just the facts!*

*

sure, sure, the time off in hawkins had been … it had actually been pretty alright for the most part. considering she was in town for a funeral and all. but all the familiar crazy had done an incredible job of keeping her mind off the side show that she called her life. 

however, now, some, what, two weeks in things were starting to be … well, normal, in a way. slowly but surely, the reality she’d left behind in new york was bleeding through the cracks, and hawkins wasn’t distracting her from the fact that she’d pretty much blown up both her career and social life in one hit anymore. if anything, being back home with her parents didn’t make her feel ‘carefree’ either, in fact, it rather made her feel like she was a teenager again, shackled to the confines of the foreman family residence at the end of the cul-de-sac.

here she was again, running errands for her parents becaue what else was there to do, really, except watch the same reruns of dynasty and old x-factor episodes night after night (she’d managed to lose her blockbuster card, like, 3 days into her stay). jo took any and all chance she got to get out of that house - well, get out of the basement where she spent most of her time these days, mulling over old episodes of snl her parents had recorded on their vcr. cringing at the jokes she’d written, which, at the time, had seemed hilarious. they very much weren’t.

so excuse her if she was feeling a little ‘off’ today! it really wasn’t her day. scratch that, her year, more like. truthfully, jo felt she was going a little insane at home, it seemed like ages ago since she last talked to someone who wasn’t related to her. she’d thought about hitting up max but … ever since that ‘incident’ with her and dusting.. well, jo didn’t feel like getting her shit rocked because she hooked up with ‘nerderson’.

“wh - george bush? that.. .doesn’t even make any sense. why would george bush be allowed to cut the line, i -” jo shook her head to herself, snapping her out of her temporary stupor. she hadn’t even realised she’d cut the line, much less cut the line in place of erica sinclair. she lifted up a hand in surrender. “you know what? i don’t have time for this today. i’m sorry, madame president. i’ll get back in line like the good citizen i am.” a forced smile, she strained to look past the line before her, shaking her head again. “how is there only one fucking person working in here? melvald’s isn’t what it used to be anymore, i guess. “

erica snapped her head to turn back to look at jo and rolled her eyes, shaking her head slowly. “why wouldn’t he be able to cut in line? he’s george bush! he did way worse things than that!” she said, throwing her hands in the hair as she held the groceries that her mom had asked for. she shook her head again, as she grunted a bit for herself. “you think you know some people...” he said, as she tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the line to move. it seemed like there was someone who was trying to buy the entire store, because the line wasn’t movie and erica was getting impatient by the second. she looked down at her watch, noticing that her mom was probably going to start thinking that she had forgotten about her groceries, and then she heard jo talk again. and at least this time around, she was right about something.

she turned to look at her and nodded her head, scoffing a bit. “right? it’s like everyone forgot that this place exists! and i don’t know why you’re trying to buy the whole store, lady!” she said loudly towards the woman in the front, who just seemed to ignore her. groaning a bit, she turned back to jo. “sorry for snapping at you, but if i had to stay here more than i already have been, i think i would definitely go insane. everything okay with you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. it had been a while since she had last talked to jo, but then again, it had been a while since she had talked to anyone. 

.

he’d taken a page right out of joyce byers’ book and ran the lights throughout the apartment, down the hallway and into the bedroom. the only place that was left untouched was the bathroom because, well, he hoped that would remain a place of solitude. the living room wall even had the alphabet, though lucas had opted use notebook paper with a letter each instead of painting them on the wall. he needed his security deposit back, okay?

the only problem was yoda. the orange tabby was the reason he couldn’t have an actual christmas tree. the cat was obsessed with the glowing lights and had ripped them off the wall multiple times since he’d first hung them. when the door opened, lucas was crouched down under the little two-person table he had in his kitchen trying to extricate one of the bulbs from yoda’s mouth. “if you swallow that, i’m not paying to save your dumb a- fuck!”  lucas jumped slightly at his sister’s voice and smacked his head off of the table while yoda darted out into the living room, dropped the string lights in his mouth, and promptly hissed at erica. 

