"Mom, have you seen my book?" Rosie yelled from the living room. "Which one, honey?" Karen replied.

"The one I'm reading, Mom"

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry, honey"

"I swear to God, Holly is taking my stuff"

"Sweetheart, you're being paranoid"

"No I'm not, I–". She was interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing.

"Can you get that?"

"Fine, but this isn't over". She picked up the phone. "Hello? Oh, hey, El. Yeah, give me a sec". She covered the microphone. "Mike! Phone!"

"Okay!" Mike yelled back from the basement.

Rosie hung up the phone and went down to the basement just as Mike hung up the phone. "What's up with El?" she asked, startling him.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Well, she sounded really weird on the phone and you're usually already over there by now"

"What, I can't have a day to myself?"

"You can, you just usually don't want to. You guys are, like, disgustingly close"

"So are you and Lucas!"

"What is up with you?"

"Nothing! God!"

Mandi was waiting in her diner uniform by Jonathan's car when she saw Nancy and Jonathan coming out of the building. "Hey, is Nancy joining us for lunch?" she asked them. "I think this is the best idea I've had all summer", Nancy stated.

"Did you find a good, new lunch place?"

"I'm just saying, what's the harm in asking?" Jonathan said to Nancy.

"About lunch?"

"The harm in asking is that Tom will say no", Nancy pointed out.

"Who's Tom?"

"We ask for forgiveness, not permission. And if this story's as good as I think it's gonna be, then Tom won't care. In fact, he'll thank us"

"Or the old lady is nuts and and the story blows up in our faces and Tom fires us", Jonathan suggested.

"And then we never have to work at this shithole again"

"Why do I feel like we're not going to lunch anymore?" Mandi said.

"Come on, get in"

Steve and Margo were making out in the backroom at Scoops Ahoy. "Wait, do you hear that?" Steve said, pulling away.

"Hear what?"

He ran to the door and practically burst through it, Margo coming out after him, wiping her lips, looking slightly annoyed. "Henderson", he stated, spotting the boy at the counter. Dustin laughed in response.

"Henderson! He's back! He's back!"

"I'm back! You got the job!"

"I got the job!" He imitated a trumpet and then they started doing an intricately choreographed handshake ending in Steve pretending that blood was spurting out of his chest.

"How many children are you friends with?" Robin asked him.

Dustin dug into an ice cream sundae, sitting in a booth with Margo and Steve. "No, no. No way", Steve said. "Hotter than Phoebe Cates? No". "Mm-hmm", Dustin said. "Brilliant, too. And she doesn't even care that my real pearls are still coming in. She says kissing is better without teeth".

"Wow. Yeah, that's great. Proud of you, man. That's ro– That's kinda romantic. That's like... Wow"

"Yeah, really happy for you, Dustin", Margo added. "So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin asked. "Yeah. I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though", Steve replied. "I gotta keep in shape for the ladies". Margo looked at him.

"I mean, my lady. My only lady"

"Good one", Robin said from the counter.

"Ignore her"

"She seems cool", Dustin commented.

"She's not"

"She is", Margo disagreed.

"So, where are the other knuckleheads?"

"They ditched me yesterday", Dustin said.

"No"

"My first day back. Can you believe that shit?"

"You're kidding", Margo said.

"I swear to God. Mm. They're gonna regret it, though, big time, when they don't get to share in my glory"

"Your glory?"

"So, last night, we're trying to get in contact with Suzie... And, uh...". He whispered something incoherent.

"What?"

"Uh...". He muttered it again.

"Just speak louder", Steve said.

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!"

"Jeez, shh. Yeah, okay, that's what I thought you said. What– What does that mean?"

"It means, we could be heroes. True American heroes"

"Huh"

"Mm-hmm?"

"American heroes. What's the catch?"

"No catch, I just need your help"

"Help with what?" Margo said.

He opened his bag and pulled out a Russian dictionary. "Translation"

Max was riding on her skateboard outside her house while Rosie watched. "See? It's that easy", Max stated.

"Yeah, right. Okay, do that trick you were trying to learn"

"Okay, let me try"

She attempted it a couple of times but the skateboard slipped away and started rolling down the street. "Shit!" she exclaimed and they both went after it. It was stopped by a pair of feet. They looked up to see Eleven holding the skateboard. "Hi", Eleven said, handing it back. "Hi?" Max questioned.

