Jim walked into the bar. A bar he'd been to more times than he cared to count. This time he felt strangely nervous. He knew what was going to happen. If Owens had an ounce of sense, he would follow through with their agreement. But he was going to have to let him know about Deca, he wondered if it would impact the outcome of this meeting.
Deca has been staying with him for barely two weeks. It hasn't been long at all, but he couldn't imagine not having her there. She was a good kid, and her and El were joined at the hip.
It was nice to know he wasn't leaving El all alone when he went to work, and the girls were doing really good. He wasn't crazy about those kids coming over all the time, but he knew how happy it made them both. He felt strange letting down his guard with them.
Owens was sitting in a booth, a cup of coffee sat between his hands.
"Chief," He greeted. Jim gave a nod and took the seat.
"Long time, no see." Sarcasm dripped from his tone. The last time they saw each other, Jim was fashioning his belt into a tourniquet around Owens' mauled leg. He was also greeted by Eleven, a true ghost of Hawkins' Lab's past.
"How ya doin'?" Jim asked. He wasn't excited to be making small talk but he knew how these things go.
"I'm alright, had to hang up the tap shoes." They both shared a small chuckle.
"Listen, I know what this is about. I'm working on it. It's gonna take some time." Owens' voice was low, but he kept that friendly, cool tone.
"Well, I'm about to add to the workload. There's another." Jim spoke low, he pulled the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He pulled one out and stuck it between his teeth.
"Another what?" Owens asked. Jim lit it up and inhaled deeply, desperately needing some nicotine.
"Another kid. She got out that night, wandered the woods a couple days, now she's staying with me." He exhaled smoke.
Owens smirk faded. Not an ounce of amusement could be found on his aged mouth.
"Ten." He sighed, Jim gave a nod of confirmation.
"You're gonna help them out. Help them live a normal life, right?" Jim asked, he sat forward.
"I'll see what I can do. One is doable, but two? You're asking for trouble." He spoke nervously.
"If I were you, I'd do the right thing. You should be more afraid of them than you are of me. Or whatever the hell took over that lab. She stopped 'em, and she can do a hell of a lot more." Jim growled. He backed off, knowing Owens was thoroughly intimidated.
"I'll see you soon, Doc. Rest that leg." Jim patted the table and got up to leave. He walked out with his head high.
…
That morning it was just the two of them, Deca and El. Sitting
El was laying on the sofa reading Black Beauty, a small notebook with a pencil held in the spiral spine was on her chest. Any time she came across a word she didn't know and couldn't sound out, she'd copy it down for when Hopper came home.
Deca was sitting in cross-legged on the overstuffed chair. She was reading too, she had sped through the golden spine books over the past few days.
She was getting better at sounding out words, and her writing was getting good too.
The girls would sit silently for most the day, after Deca finished a book she would reward herself with listening to a song. Dustin had gifted her his Walkman. He gave her an in-depth lesson on it. He showed her how to change the batteries, how to flip the tape to listen to the other side, how to fast-forward or reverse when you want to listen to a certain song.
She loved the Walkman. She sometimes sat with El, each of them holding a side of the headphones to their ears. She liked this just as much, maybe more than listening to the song alone. To share the music with someone else made her heart flutter.
The sound of the radio interrupted them. Both girls raced to it.
".- -" Hopper was telling them something. El searched the chart pinned to the wall.
"W." She said the letter softly, pointing it out on the wall.
".."
".-.."
".-.."
"I. L. L. Will." She smiled, hoping she'd be able to see him. But soon her smile faded.
Please don't be gone. She thought to herself, she feared that this was a message he had passed. Jim told her he was ok.
"It's ok." Deca spoke softly. She reached out and rested her hand on El's back.
They sat together on the sofa. They disregarded their books. Each of them leaned against the other's shoulder pressing a headphone to their ear letting the Thriller album distract them from the bad news. This was Dustin's favorite album ever, he especially loved the title track. He showed her a few moves, but he had the entire dance committed to memory.
As the album was ending, their listening was interrupted by a knock at the door. Jim's special knock.
El focused her eyes and unlocked the door with a nod.
Jim walked through the door. He took off his hat and set it on the table. They looked at him with worry.
"What?" He asked unzipping his coat. El wasn't sure what to say, she looked at the floor.
"Go get some shoes on, we're going." He told them.
"Going?" El asked sitting up.
"Going to Will's." He clarified as he unbuttoned his work shirt.
