Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Kali drove her car all the way to Doris Driscoll's house. When she saw Jonathan near his car, she parked near its left side, stopping the engine and getting out. "How long have you been waiting?" she asked him.
"Not long," he answered before the two walked together to the woman's doorstep.
"Did you talk to her yet?"
He shook his head. "No."
She sighed before knocking on the door, the two teens hearing some light jazz playing in the house. A few seconds later, a small elderly woman with round glasses, a flower-printed shirt, and light pants opened the door, her answering, "Yes?"
Kali put on a friendly face and asked, "Are you Doris Driscoll?"
The woman nodded and answered, "Yes."
She smiled. "Hi there, Mrs. Driscoll. I'm Kali, Kali Ives. We spoke briefly on the phone last night." She then pointed at Jonathan with her thumb. "This is my friend, Jonathan Byers." He smiled and waved at her a little. "We're both from Hawkins Post."
Doris's cautious face turned into a relieved one in an instant. "Oh, yes! Yes! Oh my goodness." She then looked at the two of them. "You two look quite young to be reporters." She then giggled.
The two looked at each other, then plastered on nervous smiles. "We...get that a lot," Jonathan replied.
She giggled again and opened the door wide. "Well, come on in." And so they did, Kali closing the door behind them.
They both looked around, seeing a modest setting for a home like hers, with lace curtains, wooden walls and ceiling, and flower-printed cushions on a skeletal couch. Kali smiled. "It's a lovely little home you got here."
"Oh, thank you, dear," Doris said, chuckling.
She then looked at the elder as she pulled out her notepad and pen, opening it up. "Do you live here alone?"
She turned to her and nodded again. "Yes. Jack, my husband, passed away..." She looked away thoughtful. "What was it?" She then raised her voice to say, "Ten years ago."
Both her and Jonathan looked solemn. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that."
"Oh, don't be. I kinda like the quiet." She then stopped and faced them both. "At least, I did." She then opened it, revealing it to be the way to the basement. "This way!" She then descended down the stairs. Kali and Jonathan looked down to see that it was dark, then looked at each other and shrugged, descending down with her.
She turned on the lights with a string, dimly lighting the place up as she lead them and pointed to a certain spot. "It's right over there." The teens then walked over to a bunch of ripped out and spilled fertilizer. Kali crouched down and grabbed one bag, seeing torn holes and the information on it. "You see those little teeth marks there?"
The Indian girl flinched when Jonathan took a picture, her looking at him before he shot her an apologetic look. She put it down and wrote on her notepad. "So...these bags." She stood up and faced Doris. "Are you sure they were full before?"
"I'm old, not senile, honey," she replied. "I brought them over from Blackburn's Supplies last Tuesday." She nodded and wrote that down. "Now, you tell me, why would rats want to eat a poor old lady's fertilizer?"
Kali looked a little curious. "Are you sure that they did though?" Doris didn't look so happy to hear that question. "Because it's possible they just gnawed at the bag. Them eating it seems-"
"Crazy, I know, honey, believe me," she interrupted. Jonathan stood up, looking at her curiously too. She sighed. "But...something's just not right with these rats."
"How, exactly?" Kali walked towards them. "How are they 'not right'?"
The old woman shrugged. "I would guess rabies." Kali wrote that down. "That's when I said to myself, 'Doris, you gotta call the paper, because if those diseased rats are on the loose, the people outta know.' Wouldn't you agree?" She nodded at her, Jonathan looking a little skeptical.
A sudden crashing sound against some kind of metal made the both of them tense up and look at the direction that came from. The old woman's face lit up. "Oh! That's right, I forgot to mention!" She gestured them to follow her. "Come over here." Looking at each other with wide eyes, they followed her to the laundry room, her standing a few feet away from what looked like a covered cage as it began thudding around. Holding her wrist and looking proud, she stated, "I caught one of the little bastards." Garbled squeaking was heard as the rat inside continued hitting the cage to try and escape. The two looked at this sight with more widened eyes, thinking that this story got a little more deeper than they thought...
