･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.
1| Bikes and Boys
･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.

STELLA LOUISE HARRINGTON, OTHERWISE know as simply, Stella Harrington, sat on the old white porch steps in front of her home. The once perfectly white steps were now dirty, and the paint was warping due to it constantly being picked at by the bored twelve year old girl who sat on those very steps almost everyday. Stella didn't have very many friends, except for Will Byers and Dustin Henderson. She wasn't popular like her older brother Steve. But she didn't mind. She'd rather read "The Hobbit", or Shakespeare, than have sleepovers like most girls do at her age.

-"Stella! Come inside and help prepare dinner!" Mrs. Harrington called from inside of the large white house which stood behind her.

-"Coming Mom!" Stella answers back, a bit surprised at hearing her voice that she hadn't heard in a while, due to the fact that she had been reading for an hour, and was quiet throughout most of the day.

( • • • )

The Harrington family sat at the dinner table in silence. The steaming pot of chili and bowl of white rice had not been touched for a solid five minutes.

Stella let out a yawn, and didn't bother to cover her mouth. Mrs. Harrington wore a worried expression on her face, while Mr. Harrington wore a scowl.

-"Jenifer! Where is that boy?!" Mr. Harrington slammed his fist on table which then proceeded to shake.

Stella couldn't help but jump at her fathers sudden outburst, and dared not to say a word.

-"I-I don't know Ed! I'm telling you I thought he was in his room!" Mrs. Harrington says quickly, her voice quivering.

Mr. Harrington shakes his head, then turns to his daughter who sits to his right.

-"Have you seen your brother?" He questions her with a slightly softer tone.

-"No, but I think I know where he is." Stella says quietly.

-"And where would that be......" Ed stops speaking when he sees his oldest son standing in the door frame of the room.

Mrs. Harrington lets out a puff of air when she see's him and relaxes her tense shoulders.

-"Steve, how nice of you to join us," Mr. Harrington speaks, drawing out the s. His voice icy while doing so.

Stella shivers in her seat. She knew what was to happen tonight. Luckily for her, she would be at one of Will's and Dustin's special meetings. You were only invited if you got special permission from the head of the little gang, otherwise known as Mike Wheeler.

Steve nods and takes a seat in between his parents. Like a jack-in-the-box, Mrs. Harrington springs up from her chair and proceeds to serve her family, the now probably cool chili and very evaporated rice.

( • • • )

-"Make sure you don't take any shortcuts but go through the streets where you can be seen! And take care so that the banana bread doesn't get squished! And wear your hood on the way home!" Mrs. Harrington fusses over her daughter as she prepares for her bike ride to the Wheelers house.

-"I will Mom! Don't worry!" Stella laughs as she hops on her bike.

-"Have fun sweetie!" She kisses the top of her daughters head.

Stella smiles and waves before taking off.

Stella

I stare down at my calculator watch for the fifth time within the three minutes I've been waiting near the road. Will doesn't live in city, but in a little ranch not too far from the main road.

He and I discussed that we would meet up at 6:15 pm. I had arrived a bit early, which would explain why I had to wait four minutes until I saw him pedaling into view.

I get back on my bike and wave to the boy a foot ahead of me. Will smiles and waves back, not losing balance while doing so. He breaks right in front of me and sighs.

-"You're here early!" He laughs as he adjusts his red vest.

-"Well, I kind of needed to leave early. Steve's in trouble, again. When I get back home tonight, the first thing I'm gonna find out when I get home is, "how'd he get out of it this time?!"
Steve has an art for getting out of trouble."

-"I guess, if he's always driving around in his BMW." Will concludes with a chuckle.

"Welp, we'd better hurry to Mike's," and with that, the two tweens bike off towards Mike's house.

Mike lives in a cul-de-sack, perfect for biking. His house is on the far left when you're coming from the street. Will and I make our way into the Wheelers open garage.

-"You can leave your bike there. Oh look, here comes Dustin, and Lucas is already here.

