Sorry for such a long wait, with school and work I'll probably be posting once a week, if anyone cares. Again, I don't own anything. Enjoy!
*Also this is a continuation of the previous chapter, after her flashback.*
As the day went on the mood lightened. It was noon, the midday sun flooded through the boards on the windows.
Dustin took his Walkman out of his backpack.
"Want to listen?" He asked holding out the headphones.
"To what?" Deca was unsure of the rectangle he held out.
"Its like a little radio, it plays music. The sound goes right into your ears, it blocks out all the other noise." He said.
Might help block out everyone's thoughts.
She nodded, hoping it would work. She took the headphones and slowly put them over her ears.
Dustin smiled widely as he hit the play button.
She flinched at the loudness, he quickly apologized and lowered it.
She listened with wide eyes. The song's beginning startled her but once she adjusted to it she found herself moving her head along to the beat.
He nodded his head with her, and a grin was spread across his face.
"I think I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese…" Blared in her ears. By the second chorus she was moving her lips along with the words being chanted.
Her lips stopped moving and her head stopped bobbing when she realized something. She couldn't hear any of them.
She relished in not being able to hear them. Blocking them out made her head hurt, the music felt good.
She stood up and took Dustin's hand and held the Walkman with her other. She began jumping around to the beat of the song. He laughed but she couldn't hear it.
The song drummed to an end and the thoughts rushed to her ears. She didn't mind it, she was happy.
She breathlessly fell back into the chair and pulled the headphones off.
"So, you like music?" Dustin asked grinning. She nodded eagerly.
He had different mixtapes to choose from. He told her about each one. He was excited she liked it, he fell over his words at times because of his enthusiasm working faster than his mouth.
"This song is really good. It's from ghostbusters." He told her as he took the old tape out.
"Halloween." She remembered. He nodded and slid in the new cassette. He hit play.
The music was eerie at first but when the beat kicked in, she involuntarily nodded her head to it.
Dustin looked at her from across the table. He couldn't hear it but still mouthed the words.
She liked music, she liked it more because it was a piece of Dustin she could see and experience without invading his head.
She listened to more songs, before each one he would pause and explain them.
Before one song he whispered her the name.
"Why don't you want Mike to know the song?" She asked curious. Mike turned from his conversation with Jane. Dustin's cheeks got red.
"What song is it?" Mike asked, just as curious.
"Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." He said softly.
"Oh. Wham!, really?" Mike shrugged his shoulders trying to contain his amusement.
"What's Wham!?" Jane asked Mike. His tried to think of a way to explain.
"Mike thinks it is for girls." Deca told her. Dustin and Mike both started laughing. Deca laughed but was still confused.
"It's pop, mostly girls like their songs. But they're good." Dustin chuckled.
He played the song. She liked it. It was fast, it made her feet move on their own.
She had listened to more songs. Despite the noise being blown into her ears, she had never known quiet like this.
Before when there was no voices or thoughts to hear, it was because she was locked away in the little cement room. The silence was deafening and made her mind spin in circles.
She liked this kind of quiet better. She liked being able to have a say in when she could listen to people, she liked having that control.
The current song was slower, over the beat she heard a knock at the door. All of them froze.
"I think its Lucas." Dustin whispered.
"Who is it?" Mike asked in a hushed tone as he walked towards the door.
"Lucas." He yelled through the door. Everyone breathed relief as Mike opened it.
They all greeted him. Deca took her headphones off to say hello. She noticed Dustin was pleasantly surprised at Lucas' solitaire.
"No Max today?" He asked Lucas.
"Her mom was taking her somewhere." He shrugged.
Lucas brought board games with him. Him and Mike argued over which to play.
Mike wanted to play Monopoly. Lucas argued that it goes on for too long and will be hard to explain.
Lucas wanted to play The Game of Life. Mike argued it was too short and for little kids.
They played rock-paper-scissors. They tied three times. They both put their fists down and groaned.
"What about something else?" Jane asked breaking the tension.
"Like what?" Lucas and Mike asked in unison.
"Not board game. Just us." She said. Deca smiled, she knew what she had in mind.
Jane pushed the couch back with a small nod. Dustin had to correct himself, his mouth hung open. It never stopped catching him by surprise. They all say in a circle on the floor.
Deca was between Dustin and Jane, across from Lucas.
She asked if there was a game to play where it was just them.
Lucas suggested Truth or Dare. Mike objected but everyone else agreed.
He explained the game to Deca and Jane.
"Who goes first?" Dustin asked grinning.
"I will." Jane said.
"Alright, truth or dare?" Lucas asked.
"Dare."
"Ok, well, I dare you to hold your breath for as long as you can."
She nodded and took a deep breath in, her cheeks puffed out.
Mike kept count on his watch, notifying her in ten second intervals. Her cheeks were starting to turn pink.
"58, 59, 60, 61." All of them chanted the numbers in unison. Jane finally conceded and took a deep breath. Everyone chuckled as she smiled breathlessly.
"Deca, your turn." Dustin told her. She nodded.
"Truth or dare?"
"Dare." She answered confidently, excited for what she'd do. They all thought for a moment, unsure of what to assign her.
