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missbemaeve · 4 years ago

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THERE’S A NEW WAVE COMING - YSTLC

xviii. hanging with the party

you know life is cruel, life is never kind, don’t make a new story, don’t grab any glory ( kids in america ; kim wilde )

friday, march sixteenth, nineteen-eighty-four

“so, you don’t remember saying that the spring mixer was going to be a waste of time?” maeve rolled on to her stomach, careful not to wind the curled cord around herself as she struggled to get comfortable on top of her bed. her normally muted voice was soft but amusement still tinged her words.

“i never—“ andie protested half-heartedly. maeve could almost hear her pout but she couldn’t resist teasing her best friend more.

“until a certain boy that you’ve been dating said he was going to go and you decided that you’d be crazy not to?” maeve pushed, a smirk playing on the corners of her mouth. picking a piece of lint from her duvet, she flicked it off and watched it float to land on the cold, hardwood floor.

“i just thought—“ perhaps andie had said that a month earlier but how was she to know that her boyfriend’s parents would force him to go to the mixer for prospective students of elite schools? and what kind of girlfriend would she be if she didn’t accompany him?

“it’s fine, i’ll watch the boys.” maeve finally relented and rolled her eyes, absentmindedly kicking her feet behind her. looking down, she checked her wristwatch. “speaking of which, i guess i need to hop to it. call you later?”

“yes, and remember—“

“andie, i have the index card you gave me with their allergies and emergency numbers. as long as i return them with all of their limbs attached, they’ll be fine. kids can handle a lot more than anyone gives them credit for.” maeve grimaced, glad that her face was hidden behind the waves of the phone line. “i’ll call you and report back when i get home!”

“okay, talk to you later!” leaning over towards her nightstand, maeve stretched her arm to replace the plastic phone on its hook.

she had to be at the wheeler’s in fifteen minutes and andie hadn’t said how long they’d be gone— something about mr. wheeler having to go to indianapolis for work and mrs. wheeler taking their youngest daughter along to do some shopping. rolling from her bed, maeve quickly changed from her pajamas and yanked her unruly curls in to a ponytail before securing them tightly with a silky, green scrunchie that had graced her wrist.

in the bathroom, she brushed her teeth, pacing the cold tile as she counted. rinsing the toothpaste down the sink, she took a moment to take in her dark circle. she hadn’t been sleeping well for quite a long while and the exhaustion had made its home on her pale face. turning the water cold, she splashed some on to her face in an effort to bring some semblance of life to it. after spritzing herself with body splash, she slid on her chucks and tied them tightly. it wasn’t much, but it would do for spending the next several hours corralling four preteen boys and managing their antics.

“be back later! i’m going to babysit for the wheelers!” maeve called on her way out of the house, scrunching her eyes as they were bombarded by the spring, mid-morning sun. it was a balmy day for hawkins in late march. as it happened everytime she spotted the car that she had been given almost three months earlier, a smile grew on her face. sliding on her sunglasses, she quickly pulled out and began the short drive across town. in leiu of putting the top down on the convertible, she had rolled down the windows and turned the radio up.

parking parallel on the road in front of the house, maeve took in the two story, brick and siding home. unlike most other homes in hawkins, it had been built relatively recently. the dark shutters framed the windows whose white curtains had been opened to the sunshine of the day. as she reached the front door, she gave two firm knocks. it was the first time she’d visited the wheeler’s home though she knew nancy and had briefly met her parents in passing. a tall man opened the door, his thick-framed glasses obscured a bit of his face but not enough for maeve to miss his heavily furrowed brow.

“who are you?” he asked, though not unkindly. his tone was flat, although he was waiting to give any inclination of emotion.

“uh, i’m maeve?” her answer sounded more like a question. “maeve standish. i thought andie—“ maeve spoke quickly. andie had said she’d already told the boys’ parents.