"Can we talk?"

They were in Max's room. El and Rosie sat on the bed while Max paced back and forth in front of them. "And then he said he– He missed me", El explained. "And then he just hung up". "He's a piece of shit", Max stated.

"What?"

"Mike doesn't have jackshit to do today"

"And Nana's not sick", Rosie said. "As far as I know. I guarantee you, him and Lucas are playing Atari right now". "But friends don't lie", El said.

"Yeah, well, boyfriends do. All the time"

"You're going to stop calling him. You're going to ignore his calls", Max instructed El. "As far as you're concerned, he doesn't exist". "Doesn't exist?" El questioned.

"He treated you like garbage. You're gonna treat him like garbage. Give him a taste of his own medicine"

"Give him the medicine"

"Mm-hmm. And if he doesn't fix this, if he doesn't explain himself, dump his ass"

"Come on", Rosie said, getting off the bed and grabbing both of their hands. "Where are we going?" El asked.

"To have some fun. There's more to life than stupid boys, you know"

Steve, Dustin and Margo were in the back room at Scoops Ahoy, listening to a male voice speak Russian in a recording. "So what do you think?" Dustin said, stopping the recording. "I don't know, I don't speak Russian", Margo deadpanned. "It sounded familiar", Steve stated, eating a banana.

"What?"

"The music. The music right there at the end"

"Why are you listening to the music, Steve?" Dustin asked. "Listen to the Russian! We're translating Russian!"

"I'm trying to listen to the Russian, but there's music–"

"Alright, babysitting time is over", Robin interjected, coming into the room. "You need to get in there". "No, we're collecting important data right now", Dustin said.

"Yeah? And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"

"How does she know about the Russians?"

"I don't know", Steve whispered.

"You told her about–"

"It wasn't me"

"Hello, I can hear you. Actually, I can hear everything", Robin pointed out. "You are both extremely loud. You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a single word because you didn't realise Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do. Sound about right?" She reached for the tape but Steve took it first. "Whoa! What do you think you're doing?" he said.

"I wanna hear it"

"Why?" Steve and Dustin said in unison.

"'Cause maybe I can help. I'm fluent in four languages, you know"

"Russian?" Margo said.

"Ou-yay are-yay umb-day"

Steve laughed, impressed. "Holy shit!" Dustin exclaimed. "That was Pig Latin, dingus", Robin said. "Idiot", Steve said, slapping Dustin with the skin of his banana.

"But I can speak Spanish and French and Italian, and I've been in band for 12 years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me"

"Uh..."

"Come on, it's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate. I don't even want credit. I'm just bored". She held out her ice cream scooper.

The bell dinged at the counter. Steve gave her the tape and she gave him the scooper.

Jonathan drove up Mrs Driscoll's driveway. They went to the front door and Nancy knocked. The door was opened by a small, old woman. "Yes?" she said. "Mrs Driscoll?" Nancy said.

"Yes?"

"Hi, um, I'm Nancy. Nancy Wheeler. We spoke briefly on the phone last night"

"We're from the Hawkins Post", Jonathan added. "Oh! Oh, yes!" Mrs Driscoll exclaimed in realisation. "Oh, my goodness. Oh. You look too young to be reporters".

"We get that a lot"

She chuckled. "Follow me"

They followed her into her house. "Oh, it's... it's lovely", Nancy commented, looking around. "Um, do you live here all alone?" "Yes, Jack, my husband, he passed away, what is it now, ten years ago", she replied.

"Oh, um... I'm... I'm so sorry"

"Oh, don't be. I kinda like the quiet. At least, I did". She opened the door to the basement. "This way"

The steps creaked as she went down. The three teenagers exchanged looks before following her. "It's right over here", she said, flicking on the light switch. Nancy went over and crouched down beside a couple of empty bags of fertiliser. She picked one up, inspecting it. "You see those little teeth marks, don't ya?" Mrs Driscoll said as Jonathan bent down and took a photo of Nancy looking at the bag. "And...these bags, um...you're sure they were full before?" Nancy asked her.