lucas landed promptly on his ass and poked his head out to peer over at his sister and then checked his watch. of course this would be the one time erica showed up on time. and of course lucas hadn’t forgotten about their weekly dinner! he wasn’t an asshole. “hello to you too,” he grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and rubbing the back of his head as he shuffled around fathering paper plates and silverware. “what, you don’t like the new decor?” he waited a beat as he handed a plate off to her. “i just thought…maybe if luke was…where will was, maybe he’d be able to talk to us.” he scratched at his ear, suddenly self-conscious under his sister’s gaze. “it hasn’t worked. yet. but.” he shrugged and started pulling food out of the bags like nothing at all had happened. “was it busy?”

erica let out a scream when she saw lucas bang his head against the table and then saw as that stupid cat hissed at her. erica had to resist the urge to kick it - if it came to it, she would. but she saw as the cat ran off into another room and she raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her brother. “that cat is the devil! you’re lucky i didn’t kick him just right there and now.” she said, taking off her blazer and shaking her head, placing it on the back of the chair, before her attention was back on her brother.

she looked around the room, watching the alphabet letters on the floor, written on pieces of paper and the lights too. erica tried to decipher what was going on, but even that was too much for her. “lucas, i swear to god if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now, i’ll call mom and she can see that you leave all of your stuff like this. she might not put you in a psych ward, but i will.” she said, shaking her head slowly as she stared over at the lights once again, waiting for some type of explanation. she looked over at her brother and ran a hand through her hair softly, scratching it as he talked about luke and will. the talk of will made her stomach turn, remembering everything about the funeral. erica might not have been that close to will, but her brother was. and when he did, she had to be there for him.

“why would luke be there? even better, how would luke be there? we closed everything down after we took down that creepy guy in the haunted house... right?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. she was hoping that her words were true and then letting out a sigh. “plus, if... that were even possible, don’t you remember that everything in the upside down is the same as in here, except... it’s upside down? if luke was in fact there, wouldn’t he be hanging out at his house?” she asked, trying to reason with him.

everything about mike wheeler’s kid disappearing was weird. erica wondered if it had anything to do with the commies - she knew that they were no good and that it wouldn’t be the first time that they were messing around in hawkins. erica wouldn’t be surprised if the kid had been kidnapped by communist scientists and that they would figure out that he had been made in a lab - because there was no way that mike wheeler was getting laid, right? while erica couldn’t say this out loud, it was definitely on her mind most of the time, and it was definitely on her mind now that she was going to pick up holly. erica thought that she could use a distraction from all of this, and what was better than her company? as erica walked towards the front door, she knocked on the door as she waited.

smiling once she opened the door, erica could almost feel how heavy the atmosphere was inside of that house. she didn’t even think twice about wanting to come in, instead taking a step back and motioning towards her car. “you need a ride? it’s better if you leave the house now, girl... or else you’ll end up looking like one of those creeps that never their house. and you don’t want that, do you?” she asked, leaning over the door frame as she stared at holly. erica had actually made a good friend in holly, which was a given considering that the two had a slight age difference - but when you’re left in hawkins while everyone else graduated, who else are you going to hang out with?

the sinclair siblings had made it a pact to call each other every week when they moved away at first. of course, at first, erica thought that it was lame and lucas was often the first one to call, but after a while, she had to admit that it was nice to hear lucas’ voice on the other side of the phone. but now that they were both in hawkins, they had decided to turn their weekly phone call into a dinner. just the two of them, no parents, no one else. it would be a nice time to catch up on things that they couldn’t talk on their parents’ table and stuff that erica was sure would give sue sinclair a stroke. she had been in charge to pick up food. and so she did, picking the restaurant where they used to go all of the time with their parents. erica thought that it had been a good idea, as she always had them.

“i’m here, loser, you better have set the table because i’m not doing all the work for you. i’m not your...” erica said as she walked inside of lucas’ apartment and looked around. christmas lights? erica was sure that she was hallucinating in that very moment as she turned to look at her brother, a shocked looked on her face. was this real or had lucas lost his mind completely. “...mom. lucas, what the hell is this? have you gone completely crazy? because i don’t think i’m ready to visit you in the psych ward every day.” she said, placing the food on the table and looking around.