“she did!” from behind mr. wheeler appeared his wife. she gave maeve a kind smile as she finished pinning the back of her earring on. “go get your coat, ted.” she gestured for ted to move, with a roll of her eyes, so that maeve could come in to the spacious home. “she called earlier this morning! the boys are downstairs playing that game of their’s— they’ve been at it for days!” as she moved around the foyer, she continued talking to maeve. though she was nice, karen had a sense of coolness that maeve couldn’t help but notice. maeve always was just a little too observant. “i left the house keys and some money, along with what we owe you, so you guys can order pizza for dinner. we should be back before nine or so but i left the numbers of ted’s company in case you need to reach us.” she grabbed her handbag before looking down around waist-height where she expected to see her youngest daughter. spinning in a circle to see if she missed her, karen released a soft sigh. “holly!” though mrs. wheeler’s yell was loud in volume, it held no anger— it was just a call for a child. from the den, a small girl with blonde pigtails toddled out, grasping a plastic doll in one of her chubby fists. karen scooped up her youngest, brushing some stray hair’s from her daughter’s face before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. maeve looked down at the scuffed toes of her shoes, avoiding looking as though she was intruding on the moment between mother and daughter. “mrs. young is also next door in case you need anything.” leaning towards the door that maeve assumed led to the basement, karen gave yet another shout, “we’re leaving boys! be good for maeve!”

“who the hell is maeve!?” a loud voice ascended the stairs, cracking pubescently on the last word. a few other voices chimed in answer, overlapping one another.

maeve had met the boys previously when she’d brought andie a record while babysitting and in passing around town or at benny’s burgers with their respective families.

“language.” mr. wheeler monotoned from just beyond the door, ignoring the question at hand. with a wave and an encouraging smile, karen pulled the front door closed behind them, leaving maeve alone with the four boys. hesitating at the top of the stairs, she had the realization that she was outnumbered. while she’d babysat samuel numerous times, this had the possibility of turning in to a disaster— what sort of trouble could they get in to?

‘trouble?’

swallowing the lump in her throat, it was as though a light bulb blinked on. a smile grew on her face as she descended the stairs quickly, her head up, “hey guys!”

four boys sat surrounding a small, wooden table covered in papers and notebooks scribbled with strategies and information about their drawn out campaign. at her unfamiliar voice, they looked up.

the one with a baseball cap, dustin, backhanded his friend’s shoulder and spat out triumphantly, “i told you it was her!”

lucas sinclair rolled his eyes, mocking him in return as he mussed several of the notebook papers in front of him, “i told you it was her!”

pressing her lips together, she couldn’t quite hide her smile. they were just kids having fun.

“yep, it’s me.” she gave a soft laugh before addressing, each one to ensure she was right. her gaze landed on the boy with longer, black hair that had a soft curl just above his high cheekbones, “so, you’re mike,” her eyes moved to the taller, thinner boy with dark skin who gave a small smile in response, “lucas,” she looked to the boy with curly hair only partially hidden beneath a tricolor ballcap gave a wide grin and raised his hand in a wave, “dustin,” her gaze landed on the smallest boy, slightly mousier than the other but with kind eyes, “and will.” he almost looked surprised that maeve knew who he was. even if he hadn’t gone missing the autumn previously, she would have recognized him from the pictures andie had around her room of the boys— or ‘the party’ as they referred to themselves, according to andie. “so, yeah. i’m maeve. andie had to go to a thing and she asked me to cover so…here i am!”

maeve grinned, making her way over to the couch that had been placed against one of the wood-paneled walls. looking around the room, she took in the organized chaos in stride. tucked away, there was a small blanket fort against one of the walls that had yet to be dismantled. bringing her attention to the boys at hand, she spoke again, “i have a question,” she paused as all of their eyes came to rest on her inquisitively. sitting down and crossing her legs, maeve leaned in, keeping their attention, “what’s something you guys want to do that andie would never let you?” a rogue smirk crossed her face as each boy developed a grin to nearly rival her own at the idea that they could do something that their typical babysitter would never allow.

the four boys’ eyes darted around to one another’s before a barrage of voices flew towards her.

“go swimming in the quarry—”

“drive her car!”

