𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞

Ⅴ 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈

CHRIS WAS TALL, BUT GOD RIGHT NOW SHE WISHED SHE WAS TALLER. Chris stood on her bed trying her hardest to twist the lightbulb out from the down line but having no luck. Chris cursed to herself while hopping off her bed to push her door closed.

"She's closing her door," A voice sounded behind Chris. Chris spun around quickly, her hand held out ready to fight but simply let out a heavy breath when she recognized it at Eleven.

"Jesus Christ El," Chris huffed, bringing her hand back in and pressing it to her chest.

"You can see me?" El questioned, watching Chris wander over to her window.

Chris pulled the dark blue curtain closed while nodding softly. "I can see most things," Chris admitted, stepping back on her bed. "What are you doing here anyway?" Chris used her embers to unscrew the broken lights, gently dropping them in her hand.

"Me and Max are prank-calling people, without calling them," El explained. Chris chuckled softly, dropping the broken bulbs in the bin before picking up the new ones.

"That's actually smart," Chris acknowledged, floating the blubs in place, screwing them in tight. "But, just for reference, say Max and I; it's grammatically correct."

Chris jumped off her bed, watching the opacity version of Eleven walk to one of her walls. "Why is your room black?" El asked, tilting her head, peeking behind one of Chris's Queens posters.

"Uh, I have nightmares or sometimes I might get angry and I accidentally use my powers," Chris explained, taking a seat on her bed. El nodded, still wandering around her room. "I don't want to be rude, but I have to work in the morning so I have to get to sleep."

El nodded, ready to cut the connection but stopped herself, "Oh, Max says thank you for the record." Chris smiled and nodded watching Chris disappear from her vision.

෴

CHRIS BUCKLED HER BELT, SHOVING HER WALLET IN HER BACK POCKET. A knock sounded on the door. "Yeah," Chris called, pulling the cigarette from her lips. Dustin pushed the door open, a sheepish smile on his face. "I told you, your bike is not touching my car," Chris groaned out, moving the smoke to her other hand so she blew it out the window and not at Dustin.

"Can you just drive me then?" Dustin asked in a defeated tone, throwing his hands down at his sides.

"Yeah, but I gotta pick up Dylan so you gotta sit in the back," Chris agreed, pulling her hair out from her shirt. "I gotta leave in ten, be quick." Dustin nodded, rushing back to his room and grabbing his bag.

"Chrisanna Phoebe Henderson-Grey!" Her mother called in a scolding tone, stepping up to Chris's door. "What have I told you about smoking in the house?"

Chris looked down at the smoke in her hand, rolling the lit end out and tossing it out the window. "What smoke?" Chris questioned, grabbing her keys.

Claudia sighed at Chris in disappointment. "I don't want to see it again, understand?" Claudia ordered. Chris grumbled under her breath grabbing her smokes and shoving them in her pocket. "Understand?"

"It's my room mom," Chris spoke up. "It's going out the window, and you know I don't smoke around Dustin."

"I do not care Chrisanna," Claudia spoke up again. "If I see it again you are grounded."

"Christ," Chris mumbled under her breath. "I gotta leave." Chris grabbed her jacket and pushed past her mother. "Dustin! Let's go!"

"Chrisanna!" Claudia shouted but Chrisanna was already out the door, Dustin following close behind. Chris slammed the door on the way out, tossing her stuff in the car.

"Chris?" Dustin questioned, looking at her in shock. "You okay?"

"Just get in the car," Chris ordered throwing the door open and hopping in. Dustin jumped in the passenger seat, looking at Chris in concern. Chris pulled out of the driveway and sped down the street.

"Chris, your hand," Dustin noted, looking at Chris's hand that rested on the wheel, small cracks breaking through the skin. Chris looked down at her hand, instinctively going to reach for her smokes but stopped herself.

Chris clenched her hand, throwing it open as they passed under a street light. The street light smashed overhead, the sparks flying out from the broken electricity.

Dustin flinched instinctively and Chris felt her stomach turn in guilt. "Sorry," Chris apologized, rubbing her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just didn't expect it," Dustin nodded, digging through his bag and pulling out tissues. Dustin held them out and Chris took one reluctantly. "I packed them for you anyway," Dustin spoke with a smile. Chris smiled back, wiping under her nose.

෴

CHRIS THOUGHT HER EHAD WAS GOING TO EXPLODE IF DYLAN SIGHED AGAIN. "Does today feel longer to you?" Dylan asked, watching the neon clock above the entrance door hit two.

"Well maybe if you did something, it wouldn't feel so long," Chris teased, fixing a display a younger boy bumped into, still amused at how much he profusely apologized. Dylan sighed dramatically, throwing his head back. "I'm taking my break so I don't have to listen to you complain. Fix this." Dylan sighed even louder watching Chris jog over to Scoops.

"Hey Chris," Robin greeted with a smile, once the ginger girl walked to the back counter Robin was sitting on.

"Hey Robin, any luck?" Chris questioned taking Robin's discarded hat and slotting it on her head.

"I got another sentence," Robin beamed, passing Chris her notebook.

"A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly," Chris read aloud, squinting at it slightly.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense to me either."

"The week is long. The silver cat feeds when blue meets yellow in the west. A trip to China sounds nice if you tread lightly," Chris repeated reading over Robin's handwriting, smiling at the small doodles in the corners. "Why 'Tread lightly' ?" Chris asked confused, tapping the paper against her hand. A knocking on the back door stopped Robin's thoughts and she slid the window open slipping through.

"Delivery for you," A man's voice spoke and Chris looked up to them.

"Thank you," Robin spoke grabbing the box from him, sighing a paper quickly. Her eyes lingered on his hat as she quickly signed a document.

"Have a nice day," The man said with a smile.

Chris pushed the swinging doors open, walking over to Robin seeing her just standing in the hall. "Robin?" Chris called, the notepad still in her hand. Robin looked at Chris with a smile.

"Silver cat, he had a silver cat on his uniform," Robin explained smiling. "What's the next sentence?"

"Uh, when blue meets yellow," Chris read out.

"Come on," Robin grabbed Chris's hand, dragging Chris out of the back room. Chris stopped for a second to grab a pen and writing down their discovery. Robin grabbed Chris's hand again and pulled her past Dustin and Steve who walked back to the ice cream shop.

"Boost," Robin ordered, once they reached the water fountain in the centre of the mall. Chris held out her hand and Robin pushed herself up. "A trip to China sounds nice. A trip to China sounds nice," Robin repeated spinning around. "The Chinese restaurant." Chris scribbled down what Robin said, glancing up at the shop to write down the name.

"If you tread lightly," Robin spoke her eyes scanning the left of the mall. Her eyes caught a shoe store, pointing it out to Chris who wrote down the store.

"When... When blue and yellow meet in the west," Chris read from the notepad looking around at the different stores. "When blue meets yellow... in the west."

"The clock," Robin spoke her eyes trained on the large overhead clock. Chris scribbled it down smiling at Robin in victory.

"You're a freaking genius," Chris laughed, looking up at the girl.

"Chris, Robin," Steve called walking over to the two girls, Dustin at his side. "What are you doing?"

"We cracked it," Robin stated with a smile. Chris held a hand out for Robin and she carefully took it. Chris held Robin's waist making sure she landed straight.

"Cracked what?" Steve questioned, looking between the two.

Chris smiled up at Steve, showing the boys the notebook. "The code, angel," Chris explained with a proud smile. "Robin cracked the code."

෴

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