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Curiosity has always followed you like a shadow. It nagged every single time something catches your eye. Though in the equation, it’s up to the people who know you to judge whether it's your downfall or the defining characteristic that sets you apart from a crowd. Quite literally, in this case.

When news got around that the seniors' trip would not only be out of state but also would be in a certain park where common plants sprout in unique and somewhat distorted forms, you've never been more excited about a school trip. While others deemed it boring, you knew enough about the place for it to pique your utmost interest. You read from the internet— not the most reliable source but it's the only one that ever mentioned— that in the 80's, bizarre accounts of paranormal experiences were recorded in that area. Apparently, the park was at the heart of where botched government experiments were held and they were so concentrated that the repercussions live to this day. The plants that look like they belong in a Tim Burton film are the most commonly observed but other people who visit the park to learn more about the history of the place say that they get a weird feeling as if they're being watched by someone who wasn't there. It was all sorts of weird stories that you swore were tweaked to fit the creepy narrative surrounding the already mysterious place but it's more than enough to lure you in.

Your biology teacher kept reminding your class to stay together as one group and only to very occasionally disperse in pairs of two. Fortunately, you were paired with a quiet boy named Peter who only gives you side-glances but doesn't utter a word to you, not even as you reach for a twisted bonsai tree.

Truth be told, you didn't come all the way to some town in Indiana to look at whatever you could see on the internet. You wanted to see parts of it that you can't find anywhere else so while the rest of the class crowded at the center where benches and signposts stood, you trudged through green-blue grass, not paying attention to whether or not your partner was following you.

Wire fences surrounded the perimeter of the park which seemed absurd to you but you didn't dwell on that for too long as your eyes caught something glisten in the crease of a tree a few steps from where you stood. You only look back at the crowd for a split second, noting that Peter is nowhere to be seen before you took the steps toward the odd tree. Up close, the bark appeared distinctly like burnt wood and you would have guessed that the gel-like substance on its crease came from the tree itself. That was until your hand reached for it and it peeled away in a chunk. Against your bare skin, the consistency was like an extremely thick slime somewhat resembling the transparent ones you would always see on your Instagram explore page.

You were about to reach inside your bag for a ziploc to store the goo in so hopefully, you could take it back to school and study it furthermore. It didn't seem too different from a regular tree sap, though it seemed as if blue flakes were inside the substance itself. As you lift out a plastic bag, you spot a tree formation not too far off from where you stood firmly. With furrowed brows, you study the area and check that it's still within the wire fence bounds and after that, your mind just got your legs to take you there without much thought.

Curiosity was like that. It doesn't really give you mere seconds to ponder what you're about to do or where you're headed. Your feet just lay flat and lift off mechanically, completely in a trance. There's nothing else in your head except getting to point A to point C without noticing point B. It disassociates you. One second you're pushing through a curtain of leafy vines and the next, you're on the blue-green grass lying unconsciously.

Your throat felt stuffy when you took your first breath. For some reason, it felt like the air you inhaled was dusty, and it tickled you from the nostrils down the throat. Your eyes blinked once, twice, until you noticed six figures hunching over you. Everything's blurry, like your eyesight had been damaged  and so you can't tell who's who though you guess they're your classmates and maybe your biology teacher finding you after you blacked out for no apparent reason.

"You idiot!" Someone whisper-yelled. "I told you to avoid her eyes. She can't see!"

"Hello—" You called out, only to be shushed with a hand over your mouth.

"Shhh," a different voice pitched in. "You have to be quiet."

You tried to bend your arms at the elbows and rest them on the surface where you lied, but they only slid down. It was like you had something on your elbows.

Something sticky and gel-like. Gel-like.

A gasp broke its way out of your lips, your hands reached for your eye area to wipe whatever was on it. You brought your hands in front of your finally cleared eyesight and saw the same substance you saw from the tree back at the park. Back at the park.

You looked around, surprise taking over your whole body as you saw how everything looked like a cheap filter was slapped onto it. Everything was blue, absolutely everything, and dust was suspended in the air as they would be if it were a vacuum. But it's not, you know it's not because gravity is very much there. You don't even know where is there that you were talking about. It was definitely not the park.