"Will is ok?" She asked.
"Yeah, he's ready for visitors." He shrugged on a green flannel.
The girls raced to their room. El threw Deca a pair of loafers as she pulled on her sneakers.
They came out of the room ready to leave. For Deca, it was the first time stepping outside since she was brought there.
"Let's go." Jim said. They followed him out the door.
Deca forgot what it was like to be in the car. She liked it. The truck was big and bouncy and noisy. She liked the warm air that blew from the vents.
She felt very conflicted. Sitting between Jim and El was strange. On one side, he was nervous about having them out. Things still weren't totally safe; not that they'll ever be totally safe, he reminded himself. For El, there was just excitement and joy. She cared for Will. Even though they never spent time together or even officially met, he was her friend.
They got to the Byers residence. Deca followed them to the porch. Jim rose his hand to knock but the door opened. A woman stood in the doorway she looked at him with a wide, honest smile.
She waved them through. Smiling with a raise of her shoulders at El. She looked a bit confused but smiled warmly at Deca.
"How is he?" El asked.
"He's good, sweetie. Go ahead, Mike's in there now." She told her. El started for his room, Deca followed.
"Who's this?" Joyce asked. Deca stopped, she focused on the walls. There
"Hey, Deca. Come introduce yourself." Jim nodded towards Joyce.
"I'm Deca. Thank you for inviting me, Joyce." She said softly, offering a small smile.
"Nice to meet you. Follow Eleven, he'll be happy to have the company." Joyce smiled at her then turned towards Jim. Deca quickly walked down the hall.
She had seen so much of the Byers' house through everyone else's memories, it was nice to see it for herself. Before she got to the end of the hall, she could hear Jim and Joyce talking.
"Who is she?" She asked in a whisper, though her thoughts didn't change in volume.
"She's like El." He said, not sure how much was too much.
"You keep surprising me, Hop." She said with a small chuckle.
Deca abandoned her eavesdropping and gently tapped on the door to Will's room. Mike opened it, he moved to the side to let her though.
Will, scrawny and pale sat cross legged on his bed.
"This is Deca. El's sister." Mike introduced her. He smiled and waved to her. She returned the greeting and stood behind Mike.
Will was a bit overwhelmed.
He was happy to have Mike there, more than happy. But meeting El was strange. He had heard so much about her but after seeing her she didn't seem real.
This girl standing in front of him was supposed to be a genuine superhero. She became a legend of his friend group. Everyone had their Eleven story, even Mom. Eleven saved his life twice, now. She saved the world. She defeated monsters, of both the human and Upside Down variety. But she just looked like a girl.
She was short and thin and had a crooked smile and curly hair. She was quiet and seemed sweet and if she passed him in the hall he probably wouldn't look twice. He was perplexed by her.
He was even more perplexed by the way Mike saw her.
He had always known Mike cared a lot about Eleven. Some days Mike would go on for hours talking about her, but after a few months those talks stopped. He would flinch at the mention of her.
Will had a feeling Mike liked her, as more than a friend, though he'd never admit it. But seeing the way he greeted her at the door, the way his smile widened. Will could see it, he could practically hear Mike's heart running laps around his chest.
"How are you feeling?" El's voice pulled him back into reality. He looked at her, there was true concern on her face.
"I'm ok, I think. I don't remember most of it." He tried not to think about it but the flashes replayed again.
He turned to see Deca, a girl he hadn't heard of before. She looked startled, almost disturbed. Like she'd seen a ghost. He shrugged it off.
"H-how are you feeling?" He asked her.
"Better. I was tired, but better now."
Will wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know why it felt so awkward, but it was.
"You draw." Deca's soft voice broke through the silence. Will looked over at her, she stared intently at the wall.
"I draw sometimes. But those weren't me." He replied.
"Not those, that one." She said stepping forward, pointing at the drawing tacked over his bed. Part of it was covered by a snake of tunnel drawings. It was an old drawing for d&d. He drew the whole party, his wizard, Will the Wise, was shooting fireballs. His mom called them cabbages.
"Yeah that was our old party. We play as new characters now." He told her.
A small, rhythmic knock interrupted the awkwardness.
"Hey," Joyce whispered as she walked in.
"Dustin and Lucas will be over soon. Lucas said on the phone that Max will be here too. Some of Johnathan's friends too." She smirked.