Dave was still leading the protest, now chanting, "Who's responsible for this?!"
"Kline the Swine!" the crowd chanted back.
"Who's to blame?!"
"Kline the Swine!"
"Who do we want out?!"
"Kline the Swine!"
...
As Jim sat waiting and saw a weird-looking biker walk through, he swore that those protestors couldn't be any more annoying. He knew they were protesting for a good cause, but damn, do their chants get old quick.
Since Lucas's bike didn't have any support for a second passenger, Mike had to get on Will's bike as the three boys biked towards the mall. Once they've arrived, Mike got off and the boys parked their bikes. The freckled one stared up at the building in awe. He also saw so many people come and go into the building, making him feel quite nervous.
Lucas smiled and clapped his hands together, looking at him. "So, what d'ya think?" he asked him.
He gulped and answered, "Too many people." Lucas and Will looked at him weird. "It's against the rules."
Will sighed and said to Lucas, "I told you we shouldn't go here."
His friend scoffed and wrapped his hand around Mike's shoulders. "Dude, loosen up a little. There are a TON of places here you wouldn't get to anywhere else." He motioned a spread with his arm. "The arcade moved in here, there are also stores you can get new clothes at, all kinds of food! There's a whole buncha cool shit in here! All you need to do is get inside and enjoy it all with your boys." Will huffed, looked away, and crossed his arms, not looking forward to spending any more time with his crush's boyfriend.
Smiling, Mike looked at the mall again. It was against the rules, but with the way how Lucas described it, it could be really fun. Maybe once, just this once, he'll break the rules. Besides, unlike before, there was NO way his father could know he was here, right?
He looked at Lucas, still smiling, and replied, "Let's go."
Lucas smiled back at him and gave his back a pat, the two going in before he shouted at Will, "Come on, Will!" The boy mentioned groaned, rolled his eyes, and went in, surely unable to break away from this.
...
Carl's car parked in one spot and he, Becky, Jane, and Max came out. Becky got out a stroller and put Tina in it. Once they were all set, they walked towards the mall. "Wow," Becky said, her and Carl looking impressed. "This is a nice-looking mall."
"Yeah, especially for a place like Hawkins," Carl added.
"I know, right?" Max replied. "It's practically a paradise."
Becky laughed. "Sure, for you kids."
Jane looked back at her aunt. "Are there malls in Indianapolis?"
She and her husband nodded. "Oh yeah, sweetie. There's a quite a few, actually."
"Not surprised, since it's a city," the redhead commented.
She chuckled before her niece asked, "Have you guys gone to any of them?"
"I went to Castleton Square Mall. It's HUGE."
Jane looked quite interested. "Bigger than this?" She pointed back at the mall.
The two nodded again. "And it's wider too," Carl added.
The girls looked at each other, awed. "Dude, imagine this mall was 2x wider!"
"Imagine if it was 10x wider!"
"That would be PARADISE!" The two looked giddy once again, clearly enjoying each other's company. Becky couldn't help but smile at the girls.
Carl leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Looks like it's working out well, honey. Jane's clearly more happy."
Becky nodded, watching her niece enthusiastically talk with her female friend. "I'm glad she is."
...
Once the boys got into the middle of the lobby, Mike looked around in awe. He saw so many people and so many different stores. There were escalators and a lot of differently-colored lights. This was a lot bigger and more diverse than he thought it was. He liked it.
"So, where to first?" Lucas asked before looking like he had a change in thought. "Actually..." He eyed Mike for a bit, the dark-haired boy looking at him.
"What?" he asked.
"How about we get you some kickass clothes first?"
Mike and Will looked at him weird. "What's wrong with my clothes?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. It's just that wearing a pair of fresh, new clothes can feel real good." Mike smiled.
"Well, where are we gonna find new clothes for him?" Will asked.
