▸ Sweet Dream (Are Made Of These) - Eurythmics

T H E W E I R D O O N M A P L E S T R E E T P T . 1

The next morning, I groggily woke up. Last night I heard a weird sound but I was too focused on my dream. It had Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill. The four of us were all hanging out at my house watching E.T. The Extraterrestrial and The Outsiders.

It was a very good dream. I may or may not have had a make out session with Harrison.

May or may not have...like I said, it was a very good dream.

Sighing, I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and started getting ready for the day. Bohemian Rhapsody was loudly playing from my turntable as I finished brushing my teeth. Existing my bathroom, I grabbed my flannel and tied it around my waist. Mrs. Tompkin's class always gets cold.

"Dawny or Danny, can one of you go check on Dusty to see if he is awake?" Mom called out.

"I'm busy right now!" Danny loudly said.

"I'll check on him, Mom." I told her, walking out of my room.

I knocked on Dustin's door only to hear a loud snore response. Rolling my eyes, I slid open the door to see Dustin sprawled on top of his bed. He was still wearing the clothes he wore last night along with his hat. Walking over to him, I kneeled next to his bed and lightly shook my little brother's shoulder.

"Dusty. Wake up." Dustin let out another loud snore. Huffing, I shook his shoulder harder. "Dustin. Dustin!"

"I didn't steal the candy. I promise!" Dustin shot up from his position. Trying to get out of bed out of fright, he swung his feet over the bed only to get tangled up in the sheets. Dustin let out a shriek as he fell off of the bed and on top of me. "Woah!"

"Oof!" I groaned out, now lying on the floor with Dustin sprawled on top of me. "Okay, you can get off of me now."

"Oh...it's just you." Dustin said, getting off of me. He extended out his hand to help me up. I smiled thankfully and grasped his hand. I frowned when I noticed patches of dried mud at the bottom of his pants.

"Dusty, why do you have mud on your pants?" I asked. Dustin helped me stand up.

"Mud? What mud? There's no mud." Dustin rambled, letting go of my hand.

"You can't just tell me there's no mud when there obviously is." I pointed to the dried mud patches.

"What?" Dustin dragged out, his voice higher. He nervously chuckled. "You know what? I have to get dressed for school and you need to leave my room so I can get dressed for school."

"Are you trying to-"

"Gotta get changed Dawn!" Dustin said, pushing me out of his room. I stumbled into the hallway looking back at my little brother in disbelief. He gave me a cheeky smile and closed the door in my face.

"Why are my brothers so weird?" I mumbled to myself, shaking my head. I went back into my room and grabbed my stuff.

"You ready, Dawn?" Danny asked, stepping into my room.

"For school or the Chem test?" I slung my backpack over my shoulder.

"Both. C'mon, we've got to get going." Danny waved his hand, walking into the hallway. "Steve called earlier saying he wanted to tell us something before first period starts."

"Oh joy." I grumbled, following after him. "And when I wanted to use my extra time to study some more for the test."

▷

Danny and I walked down the school halls to find Steve and his friends. I was going through my flash cards, trying to go over some of the cards I had trouble with.

"When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become... unoccupied space?" I muttered to myself, turning the yellow card over. I sighed in relief knowing I finally got that question right.

"If it isn't my favorite Henderson twins."

"We're the only Henderson twins, you dimwit." I rolled my eyes, looking up from my flash cards to see Steve and his friends.

"Anyways, you said you wanted to talk to us?" Danny asked Steve.

"Yeah, are you guys busy tonight?" Steve leaned against the lockers, his hands shoved into his jean pockets.

"Not that we know of." Danny shook his head. "Why?"

"I-"

"Nancy and her friend are coming this way." Tommy elbowed Steve, cutting him off. Steve turned around to see the two girls heading our way while quizzing each other. Harrington gave us a sly smirk before jogging up to the two girls.

"A molecule that can-" Steve took the flash cards out of Barbra's hand. "Hey!"

Carol and Tommy walked over to the group. Tommy gave Barbra a wet nillly. I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head, wishing I had the ability to shoot lasers out of my eyes. Danny and I went to them. I stood next to Barbra, who was holding her ear.

"I'm sorry that they're such jerks to you." I whispered to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Barbra looked up at me with a small smile.

