"Hey! Leave at least three inches! Three inches!" When Hopper is turned away from the intimate couple Mike and Eleven, he can only bang on the door in anger. When he knocked down the door, what he saw were two people lying quietly on the bed half a meter apart reading a book. Hopper was furious, but helpless.
Hopper angrily sits back on his couch and complains to Key, who is idly flipping through a stack of Hawkins High School brochures, "They've been together all summer! They haven't been together a single day since the boy's school holidays! One day!"
"Perhaps... You can ask Eleven to go for a walk." Key didn't look up, but continued to read her booklet, which was full of things she had never encountered. "Foreign languages?"
"Yes, but it doesn't matter. When I was at school, Spanish was the worst of all subjects." Hopper tries to wave her hand reassuringly, but this only makes Key feel worse. She's not sure she'll be able to fully understand the vocabulary in the textbooks and books when she starts school in the fall, and Hopper says she's nervous enough to want to throw up.
Here's Eleven walking Mike out. When they get to the door, Mike turns around and asks Key, "Are you sure you're not coming to the zombie movie today?"
Impatient, Hopper interrupts, "No, thanks -- you do realize minors aren't allowed to buy tickets for this movie!"
Key glances at Hopper, raises the various brochures in his hand, and says, "Yeah, thanks. I've got to research the community."
By the time Mike arrives at the mall alone, Will, Lucas and Max have been waiting for a while. They complained that he and Eleven spent the summer together, and Lucas made a gag face at his expense.
"Consider how I feel, I'm single!" Will followed behind with a disgusted look on his face as Lucas grabbed Max. Lucas turned around and teased him and said, "Hey! Key is single too!" And then he gave him a mean eye squeeze.
"I'm saying you care about singles, not matchmaking for me. Gross! U sick!" With his delicate little face puckered up, Will skirted Lucas and Max to stay close behind Mike.
The four men walked quickly to the ice cream shop, talking and laughing. Mike rings the cash register hard, both to silence the others and because it's too late for him to make out with Eleven.
Early in the morning, Key and Eleven were awakened by the sound of knocking on the door. Key changed her clothes and went to the door. Looks like Hopper's headed to the station. As soon as she opened the door, she saw the faces of Mike and Lucas pushing up, and Will and Max leaning against the back with their arms folded in frustration.
"What?" Eleven came out, too.
"We've got Dustin's signal! He's in range! We must hurry!" Mike said as Lucas shook the radio nearby. "So we need to get to his house quickly and set a trap for him."
"It was a surprise." Lucas interrupted and said, "But we need someone to distract him so we can get the key from his mother to get in."
"Wait, can't we climb through the window?" Everyone looked at her with a "are you kidding me?" look.
Mike crumpled and shook his head. "Of course not. We're friends, not thieves." Then he looked at Key again. "So... Can you help?"
Key suddenly heard someone click on him, raised his head, looked at Eleven and then at Mike, and then uncertainly squeezed out a "sure".
"That's great! When she said this, the other children hurried off to pick up their bicycles as if they were relieved. Will picks up the car and walks at the back, waiting for Key. He smiled bitterly and said, "Welcome to my world."
"My friends, I'm Dustin, Dustin Henderson. Please, can somebody give me a second... shit, I'm already in range!" Dustin sat in the car and complained. He had arrived in town, and houses and shops were popping up around him.
Mrs. Henderson reminded her son to watch his language. "You know your friends won't forget you, let alone... Wait, do you know the girl in front? She seemed to be waving at us."
Dustin looked away from the radio and back at the girl with short hair in front of him. He hurriedly called his mother to stop the car, and then opened the door, smiling and carrying a pile of equipment to get off and ran to the girl. "Key! 'he cried.
Key smiled politely. She and Dustin didn't know each other very well. In the spring, the kids went to school, and in the summer, Dustin went to science camp. The two of them have barely spoken in full since their last adventure.
Dustin points to Key's hair in amazement, "woww, you changed your hairstyle!"
"Well... Still short, but curly."
"Wait, what are you doing here?" Dustin asked warily, "Did you discover something new and dangerous while I was gone?"
Key was choking. It took her a moment to think of a reason. "Well... It's my birthday, and I thought they were going to get me a present, but when I got up, I realized that even El had been taken away, so I decided to go out and buy something myself..."