Lucas looked around before spotting The Gap. He pointed there. "Let's see what's in there." The boys then went inside...at the same time as Andrew was. He was dressed in a Grateful Dead tie-dye shirt, jean shorts, and brown strapped sandals. He spotted Terry checking out some new clothes from the left of the store.
Mike froze up when he saw her, though she didn't seem him due to her attention to the clothing. "Terry," he muttered before Lucas and Will stopped.
"What?" the African-American boy asked.
He pointed at her. "Terry's here." The boys then looked at Terry, their eyes widened.
"Shit," Lucas muttered before he had him hide behind some jeans.
Stacey, who was wandering around as a store guide now, saw that and looked weirded-out by it. However, she shrugged and spotted Andrew taking a deep breath. He looked at her and she gestured him to go on and do what he must, giving him a reassuring look. He smiled at her before walking straight to her.
"Afternoon, Terry," he greeted, startling her and making her turn.
She looked more relaxed, but also surprised to see him. "Andrew," she replied, smiling a little. "Hi. I..." She shook her head, letting go of the shirt she was checking out. "...I didn't expect to see you here."
He shrugged, keeping a friendly face. "You did mention that you work with Stacey here."
She chuckled. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?" He smiled at her and she smiled back at him. "Are you visiting her?"
The boys, peering through the gap of the jean hangers, looked very puzzled by the two talking to each other. "Who the hell is that?" Lucas whispered.
Mike shook his head. "I don't know," he answered.
"He doesn't look like an employee," Will stated.
"No shit. He's a hippy. Just look at him."
The freckled boy looked at his African-American friend. "Hippy? What's that?"
As the boys continued whispering to each other, Stacey became a lot more suspicious. What the hell were these boys doing exactly? Not having a good feeling about it, she walked towards the boys and said, "Excuse me." The boys turned to her, looking like deers in the headlights. "Can I help you boys with anything?"
At first, none of them said anything, Mike getting out a, "Uh..."
Lucas then looked relaxed and held his friend's shoulder, having the boy look at him for a second. "We're just looking for something this guy should wear." Mike nodded and so did Will.
She sighed and eyed Mike for a few seconds. Working in fashion had made her keep an eye on everyone's fashion sense. That was something she was sorry, but not sorry for having. She quirked her mouth to the right and gestured them to follow her. "Come on." And so they followed her to the "Guys" section of the store.
...
Jane, Max, Becky, Carl, and Tina finally arrived at the main lobby of the mall. They all looked around, the adults a little impressed with how it looks. The girls then faced the adults, Becky saying loudly, "Now, don't get into any trouble, girls." She looked at Jane specifically. "Your uncle, cousin, and I'll take a look around. You two always stay together, okay?" They both nodded at her.
Carl leaned down to her and whispered, "Do you think leaving these girls alone is a good idea?"
She clicked her tongue and whispered back to him, "Don't worry, I got it." He nodded before she faced the girls again, giving the stroller to her husband and pulling out her wallet. She then gave the girls thirty dollars in bills. "Here, in case you girls wanna buy something!" They both smiled wide and looked at the woman, getting back to her husband's side again. "We meet here every hour to check in, alright? If you guys want to get out, just tell us when we meet again!"
They both nodded, Jane replying, "Okay, Auntie!"
"You got it, Becky!" Max also replied.
Becky smiled and turned around, pushing the stroller away. "Have fun, girls!"
"Stay safe!" Carl added, the three leaving together.
The girls waved them goodbye before looking around. "So, where do ya wanna go shopping?"
Jane looked at her weird. "Shopping?"
Max looked at her like what she said was common knowledge. "Yeah. Where should we go shop?"
The brown-haired girl bared her teeth before shaking her head. "I never...really went shopping before."
Her friend's jaw dropped. "What?!" She nodded nervously before she took her hand. "Then let's change that right now!" With a pull of her hand, Jane had followed Max to JCPenny's, unaware that they passed The Gap, where her mom...and other friends were.
...
