☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

°•. ┊ Daylight┊.•°
✧ ˚ ━ don't wanna keep secrets, act two

CHAPTER THREE — the case of the missing lifeguard

✧

The next morning, I wake up to an empty bed and a note on the bedside table.

Morning Firefly, I'm headed to pick up the Wonder twins and then to work. Didn't want to wake you. Come by whenever. -Steve

I glance at the clock; it reads, 11:00. Wow, I slept late. And peacefully for once. I stand up and take my time getting dressed. By the time I leave the house, it's almost noon. I waltz into Scoops Ahoy to find Erica Sinclair ringing the bell like crazy and Robin listening to the tape again. I move behind the counter, as Robin finally acknowledges the girl. "I'd like to try the peanut butter chocolate swirl, please."

"No. No more samples today." Robin informs, leaning back against the store window.

"Why not?" The young girl asks.

"Because you're abusing our company policy." Robin huffs.

"Where's the sailor man?"

"Sorry, he can't help you. He's busy." She states.

"Busy with what?" Erica and I ask simultaneously.

"Spycraft." Robin says in a strange voice. The Sinclair girl and her friends walk away and I turn towards the blonde.

"Spycraft?" I question.

"Yup. He and the strange child are out canvassing for evil Russians." She lowers her voice at the last part. I form an 'o' shape with my mouth, before grabbing her scooper and getting myself a cone of mint chip. "Which means, you and I are going to try to decode this message."

"Yay." I speak sarcastically. "You know that they're totally gonna fuck this up right? I mean, those dweebs don't know the first thing about tracking down an evil Russian. They're gonna look for stereotypes, when really they need to think outside the box and actually use the small brains they have."

"True. But when they do screw it up, we get to reign supreme with the information that we gather." She offers, a cheeky smile on her face. The two of us spend the next twenty to thirty minutes staring at a notepad, bouncing theories off of one another. We haven't come up with anything useful. Robin starts reading the message aloud, when there's a knock on the back door. I'm standing closest to it, so I open the door, revealing a delivery man. I take the box and survey his shirt. I drop the box on the table behind me and gesture for Robin to follow.

"Silver cat." I state. She follows my gaze and catches on quickly.

"Silver cat." She breathes.

"Silver cat." We look at each other, speaking simultaneously. It's the mall. The message is all about the mall. Son of a bitch. We turn and run back through the shop, passing the boys as Steve speaks.

"Yo, Robin, you're not gonna believe who Dustin thought was a Russian." He starts. "Hey, Sammy." The two of us ignore the pair and rush over to the fountain, standing up on it, turning around and looking at the area. We both say the code out loud, while piecing it all together.

"When blue meets yellow..." She starts, our gaze falling to the big clock on the wall.

"In the west. That's west." I breathe. We look at each other, small smiles of victory apparent on our features.

"Guys." Steve and Dustin approach, looking up at us. "What are you doing?"

"We cracked it." Robin states.

"Cracked what?" Steve asks. We jump down from the fountain.

"We cracked the code." I inform.

"Shit. Really?" Dustin questions, looking between us. The four of us return to Scoops, as Robin and I explain to the boys what the code means. "So, the code just led us to the mall?" We spend the remainder of daylight, discussing a multitude of possible meanings. Robin suggests that we go on a stake out of the delivery area tonight, Steve and Dustin agree.

"A stake out? Tonight?" I question. "Robin, it's pouring rain outside."

"So?" She fires back. I decide against fighting them. Once the sun sets, Steve closes up the store and we all make our way up to the roof of the building, placing ourselves at a point where we have a clear view of the door.

"Look for Imperial Panda and Kaufman Shoes." Robin says, as Dustin stares through the binoculars.

"They're with that whistling guy, ten o'clock." He points out towards the man.

"What do you think's in there?" Steve asks.

"Guns, bombs?" Dustin suggests.

"Chemical weapons?" I offer.

"Whatever it is, they're armed to the teeth."

"Great. That's great." Steve says sarcastically.

"Hey, what's in there?" Robin inquires, as the doors open allowing the delivery boy to enter.

"It's just more boxes." Dustin informs.

"Let me check it out." Steve grabs at the binoculars and the two begin to fight over them like greedy five year olds. I huff, getting ready to stop them, when they bang the binoculars against the metal clad box we were all leaning on. The four of us duck down quickly. We're all breathing heavily. I realize that both of my hands have been grabbed by Steve and Robin. I drop Steve's hand, before glancing at Robin. We share a look and then let go of one another. We hear the Russians share a few words.