"I don't know, I think you've studied enough, Nance." Steve mumbled out, shuffling through the cards.

"Steve." Nancy started, staring at her colorful flash cards.

"I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Don't worry." Steve reassured her. "Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference and my mom's gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him."

"Good call." Tommy grinned. I rolled my eyes in disgust.

"So are you in?" Steve asked Nancy. He looked at Danny and I. "You guys too, if you can make it."

"In for what?" Nancy questioned.

"No parents? Big house?" Carol said.

"A party?" Nancy said with uncertainty, looking from Carol to Steve.

"Ding, ding, ding!" Carol sarcastically smiled. Tommy laughed next to her.

"Cut it out Carol." I nudged her to stop. Carol turned to look at me with a snarl on her face.

"It's Tuesday." Nancy told them.

"It's Tuesday!" Tommy mocked. He looked at Steve in disbelief as he and Carol laughed. "Oh, my God."

"Come on." Steve encouraged, his hands on his hips. "It'll be low key. It'll be just us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"

"Um." Nancy bit her lip, thinking it over.

"Oh, God," Carol started, looking past us. "Look."

We all turned around to see Johnathon pinning a poster to the bulletin board down the hall. I frowned as I noticed the picture of Will Byers.

"Oh, God. That's depressing." Steve let out.

"Should we say something?" Nancy looked at us.

"I don't think he speaks." Carol commented.

"How much you want to bet he killed him?" Tommy sickly smiled.

"Hey, knock it off." Danny scolded them. "Johnathon isn't like that. Besides, something bad could have happened to his little brother and you guy are being jerks."

"What, you're defending that psycho?" Tommy's lip drew up in disgust.

"Shut up." Steve told him, defending Danny.

"I'm going to go check up on him." I muttered, starting to walk towards Johnathon only to be held back. I turned around to see Steve holding my wrist.

"You don't have to go be nice to him just because your little brother is best friends with his." Steve informed me. I scoffed and tugged my hand out of his hold.

"I'm not doing it because of that. I'm being sincere and he's a friend of mine. Stop being such a jerk, Harrington." I walked away from them.

"Dude, really?" I heard Danny tell Steve.

"I'm going to go check up on him too." Nancy said, quickly walking up next to me. Danny soon joined us as we approached Johnathon.

"Hey." Nancy said. Johnathon turned to look at the three of us in surprise.

"Oh, hey." He replied, his eyes lingering on Nancy for a long while before look at Danny and I.

"I just. I wanted to say, you know, um...I'm sorry about everything." Nancy spoke. Johnathon looked over our shoulders to see the gang behind us. We turned around to see Carol and Barbra looking at us. Steve looked like he was pissed off and was staring at the lockers across from him. Tommy gave us a sarcastic smile and a wave. Licking her lips, Nancy faced Johnathon again. "Everyone's think about you. It sucks."

"Yeah." Johnathon agreed.

"Yeah, and we're all worried about Will too." I inputted, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid." Nancy added. The bell rang, causing everyone around us to rush to their class. "We have to go. Chemistry test."

"Yeah." Johnathon breathed out, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Good luck." Nancy told him, starting to walk away.

"Thanks."

"Hey, Johnathon." Danny gripped Johnathon's shoulder. "You know if you or your mom need anything we're here for you guys."

"I know, uh, thanks." Johnathon nodded. "I'll be sure to let my mom know."

"Alright, we be better start heading to class. Don't be afraid to call us." I sent him a wave before Danny and I walked towards the group.

"Attention, faculty and students. At eight p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office."

▷

"Is it just me or is Dustin acting strange?" I turned to face Danny as he drove to Steve's. I have felt uneasy all day at school. The feeling that something bad was going to happen lingering in the air.

"What do you mean?" Danny looked at me momentarily before looking back at the road.

"This morning I woke him up to see him still clothed in yesterday's clothes. Plus his hat. He wore his hat to bed. And he had mud on his pants." I pointed out.

"So? Maybe he stood up late talking to Mike and Lucas." Danny pulled up into Steve's driveway. He parked and turned to face me.

"And the mud?"

"I don't pay attention to the kid's pants, Dawn. Do you?" Danny rose an eyebrow.

