Chapter Five : Will The Wise

chapter thirty-four , Wingwoman

a/n : I'm almost done writing season 2 and I am so excited for you guys to read it!

Also, don't be afraid to vote and comment! You have no idea how much motivation that gives me ❤️

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"Okay, so...on the count of three?"

All the kids look at each other. Sofía then shifts her eyes to the bowl of straws. "Hold on, should we wait for Dustin?"

"Uh, no. We all agreed on a specific time and he didn't show up." Lucas says.

Sofía shrugs a shoulder, "Fair point. Unpunctuality isn't cute..." her voice was quiet, but the other three kids heard her pretty clear. Sofía looks at each of them and her face heats up. "I-I didn't—what I meant was—"

"Oh, we know what you meant." Lucas wiggles his brows.

Sofia's ears heat up and she shakes her head with her eyes wide.

"Can we just pull the straws, please?" Mike interrupts.

Max looks at Sofía and chuckles softly. "You know, if you like Dustin, you should tell him."

Sofía looks at her and she opens and closes her mouth. "I-I don't like him..." she then touches the ends of her hair and spins then around her finger. Max softly smiles and laughs, "Okay, Sof."

"When did you start calling her Sof?" Mike wrinkles his face at Max. Before Max could answer he shakes his head. "I don't care—everyone grab a straw." He holds the cup out.

Sofía rolls her lips into her mouth and exchanges a look with Lucas due to Mike's attitude. They all grab a straw. Sofía looks at her short straw and she quietly curses. Her eyes shift to everyone else's straws and she saw that they all had longer straws.

Except for Lucas.

Sofía let's out a soft breath of relief. Lucas slaps his hand against his leg. "Ah, shit."

Sofía softly giggles, "We can give you a boost, if you want?"

Lucas tilts his head to the sky. "Sure, get me up there."

Sofía smiles and intertwines her fingers. She kneels and Mike does the same thing. Lucas places his feet in both of their hands. They lift him up and he gets in the garbage can.

"Okay, just throw out all of the trash bags, so we can check them through them out here." Mike instructs.

"Guys, look what I found!"

Sofía and Mike turn to the red-head and see her carrying four wooden sticks. The Alvarez girl smiles, "Nice find, Max." She grabs one from the girl.

Max softly smiles and she holds one out to Mike. The Wheeler boy quietly huffs and grabs the stick from Max. The red-head lets out a soft breath, obviously disappointed that Mike didn't trust her. Sofía lightly nudges Max's arm. Max looks at Sofia and sees the comforting smile on her lips.

"Mike is like this with everyone." Sofía says. "Anybody he doesn't like."

"He was like that with you?" Max asks.

Sofía laughs, "Oh, no." She shakes her head. Max knits her brows together.

"He was only nice to me because I was lost and almost died." Sofía shrugs. "He was kind of forced to like me."

"What are you guys talking about?"

The two girls look at Mike. Sofía raises her brows, "Oh, the weather." She softly smiles. "It's...chilly."

"But sunny." Max adds.

They both look at eachother, then they look at Mike and nod their head vigorously.

Mike squints his eyes, "Right. The weather."

Sofía and Max then share a soft laugh. The brunette's laughter falls quiet and she looks at Max for a moment. Even if Sofía felt envious of the way Dustin looked and acted around Max, she knew that she would become good friends with Max. She's a good person.

"Guys, I don't think I want to do this anymore—"

"Just stop being a baby and do it already!" Mike cuts Lucas off.

Sofía raises a hand, "I can do it. It's no big deal."

"We drew straws." Mike says. "Fair and square."

Sofía looks at Lucas, "We...did draw straws."

Lucas groans and tosses some of the garbage bags out of the dumpster. The three kids step away from the trash. Sofía covers her nose from the rancid smell.

"This is so disgusting." Max shudders. "Is this really necessary?"

"What the hell's going on?"

Everyone turns and looks at Dustin. "What do you think? We're looking for Dart." Mike says.

Lucas throws more garbage out of the dumpster. He then jumps out of the dumpster and lands on the ground. Lucas looks at Dustin with a glare. "Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up." He throws his arms in the air. "After I drew the short straw. Real convenient."

Max wrinkles her nose, "You stink!" She walks away from Lucas and stands beside Dustin, which causes Dustin to cheekily smile. Sofía bites the inside of her cheek and her chest tightens. "Hi, Max."