"Holy shit, no wonder you look so miserable. It's okay. Talk to me. Don't hold it in." Dustin placed the walkie-talkie in his left hand and patted Key on the back with his free hand. Damn, it feels like Key is growing faster than he is this summer.
Key did not know how to deal with it, in order not to wear help, she could only bow her head, embarrassed to stare at the dust on her shoes, and even tremble nervously. Dustin thought she was sobbing and said, "Let me go shopping with you, isn't there a new mall?" Go there. They don't listen to my messages anyway."
"Really, darling, are you sure you don't want to put your backpack down?" Mrs Henderson looked over from the car behind her. Dustin had to hurry to load the car and then hurry back. Key could see his face turn visibly red.
They came to the mall. In fact, Key doesn't know what she's doing here, she's just there to help the kids distract Dustin, and she's not even on their team, she just happened to be there that morning.
On top of that, it wasn't her birthday - she didn't know when her birthday was - and she had no money on her and didn't want Dustin to spend it.
As they walked around, Key kept an eye on the mall clock -- she had learned to read the time -- and now that Dustin was home enough time for the other five to get ready, she said to Dustin: "You know, you've made me feel a lot better along the way, but I'm dying for you to come home and see what they're doing avoiding me."
"In... My home?" Dustin was stunned.
"Because... After all It's not at my house or the Wheeler's or Byers', and Lucas's sister says there's nobody there..." Key figured out how to fix it. But Dustin didn't seem suspicious. He nodded, and just as he was about to leave, he came back and said hello to her: "Meet us at four o 'clock, and I want to show you something good." He took a written note from his pocket and handed it to her. He believes it's easy to find a place with Key's abilities.
Key results note, stood in place for a while, and looked at the time, from four o 'clock is still early.
She walked slowly until she found herself in front of the ice cream shop. She thought about it, anyway, there is no activity, there is always someone here, it is better to go in and sit.
Who would have thought she'd walk in the door and hear Steve Harrington talking to all those hot young women at the top of his voice. And apparently, they're not interested in him.
She found a booth in the corner and sat down. Listen, Steve was complaining to Robin about how stupid his costume was. "I look like an ice cream..." He stopped speaking.
Key heard Steve's footsteps approaching. I felt him staring at her with the back of the seat next to him. "Hey, are you okay?"
"I lied to Henderson." Key did not look up, but answered in a tone of acknowledgment.
'What?
Key told him the whole story of the day.
"Just so you know, it was a white lie. It meant no harm to that kid Henderson or any of your other friends, and they won't get hurt." Steve explained to her. He stood next to her and bowed his head to try to calm her. He knew she still didn't know much about real life.
"But friends dont lie! Key suddenly looked up, sat up, and ran right into Steve. "Oh, I'm sorry. Look, sucks!"
"No, for that matter, Steve's had a much shittier day than you." Robin leans on the cash register, backhands her whiteboard from the back of the kitchen and points to the "your suck" section. "He attributed it to company policy."
"Company policy?" Key repeated her words blankly.
Steve put on the sailor hat, took it off, and asked three times, "Do you think this hat is blocking my charm?"
Key looks around him to ask Robin, who shrugs at her.
Unconvinced, Steve took off his hat and wrote a message to Key on the spot: "Hey, dear miss, what's your name?"
"Uh... Key?" He makes Key uncertain and asks Robin for help.
"Oh, I like that name, so you're the key to my heart?" Steve winked at her. "Or a key to some other room? Like -- cinema? This Friday night? I want your key." As he spoke, he leaned over and leaned his head on the table, looking into Key's eyes.
Key felt his face burning and goosebumps all over his body. "whats going on? She ignores Steve and turns to Robin again.
Robin explains: "He thinks he's flirting with you. Honestly, what do you think of this date offer?"
Steve looked expectantly at Key as they waited for her answer on whether Steve's round was "good" or "suck."
"A DATE? A little incredulous in her shock, Key pursed her mouth and said firmly, "NOOOO!"
Robin is pleased to add a new line for "suck." Steve sighed and argued, "Are you serious? I think maybe you're too young now, and believe me, you're going to have to love me one day."
Key looked him in the eye and repeated, "A date, NO."
"But a movie...
"Yes."