heat couldn't escape. It was so hot we could barely breathe... And then he woke up...
A chill rakes down Faye's spine and her chest suddenly feels too tight.
This is where he almost killed Will, almost killed all of us... But he didn't, we stopped him. Together, we stopped him. This is where I kissed Will for the first time-
"Faye?"
Faye jumps, not realising she has neither moved nor spoken for several minutes. El and Max are looking at her with concern, and beads of sweat have started to collect on her palms.
"Are you okay?" Max asks.
"Yeah," Faye nods, wiping her hands on her new shorts. "I'm fine."
Fifteen minutes later, the three of them are listening to Madonna and flipping through magazines in El's bedroom. Max is dancing around the room singing into a hairbrush while El giggles at her, but Faye hardly notices. That flashback was so vivid she could have sworn it was real, like she was re-living it. Faye could almost feel the scalding waves rolling off the fire. Her skin still tingles unpleasantly; like when you grab something that's too hot and yank your hand away, but your fingers are already burned. A sudden urge to talk to Will surfaces (he'd understand, he was there too), but then Faye's heart sinks as she remembers...
She can't talk to Will - they're in the middle of a fight. The words just don't sit right in her mind. How can she and Will be fighting? In fourteen years, they've never fought. Maybe once or twice they've had a small disagreement, but not to the point where they stop talking to each other. Is this what having a boyfriend is like? Nancy says it's normal for couples to fight, but it doesn't feel normal. Not for her and Will.
Maybe Faye shouldn't have stormed off like that. Maybe she should have just talked to Will and explained. Maybe she should call him-
"Right Faye?"
Faye glances up. "Huh?"
"I was telling El that Mike is totally gonna come crawling back to her begging for forgiveness," Max reiterates.
"Oh," says Faye. "Yeah totally."
Max grins in triumph. "See! I guarantee you him and Lucas are wallowing in self-pity right now!"
Somehow, Faye doubts this; Mike and Lucas are probably sitting on the couch eating chips, but she nods and gives El a reassuring smile all the same. One thing is for sure, Mike will definitely try to win her back - Faye only wishes she knew why he lied to El in the first place. The conversation continues around her, but Faye can't stop thinking about Will, and after a while she excuses herself to use the phone.
El and Max probably think she's calling her mom (which she technically is, since she's dialling her home number), but Faye is desperately hoping that the boys did go back to her house, and that Will is still there. The line rings and rings and there's no answer. Faye fidgets impatiently; it's a weeknight, surely someone must be in.
"Come on, pick up," she mutters under her breath. Nothing. Faye hangs up and tries again, but has no luck.
Eventually, she replaces the receiver in defeat. The thought of cycling home occurs to her, then Faye remembers her bike is still in the garage. There's no way she could walk back at this time of night. Maybe Hopper could give her a ride when he gets in from work-
"Faye! You'd better get in here!" Max calls.
When Faye returns to the bedroom, both El and Max are sitting on the floor. The music has been turned off, and in its place is the quiet hiss of interference. El is blindfolded and a tiny trickle of blood has started to run from her nose.
"What's going on?" Faye asks, alarmed.
Max looks up at her. "We're spying on the boys."
"What?!" Faye shuts the door and kneels down beside El. "Why are you spying on them?"
"So we can see what they're doing," Max states, as if this is obvious.
Faye shifts uncomfortably. Something about spying on the boys doesn't feel right. When she used her powers to spy on her mom, she ended up seeing something she really didn't want to see. Faye opens her mouth to voice these concerns, but El beats her to it.
"I see them."
Max leans in eagerly. "What are they doing?"
"Eating," El replies.
Faye hesitates for a moment, but curiosity gets the better of her. "Is Will there?"
"Yes."
"Are they at my house?"
"Yes."
A ripple of anger courses through her. If they're home, why didn't they answer the phone?! There's a pause before El speaks again.
"They say we are species... emotion not logic."
"What?!" Faye and Max exclaim together.
So not only are they ignoring her calls, they're also bitching about her? Faye has half a mind to go home right this second - bike or no bike - and chokeslam them. Just as she is about to interrogate El further, the dark-haired girl suddenly rips the blindfold off.
"What happened?" Max asks worriedly.
Without warning, El bursts out laughing and doubles over onto the floor. Faye and Max look at each other in confusion, but the absurdity of the situation soon has them joining in. The girls are still wiping tears from their eyes when the door slams open and Hopper stumbles in; an almost empty wine bottle is clutched in his hand, and he can't seem to stand up without swaying to one side. When he spots Faye and Max, his expression passes through rage, surprise, and finally embarrassment in quick succession.
"Uh...sorry," he eventually mumbles. "I thought you were... nevermind."
"Mike's not here," says Max, in answer to Hopper's unasked question.
Hopper just nods then lingers awkwardly in the doorway.
"Faye and Max wanted to have a sleepover," El explains. "Is that okay?"