Max looks at Dustin and notices his smile that starts to weird her out. "Hi...?" she walks away from Dustin and stands beside Sofía. Dustin's smile drops.

"Where's Will?"

Sofia's throat tightens and she looks at the ground.

"He'll be here." Mike says.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" Lucas asks. "Or are you gonna help?"

Sofía grabs one of the wooden sticks and makes her way over to Dustin. She hands him the stick. Dustin looks at Sofía with a soft expression. "Hey, Sof?"

Sofía raises her brows, "Yeah?"

"I-I'm sorry for yesterday." Dustin apologizes. "I didn't think about how you and Will would feel about Dart."

"You didn't know he had something to do with The Upside Down." Sofía shrugs a shoulder.

"Yeah, but afterward...I was a shitty friend and careless." Dustin looks at the ground then back at Sofía. "I'm sorry."

Sofía gives him a small smile. "Apology accepted, D." She gives him a pat on the shoulder. "Now, come help us."

A smile grows on Dustin's lips and he chuckles. She and Dustin walk over to the trash bags and help the group search through them.

☆

"Would you look at them go?"

Fallon wrinkles her nose as the sweaty boys run across the basketball court. Gus and Fallon were sitting on the bleachers of the gymnasium. The short-haired brunette wanted to wait around for Steve, but Fallon didn't understand why. She was praying it wasn't because she was falling for the boy again. Fallon looks at Gus and her eyes soften. She and Gus haven't hung out in so long. Both of their lives were taking them in two different directions right now. So, being able to sit with Gus was nice.

Fallon inhales a soft breath, "Hey, so why are we really here?"

Gus looks at Fallon and knits her brows together. "What? I told you, we were waiting for Steve."

"And I hate to believe that." Fallon sighs. "Especially since Billy is here too."

Gus slightly opens her mouth. "Oh, Billy's here?" Sarcasm was lacing Gus' voice. Fallon deadpans. "What a coincidence." She bunches her shoulders. "Maybe, I should have a word with him."

"We're supposed to stay away from him." Fallon says. "Mrs. McKinley said—"

"When have I ever listened to anyone?" Gus rolls her head over to Fallon. The curly-haired girl frowns and raises her brows, understanding Gus' point. "But we already handled Billy. Why are you still trying to go after him?"

Fallon squints her eyes as she watches Gus rub her hands against her jeans. The girl was keeping something in and it was causing her to grow angry. "Hey, come on, talk to me..." Fallon softly speaks.

Gus inhales a breath and keeps her eyes on Billy. "At the party last night?"

"The party that you left early, and I had no idea where you went?" Fallon presses her lips together.

Gus purses her lips and nods her head, "Yeah, that's the one."

Fallon slightly lifts her chin, "Okay, just wondering. Carry on."

Gus chuckles softly and looks at her hands. "Well, I may have gone overboard with the drinking."

Fallon opens her mouth to reprimand the girl. But she stops and clenches her jaw shut. Fallon had a habit of talking over people instead of listening to their stories. She either had a lot of questions or a lot of comments. She's like her mother in that way.

But this time, Fallon just bites her tongue and exhales a sharp breath from her nose. "Go on..."

"Well, I vaguely remember almost having sex with Carol—"

"You..." Fallon balls her fist and presses her hand against her lips. "...almost had sex with Carol—"

"Yeah, but that's not the point." Gus waves a hand. Fallon shakes her head, "Okay, fine."

Gus looks at her hands, "I don't really remember what happened, but Steve told me that he saw Billy trying to put me in his car while I was drunk." She looks off to the side, not wanting to see Fallon's reaction.

Fallon's mouth slightly opens and just from the way Gus avoided eye contact, she could tell how much it bothered her. The curly-haired girl inhales a deep breath.

"Okay."

Gus knits her brows together and snaps her eyes over to Fallon. "I beg your pardon?"

"Okay, let's talk to Billy."

Gus' face relaxes, but she softly chuckles. "I think this is something I have to do on my own."

"No way, I'm your backup." Fallon grabs Gus' hand. "If you're going into battle, I wanna be your wingman...woman."

A small smile spreads across her lips. "I adore you, Fallon Lee-Anne Price."

Fallon shrugs a shoulder, "Most people do."

