sparks | henry creel

020

As I'm standing at the bus stop waiting for either Dustin or Henry to come down because I'm still on edge about being alone, especially since Saturday night happened, I see a black can parked across from me. Yeah, not creepy at all. The windows are extremely tinted, like, to the point where whoever is in the car could probably get a ticket because of it, which makes everything even more creepy about it.

People are always warning you about white Vans, but never about Black vans. I feel super sketched out, and not wanting to be alone. It's seven am, so why is this guy parked across from my house?
Maybe I need to stop watching those documentaries about kidnappings with Granny.

Just as I decide that I'm DEFINETLY just paranoid and need to take a chill pill, the van drives away. Then I feel someone grab my shoulder. I jump, turning around and realizing it's Dustin. "Jesus fucking Christ, Dustin!" I punch him lightly in the shoulder. "Ow, Heather!" He winces, punching me back lightly. I realize it probably hurts more to him then it does to me.

"Sorry. You just scared me. Did you not see that creepy Van over there?" I point to the driveway across from me, that is now empty. You can't even see the van driving away for proof.

Great, he probably thinks you're crazy now.

"No?" He raises an eyebrow. "You're probably just tense from what happened on Saturday night. Maybe you should ask Lucas to get his friends to get you some weed." He jokes around, although I don't think it's that bad of an idea.

Your mother is currently in Forest Hills trailer Park getting high on weed and heroin and other shit. You don't want to turn out like her, do you?

Of course I don't. It's just, I'm sure I don't become like.. addicted to it. Dustin is probably right, that I'm just tense, and isn't weed supposed to calm you down? I don't know, I haven't read much into it. I don't know if it's even addictive, or if maybe my mom just enjoyed it a little too much, and she specifically became addicted to it.

You don't want to become a screw up like her, do you, Heather?

I decide on putting a hold on the thought. It's not like I'll be drinking; I promised my dad I wouldn't do that. I didn't promise him I wouldn't try weed, live a little.

Eventually Henry came down, and me and Dustin both made fun of him for taking so long to get ready.

The ride to school was pretty quiet. None of us are really morning people, except for maybe Dustin, who, is always really talkative, no matter what time of the day it is.

We get off at the bus and I see the same black van from earlier, and I know it's the same one because of the extremely tinted windows and the "Welcome To Hawkins!" Sticker on the back. I don't know if they're trying to fit in or what, but it's not working.

Dustin sees me staring and breaks me out of my... staring contest... with the van. "Is that the same van you saw earlier?" He asks. "Yeah," I say, still staring at it. "What van?" Henry asks. "I saw that same van sitting outside of our house earlier." I keep my voice low. Henry grabs my hand. "C'mon, let's get inside." He whispers. "What, you don't think there's something wrong, do you?" I mention, trying to act as surprised as possible, as if I wasn't just thinking the same exact thing. "I don't know. All I know is you don't have to worry In here." He opens the door for me, which leads into the cafeteria. I see Lucas and Eddie and Chrissy already at a nearby table. I make sure to sit next to Lucas, which is probably weird, because usually I sit next to Max. "Hey," I whisper to him.
"Hey, Heather?" He looks confused.
"Can we talk?" I ask. "Sure." He shrugs, and we stand up at the same time, walking over to the corner of the half empty cafeteria.
"What's up?" He asks.

"Is weed addictive?" I ask, and he raises an eyebrow. "What, you wanna try some?" He crosses his arms. "Maybe.. I don't know. I've been really on edge since Saturday night for... You know, obvious reasons, and I heard weed can calm you down."

"Well, I can you tell this now, I'm not the person you should be asking about this. I can ask Jason, though, he's sitting over there," he points to his buddies sitting at a table. "Don't worry, I don't have to mention your name. Do you want me to ask?" He looks back at me. I nod after thinking for a second.

He nods before walking over to the table. He's there for four seconds before Jason looks over at me. Great, so much for not mentioning my name.
Thanks, Lucas.

He comes back over a minute or so later. "Apparently to Jason it has a 10% chance of becoming addictive." He says. I nod, looking down. "I can get you some, you won't even have to pay. Do you want me too?" He asks. I think for a second. "Yeah, okay."