Five pairs of eyes blinked at you as another gasp left your mouth. "Calm down," The girl was the first to say. "Please don't scream or it'll come for—" A tall boy who stood next to her nudged her and suddenly, she stopped talking.

Where- where am I?" You whispered as one of your hands cradled your throbbing head. Not only that, your chest constantly constricted and expanded too. "And why the hell am I covered in this?"

Another boy who was relatively shorter than every other stranger surrounding you answered, "You fell in here. You saw the... portal and you got through it. We had to drag you here before it found you." He gulped, looking at his tallest friend for reassurance. "We also covered you in the mess so it can't smell you."

You could have asked what he meant by it but you were too distracted by the strange aura that emanated from the five. Your wandering eyes ceased to be curious as they took in everyone's appearance. Sure, Nike still sells the shoes they were wearing, and vintage style are totally popular lately but something about their outfits seemed more... genuinely old. And their haircuts too.

"How long have you all been here?" It was crazy, but you couldn't help but entertain the thought that they were stuck here. The idea sounds straight out of a sci fic movie but if you had to accept that the foreign environment you found yourself in, that defied all known laws of physics including time and space continuity, then you had to at least suppose. And if that were the case, there's a possibility that you would be too.

The girl looked down at her sneakers while the others looked around. They all wanted nothing else but to evade the question because answering it would mean facing and accepting the truth.

"Well," The boy with the shortest haircut cleared his throat. "What year is it?"

"2018," You replied.

"Well, shit."

The tallest one laughed but it carried no trace of humor and was rather dry. "30." He then stared at you right in the eyes, "It's been 30 years."

"What even is the point anymore," One of them sighed. You swore he almost cried. "We're never getting out of here."

"Not us, but she will." The same one who answered your previous question added, only this time, he appeared determined instead of worn out. Though he attempted to appear optimistic, something in his dreadful eyes told you that it wasn’t his personal choice. Quite frankly, he appeared to be the pessimistic type. Maybe it’s because he’s the tallest or because he carried a sense of authority with his tone but you guessed he assumed the spot of the leader. And if he really was, he had to be a beacon of light to his friends and supply them with as much hope he could muster, or fake, at least.

Red hair whips through the air as the only girl stood next to the group, "In 24 hours. If she gets out in 24 hours."

The throbbing in your head only intensified. "Wait, I'm confused." You looked at each one of them, "You've been stuck here for 30 years? But... you don't age." Fairly enough, they all looked like they would be near your age at least.

"It's a loop. Everyday it's May 27th, 1988." Another boy added.

You should have been scared, but in that moment, all you cared about was figuring out the situation. As they vaguely explained it to you, you quickly studied the area around you and indeed noted that everything looked foreign, not just geographically, but chronologically as well. There was a beaten down diner not too far away and a few houses crumbled to their foundation. "1988," a breath puffed out your lungs, "The government experiments."

"Right." The tallest one nodded, "There was one which El- Our friend... tried to destroy while we tried to burn part of it. She didn't get to finish what she started but-but she zapped something in it and it's been stuck like this since."

What a girl named El had business destroying what must have been a well-constructed government conspiracy, you knew you had no business asking. You nodded silently instead. "Are you El?" You turned to the redhead.

She lifted her eyebrows in surprise, "Oh, not me. I'm Max."

You took another good look at them as they mutter out their names one by one. It was cool, really, but it was only then did it start dawning on you that you could possibly be stuck here where nothing was functional and live on a loop for the rest of your life. Or are they even alive? You can't fucking tell.

"Hopefully, the portal didn't seal close where you fell in so we can push you back out and return to where you came from." Lucas whispered.

You gulped, "Will you guys be able to leave with me?"

"We probably don't... belong there anymore." Will looked down at his hands. "Stuck here for 30 years, out there we would be 46. It doesn't..." he didn't even get to finish his sentence with how upset he is.

"You've never tried?" You looked between all six of them.

"It's not safe, okay? None of us wanted to risk it." Dustin snapped at you, but you understood where the pent-up anger came from. You knew it wasn't directed towards you anyway, but rather the situation they found themselves in.

"Not after El." Lucas muttered. "If she was- if she wasn't able to take it down, we don't stand a chance."

Mike huffed, "How about we stop talking and actually find a way to shove her out."