Fallon and Gus hear a slam on the basketball court. They snap their attentions over to the court and see Steve on the ground while Billy makes the basket. Gus wrinkles her nose, "Steve had one job..."

Fallon pouts her lower lip. "So, glad this wasn't a real game."

"It's still pretty bad that he lost to Billy." Gus says.

Fallon slowly nods her head, "Yeah...it is."

The bell rings which causes Gus to blink. "Well, time to face the music." She stands up with her books. Gus looks at her friend, who was still sitting. "You ready?"

Fallon raises her brows and exhales softly. "You'll promise not to cause a commotion, right?"

A small mischievous smirk forms on Gus' lips. "Only if he isn't an ass about it." She then arches a brow. "And judging by how Billy always is...I've got about five headbutts in me before I pass out."

Gus trots down the bleachers and Fallon quietly whines, but she follows after her best friends. The short-haired girl waits outside the boy locker room with her back against the wall and her arms folded. Fallon was nervously tapping her fingernails against the wall. She would look at Gus then the boys locker room.

"Hey, it's been like 5 minutes. Maybe we should go—"

The door swings open, it hits the wall with a slam, causing Fallon to jump. Gus squints her eyes as Billy emerges from the locker room. He stops and looks at the two girls. "Speaking of which—"

"Shut the fuck up." Gus cuts him off. She pushes herself off the wall and stands toe-to-toe with Billy Hargrove. "Do you remember what happened at the party?"

Billy raises his brows, "Of course, I do. You were wasted and I tried to get you home." He shrugs. "Then I let Steve tell you home instead."

Billy shifts his eyes to Fallon and she tenses. He raises a hand and wiggles his fingers. "Hi, Fal..."

Fallon's stomach turns. Gus steps in front of Fallon. "No, no. You keep your eyes on me, dick."

Billy shifts his eyes back to Gus and he chuckles. "What's this about, anyway?"

"This is about what you tried to do to me at that party." Gus seethes. Billy shakes his head, "I tried to help you, August."

Gus tilts her head and a bitter chuckle escapes her lips. Billy presses his lips together and shakes his head. "You trying to blame me for whatever your mind compartmentalized for you is...sad."

"Maybe you should talk to someone about that." Billy gives Gus a pat on the shoulder. He then squeezes it and her skin crawls. Gus' stomach lurches as Billy walks down the hall. She turns on her heel and watches him walk down the hall. Fallon swallows nervously and walks over to Gus.

The door of the boys locker room swings open. Steve exits the locker room and stops in his tracks. He looks at the two girls, "Uh, hey, guys?"

Fallon looks at the boy, "Oh, hey, Steve." She raises her brows. "What are you doing over here?"

Steve points at the boy sign of the locker room and Fallon slowly nods her head. "Right."

Steve looks at Gus and knits his brows together. "Gus, you okay—"

"Fine." Gus adjusts her satchel on her shoulder. "Someone's just been testing my patience."

Steve raises his brows, "I-Is that a trick statement? Because I thought that everything was okay between us—"

"I wasn't talking about you." Gus scoffs. "Way to make it about yourself. Again." She looks at Fallon. "I'll see you later, all right?"

Fallon presses her lips into a small smile. "Yeah, of course."

Gus walks down the hall and Fallon sighs. The curly-haired girl turns to Steve, who was still confused. "Oh, she tries to confront Billy about what happened at the party. He totally denied it."

Steve scoffs and looks back at Gus' walking figure. "What's a dick."

Fallon nods, "Total dick."

☆

Sofía was standing next to Mike at the phone booth. Mike was waiting for the Byers to pick up the phone, but no one picked up. He hooks the phone back up, "It went to voicemail."

Sofía softly huffs. She scratches the side of her neck. "We need to...we should check on him." She looks at Mike. "Me and you."

Mike swallows, but he nods his head. The two kids run back over to their group of friends.

"Anything?"

"We need to talk. AV room. Right now." Mike speaks. He rushes up the stairs with everyone else behind him. Max goes to follow them, but Mike stops and turns to her.

"Party members only."

Max stops and she pulls her brows together. Sofía slightly opens her mouth.

"Come on, Mike." Dustin urges.

"No! This is non-negotiable." Mike says.

Sofía looks at Max as everyone else goes inside. She walks down the steps toward Max. "I'm sorry."

Max shakes her head, "Whatever—I don't care." She lets out a harsh breath.