"Yeah... yeah... yeah. That's cool," Hopper responds, slurring his words the way Faye's dad does when he's had too much whiskey after Christmas dinner. "I'll... I'll just-"
Red-faced, Hopper gropes for the handle - missing twice - then pulls the door closed. The trio turn to each other and burst out laughing all over again.
"Hey," Max announces once they've composed themselves. "I know what we can do."
She grabs a pen and paper from El's desk and an empty Coke bottle lying next to the trash, and starts to tear the paper into squares. Max writes something on each of the pieces, then arranges them in a circle and places the bottle in the middle.
"Spin the bottle!"
Faye raises her eyebrows. "Don't we need boys for that?"
"Not the kissing version, the spying version," Max clarifies. "Whoever the bottle lands on, El spies on."
There are seven pieces of paper with the names Nancy, Steve, Mr. Wheeler, Mrs. Wheeler, Dustin, Mr. Clarke, and Billy. Faye's eyes hover over the papers marked 'Mrs. Wheeler' and 'Billy' and she shudders.
"We could do it together," El suggests.
Faye looks at her. "What d'you mean?"
"You can spy too."
Max's face lights up. "Can you guys do that? Have visions at the same time?"
They've never tried it before, but it's possible. Faye shrugs. "I don't see why not."
"Awesome!" Max grins. "Okay, El you spin first."
El grabs the bottle and sends it whizzing around on its axis; it slows and then lands on Mr. Wheeler.
Faye groans reluctantly. "Unless you guys want to see him snoring in his chair, we should probably spin again."
A frown creases El's features. "Against the rules?"
"We make our own rules," Max states with an air of boldness.
This time, it's Faye's spin. The bottle careens round and round and Faye holds her breath, waiting to see where it will stop. It skids to a halt and points to the one name Faye was hoping wouldn't come up.
"Billy."
Max retrieves the radio and an extra blindfold for Faye. "Okay I should just warn you, if he's with a girl or doing something gross just get out of there right away before you're scarred for life."
Oh don't worry Faye thinks I'll be gone before you can say psychological trauma.
Faye and El move so that they're sitting opposite each other on the bed, then they each tie their blindfold in place.
"Ready?" asks El.
"Ready," Faye nods.
The two girls hold hands and Max turns up the interference on the radio. Faye exhales softly, relinquishing all sense of awareness apart from the feeling of El's hands in her own. This time, there's no tugging sensation in the pit of her stomach; it's more of a short, sudden drop - like when you miss a step going down the stairs. When Faye opens her eyes, she has to squint against a blinding glare coming from her left.
El is standing in front of her, and they both turn towards the source of the light. A car is sitting in the middle of the black void with its headlights on full blast and the door open on the driver's side. As her eyes adjust, Faye also notices that the glass of the windshield is webbed with cracks, as if the car hit an animal or crashed into something on the side of the road.
Hand in hand, Faye and El approach the vehicle with caution; both uneasy, but both sensing a need to keep quiet. Faye knows nothing can hurt them in here - it's not a real place, it's just a vision - but that doesn't stop the hairs on the back of her neck standing up or her heart gathering speed in her chest. They bend down and peer inside, but there's no-one there. Faye spots a leather jacket strewn across the backseat and realises whose car it is; she glances at El, who seems to have had the same thought.
Suddenly, a muffled cry makes both girls jump. Spinning round in alarm, Faye finally finds the owner of the vehicle. Billy is kneeling down with his back to them about 30 feet away; he appears to be bending over something, and Faye can hear the deep rumble of his voice but can't quite make out the words. El tugs her forwards and they slowly move towards the crouched figure.
"Don't be afraid... it'll be over soon," Billy says. His voice has a strangely robotic quality, like it's devoid of any emotion.
As they get closer, the smothered sobs get louder. Faye identifies them as a girl's, and it sounds as if someone has gagged her or put a hand over her mouth. It also sounds as if she's extremely frightened.
"Just stay very still," Billy continues in his lifeless tone.
They've almost reached him now. Faye is shaking with every step, and she can feel El is too. All of a sudden, Billy stands up and Faye and El freeze on the spot, barely a foot behind him. Then Billy's head snaps around.
There's an earsplitting scream and his eyes lock with Faye's. Panic erupts from Faye's chest like an electric shock, surging through her body to the tips of her toes. Billy is looking right at her and Faye knows that he can see her. Any second now he's going to grab her, to clamp his hand over her mouth like that other girl, but she can't run. She can't move at all.
Billy stares at her for another instant, and then he dissolves into wisps of cloud and is gone. The ground seems to fall out from under her and she's going with it-
"Faye!"
Faye tears the blindfold off. She hardly has time to register that she's back in the real world before El is flying into her arms. Faye grips her tightly, and she can feel the frantic pounding of El's heart matching her own.
"What is it?! What happened?!" Max demands.
Faye and El turn to each other, blood streaming from both of their noses, but it's a long time before either of them can find the words to describe what they've just seen.