“have any junk food because—”

“watch mtv—“

“or see an r-rated movie!”

the list of activities continued to bombard maeve, the boys’ voices layering over one another’s as they recounted their typical babysitter’s rules. she’d, unknowingly, opened a can of worms that she hadn’t been completely prepared for. to be fair, andrea peterson was certainly the type to run a tight ship and have a plethora of rules for her babysitting charges. “okay— okay, let’s dial it back.” maeve waited patiently for the four boys to fall silent once more before going through their suggestions. “well, it’s way too cold so that’s a no on swimming but maybe over summer! i know for a fact that none of you can drive— especially not stick— so you’re not driving my car either… but a movie? well, that could be in the cards for today.” she grinned, standing. “clean up here and i’ll check the paper to see what’s playing today.”

going back upstairs, maeve looked around the kitchen for the hawkins post before going in to the living room. on the arm of the worn la-z-boy, rested the already flipped through paper. discarding most of the excess, she flicked through the delicate, grey pages until she landed upon the black-text of movie listings for the current week. tracing her finger down the page, she hummed softly to herself before checking her wristwatch. she’d expected more options for a saturday matinee but the small occupancy of the hawk had, of course, let her down. the two screens were showing ‘children of the corn’ and ‘splash,’ both were set to begin in about an hour.

she’d seen ‘splash’ earlier in the week with alice and she knew that it was the last thing the boys would want to see— a girly, romance movie. over the past week, she’d seen commercials for ‘children of the corn’ and she was less than ecstatic to see that it was the only r-rated film showing at the hawk for the week. horror movies weren’t exactly her favorite but she could at least offer it as an option to the boys.

pausing at the top of the stairs, maeve looked down at the paper again. andie had mentioned, countless times, that will was a sensitive kid and maeve instinctually knew that his disappearance in the fall hadn’t been completely natural. something had been amiss. resting her knuckles against the cool wood of the doorjamb, she leaned through it. “hey will? can you help me with something?” she called down the stairs, chewing on her lower lip as she waited.

light feet scurried up the stairs and will byers stood in front of her. his mousy brown hair fell in to his eyes and he brushed it aside, his eyebrows furrowed and forced his young face to crease in curiousity. “yeah?” his voice was soft.

she gave him a small smile, not wanting him to feel bad or singled out for calling him upstairs alone. she nodded to the living room where he followed her, away from where their voices could travel down the corridor of the stairs to the waiting ears of his friends. he found a spot on the la-z-boy and waited. sitting down on the couch, she crossed her legs, tapping absentmindedly on her calves. “so, andie said you don’t like scary movies but the only r-rated movie at the hawk is ‘children of the corn,’” she grimaced, “but, if you don’t want to see it, i can just pretend that i forgot my id and then we can go see ‘splash’ or go to family video and rent something.” will played with his hands, wringing them as he thought for a moment. he was quiet and introspective and maeve couldn’t help but be reminded of a friend she’d had when she lived in new york.

she was interrupted from her thoughts when will finally spoke, “it’s okay.” his voice was almost hesitant as he shrugged. “that kind of stuff doesn’t really scare me anymore so we can go see it.”

maeve narrowed her gaze, almost jokingly. “you’re not just saying that so you guys don’t have to watch me have a crush on tom hanks, are you?” maeve’s eyes sparkled with mirth.

“no!” he laughed, smiling shyly.

“because, i think—“

at once, three pairs of feet thundered up the stairs.

“what are you guys talking about?” mike was out of breath, brushing some hair off his forehead as he looked between maeve and will. he seemed to be the de-facto leader of the group.

“well, i was going to take a vote on what movie we would go and see but since you’re all up here now, we can vote as a group.” maeve lied easily, noticing will’s silent smile in thanks. picking up the paper, she flipped to the movie schedule and turned it towards the boys. “so, we have two options: ‘splash’,” a collective groan rang through the three remaining boys and maeve couldn’t help but grin. “or ‘children of the corn.’” at once, the boys all begin to shout over top of one another in favor of the latter. rolling up the paper and swatting her other palm, maeve came to stand. “so, it’s decided! ‘children of the corn’ but,” she raised the volume on the last word, waiting until the boys fell silent and came to look at her, “you guys cannot tell andie that i took you to see this, okay? you’re gonna tell her that we rented ‘mr. mom’ and watched that and had pizza. got it?” she raised one of her thick brows, almost daring one of the boys to dissent.