it was bad enough that she was back in hawkins with the rest of the losers, but now she also had to do her mom’s chores? it felt like nothing had changed and that erica was eleven years old again, fighting mr. melvald to get the senior citzen discount for her mom. was her mom a senior citzen at the time? erica couldn’t be sure, but she was sure to get that discount each time she went there. she had been standing in line with her groceries for what seemed like hours now, tapping her foot impatiently as the line slowly moved. when had this store become so popular? and why did the store only have one person working on the register? erica was slowly losing her mind and the cherry on top was when someone stood in front of her, cutting in line.

it took everything in erica to not start yelling right there and then, but she remembered what everything that had been said about her when she had tried running for office. now, she was going to be calmer and collected. or at least, that’s what would have happened in an ideal world. “excuse you, can’t you see that there’s a line?” she asked loudly, moving over in front of the woman that had crossed her and glared at her. “who do you think you are, george bush? get to the back in line like everyone else!” she said, rolling her eyes and turning her back to the woman. the nerve of some people.

“no, you listen to me, jessica! if i get to new york and you haven’t fixed this, i will take off my shoe, turn it sideways and shove it up your...” erica had been on this call for about thirty minutes, trying to find a way to solve a problem that had happened all the way in new york. one thing about presidential candidates was that they didn’t seem to know what they were doing most of the time and they were almost like children that depended on their campaign managers. this time around it wasn’t any different, except erica wasn’t there to fix this. she was about to keep yelling at her assistant to try and find a solution to this problem when she saw someone approach her.

“i’ll call you right back, jessica. fix this.” erica signed off with a threatening tone, moving her phone away from her ear and flipping it shut, as she looked over at the person who had approached her. if there was a thing about hawkins, was that people were going to snoop whenever they had the chance. erica guessed it was because it was a small town, but she knew that even in new york people seemed to mind other people’s business. “can i help you? or are you done listening to my private conversation?” she asked, a frown on her face.

[KEKE PALMER, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER] When’s the last time anyone heard anything about [ERICA SINCLAIR]? Old friends remember them as [DIRECT & CONFIDENT] but also [JUDGMENTAL & SARCASTIC], no wonder they’re still known as [THE PRODIGY] around town. Today, in 2006, they are [THIRTY-ONE] and some people say they remind them of [ROLLING EYES, A CUP OF COFFEE THAT’S ALWAYS FULL, WEARING SUITS AND HIGH HEELS TO WORK, STILL SAYING “JUST THE FACTS!” TO EVERYONE, YELLING AND INSULTING]. 

.

“i have a job, erica. and a skateboard, actually.” max reminded her, then added, “why are you even trying to keep up with my hobbies? does stalker run in the family?” she didn’t have a problem with erica, she really didn’t. erica had never done anything to her and max had never done anything to erica. they both just had quick mouths, they both wanted to get their way, most of the time, it just so happened that the way each of them wanted or how they thought to go about it was completely different. there was only one way to egg a man though, and max thought that might be a task better accomplished together. she didn’t indulge erica’s insult about her hair. instead, max rolled her eyes and pulled the carton a little closer to her chest as she began walking them in the direction of the haw. 

max stayed quiet. like she did with most people when there wasn’t really anything to talk about. the hawk wasn’t far from the sidewalk where they stood, so by the time erica was asking questions and admitting she had a gun in her closet they were safely under the marquee of the hawk. upon erica’s confession max grabbed her arm, “what the fuck erica?” she asked her with a small laugh of disbelief, “i don’t want to shoot murray, terminator. i just wanna mess with him a little bit.” she walked through the theater. it was open, but empty. max used the keys to get them rooftop access. once on  the roof, max explained, “it was a long time ago, but he’s kind of the whole reason we even drove to the border that night. you know, when miss byers totaled her car, will went missing, that night. i’m still pissed at him for it.” she admitted, opening the carton and grabbing an egg. she watched the street carefully, poised to throw it at any second. max plucked another one from the container, eyes still on the road as she extended it to erica and asked, “what about you? why’d you agree?” 

.

erica took a quick look at max, narrowing her eyes as she spoke. “i don’t see why anyone would ever stalk you. i don’t think they would be that interested in seeing your daily routine that mostly consists of being at my house or riding that skateboard.” she said with a small shrug of her shoulders. whenever erica thought she was done insulting someone, there was always something else she could say. but for now, she thought it would probably for the best if she stopped. only because she knew that max would tell lucas and then erica would never hear the end of it. and she had better stuff to do than to hear her brother lecture her about her girlfriend. if they were even that. erica didn’t keep up. erica followed the other slowly, keeping an eye on her and then occasionally looking around, before raising an eyebrow at max’s reaction when she mentioned she had a gun. 