( • • • )

I was having so much fun, I lost track of the time. While the boys were playing "Dungeons and Dragons", I payed close attention so that I would know how play like an expert.

-"You want another slice of pizza Stella?" Dustin ask me.

-"Sure why not! Thanks!" I smile while taking another slice.

Shouting from Lucas and Mike could be heard in the background as I devoured my slice of pizza.

I sit back down in my seat in between Lucas and Mike. They insisted that, if I ever wanted to be a expert, that I should watch closely at how they play. I also read through the instructions, that way if I didn't understand anything, then I could just look it up.

Mike lowers himself down so that he's eye level with the table. He then looks around at us before he speaks with rising suspicion in his voice.

-"Something's coming, something hungry for blood. A shadow grows on the wall behind you! Swallowing you in darkness! It, is almost here."

-"What is it?" Will ask as he leans forward in his seat. His eyes growing wide.

-"What if it's the demogorgon?" Dustin asks the group.

Everyone rolls their eyes and Will sits back in his chair. They all groan as I sit confused.

"We're all screwed if it's the demogorgon!" Dustin says with defeat as he face palms himself.

-"It's not the demogorgon!" Lucas tries to calm himself, Will and Dustin down.

-"An army of trolls Troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike cries as he slams, a mini figure on the map which is in the middle of the table.

-"I told you it wasn't the demogorgon!" Lucas smiles as he tries to be cool.

-"So the Troglodytes aren't that big of a deal then?" I question him.

-"Anything but the demogorgon isn't that big of a deal." Lucas confirms.

But Mike wasn't finished. He goes on, grabbing everyone's attention.

-"Their tails drum the floor! Boom! Boom! Boom!" He cries, getting into his act even more.

-"Troglodytes?" Dustin leans forward.

-"Told ya." Lucas says sassily.

Dustin rolls and shakes his head.

-"He thinks he's so cool when he predicts things, and they turn out right." The curly haired boy explains to me.

Mike looks over his shoulder. He smiles at me with amusement dancing in his eyes.

-"Wait, did you here that?! Boom! Boom! BOOM! That sound, it didn't come from the Troglodytes. It came from something else,"

He then slams another mini figure on the map and everyone starts to panic.

-"Is that,"

-"Demogorgon!" Mike screams looks around at all us.

-"Yep, that's the demogorgon. We're in deep...." Dustin stops when he sees me raise my eye brows at him.

"in deep trouble! We're in deep trouble!" He corrects himself.

-"Will, it's your turn," Mike tells the youngest of the group. All eyes turn towards Will as he looks around in fright. He gulps and locks eyes with me. I immediately feel bad, because didn't know what to tell him to make him feel better.

-"I-I don't know......" he stutters.

-"Fireball him!" Lucas shouts.

-"But wouldn't he have to roll thirteen or higher?" I question Lucas, who sat beside me. He nods while reading the rules.

"That's what it says here at least,"

-"Too risky," Dustin shakes his head.
"cast a protection spell." He says wisely.

-"I agree with Dustin!" I yell over Lucas.

-"Don't be a wimp! Fireball him!" Lucas yells.

-"Protection!" Dustin and I shout in unison.

Mike somehow stays quiet the entire time. I don't know how he could though, this is matter of life or death!

-"The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering. It stomps towards you. Boom!"
Mike moves the two headed mini figure towards Will's wizard.

-"Protection spell!"

-"Fireball!"

-"Protection spell!"

-"Fireball him Will!"

-"It roars in anger,"

-"Protection....."

-"FIREBALL!" Will grabs the two dice and shakes them a bit too harshly. Both go flying out of his hand and land on the floor. They both land near the basement steps.

-"What is it?!" Lucas asks with anticipation.

-"I don't know!" Will answers back.

-"Well then find out!" I settle getting tired of their antics.

We all move towards the stairs, and that's when the basement door swings open.

-"Mom!" Mike complains.
"We're in the middle of a campaign!" He explains.