“yeah.”

“crystal clear.”

“got it.”

“cool.”

“good. now, let’s go.” ensuring she had her wallet and the keys that mrs. wheeler had left, she ushered the boys out in to the spring time breeze, locking the door behind them.

“holy shit, is that your’s?” dustin’s voice broke through the tranquilty of the day as his eyes landed on the candy apple red mustang that was parallel parked on the street.

“yep!” she grinned. the bright, sporty car had become a object of pride for the typically discrete girl. “i got it for my birthday a few months ago— it was my grandpa’s.” the fact had spilled from her lips without another thought. she hadn’t told anyone that, not even andie. she paused, exhaling softly. “you guys wanna help me take the top down? it’s nice out.” she smiled, coming to unlock the doors. ducking in to the car, she unclipped the two clamps in the front that would allow the top to come down. “it may be kind of hard to take it down. it’s been too cold so it’s been a while.” placing her hands on her hips, she quickly formulated a plan. “lucas, you and dustin take the passenger side. will, get in the back seat and help guide it back straight. mike, help me with this side.” as the boys got in position, maeve smiled softly to herself. this wasn’t as much of a disaster as she’d anticipated that it could be. “on three? one… two… three! pull.” the four pulled back on the braces and the metal gave a reluctant groan as it slowly gave way to the force. after several moments, they gave up as it only had moved back about a foot.

“is it even gonna work?” lucas gave a skeptical look at the lack of progress.

“well, duh—“ mike chimed in.

“yeah, we can do it! it’s just been a few months.” placing her hands on her hips, maeve remembered the can of wd-40 her uncle had placed under the back seat. “hey, will?” she ducked in to the car. “can you get the can from under the seat and spray right here?” she pointed to the hinges. “on both sides!”

“got it!” he produced the can triumphantly. stepping back out, maeve waiting until she heard the aersolized-spray puff out from its aluminum home. “okay, now what?”

“now, we try again!” exhaling, she shoved the stiff sleeves of her denim jacket up her arms before she grasped the top again and waited for her young charges to follow in suit. “one, two, three.” on the third count, the four began to pull once more and the top gave way, moving back slowly but evenly, despite its resistant creaking, until the interior had been fully exposed to the outside world. “good job, guys!”

“awesome.” dustin sounded in awe of the final evolution of maeve’s car.

“give it up.” she grinned, raising her hand to high-five mike who stood beside her.

as his hand slapped her’s, his eyes narrowed and he grabbed her wrist, pulling it down for a closer look. his jaw was unhinged as his brain struggled to remedy the new information with what he already knew.

“mike—“ maeve yanked her arm from his grasp and rolled down her sleeves but she was too late. the gears in the young man’s head were already turning.

“you know her.” he demanded. he was like a dog without a bone on a mission to find one.

“what are you talking about?” she shook her head, her brows drawn together in a faux confusion as she bit down on the inside of her cheek in an effort to give nothing away with her expression. she grasped the edges of her sleeves, her knuckles turning white. this couldn’t be happening again. too many people knew too much already.

his abrupt change in demeanor had caught the attention of his friends and they quickly made their way over to the commotion.

“what the hell are you talking about, man?” lucas crossed his arms his eyes moving from mike to maeve.

“don’t lie! el had a tattoo just like that.” mike pointed at her right arm that hung limply by her side. she could feel her organs inside clenching. she made eye contact with mike, his height rivaling her own. her jaw clenched tightly, the stress rising steadily in her body. she was careful to give no look of recognition at the name.

“wait, you’re from hawkins lab?” dustin’s eyes were wide, his mouth open.

“i—“ as if something snapped inside her, maeve knew she had to take control of the situation. if they knew about the lab, this was different than she thought. she released the breath that she was unaware that she had been holding, her lungs finally filling with the fresh spring air. “guys, inside now.”