"I'm old, honey, not senile. Bought them over at Blackburn's Supplies just last Tuesday. Now you tell me, why would rats want to eat a poor old woman's fertiliser?"

"Are you sure they did? Maybe they just gnawed the bag? I mean...eating fertiliser seems–"

"Crazy. Believe me, I know, honey. But...something's not right with these rats"

"What does that mean, exactly..."not right"?"

"Rabies, my guess. That's when I said to myself, "Doris, you gotta call the paper. Because if those diseased rats are runnin' loose, the people, they oughta know". Wouldn't you agree?"

Suddenly, they heard a crashing sound. "Oh, yes, I forgot to mention!" she said. "Come on over here. I caught one of the little bastards". They looked over to see a cage, covered with a sheet, snarling and chittering coming from inside it.

El, Max and Rosie got off the bus and arrived at Starcourt Mall. "So, what do you think?" Rosie asked El. "Hey, what's wrong?" Max said. "Too many people", El stated. "Against the rules".

"Seriously? You have superpowers. What's the worst that could happen?"

El nodded, starting to smile.

They entered the mall, holding hands and looking around. "So, what should we do first?" Rosie asked them. "You've never been shopping before, have you?" Max said, laughing. El shook her head. "Well, then I guess we're just gonna have to try everything", Rosie concluded. "Ooh, come on", Max said, grabbing their hands and running into The Gap.

El looked around at the clothes, touching everything while Max and Rosie just smiled. El stopped, looking up at a propped up blue top. "Do you like that?" Max asked her. "How do I know...what I like?" El said. "You just try things on", Rosie replied. "Until you find something that feels like you".

"Like me?"

"Yeah. Not Hopper. Not Mike. You"

Jonathan was taking pictures of the rat as it thrashed around and screeched inside the cage. "Ugh, can you please cover that thing back up?" Mandi asked. "Just don't look", he replied, taking another picture. "We're gonna have to keep doing this until you stop moving, you little shit".

"Stop insulting it. It's clearly going through a very distressing time"

He stopped and went to take the film out of his camera when the screeching suddenly stopped.

"Uh, Jonathan?"

The squeals turned painful. Jonathan walked back over as it started squealing faster, lying down in the middle of the cage. "You alright, little bud?" he said. It screeched again. "Guys", Nancy said, coming down the stairs and making them turn around. "I have a lead". "Uh... Yeah, okay, but, uh... there is something seriously wrong with this rat", Mandi pointed out.

"Yeah, no shit. Come on"

"No, but... Fine"

She grabbed Jonathan's hand and they went up the stairs after Nancy. "Jeez, she walks fast", she said. "Nancy, wait up".

Max and Rosie watched as El came out of the changing rooms, wearing all sorts of colourful outfits. They helped her style them, laughing. Max and Rosie tried on sunglasses, pushing them down their noses and looking at each other, giggling. El grabbed their hands and they walked out, linking arms. They ran into a photo studio, getting into fancy outfits and posing together. Rosie and Max helped El walk in heels, holding each of her hands but she fell over, laughing as she got up. They stopped laughing when they noticed a few girls staring at them. They looked away, rolling their eyes and the three girls started laughing again. They hid behind a pillar, watching the judgy girls. El jerked her head upwards and one of the girl's drink cups exploded in her face. They laughed, running away from the scene. "See? What'd we tell you?" Max said. "There's more to life than stupid boys".

Dustin, Robin and Margo were listening to the Russian recording again. "Wait, that last part, just one more time", Robin said. "Okay", Dustin replied, rewinding it.

"Okay, that word. Um... It's pronounced... "dly-nna-ya"

"Dly-nna-ya"

"Which is spelled... D... D, D, D..."

"The– The chair. The chair-looking thingy", Margo said, pointing to the alphabet board.

"Yeah, okay"

Margo went over to the window, opening it, catching Steve's attention. "We've got our first sentence", she stated as he leaned over to her. "Oh, seriously?" he said.

"Yeah. "The week is long"

"Well, that's thrilling?"

"I know. But, progress"

He smiled, leaning in and kissing her. She smirked, closing the window.