Sofía gnaws on her lower lip. "Can you wait for us here? I'll promise, I will have Lucas explain everything soon."

Max keeps her eyes on Sofía's soft ones. She looks off to the side and inhales. "Okay, fine."

Sofía gives Max a small smile before going up the stairs and entering the school. She meets everyone in the AV room.

"Will didn't want Sofía and I to tell you guys this, but on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky." Mike explains.

"A shadow?" Lucas questions. "What kind of shadow?"

"I don't know, but he said it scared him." Sofía rubs her hands against her jeans. "And I could feel his fear and it makes me feel like I couldn't even move."

"And, if Will really has true sight, I mean, if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday."

"So, that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin raises his brows.

"Maybe..."

"Can it hurt him?"

"I mean, if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."

"I'm not sure. Dustin?" Mike looks at Dustin for information.

"Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt him."

Sofía picks at the skin on the back of her hand.

"Yeah, if that's even what's happening." Mike says.

Sofía pinches her hand, "This isn't D&D. This is real life." She speaks.

"So, what do we do?" Lucas asks.

Mike nods, "We acquire more knowledge."

"Sofía and I will go to Will's after school. See what's going on." Mike explains. "You guys stay here and find Dart."

Dustin's back straightens, "Dart? What's he gotta do with this?"

"Will heard him in the Upside Down." Sofía answers. "I heard him in the Upside Down. He's gotta be connected to all this."

Mike slowly nods his head, "If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will."

Sofía shifts her eyes to Dustin, noticing his nervousness. "I know, you bonded with Dart. But this could be our only way to help Will. Are you in?"

Dustin keeps his eyes on Sofia's and it killed him to even keep this from her. Especially since he practically chose Dart over Sofía yesterday after school.

"Yeah, I'm in."

☆

Before school ended, Gus got a code-red call from Dustin, telling her to come over to his house tomorrow. Gus didn't know what is was about, but if it was a code-red, then that means there was most definite danger.

At the end of the school day, Fallon and Gus were making their way out of the school. Gus pulls open the door and allows Fallon to walk out.

"Wow, such a lady!" Fallon gushes.

"I know, I am such a catch." Gus let's out a content sigh.

The two girls walk down the steps and make their way over to the parking lot.

Gus points at Fallon, "Hey--can you pick up Sofia in a couple days?"

"Yeah, sure. From Gretchen's?"

"No, from the Lab."

Fallon stops in her tracks and Gus stops while looking at her friend.

"The Lab..." Fallon softly chuckles. "Like, Hawkins Lab."

Gus raises her brows, "Uh, yeah--"

"I can't."

"Wait, what?"

Fallon scratches the side of her neck. "I just remembered--I have a thing to go to, y'know--important."

"Oh yeah? And what is that important thing?" Gus folds her arms and stands in front of Fallon.

"Uh...it's--it's classified." Fallon sputters. "Classified, very important--"

"Fallon!"

"Hawkins Lab is scary, August!" Fallon says in a harsh whisper. "Especially after hearing what you and Eleven went through."

"Okay, but...Dustin called me and said he had something to show me and it was a code red." Gus arches a brow. "Not like Code Red: Come here immediately. But like, a Code Red: it's important so come over tomorrow."

Fallon shakes her head and Gus cranes her neck forward.

"Look, I adore kids--And Sofía is one of the best. But...I think I am terrfied of Hawkins Lab more than I like that kid." Fallon folds her arms. "And I am standing my ground on this one. You will not convince me otherwise."

Gus runs her tongue over her teeth and tilts her head. She places her hands on her hips and arches a brow. "Is that right?"

Fallon uncomfortably shifts. And hesitantly nods her head. "Y-Yeah—Yes."

Gus arches a brow and Fallon swallows from the intense gaze. "Fal..."

"Okay, all right! I'll do it!" Fallon gives in.

Gus' face relaxes and she smiles. "That was a lot easier than expected."

"I know, I'm ashamed..." Fallon looks at the ground.

Gus places a hand on Fallon's shoulder. "Aw, no...you're just not as scary as I am."

The short-haired brunette points at her car. "Anyway, I'm this way. Thank you for this, wingwoman!"

Fallon quietly whines and waves a hand before getting into her car. Gus laughs softly and she walks over to her car.

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author's note.

This chapter was a bit slow, but we're getting close to the climax of this season 🤭

words : 3331