WILDEST DREAMS | stranger things

003. dart and madmax

chapter three
dart and madmax

At lunch, James Parker decided he would check in with the boys since he hadn't seen them for a few days. Dustin had called him the night before, telling him all about their Halloween adventures with their new friend but other than that he had not seen much of them, other than the occasion check-in with Will and Jonathan. He walked towards the middle school, knowing he could sneak in as the receptionist knew who he was.

James didn't get that far however when he noticed the group minus Will stood outside with a girl he didn't know. James furrowed his eyebrows, walking up to them and being immediately noticed.

"Hey James!" Dustin greeted, smiling.

"Hey boys, you okay?" James asked, walking up to them.

"Yeah, we're fine." Lucas nodded.

"Where's Will?" James wondered.

"He had another episode, I think he's getting worse." Mike spoke, worry running through his voice.

"I am still seriously freaked out." The girl spoke, making James turn to her.

"Hi, I'm James."

"Oh, right. James this is Max, Max this is James, the second most coolest person we know." Dustin told the girl.

"Who's the first?" James asked, slightly offended, quickly turning to Max before looking at the boys once more. "Nice to meet you, Max."

"Avery." Lucas shrugged.

"Of course she is." James muttered.

"She does seem pretty awesome." Max agreed, nodding her head. James sent her a confused look before assuming the group had stopped by the diner the night before for a milkshake so they would have bumped into Avery.

Dustin grabbed James' arm. "You have missed a lot, man. I need to catch you up."

"Okay." James sighed. Dustin quickly started rambling about everything that had happened, including finding a strange creature he had decided was his pet called Dart. When James was fully caught up, he agreed to meet with the group after school, to find Dart before bidding them goodbye and making his way back to the high school to go on with his boring day of lessons.

When the finally bell rang, James left his classroom, waving goodbye to Steve before walking back towards the middle school. He walked through the parking lot when a blonde catch his eye.

"Hey Avery!" James called, the girl spinning to face him.

"Parker, what's up?" Avery smiled.

"Nothing, just going to meet the boys." He shrugged. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just heading to the diner, I left my little women book there the other day and I need it." Avery let out a sigh, her eyebrows furrowing when she noticed Max get in a car with Billy.

"So, uh, you and Steve?" James questioned awkwardly. James didn't know about what happened in the diner the night before, only noticing how suddenly the two seemed to be friends, friends with nicknames, advice for each other and sticking up for one another.

Avery turned to look at him, a smirk slowly settling on her face, "What about us?"

"Is there an 'us' when talking about you and him?" James asked, his eyes widening a bit.

"Would you have a problem if there was?" Avery retorted.

"N-no, it's just, I just-"

Avery laughed at the boy's stuttering, shaking her head. "Relax Parker, I'm joking. Steve and I are friends, we got close when he came to diner heartbroken the other day."

James nodded slowly, about to speak when he noticed Avery had walked off. The blonde had spun around and began walking closer to Billy's car, the boy noticing her and smiling as she approached Max.

"Hey Max." Avery knocked on the side of the door.

"You know my sister." Billy raised his eyebrows, a disgusted look on his face.

"He's your brother?" Max nodded. "I'm so sorry."

Max laughed slightly, making Avery notice the tears in the corner of her eyes. The blonde looked between Billy and Max, forcing a smile onto her face.

"I just came over here to tell you, that because you're new to Hawkins and you're kind of awesome, you get free milkshakes for a week if you come to the diner." Avery told her, lying through her teeth.

It wasn't a thing the diner did, free milkshakes — of course Avery gave them out, to Robin, the boys, Nancy and now Steve — but she wasn't supposed to. Avery only told Max that as a cover and from the look in Max's eyes she knew what Avery was doing.

By telling her she got free milkshakes, it gave Max an excuse to come to the diner whenever she wanted, and because Avery had told her, it meant that Avery wanted her there too. Avery was giving Max a free pass to get away from her brother with no worry, and to have someone to talk to at the same time.

"Do I get free milkshakes too?" Billy leant towards her.

Avery made a sarcastic face, pushing his face back. "No, yours were revoked because you're an asshole. You're lucky you haven't been banned already."

Max laughed slightly, stopping when Billy sent her a harsh glare. He started up his engine, making Avery step back before he sped off, her waving sarcastically as he did.

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James knocked on Dustin's door later that day, having come to a recent conclusion about Dart. Dustin's mum answered the door, a smile on her face.

"Hello James." She greeted happily.

"Hi Mrs Henderson, is Dustin here?" He asked, moving past her when she gestured for him to.

"He's upstairs." She smiled, James thanking her as he went up the stairs towards Dustin's room.

"Dustin!" James swung the boy's door open. Dustin spun around, his eyes wide. "I know you found Dart, and lied to everyone else."

Dustin nodded slowly, his eyes widening ever so slightly. James furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, walking forward so he was stood next to the boy, following his eyeline until his eyes landed on what scared Dustin so much.

Dart, much bigger than described, eating Dustin's cat.

( 💌 ) isobel's notes
sorry for dipping for like another months
i apologise deeply 😘😘
on another note go check out my mason
mount book maathp and my james potter
book illicit affairs