Meanwhile, Terry and Andrew were still talking to each other, clearly enjoying each other's company. The long-haired man then sighed and said, "You know what, I'm just gonna ask now." The dirty-blonde-haired woman looked curious, raising an eyebrow. Looking a bit humble, he asked her in a low voice, "You wanna get out and talk some more?"
She looked a little shocked at that question. For a few seconds, she didn't know what to say. She'd love to, but...
She nervously smiled at him. "I'm still working."
He nodded. "I know." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "But...maybe you can tell Stacey to cover for you, then we can go."
He's right, she could. In fact, today wasn't a fine day for her. Jane got into a really bad argument with Mike (and she hoped that she feels alright after that), she was really mad at Hopper for not talking to Mike and screwing the plan up, she had to give advice to her friend who was seeing a guy as old as Kali's boyfriend, and the rest of the day was uneventful and not happy. Maybe going with Andrew and hanging out a bit would make her feel a lot better today. Yeah...she took risks before, why stop now?
She smiled and looked around for Stacey.
The curly-haired woman was showcasing some new shirts to the boys, specifically Mike. These came in many different colors and were printed with different patterns, even a cartoon pattern on one of them. "These just came in," she began explaining. "But from the look of you, I think these shirts would fit. You seem like a reserved kid ready to break out of your shell."
Mike smiled at the shirts, nodding a little since that was what Lucas told him. Lucas nodded as well, saying, "That's exactly him, m'am."
Stacey then looked down at the freckled boy. "You see anything you like?"
A little puzzled, he looked up at her. "How do I know...what I like?" Lucas and Will looked a little panicked from him asking that.
She gave him a bit of a weird look before looking back at the shirts hanging up and crossing her arms. "Well, you try these on and see if they look good on you." She moved her hand back and forth from her chest. "These must feel like...you, y'know?"
"Like...me?"
She looked at him and gave him a nod. "Yeah, and just you. No one else." He looked understanding of that, looking back at the shirts. Something about them just appealed to his eye and it must be something that feels like him. Not Jane, not the boys...just him.
From the corner of her eye, she spotted Terry and Andrew looking at her, her coworker waving a hand at her to grab her attention. She mouthed, "Can you cover for me?"
Smiling big, she nodded and mouthed back, "Of course." With that, the two happily got out of the store. She knew those two were going to hit it off. Besides, Andrew kinda needed someone special in his life. And from talking to Terry, she needed someone special too. She was sure that those two were going to hit it off instantly, she just knew it.
"Stacey?" asked Mike.
She broke from her thoughts and looked at him. "Yes?"
He pointed at the shirts. "I want to try all of these on."
She nodded at him, pointing at the mirror on the same wall as the shirts. "The mirror's over there." She then pointed at the dressing rooms at the back. "If you don't want that, the dressing rooms are over there."
Mike nodded, him saying, "Thank you."
She smiled at him and replied, "No problem." She then left, seeing that one of her teenage coworkers was having a bit of trouble with the cash register. She sighed and walked over to help her.
Mike and Lucas looked at each other with grins as they took the clothes and ran to the male dressing room. Will sighed, clearly unenthusiastic about this.
...
Jane and Max got out of JCPenny's empty-handed, the brown-haired girl saying, "That place was boring."
Max shrugged. "Sorry." They then looked at The Gap, stopping there and looking at it.
Jane held up a finger to point at it. "This is where Mama works at."
Max looked surprised at that. "Really?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Maybe you'll get a family discount in there! Come on!" They both then got inside and looked around for Jane's mother, not seeing her anywhere, much to their surprise.
Stacey saw the girls wandering around, so she went up to them and said, "Hello, girls." They turned and looked up at her. "Can I help you two with anything?"
"Um..." Jane started. "Where's Terry Ives?"
She gave her a weird look. "Who's asking?"
"Her daughter, Jane."
Her face lit up in surprise and delight. "Oh, you're her younger daughter!" The girl smiled bashfully and nodded at her. She then sighed. "Well, she's...taking a bathroom break." Both Jane and Max looked a little disappointed.