“i know, i’m not saying... we should shoot him.” erica said, lowering her voice a bit. the last thing she wanted was for anyone to hear what they were talking about. especially if one of her mom’s friends were in town and happened to hear it. it would pretty much be the end of the world if it did happen. “i’m just saying, if it ever comes to it, we know what to do.” erica said with a nod. she listened carefully to what max was saying about murray. it didn’t surprise her, erica didn’t like the man ever since the events at starcourt mall and since then, she just thought he was a creep. that’s why she didn’t hesitate in saying the other yes. if there was someone who could teach him a lesson, then it would be the two of them. “he was responsible for all of that? that man needs to be put on a leash.” erica said, shaking her head as she followed max. “i just think he’s a creep. he spends way too much time around kids. and younger people. he needs to get a life of his own.” erica said with a small shrug.

Dustin wasn’t really self-conscious of their home, though it was definitely smaller than the Sinclair’s. It was covered in cat hair from Tews, but otherwise pretty tidy. He and his mom tended to split chores around the house, and with all of the shit he’d gotten into lately, he was trying to stay on her good side in case news that he’d stolen a bus got out. It helped having Suzie here. Dustin might have been a bit of a slob otherwise, but he really didn’t want his girlfriend thinking that he was that messy. So, as Erica made a face and surveyed the area, Dustin tried to not let it get under his skin too much. 

“I’m turning red because we’re having this conversation, not because I was doing it!” Dustin huffed, throwing his arms up. “I was reading Lord of the Rings! And no, I wasn’t masturbating to it!” He sighed heavily, shaking his head. Dustin was very, very aware that porn existed, but he really hadn’t needed it since things had escalated in his and Suzie’s relationship. But either way, that was not a conversation he was having with Erica Sinclair. “Thank god we’re on the same page…” Dustin rolled his eyes. He nodded at the mention of them hanging out - it wasn’t something they really did often, but Dustin actually liked spending time with Erica. They had very similar interests, and while seeing her came with a lot of roasting, he could usually handle it. “Hey! Usually, I’m busy.” Dustin complained at the implication that he didn’t have anything else to do. “You caught me on a day off.” He racked his brain for what they could do together, glancing over at the living room. “Want to watch some tv? Or I have my DnD stuff upstairs, we could swap notes on ideas for a campaign? I kind of had some thoughts on one, and you’d be a great person to talk it through with.” After all, Erica was just as good at DMing as he was - maybe better. And this way, it wouldn’t spoil the surprise for Lucas, Mike or Will. “Or we could go to the pool or mall.” He shrugged, down for whatever. 

.

erica looked over at dustin up and down once again, watching him carefully. the other wasn’t bad company. out of all of lucas’ friends, he was probably the one that she would rather hang out with. she didn’t see any interesting in hanging out with mike wheeler. plus, dustin had found himself a pretty cool girlfriend, so maybe he wasn’t that bad as she thought. of course, erica would never say this out loud. or at least, not in public. after all, she was sure that dustin would notice that she didn’t mind his company after today, mostly because she had showed up at his place solely to hang out with him. if that didn’t show anything, then erica wasn’t sure what would. she slowly made her way towards the other’s couch and sat down, leaning back on the couch as she looked over at dustin.

“you certainly got very defensive about masturbating to lord of the rings... i didn’t know hobbits excited you so much.” erica told the other, clearly teasing him. it was part of her nature, it was something that she just couldn’t avoid anymore. she was sure that dustin never really took it the wrong way. erica took another sip of the coke that the other had handed him before placing it on the coffee table as her eyes followed dustin. she hadn’t really anything in mind for them to do, but whatever they were going to do, it definitely was better than whatever she had planned to do back at her place. “sure, you’re usually busy... doing what? being a nerd? yeah, you’re right about that.” erica said, before letting out a small chuckle. “sorry, i just can’t help myself sometimes. you know i mean no harm, but sometimes you’re too nerdy that it makes my stomach ache.” she said, shrugging her shoulders. at the options dustin gave her, erica narrowed her eyes as she thought about what they could. “listen, i know we play dnd together and all of that, but given all of the creatures we had to deal recently, i’ve had enough of monsters and bullshit like that. we can just watch tv and just... talk, i guess.” erica told the other, nodding her head towards dustin.