While they figured things out for themselves, you decided to look around and let everything sink in first. "So cool," you mumbled to yourself, not knowing that they were able to hear you with how accustomed they are to conversing so quietly.

"I knew this girl was mad in the head." Dustin said. "Who the hell falls in the upside down? And she thinks this is cool."

"It's not cool if you were that guy who got in some time ago. He didn't leave before the loop restarted and he got stuck. The mind flayer ate him." Will recounted.

Ah, that must be the it he referred to a while back. You were sure you were forgetting about something. "How do you manage to survive with a monster on a hunt?" At least you assumed it was a monster. Otherwise, why would they fear it so much?

"Will has been here before." Mike answered. "He already knows this place like the back of his hand and he's really good at hiding so he takes over that." Pride flashed in his eyes for a split second.

"I make weapons." Lucas pitched in, lifting a dagger and a makeshift bow and arrow.

Dustin grinned enthusiastically at the mention, "I design said weapons."

"I pick out fruits but they grow everyday on the same spot. It's a walk in the park." Max shrugged.

Lucas chuckled, "And Mike takes care of the anger. He's mad enough for all of us."

"Shut up." Mike threw a pebble his way. The soft sound bounced off Lucas then to the wall. The sound echoed and traveled around the hollow walls. It almost mocked the silence they tried so hard to keep.

Debris and dust fall from the ceiling and sounds of cracking cement comes from the side. Everyone held their breaths in, afraid that even one puff of air could sell out their exact location but they didn't really need to worry as a long limb already wiggled its way through the side opening.

DESPERATE MEASURES

The warmth of Hawkins’ edge-of-summer air sifted through Stacy’s powder blue dress, making it sway along to her movements. She didn’t really want to go outside today, as the way it has been the last couple of days when anywhere outside her room was too hot for her to function. Fall is just around the corner but she’s still yet to feel the temperature tone down. Maybe Stacy’s body has already forgotten what it was like living in Sydney where the summer heat was much worse, or maybe, she was just being her cranky self, noticing every single detail that irked her.

No one could blame the poor girl though; she has been bluer than the dress draped over her form ever since Steve left for college. It’s just that to her, her house has never seemed more silent and empty without her brother’s rambunctious acts. True, she lived with her parents but they were more like ghosts anyway, with all the times they’ve traveled in and out of town. Stacy even shared a laugh with Max when she joked that her parents practically lived at the airport. ‘Your parents went to Italy for four days and all they got you was a magnet?!’ Max seemed more affected than her, really. Although it’s something that bothered Stacy, she never spent more than a hot minute talking about it to not sound like a brat going off about her first world problem even though her friends insisted.

After some time gliding leisurely around the commercial center of the town, Stacy began to sweat under the mid-noon sun’s aggressive glare. Even her toes started to sweat inside her jelly sandals which made every step she took slightly uncomfortable. As she sat down on one of the benches propped outside a Spanish restaurant, Stacy was reminded of her motivation to go outside in the first place. When her parents are out of town—like they are now—Stacy’s responsible of preparing her meals. She usually liked to cook for herself but it gets boring and exhausting too, at some point, so today, she wanted to eat outside. Crouching slightly to see better through the glass, Stacy inspected the restaurant , pondering whether it would be a nice place for her to eat lunch in.

Stacy weighed her options; either she would have to walk a little farther to her favorite diner with her sweaty toes, or eat at the Spanish restaurant she has never tried but seemed somewhat pricey. Her laziness picked for her and urged her to enter the air-conditioned establishment as soon as possible. However, in the split moment that she whipped her head to face back out front, the very tip of her hair swooped past an ice cream right in front of her face.

Surprise was the first thing Stacy felt, then curiosity, and back to surprise as soon as her eyes trailed from the hand holding the ice cream cone to the face to whom it belonged.

Mike Wheeler looked nervous at best as Stacy proceeded to switch gazes between him and the ice cream in his hand. He feared that the dessert would melt in his hand if Stacy refused to take it, but the one thing he feared more is rejection, and maybe having Stacy shove the ice cream in his face. Deep down, he knew he deserved it.

To repeat, Stacy was surprised; not because as it turns out, Mike Wheeler was still alive, but that he was standing in front of her, rather stupidly, blinking at her as he held a green-colored ice cream towards her. Did he want her to take it? Or did he even mean to hold it to her? What if he thought she was someone else?