"Oh."
Stacey tried to reassure them with a smile. "But hey! Feel free to look around." She spread her arms, looking around the store. "I'm sure she'll be here sometime soon."
The girls nodded, Max saying, "Thank you..." She looked at the woman's name-tag. "Stacey."
"Not a problem." She then let them be, still feeling delighted to meet her friend's daughter! That was much to her surprise, since she normally hated kids. But it was her friend's daughter, so there was no way she would treat her badly. She guessed that redhead must be her friend. She wondered how her new friend would react to this.
The girls then looked around at the "Girls" section of the store, checking some shirts, hats, and pants. And then Jane looked up at a blue shirt on display at a table sunglasses, purple pants, a pink cap, and another specially-decorated shirt. The blue shirt had red, white, and white paint streaks on it. Max smiled at her and asked, "You like that one?"
For some reason, she kinda did, her nodding and answering, "Yeah." Her face then fell a little. "But..." The redhead looked concerned. "I don't know if it'll look good on me or not."
Her female friend shrugged and replied, "Just try it on and see if you like it."
She looked at her curiously. "Should I?"
She gave her an encouraging look. "Of course! What you wear is something that should make YOU feel good and like, well, YOU." She pointed at her, the brown-haired girl looking up at the shirt again. "What anyone else says about that doesn't matter. If you like it, wear it." She agreed completely on that. For as long as she could remember, she had always gravitated more to boys' clothes. She just always liked them and felt like herself when she wore them. Other girls, like Stacy from school, never really liked her for that. Boys like Troy and James from 7th grade didn't like her for that either. But at the end of the day, it didn't matter, because that's what she likes to wear and that's that.
But this was the first time she's ever gravitated towards more feminine clothing. The boys and probably Mike would give her weird looks for it, but she genuinely liked the look of this shirt...and a few others she and Max checked out, so what they would think about that wouldn't matter. She wanted to try this and a few other outfits on to see if she really did want to wear them out.
...
While walking around and talking, Andrew and Terry started to talk about the three, how they met, and their relationship now. "I've known Dave since we were REAL little," he said to her. "We were those type of kids who liked wrestling in mud and do one of those..." He looked down and chuckled, shaking his head. "One of THOSE pranks on neighbors."
Terry looked curious. "What? What is it?" she asked.
He sighed and whispered it to her, making her jaw drop in disgust. "Oh my God, that's DISGUSTING!"
The long-haired man laughed. "I know. We were dirty and gross kids back then. We grew past that in high school."
She nodded, smiling a little and enjoying getting to know Andrew better than before. "And Stacey?"
"We met senior year, actually. She was a new girl from Fort Wayne and moved all the way to Bloomington." Terry nodded again, looking interested. "I remember trying to talk to her as a new friend, but she always ignored me and tried to hang out with other girls." He grinned. "Then one day, I see her alone outside the school building, singing a Beatles song." She grinned with him. "I sang along with her and skipped class with her."
Terry raised up her eyebrows. "Oh really?"
He nodded at her. "Yeah, we talked about the Beatles and other musicians we loved at the time, then we became friends from there. I introduced her to Dave and we stuck together ever since."
The dirty-blonde-haired woman kept his smile at him, seeing the happy, nostalgic face he had on his face. To be honest with herself, every time he does look happy...he looked kind of cute.
Another question popped up in her head and she wondered if it was good for her to ask him that. She didn't want to scare him away or anything...
He turned to her and asked, "You got friends too, right?"
She was almost surprised by that sudden question, but laughed as a way to shrug it off. "If we're not counting my sister..." Andrew chuckled. "Joyce."
He nodded. "Oh yeah, that one high school friend you told me about before."
She nodded back at him. "Yeah."
"How did you meet her?"