.

a sharp bark of laughter followed erica’s comment. “it was a pretty memorable haircut, i guess.” he remembered how will’s mom used to cut his hair in the kitchen. lucas went to his mom’s salon for the longest time because there weren’t a lot of people in hawkins who knew what to do with their kind of hair. more recently, his dad had been cutting his hair. but before graduation, his mom had taken him out to indianapolis, to a barber shop full of guys who looked like him. they took care of him, gave him a cut like a basketball player he’d seen on tv, and even set him up with the proper tools to clean it up himself at home.  lucas was probably going to be making another trip out there soon. it was just…different, being around the kind of music and talk that he rarely saw in his hometown. shaking his head slightly, lucas pulled himself back to the present and his conversation with his twin. “what do her parents do that they’re so rich anyway?” 

he gave erica an impressed look as he fired a few more shots with the wrist rocket. “i wish i could do that. watch somebody do something a few times and be good at it. you suck.” lucas had had to practice for months before he felt like he could try out for the basketball team. even then, he hadn’t exactly been confident. erica, though? she could watch somebody do a task a dozen times and replicate it perfectly. “shut up. i just mean we’re practically dating without the labels.” he nudged erica’s shoulder lightly with his own as he looked around for a few more stones and held the slingshot out to his sister. “of course. you never know when it’ll come in handy.” he waved it slightly as he extended the wrist rocket towards her. “wanna try? maybe it’s one thing you’re bad at.” he somehow doubted it. erica’s reaction to him and max wasn’t exactly surprising. he knew they butted heads a lot, but it was just because they were similar in some ways. it made him feel better that his twin sister wasn’t actively sabatoging his…not relationship.

he slid his hands into his pockets and gave her a long look. he was really proud of her for not only getting into yale but for being so confident she was going to do well out there. lucas had no doubt that she would. erica could do anything she put her mind to. still, his heart ached when he thought about it for too long. they’d never been apart for longer than a week before and every day of summer that slipped away was another day closer to being separated from somebody he’d known since birth. before that, even! it was weird to think about, so lucas just…tried not to think about it. “no. i’m just worried mom and dad are gonna come down harder on me once they don’t have to divide their attention.” 

.

erica watched lucas carefully, nodding her head in agreement. erica had always remembered will with that haircut, so now to see him without a bowl on his head, it was hard to memorize his face. he had never been the one to stand out out of the group they were in, even if it was a weird party, it was always easier to recognize the others. “yes, it was, so you can’t blame me if i don’t remember him...” erica said with a small shrug of her shoulders, as she took a seat on a nearby rock and watched as lucas took his shots at the bottle with his slingshot. it was a pretty useless weapon in erica’s opinion and it didn’t seem to actually do some harm to anyone unless they really hated rocks, but at least lucas could use it normally and who knows? maybe it would be the thing to save them all from the doppelganger after all. but she doubted that. “her mom works at city hall and her dad works at the police station, so i guess money isn’t so bad for them.” erica said with a small shrug of her shoulders. she didn’t know a lot about jennifer’s parents, but she knew where they worked at.

“well, someone had to be born with all of the intelligence and skills. too bad that i stole all of the looks too. and you were just born.” erica said with a small shrug, a small teasing grin on her lips. she knew that this back and forth with lucas was all in good fun, knowing that neither of them would actually ever stay offended by something they said. “dating without the labels? that’s so lame, lucas. you know how lame that sounds?” erica asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother, before shaking her head slightly. she got up from the rock she was sitting on and walked towards her brother, taking the slingshot from his hand once he handed it to her. she was sure that it was just as easy as to handle a weapon. without thinking, she aimed at one of the few bottles still standing and knocked it out with the slingshot, before shrugging her shoulder. “the only thing i’m not good at is modesty... because i’m great at it.” erica said with a small shrug, as she handed the slingshot back to lucas.

she knew that she would probably miss her brother, even if she tried to deny it as hard as she could, but she knew that she would. they had never gone a long of time being separated and she didn’t like thinking about it. but at the same time, she was excited to go out there and do something with her life. “i think mom and dad will be just fine with you here. they’ll have their hands full still.” erica said with a small shrug. “but if it matters, i’ll miss you too.” erica said, pursing her lips as she looked down at the ground for a couple of moments. she was never this serious with her brother, but it felt right. it was just the two of them anyway.