"I dare you read Lucas' mind." Dustin grinned.
"No way. That's breaking a rule." Lucas said.
"What rule is it breaking? I guarantee there is no truth or dare rules for mind reading." Dustin replied.
"She can already read minds, that's like daring her to blink or something. Pick something else." Lucas scolded him.
"I dare you to eat something gross from the fridge." Dustin said. She shrugged her shoulders and stood up. She walked over to the fridge and opened it.
"What's gross?" She asked seeking guidance. Lucas got up and walked over. He peered into the fridge before he stopped and reached towards the yellow jar.
"Jack pot. Mustard." He held it up for the others to see. Mike made a sour face.
"That's not that gross." Dustin said, trying to make Deca not worry about it.
"Not gross? Do you regularly eat spoonfuls of mustard?" Lucas asked raising his eyebrows.
Deca didn't know what mustard was. She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and took the jar from Lucas.
When she twisted open the jar her nostrils were insulted by the sour, spicy odor.
She dipped her spoon in. She held her breath and put it in her mouth.
She didn't enjoy it, it tasted bad. She could feel her nose wrinkle and her jaw clench and one eye squint. She struggled to swallow it, partly because of the taste but also because of the laughing she tried to hold back.
She could see how silly she looked in their eyes, her face twisted and pulled away from the awful taste. She started to swallow, the heat of her mouth made the mustard cover her tongue in the most unpleasant way.
She managed to swallow it, her shoulders tensed and face contorted as she got it down. Dustin applauded her. She sat back in the circle. It was Dustin's turn.
His thoughts were loud, truth or dare made him nervous. His anxiety swarmed her. Deca felt her palms start to sweat and her throat to dry. Her stomach twisted and turned.
"Dustin, truth or dare?" Mike asked.
He hesitated, like his tongue was knotted. He struggled to untie it.
"Da-I mean truth. Truth." He corrected.
"Truth? Not fun." Jane teased. His cheeks reddened. Deca hummed to herself to block out his nervous thoughts.
"Do you like-"Lucas began, a menacing smirk across his lips.
"School!" Mike interrupted.
"Do you like school?" He asked trying to steady his voice. He wanted to spare Dustin any type of embarrassment, especially in front of Deca.
When Mike noticed she was looking at him, he looked towards the ground and thought vividly about the olive-green rug. She smiled to herself at the way he protected Dustin. Though she wasn't sure what he was protecting him from, Lucas was going to ask about Deca. She knew Dustin already liked her, he was her friend.
"Yeah, I like school." Dustin chuckled but breathed relief that the question didn't regard Deca.
"Lucas, truth or dare?" He turned his attention to the boy next to him.
"Dare." He answered proudly.
"I dare you to let Deca into your mind." Dustin said.
"No way, that's not fair." Lucas objected.
"Nowhere in the rules of truth or dare does it state a dare cannot include having your mind read." Dustin pointed out.
"I wonder why." Lucas glared with sarcasm.
"Fine, whatever." Lucas scooted into the middle of the circle. Deca took the hint and moved towards him. They sat across from each other, knees touching.
"Hand." She whispered to him. He nodded and pushed it towards her.
"Are you sure?" She asked him, looking into his eyes. He hesitantly nodded.
"Don't think too hard about one thing, or about not thinking of that thing. I'll go to that first." She warned him, he nodded nervously.
"Ready?" She asked, her hands hovering over his. He gave a quick nod.
She took his hand in her palms, she gripped tightly and let herself be pulled into his cognitive current.
She became surrounded by moments from his life. Sitting around the table with his parents, chasing Erica out of his room, spending hours on a campaign with the party in the Wheeler's basement, moments when they looked for Will, moments when they fought against the Demogorgon.
There was peace after that, a type of unsettling peace. Things didn't return to the way they were. Will was different, Mike was different, the party was different.
Then Max came. MadMax. She made him nervous, but he thought she was cool.
The feeling in his stomach was hard to bear when he told her about Will and El and the Upside Down. When she finally believed him, and she helped them with Dart and the Demodogs it was like she understood him and cared.
With Will and Mike there was something holding them back, and with Dustin it was like Max drove a wedge between them. Lucas hated how his friends didn't feel like his friends.
He thought about her all the time. The way she stood up to Billy was so cool, scary but cool. He admired her.
Deca recognized that feeling he got when he was around her. The fluttering in his belly, the constant urge to smile, the way words tend to get caught in his throat, the way his palms sweat when she's near him.
She liked this familiar feeling.
"Deca?" Lucas' voice pulled her from his mind.
She was suddenly sitting back on the green rug, her knees touching his. She looked at him, his face twisted in confusion.
"What's wrong?" He asked her.
"Nothing. Its nice." She gave a small smile.
She used her sleeve to wipe away the blood beginning to drip down her lip.
"Ok, Mike, your turn." Lucas pushed himself back into his place in the circle.
AN: Well, that's a short chapter but I wanted to right a nice little one shot with the kiddos. I hope you liked it. The next few chapters will be a little longer and a little more intense. Thanks for reading!