“what about the car—“ will opened the door and stepped out of it, closing it gently behind him.

“asses in the house!“ maeve pointed to the door, her jaw clenched tightly, stopping herself from pushing the thought on to them. “right now!”

at once, she quickly followed the path back to the front door knowing that the boys would follow if they wanted any answers. the plush green grass crushed under each step until she returned back to the paved sidewalk. jamming the key in to the lock, she wiggled it fruitlessly. exhaling, she closed her eyes and took a moment to breathe and still her shaking hands. though they were barely kids, telling them the truth frightened maeve more than she believed it would.

mike had said ‘el.’ there was no doubt that he had mentioned ‘her’ and hawkins lab. the boys obviously knew more than she thought.

turning the key, she pushed through the heavy, white door and held it open. the four boys followed in a quiet line like ducklings following their mother to safety. as soon as the last of them had crossed the threshold, maeve closed the door and turned the deadbolt. she ensured the window in the door was covered with the curtains before following them in to the living room.

“couch.” she commanded, pointing at the plush piece of furniture that rest against the wall, still holding her sleeve taut against her arm. as the boys sat down, still surprisingly silent, maeve crossed her arms and stood in front of them. her eyes slowly trailed over each of them: will wrung his hands fraught with anxiety, mike looked vaguely irritated at being silenced and pushed inside, dustin and lucas shared the same look of slight confusion and intrigue regarding the events that were about to take place.

she felt like she had been dropped in the middle of a thrashing, dark ocean. the waves crashed overhead as she struggled to reorient herself and find the surface so she could breach it. she couldn’t let on that she didn’t already know everything but she couldn’t risk telling them more than what they already knew.

“before i tell you anything, you have to tell me what you already know.” she looked around and spotted a lone, well-loved la-z-boy and took a seat. facing them, she crossed her legs and nodded for them to speak.

the four boys looked between one another in a moment of silence before they all began to speak over one another.

“well, we—“

“last year—“

“we found el—“

“it was—“

maeve held up her hand, effectively silencing all of them. she curled her fingers in to a fist as her hand fell to her lap. “okay, what do you guys know about hawkins lab?”

“they do experiments and shit on people—“ at this, maeve couldn’t stop the slight drop that her jaw gave. they knew? they knew what happened behind those cinderblock walls?

“how in the world—“ she shook her head.

“when will disappeared last year, we went looking for him. we were out around mirkwood and we found this girl—“ lucas began explaining, trying to lay out the facts like a detective.

“her name was…is el. short for eleven.” mike interjected, looking saddened just by the name.

“but she told us that she was from hawkins lab.”

“she has a tattoo on her wrist, just like you.” mike interrupted again as maeve’s opposite hand came to cover her wrist. the numbers felt like they’d been branded in to the skin.

“and she had these powers. she can move stuff with her mind—“

“do you have any powers?” the words came from dustin this time.

maeve elected to ignore the question for now before her attention shifted to the smallest boy who had been mostly silent since re-entering the home. “will?” she prompted him with a gentle nod of her head.

“the demogorgan came from the lab… it got me and it took me to the upside down.” he looked down at his hands, the bangs of his unfortunate bowlcut falling over his face.

at this, maeve was lost. she’d never heard those words before, inside or outside of the laboratory. “the what?”

“it’s this giant, weird looking monster thing and it’s face opened up like—“ at this, dustin held up a closed fist before exploding it and splaying his fingers with a quiet roar. she knew exactly what he was talking about. it was the same monster that had been at the byers’ home when she’d arrived with james. the same monster that steve harrington had beat with a bat and that jonathan and nancy had shot and set fire to. she could still recall the burning smell and the piercing sound it had made at, what she had believed to have been, its demise. at the lack of reaction from her, he continued, “and it has a bunch of teeth…like, have you ever seen a lamprey?”

“and what’s the upside down?” maeve let her eyes trail across the boys, allowing any the opportunity to answer. without a doubt, she believed them. crazier things had happened.

“it’s like, an alternate dimension.” lucas stated.

“like, our world…but wrong.” mike followed, pausing, trying to find more ways to describe the foreign location.