.

“you’ve known will since we were six. come on, bug.” lucas pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. the running joke of his sister not knowing his friends was so familiar and normal that he leaned into it. “anyway, how’s tonya doing? and jessica hayes?” he could relate to wanting some normalcy. they’d gotten spoiled with a few years of it between vecna and now, but it was only a matter of time before something pulled the rug out from under them. it was hawkins, after all. 

he folded his hands behind his head as he watched erica take a few shots. her aim was good. really good. “who taught you how to do that?” he chuckled softly, shaking his head. “no. we’re not. we’re just…doing pretty much everything else.” and he’d leave it at that. “i think i want to, though.” lucas said as he dropped to aa knee, digging around in his backpack for something. “be her boyfriend, you know? like dustin and suzie. i want that.” once he found the wrist rocket in his bag, he pulled it out and looked around for a few stones in the grass. once he had a handful, he stood up and took aim with the slingshot, quickly knocking down four bottles with one shot each. “i can’t believe you’re leaving soon. asshole.” he punctuated it with another downed bottle, just for the hell of it.

.

erica looked over at lucas as she mentioned will, narrowing her eyes and nodding her head slowly. “right, right... will.” she told herself, knowing that she would probably forget it. “i just have a really hard time remembering him since he doesn’t look like a mushroom anymore.” she said, as she looked down at the gun she was holding it before carefully putting it back in her bag. she still had to carry it home and somehow make it past her mom without her wanting to check it, hopefully nothing bad would happen. it would be really bad if her mom find out about this - bad enough for erica to not go to yale anymore. maybe she was being dramatic, but her mom was one of the few people that actually scared her. “they’re doing pretty good, i suppose. i haven’t seen them this week yet, but we’re supposed to go jennifer’s pool soon.” erica said with a small nod of her head.

at the question, erica just shrugged her shoulders. “from watching nancy wheeler. and i’m self taught, it’s pretty easy.” erica said, nodding her head. everything she had learned she pretty much had done by herself, which she wasn’t ashamed to admit. she closed her bag carefully as she watched her brother talk about max. “what do you mean doing everything else? god, lucas, that’s gross, how many times do i have to tell you not to share that with me?” she asked, shaking her head slowly as she crossed her arms over her chest and watched as lucas took off his slingshot from his backpack. “you’re still carrying that thing?” erica asked. when lucas mentioned that he wanted max to be his girlfriend, erica gave a firm nod. “then just ask her, what are you waiting for?” she asked. while she might give the two a hard time, erica knew that the two were made for each other. they seemed to be the only ones who didn’t see it. “i can’t wait to leave, personally. i think i’ll do good in yale. and i’ll be better than everyone else, obviously.” erica said with a small chuckle. “are you going to miss me, lukey?” she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.

It wasn’t often that Dustin found himself alone during the days anymore. If he didn’t have work, he usually could be found with Suzie or someone else in the Party. It was a nice change of pace from what he was used to in summer’s past. As an only child, Dustin was prone to feeling lonely, so having so many of his friends to bother and his girlfriend literally living in his house had helped a lot. But today, Suzie had a shift at the library and the others had all been occupied with one thing or another, so Dustin had decided to start rereading The Lord of the Rings series. 

He was a few chapters into The Fellowship of the Ring, lost in thoughts of hobbits and elves when he heard a knocking on the door. That was weird. If Suzie or his mom had gotten off early, they had their own keys to let them in at this point. Slipping an old receipt into the book to serve as a bookmark, Dustin quickly changed out of his pajamas and into shorts and a faded t-shirt. Throwing one of his hats on, he jogged down the stairs and swung the door open. “Erica?” He asked, not surprised when she walked inside without being invited. “No, I wasn’t masturbating!” He hissed, cheeks immediately turning red at the idea. “I was reading! Jesus!” Dustin followed her inside, moving towards the kitchen to offer her a drink or snack like the good host his mother had raised him to be. “Please do not picture that,” He wrinkled his nose, opening the fridge. “What are you doing here anyway?” Dustin grabbed two Coke’s offering her one before popping the tab on his and taking a sip.  

