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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ WELCOME HOME, DUSTIN!
A PART OF ROSIE was scared that Dustin Henderson had forgotten all about her. Her best friend had been at coding camp for the entirety of summer so far, and that little, irrational voice in her head had been continuously whispering to her all day that Dustin would come back a completely changed person. Maybe he dyed his hair red! Maybe he got a girlfriend! Maybe he grew ten feet and is becoming a professional basketball player! Rosie was scared that he had found another best friend if she was honest. Dustin just got her, in a way no one else did, and if he had found something like that with a kid way better at coding her, she'd probably spend the rest of the summer crying.
Another part of her missed him so much she didn't even care if he had changed stuff about himself, or had forgotten all about her, she just wanted to give him a big hug and go comic shopping with him. Yes, he had gotten her into comics, she frequently read Wonder Woman after she had told him about the fact she had never read a single copy of that series in her life, despite dressing up as her for Halloween.
Despite all her irrational doubts, Rosie had gathered together the party a few weeks earlier, to plan a special welcome home to Dustin. El would use her super epic mind powers that Rosie still didn't really understand, to move Dustin's toys and action figures, leading him outside to the living room, where they'd surprise him with a big banner and celebratory party horns.
And now, their plan was finally coming to fruition.
Dustin had been repeatedly trying to contact the party through their walkie-talkies, his angry words flicking at her like bits of poison, "This is Gold Leader, returning to base. Do you copy? Over."
It hurt Rosie to ignore him, and as his attempts to contact them grew more aggressive, he suddenly stopped, as if somebody had torn the walkie talkie from his hands.
After a few minutes of quiet waiting, the door slammed open, and Rosie ushered the party behind the wall. Max was the lookout and nodded her head towards El once she saw Dustin go into his room, and soon, the sounds of his toys flooded the house, the loud banging so cymbals crashing together making Rosie wince. Those weird monkey toys were creepy.
Max nodded once again, indicating that Dustin had begun to follow the moving toys out of his room, and Mike whispered to El, who was right beside him, "Now!"
Suddenly, the noises stopped.
Lucas, who was the one holding the banner (via Rosie's artistic expertise) that read in big red and blue letters, 'Welcome Home, Dustin!', led the way towards Dustin, who was crouched over and examining the toys, that had ceased their movement. Rosie started her silent countdown from three, bracing her ears for the loud buzzing that would come from the party horns, and as soon as she mimed one, Rosie and the party blew the party horns, causing Dustin to shriek and spin around.