"They're gonna come up here. So, I suggest we move. Now." I breathe. The four of us return to the tunnels in the mall. "You two idiots almost got us killed. Seriously, do we need to separate you guys when we do anything important or dangerous?"

    "Yeah, that was a little ridiculous. But I think we found your Russians." Robin adds. The four of us find ourselves back in the parking lot again, the three of them heading to Steve's car, while I go to mine. I decide to stay at my house tonight, needing a shower and warm, dry clothes. I enter the house to find it seemingly empty. I hear a noise from the kitchen and slowly go to investigate. Usually, I would call out for my mom or Max, but after tonight, I'll be locking every door and window in the house. I shove open the door and find my aunt Sarah, digging through the cabinets.

    "Son of a bitch." My head drops. "What the hell are you doing?"

    "I'm trying to find your cups...ah, nevermind. Got it." She replies. "Where have you been? I figured that when I got here, you would be in bed, sound asleep. And yet, when I got here the entire place was empty. I had to break a window to get in."

    "Hang on, you broke a what?" I question. "You know what, nevermind. What are you doing in Hawkins?"

    "What? I can't visit my god daughter and favorite niece?" She asks. "I'm here simply to get a break from work and to see you and Max. I like the new house by the way, it's...nice."

    "No, it's not." I huff, entering the kitchen and pulling the woman into a hug. "I missed you."

    "I missed you too, Sammy. But you should get out of these wet clothes, before you get sick. Plus, there's something in your room." I give her a confused look and find my way to my bedroom, opening the door slowly. When it's fully open and I enter, I find my best friend sitting on my bed, reading a magazine.

    "Holy crap." I rush towards the girl, tackling her into a hug. "I didn't know you were here, yet. Why didn't you call me?" I pull back, sitting in a cross-legged position.

    "You live here, remember?" She laughs. "I didn't think you'd be anywhere else."

    "I was at the mall. Max could've told you that."

    "You were at the mall all day? And you came home with nothing? What a shame."

    "Wasn't there to shop." I respond. "Steve works there. I told you this."

    "Right. The boyfriend." Genny starts. "How's that going by the way?"

    "Good. Really good." I smile. "How about you? What is going on with Genesis Ford on the dating front?"

    "Well, there was this one girl and she was definitely into me, but turns out she's kind of a shitty person." Gen explains.

    "Really? How shitty?"

    "Like total cliche mean girl, type of shitty. The things she would say and do to some people bugged me."

    "That sucks." I huff. "What about on the other side of the spectrum? Any guys worth your precious attention?"

    "Not really. The selection is slim back home. Which is probably why it took you moving to the other side of the country to find one." She laughs. "Honestly, it's for the best that there are no eligible bachelors or bachelorettes around. I barely passed junior year. When people say it's the most challenging, they mean it."

    "So true. I'm surprised that I got a decent score on my SATS." A chuckle falls from my lips. "I crammed for weeks, but I think that made it worse."

    "Yes. I know exactly what you mean." She says loudly. "I think if I just studied up a little each day or every few days, I would've gotten a better score because my brain consumed none of what I was studying. It was too damn full."

    "Exactly. It was an exhausting year, academically." A comfortable silence falls over us, until Sarah barges in offering us a late night snack. "You're a mess. You know that?"

    "Oh, absolutely. But this mess is your legal guardian when necessary."

    "Now, that is scary." Genny laughs. "Did the other pair of friends shut down your offer, so you came to us instead?"

    "Other pair of friends?" I question.

    "Max has a friend sleeping over. El? I think."

    "Oh, yeah. Good for them." I lean against my headboard, while Gen and Sarah give me a confused look. "The two of them have been spending all their time with their boyfriends, so it's nice to know that they're having some girl time." The three of us spend the next hour or so catching up and gossiping. And for once it feels like I'm back in California, before Hawkins, and I hate to admit it, but it feels really good. I remind myself that if I hadn't moved here and if none of the Mind Flayer stuff happened, I never would've met Steve, Delilah, Robin, Griffin, or the Party. And I love those guys so much. I couldn't picture my life without them. I enjoy this moment of bliss with two of my favorite people, soaking in every second, every purely happy second.

[word count: 1758]

lexi's letters; genesis and sarah have officially made it to hawkins. now, the plot really thickens :))