"I don't know...call it my protective sister instincts, but I think somethings either happening or about to happen." I said, raking a hand through my curls.

"Well, one of his best friends is missing, Dawny." Danny sighed and turned off the ignition. "C'mon, Becca said she will come over once she sees us in the driveway."

"I still find it weird that they're neighbors." I existed out of the car. We stood outside and waited for Rebecca to come over.

"Took you guys long enough." Becca cheerfully said, skipping over to Danny.

"Well, we're here now." Danny grinned, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her.

"Yuck, get a room or something." I turned away, shaking my head. They laughed at me.

"Love you too, Dawny." Becca cooed, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Now, let's party!"

"Dawn, you drinking tonight?" Danny asked, as he rang the doorbell.

"Nah, I'll drive tonight." I told him, tightening my flannel around my body. The temperature was starti g to drop. "Damn, I think I left my jacket at home."

"Do you want to check and see if I have one in the car?" Danny looked down at me. I shook my head. The door swung open, revealing Steve.

"Come on in, guys." He moved aside to let us through. He frowned at the sight of me shivering. "Where's your jacket, Dawn?"

"I'm an idiot and left it at home." I sheepishly smiled.

"I can go grab you a jacket from my room, Dawny." Becca offered. I went to answer her when Steve cut me off.

"Nah, I have plenty of jackets she can borrow. C'mon, let's go find you one." Steve waved me in. I bit my lip and entered the house. "Go ahead and feel at home you guys. Carol and Tommy are out back."

Danny gave Steve a thumbs up and went straight to the turntable in the living room. He grinned, thumbing through the vinyls before he found one and put it on. Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics started to play. Becca immediately turned it up and started to sing along.

"Come on." Steve shook his head, chuckling at Danny and Becca. The two of us went upstairs, walking into his bedroom. He went straight to his closet, shuffling through his clothes. "What do you feel like wearing? A hoodie or jacket?"

"To be honest, it doesn't matter." I shrugged, biting my lip as I looked around his room. It was surprisingly neat compared to Danny's and Dustin's. His bed was made and there were no clothes randomly thrown on the floor. I wonder if it's to impress Nancy.

"Hoodie it is. Here." Steve tossed a dark blue hoodie at me. I caught it, sending him a thankful smile before slipping it on. A strong scent of cologne hit my nostrils with a hint of softener.

"Thank you." I faintly said, an uneasy feeling starting to form in my stomach. Anxiously, I tugged on the sleeves making sure to have them cover my hands.

"No problem." Steve looked at me, furrowing his brows together. "You okay?"

"What?" I looked up at him in confusion.

"Are you okay?" He repeated. I shrugged, fiddling with my hands. "Okay. What's your damage?"

"What's my damage?" I huffed out, not able to hold back my emotions. Looking up at him, I let out all of my worries. For some odd reason, I had to spill my pent up thoughts to him. "Will is missing and I have a bad feeling that more are going to start disappearing too. And guess what? We can be next! My brothers can be next, Harrington."

"Look, nothing is going to happen, okay?" Steve walked over towards me, grasping my shoulders. I sniffled and nodded. "I won't let you or your brothers disappear."

"You're just saying that because you're best friends with Danny." I mumbled, taking his hands off of me.

"Partially, but I also care about you and Dustin." Steve told me. I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "What did I tell you about rolling your eyes?"

"Why are you like that?" I asked him, shaking my head.

"Like what?" Steve defensively stated.

"You act like some big asshole when you're with Tommy and Carol, but whenever you're around me or Danny or Dustin, you're a completely different person." I pointed out. "You're even a different person when you're with Nancy. What's up with that?"

"I don't know." Steve shrugged. "I guess that saying who you hang around with really does influence you."

"Then why don't you stop hanging out with Tommy and Carol? You're so much better than them, Steve." I admitted. He was about to say something when the doorbell rang. He frowned and nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"Um, that's probably Nance. Just, uh, you can just give me the hoodie tomorrow or keep it. It doesn't matter. I need to go answer that."

"Yeah." I nodded, stuffing my hands into the hoodie's pocket. Steve sent me a smile before he jogged out of his room. I sighed, before following him downstairs. As I reached the bottom step, Nancy and Barbra entered the house.

Until next time
Love,
Lux