Steve turned around to Max, El and Rosie with three cones in his hand. "Okay, here you go, you got a strawberry, chocolate and vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream", he said, handing them their ice cream. "Thanks", they replied in unison.

"Wait a second. Are you even allowed to be here?"

The girls just looked at each other and started laughing, walking out.

"That... Okay"

The three girls exited the mall. "You wanna trade?" Max asked El and they did, smiling. They stopped at the sound of Mike's voice. "Oh, you've got to be shitting me", Rosie said, looking over at Mike, Lucas and Will getting their bikes from the bike rack. "Isn't this a nice surprise", Max stated, walking over to them. "What are you doing here?" Mike questioned El, dropping his bike. "Shopping", El replied blankly. "This is her new style", Rosie stated. "What do you think?" "What's wrong with you?" Mike said. "You know she's not allowed to be here" "What is she, your little pet?" Max said. "Yeah", El added. "Am I your pet?" "What? No!" Mike exclaimed.

"Then why do you treat me like garbage?"

"What?"

"You said Nana was sick"

"She is. She is. She is sick"

"No, she's not", Rosie interjected. "Yeah, sick– She's sick", Lucas agreed.

"Really? How does Lucas know and I don't?"

"Mom didn't want you to worry", Mike said. "Nana's really sick".

"Lucas, I swear to God, don't you dare lie to me"

"She's super sick. That's why we're here, actually", Lucas said. "Yeah, we're shopping", Mike said. "Not for us, but for her, for Nana".

"For Nana"

"Also, we're here to get a gift for you. Just, we couldn't find anything that suited you I only have, like, $3.50, so it's hard"

"Super hard. It's– It's expensive"

"You lie", El said. "Why do you lie?" They looked over to see the bus arriving. El walked up to Mike, looking him dead in the eye. "I dump your ass", she said. She walked away in the direction of the bus, Max and Rosie in tow. Rosie took one last look at Lucas before getting on the bus. The girls sat down on the bus, looking at each other. They started laughing and high-fived as the bus drove off, leaving the three boys watching in confusion and shock.

"The week is long, the silver cat feeds, when blue meets yellow in the west", Steve, Margo, Robin and Dustin read in unison off of the board. "I mean, it just... it just can't be right", Steve said as they locked up. "It's right", Robin replied. "Honestly, I think it's great news", Dustin said. "How is this great news?" Margo asked. "I mean, so much for being American heroes", Steve added. "It's total nonsense". "It's not nonsense", Dustin argued. "It's too specific. It's obviously a code".

"What do you mean, a code?"

"Like a super secret spy code"

"That's a total stretch"

"I don't know, is it?" Margo said.

"You're buying into this?"

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission. What'd you think they were gonna say, "Fire the warhead at noon"?"

"Exactly", Dustin agreed.

"And my translation is correct", Robin added. "I know that for sure, so... "The silver cat feeds". Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the meaning of their message?"

"Exactly"

"And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message unless the message was somehow sensitive?"

"Exactly"

Steve mimicked them, mouthing words and Margo hit him in the side. "So I guess that confirms your suspicion", Robin concluded. "Evil Russians", Dustin stated.

"I can't believe I'm about to agree with this strange child, but, yeah, totally evil Russians"

"So how do we crack it?"

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges"

"A pattern. Right, like maybe "silver cat" is a meeting place?"

"Or a person"

"Or a weapon"

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but..."

"Where's Steve?" Margo interjected, looking back and realising he wasn't following them. They looked over to see him in front of one of the mechanical horses, searching his pockets. "Hey, Steve", Margo called out. "What are you doing?" "Uh, it's a quarter. I need– Do you have a quarter?" he stammered. They walked over to him. "Sure you're tall enough for that ride?" Margo teased.

"Quarter!"

She tossed it to him and he caught it, putting it in.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin said, making Margo laugh. He shushed them. "Would you just shut up and listen?" he said. "Holy shit", Dustin said. "The music. The music!" He sat on the floor and opened his bag, taking out the tape and playing it. "I don't understand," Margo said.

"It's the exact same song on the recording"

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia"

"Indiana Flyer?" I don't... I don't think so", Steve said. "This code, it... didn't come from Russia. It came from here".

hope you enjoyed! comment your opinions!