“it’s dark and cold.” will finished.

“but how did you get there?” maeve’s confusion only deepened. there was so much she didn’t know and she wasn’t certain if she wanted to. leaning back in the chair, she ran a hand through her hair.

“el said the lab did something and we think they like…ripped a hole in the universe.” mike explained. her eyes went wide at his declaration. maeve wanted so badly to say that it was impossible; that there was no way that it was even a possibility that those things could happen but she knew it was a lie. her existence alone was unexplainable. “and the demogorgan came here and took will.”

“but how did you come back?” shaking her head, she thought that she knew the bare bone details; andie had told her that he’d been lost in the woods and found by some hikers. the body that had been found in the quarry was beyond recognition but they had assumed it was will because of its stature.

“my mom and chief hopper came and found me. they brought me back.” will was quiet but she could hear the relief in his voice. she knew fear. she’d never been a stranger to it but she couldn’t imagine the fright that had taken hold of him, alone and apart from all that he knew while he struggled to stay alive and look for a way home.

she couldn’t help but note that hopper knew about all of this as well. it made sense that he had only told her what was necessary but she was shaken. there was so much that she had not yet uncovered. she felt like an archaeologist while learning about the events that took place in hawkins, unearthing a piece of information before brushing it off and tucking it away to be protected before moving to the next artifact.

“okay…and who was eleven?” maeve had to pretend that she’d never met the girl or heard the name while in reality, she’d seen her only a week earlier when hopper had been called in to the station during the evening, they’d played a card game and watched television on the old box television.

“they experimented on her in the lab.” mike’s forlorn voice carried across the room to her. at this, dustin and lucas shared a sad look as they let mike continue. “she helped us find will and…she fought the demogorgan. then she disappeared.” his heartbroken eyes found maeve’s, “did you know her? have you seen her?”

she knew that she couldn’t tell mike the truth. she couldn’t tell him that the girl was only a few miles down the road, hidden away in a cabin in the woods where she was safe and cared for or that maeve saw her every week or so to keep her company. chief hopper had sworn her and james to secrecy.

“no.” she finally said, “no, i’m sorry. i don’t know who she is.” it broke her heart to fracture mike’s further but it had to be done. she couldn’t help but follow quickly, “but, maybe she’s out there somewhere.” she chewed on her lower lip in thought. she could say nothing more without fearing she’d give something away.

“but you’re…from there too?” lucas approached the subject carefully. “from the lab?”

four pairs of eyes landed on her, eagerly awaiting her answer. mike had already spotted the tattoo, there was no use in trying to lie her way out of the conflict.

“yeah…kind of.” she paused, pressing her lips together as she thought about what she could say. they didn’t need to know everything about her; they didn’t need to know anything more than what she’d shown andie or james. rolling up her jacket sleeve, maeve turned her wrist to the light and exposed the three digits that contrasted against the pale skin of her arm. “i was born in new york but my family is from here.” she knew she didn’t want to explain each detail of her familial strife and the years of abuse she’d suffered at the hands of other’s, “the people from the lab took me away when i was around your age and i ran away last october. now i live with my aunt and uncle here in hawkins.”

“so you weren’t born there?” mike asked, fascinated.

“nope.” she shook her head and gave a small shrug. “i was born at mount sinai.”

“but…what can you do?” dustin leaned forward eagerly, his elbows resting on his knees. his wide eyes waited for her response.

it was the question she was least eager to give an answer to.

“excuse me?” she raised a brow in an attempt at intimidation, hoping he’d retreat from his question.

“like, do you have super strength?” he nodded his head, as if trying to prompt her.

“if i had super strength, do you really think i would have needed to ask for your help with the convertible?” maeve countered, crossing her arms.

“probably not.” dustin acquiesced with a shrug, his mouth twisting to the side in thought.

��well, what is it then?” lucas followed, looking almost as interested as his shorter, curly-haired counterpart. “do you have like laser eyes?”

“or can you teleport!?” will gave a small grin with his question, hoping his answer was correct.