She looked thoughtful for a few seconds, memories resurging for her. "We always attended the same schools together, but we were so different and our minds were in different places at those times, so we didn't even bother talking to each other." Andrew nodded in understanding. "Then, in freshman year of high school, we were in the same science class and we were seated right next to each other. The teacher paired us up for an experiment and neither of us were looking forward to it. However, we had fun with it, even if Joyce screwed up a few things." She smiled and giggled a little, making Andrew smile as well and think that...her giggle was cute. "Then we started talking to each other about stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
She shrugged. "Just what we like to do and what our lives are like. We've decided to finally be friends when she stood up for me after a bunch of girls picked on me for being...well...nerdy."
The long-haired man scoffed. "Nothing wrong with being smart."
She chuckled. "Right? Anyway, she stood up for me and we finally decided to be friends and do what friends do, like hang out and support each other." She looked up at her new guy friend. "As you know, we're still friends to this day."
He continued smiling at her. "Sounds like Joyce is a strong woman and friend."
She nodded again. "She is. We've had our little problems and we did grow apart at one point..." She looked away from him again, smiling once more. "But we're still going strong and acting like friends do." It was like Terry had her own Stacey. He felt good about that. Everyone needed a friend like that. They then continued to talk more.
While Jonathan unsuccessfully attempts to take a photo of the diseased and rabid rat, Kali was calling the place where Doris got her fertilizer with the woman's home phone. She had a phonebook with her, so she was quick to find their number. When they answered, she cleared her throat and greeted, "Yes, hi. This is Kali Ives from The Hawkins Post." She paused her the reply and then said, "So, I'm going to ask you a bit of a weird question." She paused again and moved around a little, hearing the voice. "Have you guys gotten any recent calls about...rabid rats?" She paused again to hear the answer. Doris was in the small kitchen, making some lemonade. She shook her head and held the handset. "No, no, RABID rats. Rats with rabies."
She looked defeated when she heard the answer to that, shutting her eyes and drawing her lips to a flat line for a bit before opening them up. "Okay." She moved back to the spot she was before. "Then what about rats in general?" She listened to the answer, leaning forward against a small table in front of her. "Uh-huh..." She nodded as she heard more. "Okay. Thank you for answering." She hung up the phone, sighing.
"You're quite like Nancy Drew, aren't ya?" Doris asked with a tall glass of lemonade, approaching her. Kali turned to her and put on a smile. She then offered her the glass. "You want lemonade? It's freshly-squeezed."
She felt happy about that. Her mother always gave her and Jane freshly-squeezed lemonade, so she took it and answered, "Of course. Thank you." She took a sip, feeling refreshed and liking the natural taste. She sighed blissfully and told her, "This is good."
Doris gave her a cute smile. "Aw, thanks, honey."
She took a deep breath and asked her, "Do you mind if I just make a few more calls?"
"Not at all. Feel free. I enjoy the company." She nodded at her as she left. She set the glass down at the table and flipped to another page, seeing Blackburn's ad on there. Maybe if she called them...
...
Giddy, Kali went downstairs and said, "Hey, Jonathan." He looked back, her noticing the rat laying down and not making any more noise. She looked a bit curious. "The hell's wrong with it now?"
Her friend shrugged and looked back at it. "I don't know," he answered. "I think there's something really wrong with it."
She shook her head and continued with a smile, "Anyway, I finally got a lead."
He looked back at her plainly. "Cool."
She looked a little puzzled at his reaction, but then demanded, "Let's go. We don't have much time." She then bolted back up without him having a chance to say anything else. He sighed deeply and grabbed his camera, going up with her...and leaving the stiff and pained rat alone.
I'll stop here. How was this chapter? Any typos or mistakes I might've missed?
I hope it isn't weird for the boys to go clothes shopping like the girls are clearly doing. Like Lucas said, wearing new clothes can make boys feel good! I also hope you liked my little backstory on how Terry and Joyce became friends in this AU!
Review, follow, favorite, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter (which is actually going to be centric on what happens in the mall)!
P.S.: If you're celebrating it, Happy Thanksgiving!