"Johnathan has friends?" Will asked lightly. Joyce rolled her eyes, suppressing a chuckle.
"Why are you doing all this?" He asked, a more serious tone to his soft voice.
"You're been through a lot. A party will do us all some good." She tried to maintain her smile. The truth was, she wanted the distraction. She wanted to feel ok, but at the moment she was far from it. Joyce knew her boy felt the same.
Will agreed to the party. Not only to please his mom but because he hoped she was right. He hoped that game night with friends would make him feel better. He hoped an evening of laughs and popcorn fights and teasing each other like they used to would stop this feeling. A feeling of disconnect, not being totally present. Since the gate closed, he's felt foggy; it was like part of him was damaged or destroyed after the mind flayer left him.
The party started smoothly. Lucas came first, with Max. Dustin came next.
The house was full. Everyone was talking, laughing.
The feeling of joy was overwhelming for Deca. She was swaddled in it.
Deca sat next to El on the floor while the boys set up the game board. They had all agreed on Monopoly.
Mike explained the rules, but promised it would be easier to understand once they started playing.
They each chose their token. Lucas yelled claim over the battleship, Dustin took the dog, Max grabbed the race car, Mike shrugged and settled on the wheelbarrow, Will took the top hat.
"What is this?" El asked holding up a piece.
"An iron. You use it to get the wrinkles out of your clothes." Mike told her. She scrunched her nose up and put it down.
"This?" She asked picking up another.
"A thimble. It protects your finger while you sew." He explained. She shrugged her shoulders and set it down on the table in front of her.
"Deca?" Mike asked.
"Boot." She answered softly as she reached for it.
They all rolled the die. With a six, Max went first.
The game was slow. Deca didn't really like it, but she liked that everyone was together.
"Can we have a snack break?" Will asked, interrupting Dustin and Lucas' squabbling over the proper way to be the banker.
Everyone agreed.
All the hungry children circled around the kitchen table where Joyce had put out a few bags of chips, a bowl of assorted Halloween candy that was on sale at Melvald's, and a two liter bottle of cola.
Deca asked for the bathroom, she was walking towards the door when she heard the muffled sound of music. She followed it to a close door. She pressed her ear to it, it was music she had never heard before. She wanted to hear more of it.
She pushed open the door. Without the barrier, the sound hit against her at full force. She smiled at it, the feeling it shook her ears with.
She could feel the beat in the soles of her feet. Hearing the music without headphones was so different. Here, she was swimming in the sound. The soft vocals wrapped around her like a blanket and the instruments worked together to rock her into this feeling of wonder.
She turned to see Johnathan staring at her from the foot of his bed.
"Hi?" He said, he was unsure whether he was greeting or questioning her. She understood his confusion, from his view she looked like a mouth breather, just standing there in the doorway grinning.
"The music." She nodded towards the turntable.
Johnathan understood. He still wondered who she was, but shrugged his shoulders and listened along.
The song drummed to an end and she turned back to Johnathan.
"Deca," She offered her name to him.
"Johnathan." He replied.
"I know." She smiled. He furrowed his brow but didn't ask.
"Who does this music?" She asked.
"The Talking Heads. Its a mix from different albums." He stood up and took the tape out.
"Talking Heads." She repeated. He nodded and smiled with the side of his mouth.
"Do you have more?" She asked stepping towards him.
"More of The Talking Heads?" He asked. Deca shook her head.
"More music." She clarified.
"Yeah, I listen to a lot." He said, searching through his records. He needed to listen to vinyl, he was tired of mix tapes.
"Music is my second favorite thing in the whole world." She told him as he held up a record.
He carefully slid the vinyl from its jacket and placed it on the turn table.
"This is The Velvet Underground. They're really good." He said as he moved the arm to a specific track. It was his favorite of their songs.
She sat down on the foot of the bed, her back to Johnathan as the music began filling the room. She couldn't help the smile growing on her face.
She sat in Johnathan's room while it played. She understood why it was his favorite of that band, it was beautiful.
Hearing the music through the air wasn't like it is through headphones. It didn't block out thoughts as well like this. She tried to focus on the smooth voice, not on the flashing images coming from Johnathan's head. A pretty girl was the focus of all of them, a girl Deca had seen so much of in everyone's memories. Nancy.
When he used to listen to this song it used to comfort his pain. The pain of watching her with Steve, the pain of pretending like he didn't love her. Now, he isn't so sad when he hears this song. Now, he doesn't have to steal glances into her pale blue eyes.
