November 4, 1984
Night

The night had come around pretty quickly. The group had finished boarding up the bus a couple of minutes ago and just have been talking and waiting. The sky had turned from pink and purple to orange and red. The sky was clear, and showed up off the thousands of stars that were in the sky, but the ground was covered in thick fog that made Beth shiver every time she looked outside. Lucas had climbed up the ladder that Max had positioned underneath the opened emergency exit door. The other five were still in this bus; Brandon and Beth sat side by side against a wall as Steve played with a lighter while Max sat in one of the remaining bus seats, and Dustin paced around the bus.

"So...you really fought one of these things before?" Max questioned Steve. Beth turned her gaze to Max, and nodding agreeing with what the redhead was saying. Both of the girls hadn't believe the group, maybe it was better though. It could put them in danger if they found out, and the last thing the boys wanted was for them to get hurt. Especially if something happened to Beth, the party will definitely be killed by Brandon.

Steve looked at them and nodded, "And you're, like, totally, a hundred percent sure it wasn't a bear?"

"Shit! Don't be an idiot! It wasn't a bear!" Dustin snapped making Max and Beth to raise their eyebrows and give 'excuse me' looks. "Why are you two even here if you don't believe us? Just go home."

"Geesh. Someone's cranky." Max commented. "Past your bedtime?"

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something?" Beth asked with a raise of the eyebrow.

"No. Just go home, we didn't want you hear anyway." Dustin snapped his kinda former crush.

Beth scoffed before standing up. She walked over to the ladder, and climbed it, peeking her head above at Lucas who was watching the ground with binoculars. "You wanna switch or something?" He looked at her. "You've been looking for a while, and I thought that switching off every once in a while would he good, because you know? Fresh eyes."

Lucas nodded, "Yeah, that's a good idea."

He handed Beth the binoculars which she took, and she sat on top of the bus where Lucas was sitting. He winked at her before climbing down, "Good luck with this."

Beth smiled at him as he climbed down into the bus, and she leaned her head against a stack of tires that were placed on the roof of the bus. She watched the landscape, searching for any sign of "Dart". As she gets deep into searching, she doesn't hear Max come up the ladder to join her. She jumped slightly as she heard Max's voice, "It's kinda awesome."

"Huh?" Beth asked, removing her gaze from the landscape to Max.

"The fog, I mean." Max corrected, smiling out at the thick layer of fog on the ground. "It looks like the ocean."

"Yeah...you miss it too?" Beth asked, making Max ask 'what?'. "The ocean. The waves. California. Hawkins is pretty lame, to be honest."

"No, no, no, it's not that. It's just..." Max started. Beth noticed her sad expression, and sat up. She watched Max, and waited for her to be comfortable to speak, "My dad's still there. So..."

"Why?" Beth asked. "You don't have to answer."

"It's this legal term called divorce." Max stated, making Beth chuckle slightly and nod. "See when two married people don't love each other anymore-"

Beth rolled her eyes playfully, "Yeah, yeah. I know. It's bullshit. You fall in love and have a child, and then years later you split apart. It makes no sense."

"My mom and my stepdad, they wanted a fresh start away from him. As if...as if he was the problem, which is total bull." Max explained. Beth watched the girl and hanged onto each word. "And things...are just worse now. My stepbrother's always been a dick, but now he's just angry...all the time and...well, he can't take it out on my mom so..."

"So he takes it out on you?" Beth asked, noticing Max's glossy eyes.

"I don't even know why I'm telling you this." Max said, wiping her eyes. "It's just...I know that I can be a jerk like him sometimes. I do not want to be like him. Ever. I guess I'm angry, too and...I'm sorry."

Beth watched as a tear falls down Max's cheek. Max quickly pretends to laugh and wipes more tears. It practically killed Beth inside to see the girl upset, "Jesus! What's wrong with me?"

Beth reached out and grabbed Max's hand, "Hey don't ever compare yourself to your brother. You're smart, awesome, beautiful, and so freaking badass! You're nothing like him, okay?" Max smiled and her grip grew tighter on Beth's hand. "About the day after school, I'm sorry I ran off, I just-"

Max sighed, "It's okay, I-"

"Don't apologize for anything. It's my fault for running off because I li...I didn't want my parents wondering where I was. I'm sorry." Beth explained. "We can be friends and talk about random shit! Go to the arcade, listen to music, and skateboard all around Hawkins! Everything."