-"You mean, the end. It's been fifteen minutes past." She taps her watch and walks away.

-"You guys look for the dice." Mike instructs as he races upstairs after his mom.

-"Well, come on. We need to see if Will lives or not." I place my hands on my hips.

Fortunately, we found both dice, unfortunately, one read three, and the other four. Will asked Lucas if it still counted, even though Mike hadn't seen it, whatever that means.

-"No, it doesn't count. You were attacked by the Demogorgon." Lucas shakes his head sadly.

Will lowers his head in shame as he finishes packing up his backpack. I place a hand on his shoulder and try to comfort him.

-"Don't be upset, it's only a game. Besides, you were pressured into fireballing him, you had no time to think."

-"I know. Thanks anyway. Wanna ride back to the meet up spot then split up there?" He ask while zippering his pack.

-"Sure, that sounds good." I shape my fingers into the "good" symbol.

We all make our way upstairs and into the garage where are bikes are parked. I kick the kick stand back up and sit on the leather seat. I adjust my backpack straps and place my hands on the handles.

-"Well, what do you think of our campaign Stella? How do you like playing Dungeons and Dragons?" Mike asks as comes around with his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.

-"It was pretty fun! Thanks for letting me come out. When's the next the one?"

-"We'll decide at school tomorrow. That way we can plan it do that you can come back, if you have a busy schedule."

-"I'm not terribly busy so, whatever date you pick is fine with me." I grin giving him the thumbs up.

The garage door slams shut as Dustin walks out of the house, still the holding the pizza box, and I presume that Nancy didn't want the last slice, because he was eating it.

-"Something's wrong with your sister." Dustin says between bites of food.

-"What're you talking about?" Mike questions his friend clearly confused.

-"She's gotta stick up her butt." Dustin states firmly.

-"It's cause she's seeing that barf bag, Steve Harrington," Lucas says disgusted.

-"Hey, um excuse me," Will clear's his throat, his eyes dart back and forth between me and the boys.

-"Oh, sorry Stella." Lucas and Dustin apologize.

-"It's ok guys. I'm used to it." I mumble the last part.

And that was the truth. So many people liked, or either disliked Steve. Although my brother could be real jerks sometimes, he's still my brother.

-"Well, anyway, she used to be cool. Now she's a jerk." Dustin says anyway.

-"Shes always been a jerk." Mike huffs under his breath. Poor Mike was in dire need of a brother. Good thing he has three friends who are all boys and agree with him on a lot of stuff.

-"Nu-uh! Remember....."

-"Dustin! Let's go! You can discuss this topic over lunch tomorrow!" I put the smoke out before a fire erupts.

Dustin and Lucas bike out of the garage and make their home.

Will looks over his shoulder and tells Mike about the seven he rolled.

-"The Demogorgon, it got me." He shrugs. He then pedals forward and I follow closely behind after saying a quick "bye".

Lucas, Dustin, Will and I ride in silence until we get closer to Lucas's house.

-"Se ya ladies!" He calls out as he turns to his right.

I roll my eyes and try to hold back a chuckle. These guys sure do have an interesting friendship. But I like it, nevertheless.

We keep on riding until it's my turn to depart from the group.

-"See ya'll tomorrow! Night!" I wave as I turn left on to take a shortcut home.

-"I thought we were to break up at the meeting point," Will says confused.

-"I know, but my mom will kill me if I'm home after the lights in the kitchen are out." I explain to him.

-"Ok, well, we need you to be alive for the next campaign. See ya tomorrow!" Dustin waves back.

-"Bye Stella! Ride safe!" Will grins and waves.

I grin back then continue my way home. For some odd reason I had a feeling that Dustin and I should have been the one to tell Will to ride safe instead.

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. ☆彡ﾟ.

Wow this is long!

Hope you liked my first chapter!

What is your honest opinion of Stella?

Don't forget to vote and comment!

Thanks for reading!

<3 Catherine✎