The song faded to an end. Deca turned to Johnathan.
"Thank you for sharing that with me." She spoke sincerely. He smiled.
He wasn't sure how to reply, but before he could he looked up to see Dustin in the doorway.
"Hey, we're starting again." He told her, she nodded and got up.
"Thank you." She said softly as she walked towards Dustin.
"See you later, Deca." He told her as she walked into the hall with a smile.
They started playing. This time it moved faster. Deca was getting game advice from Dustin, he called Mike ruthless.
"I'm strategic." Mike defended himself.
They played for hours, the boys only occasionally bickered. Towards the end of the game El and Deca had learned all the rules. Deca was sad when she had to stay in jail for two turns. Luckily, she rolled doubles and got to leave.
The game ended at nearly 7 pm. Mike ended up owning half the board. He won with a maniacal laugh. His impression of a movie villain made everyone laugh, despite their anger at his victory.
By then Joyce was nearly done with dinner. Jim and her had spent most the time together in the kitchen. She was pleasantly surprised by his cooking skills. They teased each other.
"That's great!" She exclaimed after tasting the spaghetti sauce that her and Jim made.
"I told you, I've got skills." He said putting out his cigarette.
"I mean, for a bachelor, I'm pretty good." He chuckled.
"Bachelor? C'mon Hop, you're like a mother hen now." Joyce laughed as she pushed the wooden spoon into his mouth for him to taste. He was about to reply but she shoved the spoon into his mouth.
When dinner was ready everyone lined up in the kitchen with paper plates and plastic forks in hand. They served themselves then sat in the living room to eat together.
The kids sat on the floor. Jim and Joyce stayed at the kitchen table having a hushed conversation, Johnathan invited Nancy, who came during the middle of the game, to eat in his room.
"What was it called?" Deca asked Dustin while pointing to her plate with the fork.
"Spaghetti." He said it slowly.
"Spaghetti." She repeated.
Everyone ate happily but there was still tension between El and Max. El still held a grudge over what she saw in the gym.
"El, you were really good at Monopoly for it being your first time." Max tried once again to spark conversation with her.
"I know." El said softly, shoveling a bite into her mouth. Everyone now noticed the awkwardness. Max sank with defeat.
"Max, you skateboard. Is that fun?" Deca asked trying to ease the tension.
"Yeah, it is. I could show you sometime." Max smiled.
"Now?" Deca asked. The group chuckled.
"Its dark out, and its cold." She shook her head and chuckled.
"I have a coat, and there's a light outside. Can we please?" Deca pleaded.
"I don't know if-" Max began.
"Please. I want to be a zoomer." Deca said with a small wink.
"Screw it, let's see if you got what it takes." She smirked.
They all threw away their plates and put their jackets on to go outside. Joyce shouted a warning to be safe and not outside too long to Will. He agreed and they all stepped onto the porch and into the dead grass surrounding the driveway.
"The most important thing is your stance. You have to be comfortable on the board, balance is really important." Max lectured in front of the group.
Deca listened attentively. She stood between Dustin and Lucas, both curious about skating. Mike, Will, and El stood on the porch.
"So, come step on the board." Max waved her over. Deca stepped towards her and looked at the board, she wasn't so sure now.
"Its ok, I've got you." Max said softly and put her hands out. Deca looked down at her hands.
"How about here?" Deca asked as she rested her hands on Max's shoulders.
"That's perfect. Now, put your left foot towards the top of the board-your other left. Yeah, that's it. Now your right foot goes to the back, perfect." Max instructed as Deca held tightly to her shoulders. She felt unsteady but liked it, the thrill was exhilarating.
"Try shifting your weight between your feet. Learning towards one then the other." Max spoke, Deca did. She did it for a few minutes and started to feel comfortable.
"Can I zoom now?" She asked.
"My kind of girl." Max chuckled.
"The driveway is a little rough so it might be tricky but you'll get it." Max said, helping Deca off the board. She moved the board to the middle of the driveway, the smoothest part.
"You're gonna make the board go by pushing off. Just keep your weight on your left foot, the one at the top of the board." Max stood straight, offering her shoulders to Deca for help getting on the board.
"Now, take your right foot off the board." Deca did as told.
"Perfect, now bend your left knee. Remember to keep your weight on the left foot. Only use the right to push off." Max told her. Deca hesitated.