"I would like that." Max smiled. Beth always died when they saw that smile. She loved it, it was beautiful and she would do anything in the world to see that smile everyday.

"You're the first girl since my friend Ally, that I've actually gotten along with." Beth chuckled. She missed Ally. Even if she left. Ally never meant to hurt her feelings, she knows that. She just couldn't be with her because it wasn't right.

Max smiled largely, "I didn't really like Hawkins until I met you. You made me...feel..safe." Beth blushed a bit at that. "Me neither." Beth smiled.

Beth sighed, "When I came here, I thought I wasn't going to have any friends. But then I met you and I was happy." Max laughed at Beth spoke.

Beth smiled before sighing, "Can I tell you something?"

"You can tell me anything." Max smiled.

Beth gulped. She didn't know if Max would like her for this. But it was worth a shot. She should tell the girl she has a crush on, right? Beth looked at Max, "Only my brother knows this and I'm not really sure if you're gonna be okay with but...I like g-"

A shrieking roar interrupted Beth. The two girls whipped their heads around so fast that they could've broken their neck. Beth grabbed the binoculars and sat up, peering out across the horizon. A yell came from Dustin from inside the bus, "Guys! What's going on?"

"Hold on!" Beth yelled back. As she peered through the binoculars, she heard Lucas come up the ladder. She handed them to him, and he peered through them.

"I got eyes!" Lucas yelled. Max and Beth shared a worried look before trying to follow his gaze. "Ten o'clock! T-Ten o'clock!"

Beth grabbed the binoculars and peered through them, searching the same direction that Lucas was looking. Not to far away from them was Dart. He wasn't doing anything besides standing there, and somehow not eating the meat they left for him. Beth didn't know how smart this monster was, but she knew there was trouble coming their way. She handed the binoculars to Max, who after looking, asked, "Wait, you sure that's not a dog?"

"What?" Lucas asked, a confused look on his face.

Beth scrambled down the ladder and back into the bus. She hurried over to the window beside Steve, Dustin, and Brandon, and watched Dart. Beth furrowed her brows at Dart not even sniffing the meat. "Why is he not taking the bait?"

"Maybe he's not hungry?" Dustin guessed.

"Maybe he's sick of cow." Steve stated, before he pushed back from the window. Beth, Dustin, and Brandon turned around and watched Steve. Beth watched as he grabbed his bat and widened her eyes.

"Steve? Steve, what are you doing?" Dustin asked as Steve walked over to the bus door.

"Dude! Are you crazy?! That thing is gonna murder you!" Brandon shouted at the boy.

"I got this." Steve told him but the Wright boy shook his head. "I'm going with you." He said.

"What?! You better not walk through that door, Brandon Jason Wright!" Beth shouted at him, as the boy walked up to the door next to Steve.

Beth rushed over and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back in but was unsuccessful. He turned around as Beth continued to hold onto his arm, "I swear to God, Brandon! Don't got out there! I'm warning you!"

"Beth." Brandon grabbed her by the shoulders. "I'll be fine. I promise."

Beth looked at him in the eyes as she felt a tear roll down her face. She looked over at an old baseball bat in the corner, "Take this at least. In case Steve can protect you both." Brandon grabbed the bat as a smirk fell on his face.

Steve took a lighter out from his pocket, "Be ready." Was all he said.

He then threw the lighter to Dustin before looking at the kids once more. His face fell onto Beth, who's face was red and covered in tears. Hoping her brother wouldn't get out there and die. Steve looked at Brandon, who gripped the bat in his hands before sighing.

"I am in such deep shit."

Can we all just agree that Brandon and Beth >any other siblings....just saying

Also Beth saying Brandon's full name... 👀

Brandon is about to kick some demo-butt y'all...with his bat...lol (Stiles vibes 😏)

Anyways, yeah that's all! Next chapter is going to get real so...stay tuned.

Love you all!

-Mary💗