It sure looked funny if strangers were to walk by and see the two teenagers frozen in place with only their eyes moving between the ice cream and each other. Mike wanted to say something but he couldn’t formulate it yet; there was something about seeing Stacy so close after three weeks of avoiding her. Mike noticed that her hair still smelled like lavender and from there on he was too distracted to even remember what the hell he wanted to do in the first place.

All Mike remembered was that he saw Stacy walking around town all alone and he wanted to talk to her but he had no idea how.

Ending the lengthy stare-down that put poker players to shame, Stacy raised an eyebrow, “What are you doing?”

Mike gulped. He tried to think about an appropriate answer but all he could spit out was, “Y-you looked like you needed a mood boost.”

In reality, Stacy appreciated the gesture, she really did but she didn’t want it to show. As childish as it sounds, she was still upset and she wanted him to know that. “And what made you think I wanted that from you?”

“I…” Mike resembled a goldfish out of water as he raked his mind for a response. He can’t even remember the last time Stacy was this hostile to him as even when Mike was an asshole to her when she first arrived, she was never that intentionally mean.

Mike has no solid explanation as to why he was the way that he was towards Stacy when all she ever was to him, was supportive. Looking back at all the stunts he pulled, he supposed he would be the same way towards his own self if he were Stacy. Still, deep down, he knew, Stacy wasn’t as bitter as him, so he kept hoping that she would have the heart to forgive.

He cleared his throat, “It’s a secret flavor from Jodie’s Creamery.” He meekly inched the ice cream closer towards Stacy, so unlike him when he begged the woman at the cashier to tell him about one secret flavor after he messed up their old secret one. He realized that too but not without the help of his sister who went at him after he shared the information. Yeah, he asked for his sister’s help; desperate times call for desperate measures, after all.

The green-colored ice cream continues to soften and gradually melt under the sun the more that Stacy refused to accept it. More than her ego and desire to act mean towards Mike, she also thought about how she hasn’t eaten anything yet the whole day and that an ice cream wasn’t meant to be eaten before meals but to Mike’s surprise, she took it anyway because just like it, people weren’t meant to forgive so easily, but there she was, doing the same exact thing anyway.

The skin on Mike’s fingers got a pinching feeling as it grazed against Stacy’s. It sounded so stupid to him, but he welcomed it still. “It’s pistachio and cashews.”

Stacy bit her tongue, “I’m allergic to peanuts.”

“What!” Mike panicked, taking the ice cream back from Stacy’s hand. He worried that if Stacy were to even touch it, she would get an allergic reaction. But then something clicked in his head, “Wait, what? You loved the peanuts in brownies.” He tilted his head slightly to the right, out of confusion.

A smile makes its way past Stacy’s lips. “Gotcha.” She grinned even more as she noticed the ice cream drip Mike’s stripped shirt. She knew it was one of his favorites. Stacy pursed her lips, “You see, I don’t really have an inclination towards special flavors.” Mike stared as she continued, “but you wouldn’t mind if I shared this with Max, yeah? Or Will; I heard he was craving ice cream the other day.”

At this point, Mike already knew Stacy was just poking fun at him for what he did the last time. He eventually realized how stupid it was; even Jane told him so. As it turned out, Mike sought for help from every girl he knew; his sister, Max, her mom who was of very little help, and even Jane who wouldn’t stop going on about how ridiculous he acted towards Stacy. The more that Jane knew how to communicate in a normal setting unlike the one she grew up and was groomed in, the more that she was able to make sense of the world and people around her. As awkward as it was, she talked to Mike about the times that they kissed and asked if it was weird that she didn’t feel like doing it anymore.

And as it sunk in that the rejection didn’t hurt him at all, Mike felt the need to reach out to someone he missed talking to and spending time with. He was reminded of the time they rode a motorcycle around town and up a cliff to watch the night sky, and the time they visited the museum and tried to understand various paintings and sculptures. And then Mike remembered the way it made him feel; the way he lost track of every single thing that he worried about before that, and simply found himself in the moment. He couldn’t understand it at first, and it made him nervous, admittedly scared him. But now as he looked at Stacy who reached out and wiped the ice cream that dripped on his shirt, he has never felt more relieved.