"Like your right foot is kicking away the ground to push you forward." She explained. Deca nodded and took a deep breath.
She bent her knee, made sure she was leaning on her left foot. She pushed off with her right and the board moved.
The movement was a little bumpy because of the driveway, and she was probably moving too slow, but it was working. She was skate boarding. She pushed again, this time faster.
She had pushed off only three times before she pushed a bit too hard and ended up losing her balance.
She fell forward, she wasn't sure what to do with herself. She brought her hands up to her face. Her knees and forearms took most of the blow. She rolled onto her back and sat up, she dusted her knees off. They burned, she suspected her navy blue sweats were hiding the scrapes.
She wasn't that far from them but all of them came running over. Dustin rushed to her side first.
"Are you ok?" He asked panicked, everyone looked at her with eyes wide with concern, but Max. Max looked at her like she was waiting on her to say something, Deca knew what she expected her to say.
"Again." Deca said plainly as she got back up and brought the board to the start of the driveway. Max figured she'd give up and go back inside, Max was glad she was wrong.
They watched her try to figure it out for a little while. Max yelled both critiques and encouragements. Once she got on the board to show her how to better transition from her her foot being vertical to horizontal on the board.
Lucas and Dustin both wanted to try next. Dustin was very clumsy, but he laughed the whole time.
Lucas tried very hard to be good, but his stance was wrong. Max laughed hysterically every time he stumbled off, she teased him but once he was done she offered a sincere "You weren't terrible." Lucas pretended to be offended but inside his heart did somersaults.
"El, do you want to try?" Max asked her, really hoping she wouldn't be hit by the cold shoulder again.
El hesitated, it looked like fun but she didn't trust Max. She didn't see her as a friend. She looked to Mike who just shrugged his shoulders. She turned to Deca.
Deca gave a small nod and a wink from over her shoulder. El couldn't read her mind but she got the message, it would be ok.
El walked to Max slowly, Max held her hands out to help her on the board.
El stood across from her and stared down at her hands. She exhaled and took them, her palms were warm and a bit sweaty. As she stepped onto the board she squeezed her hands tighter. She practiced leaning on her front foot, then the back foot. She let out a small giggle, she felt silly standing like that.
She started standing with one foot on the board, she didn't like feeling unbalanced. Max didn't instruct her like the others, her tone was warmer and even softer.
"I think you're ready to push off, I'll be right next to you." Max assured her. El nodded but avoided eye contact. Max stepped back, El took a deep breath and got into her position. She pushed off the ground and started moving. It was slow and wobbly and she felt unsteady, but she started smiling.
She started kicking off more, getting pretty fast. Max yelled to slow down but El wasn't sure how. Suddenly, she came to a stop when a wheel hit a large piece of gravel.
Everything happened in slow motion, El knew she was going to hurt herself if she hit the ground. She put her hands out in front of her and just thought about not falling. It was like there was something invisible between her and the ground. She hovered over the gravel. Like repelling magnets, this kinetic force between her and the dirt pushed her back. She landed softly into a standing position and breathed relief.
She put her sleeve to her nostril and turned towards the group. They stood slack jawed. Will and Max were most shocked. They hadn't really seen El's powers for themselves. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Deca were still pretty surprised.
El can fly. Holy shit. Dustin thought to himself.
Mike rushed to her side, he saw how she recovered but still was worried that she hurt herself.
"El, are you hurt?" He asked her softly, moving close to her. She shook her head, she smiled at him but then looked to Max walking towards her.
"I'm so sorry, El. I should have taught you how to slow down. I should have showed you-" Max started correcting her mistakes.
"Are you ok?" She asked sincerely. El nodded and went to grab the board.
"Not a zoomer." El said handing her skateboard back. She gave a small but sincere smile. It was a peace treaty, she knew she had no reason to not like Max. Max was a friend.
"Not a zoomer, a mage." Max smiled back.
AN: That was a long one, but I figured I'd make up for my hiatus. Hope you liked it. I'm easing into El and Will's friendship but I really wanted to reconcile El and Max since they are two awesome girls and shouldn't have this tension between them. Also, the 80s is an era of some of the greatest music and Johnathan has taste that's a little 80s but also some other stuff mixed in. I thought Pale Blue Eyes by The Velvet Underground would be a really fitting song for Nancy and Johnathan, you should give it a listen. Well, I suppose that's it for now. The next chapter will be a good one, I promise.