.

erica hadn’t been over at the henderson residence a lot of times before, so now that she was actually in there and not in a rush to escape, she took a few moments to look around. she couldn’t help the face she made when she noticed the cat hairs all over the floor, but it didn’t matter. erica looked over at dustin for a couple of moments and narrowed her eyes as she inspected the other. erica had too many things in common with dustin, she thought to herself. but erica was a lot cooler in the things she did, at least that’s what she thought and she hoped everyone else thought too. she pursed her lips together and crossed her arms together as the other started talking, tilting her head to the side as she listened to him.

“then why are you turning red? and reading what? porn? you really are a nerd, you know there’s videos of that.” she said, shaking her head slowly. erica didn’t actually believe that the other was masturbating, but if dustin was anything like her brother, then she didn’t want to find out what dustin was keeping under his bed. erica watched as the other made his way inside of the kitchen and followed him to it, watching him slowly. she had no idea what the two could do together, it wasn’t like they had hung out just the two of them before. maybe this had been a bad idea, erica thought to herself as she watched the other, her eyes narrowed. “i have better things to do than picture you masturbating.” she said, shuddering at the thought as she took the coke from other’s hand and cracked it open, before taking a sip. “oh, you know, i thought i would just stop by and... hang out.” she said honestly, shrugging her shoulders. “unless you have something else to do, which i doubt.” she said with a nod.

.

it seemed like these days, max woke up with something boiling inside of her. maybe it had always been there, but max wasn’t looking to find those answers. instead, she let herself act out. act out of boredom, anger, fear. if the doppelganger and her newly arrived uncle jack could run around hawkins and fuck up her life, she could egg murray bauman simply because she had nothing better to do and wanted to throw things. max was leaving melvald’s, carton of eggs in one hand, and the ring of keys to the hawk in her other when she clocked erica hurrying up the street. normally, she would’ve just let her least favorite sinclair keep going, but didn’t she also share some disdain for murray? max never thought to ask why. 

standing in front of melvald’s she called once, “erica!” no response. that was intentional, max thought. she rolled her eyes, then jogged a couple of paces forward. cupping her mouth with the hand the keys were in, she tried again, “yo erica!” it seemed that time it worked. unsurprised to be met with a jab, max easily countered, “why would i ask for money from you?” max scoffed, she was the last person she’d try to shake down. laughing dryly, she added, “especially when you earn it by like, probably locking middle schoolers in your basement who you force to do labor and write out insults for you to use on little pieces of paper.” she shrugged off that conversation, then gently shook her egg carton. not really wanting to give a long winded explanation, max offered simply, “wanna help me egg that creep murray?”

.

it wasn’t like erica didn’t like max, she acknowledged the other as a person, which wasn’t bad. but the whole situation with her brother made things sort of awkward between them and erica wanted to stay away from it as much as she could. plus, the two were known for being hot-headed, so many of the times their interests would collide and it wasn’t pretty if people were around to see it. but again, erica didn’t hate max. that’s why she didn’t just walk away when she finally approached her. she looked over at the carton of eggs that the other was holding on to and furrowed her brows, then looked over at max. “i don’t know, why would you? maybe you want to buy... i don’t know, skateboards? it gets really hard to follow your hobbies.” erica said with a small shrug of her shoulders, her face slightly lighting up when the other mentioned murray and egging. now that was something she could get on board with.

“i don’t keep middle schoolers in my basement, but it would be a better way to use it than using it as a storage room from all of the grease from your hair. no offense.” erica said, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she looked at max for a couple of moments. “but my answer is yes, i would love to help you with that.” she said with a nod - it wasn’t like murray had done exactly to either of them, but erica did think that he was a creep and that he should be taught some sort of lesson so he would stop creeping around hawkins. “why are you doing this, exactly? i won’t judge, i just want to know if there’s something i should know, because if he was a creep towards you, then i have a gun in my closet.” erica said in a lower tone, not sure why she was disclosing this information to max - but she was sure that she already knew because of lucas. he was a blabbermouth after all.