“can you control time?” mike was equally as excited as his peers.

“it’s…” she hesitated, coming to stand before letting out a sigh. “no— nothing that interesting.” she made a face, trying to find a way to best phrase her abilities, “i can make people…think or do things.” she explained lamely.

at their doubtful expressions, she rolled her eyes. as she’d seen with andie, some things were easier illustrated than explained. exhaling, she closed her eyes and allowed her mind to fluidly push a short thought on to the four boys who inhabited the couch. ‘switch spots with each other.’

as if she’d commanded them out loud, the four tweens wordlessly moved and shuffled around before settling back down quickly in to different spots. as the moment passed, they looked at one another, a slight panic-striken elation crossing their faces before their voices toppled over one another.

“holy shit!” dustin exhaled, a grin growing on his face.

“wait— what!?”

“you did that?”

“awesome.” lucas let out in an awe-struck whisper.

“i guess.” she gave a small laugh.

“wait, so it’s like the force?” mike questioned her before coming to his own conclusion with a grin. “you’re like a jedi! like obi-wan!”

“these aren’t the droids you’re looking for!” dustin waved his hand slowly as he quoted the film, a look of false wisdom crossing his juvenile features.

will let out a quiet laugh while lucas rolled his eyes, “that’s stupid.”

maeve paused, contemplating for a moment. “actually… that’s not too far off from the truth.” she exhaled a soft laugh, giving a shrug of her shoulders. she’d never thought about it before even as she’d watched the trilogy of films. “i don’t wield a lightsaber, then again i’ve never tried.” her lips curled in to a mischievous smile at their grins, a feeling of relief washing over her. because the boys had previously had to accept the impossible, maeve deduced that it must have made it easier for them to have done it again. she couldn’t deny that it was a relief to know that other’s, aside from eleven and chief hopper, knew the power contained in the prison-like laboratory. “but,” she raised her voice, falling silent until she had the undivided attention of the party members, “this has to be a secret. no telling jonathan,” she nodded to will, “or nancy,” she turned to mike, “or your parents.” she looked between lucas and dustin before letting her eyes cross all of them. “don’t tell hop or your teachers. and, under no circumstance, should you ever breathe a word of any of this,” she waved her hands about as if the information were tangible, “to andie. okay? absolutely nothing.”

while andie knew the bare bones information about maeve’s powers, she didn’t know about the seedy underbelly of hawkins and its institutions and maeve didn’t want her to ever find out. if she could keep those she loved dearest away from the danger, she could feel as though she were doing something right for once. “promise?” maeve crossed the room and held out her thin pinky finger to the boys who came to stand.

“spit swear?” dustin asked, raising a hand towards his mouth.

“uh, no.” maeve grimaced, “i think a prinky promise is good for now.” she laughed softly at his dejected look. one at a time, she squeezed each of their pinkies with her own. when they stood back, maeve exhaled like a brick had been taken off of her chest and she could finally breathe once more. “so, if we’re done with that, let’s go to the movies!” checking her wrist watch, she noted the time. “we’ll probably only miss the previews!” grabbing the keys and her wallet once more, she walked back to the door, the boys trailing behind her.

stopping short, the train of kids bumped in to one another as she turned to face them. “and what are we gonna tell andie that we did?”

“rented ‘mr. mom.’” the group mumbled, not quite in unison and slightly annoyed with having to repeat the plan that maeve had hatched earlier.

“good. and that’s for you guys’ benefit! because if she ever found out, it would be your asses on the line. not mine.” with a grin, maeve held the door open and ushered the boys out so she could lock it behind them. the four clamored over one another to reach the sporty car, each shouting for shotgun on the way to the theater and back.

after the wheelers had returned in the evening and the kids had split up to return to their respective houses, maeve finally took her own short journey home. she quickly greeted her family and ascended the stairs to her room where she called andie. her friend answered on the second ring as though she’d eagerly been awaiting maeve’s call. as she recounted the events of the day, maeve reasoned that what andie didn’t know, for once, wouldn’t hurt her brilliant best friend.

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#ystlc #story #your stranger things life challenge

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