HIDDEN !¡ MIKE WHEELER

14. ✰

IT WAS SATURDAY morning. The children weren't able to find Eleven. Mabel sat on her bed, looking out the window, stressed out. Her leg was bouncing up and down, her heart pounding as she tried not to think about all the bad things that could happen to her sister. Just then, a staticky voice came from Mike's walkie-talkie that sat on her bedside table. "Mabel, can you come over? Dustin is already on his way. I want to talk. Over," Mike's voice came out of it. Mabel picked up the walkie-talkie and pressed the button. "Yeah, I'm on my way. Over and out," she softly spoke, setting it back down.

She walked down the hallway into the living room to find Jess picking up the plates from breakfast and setting them in the sink. Cal had already gone off to work early, leaving the females with no car. "I'm going to walk over to the Wheeler's and hang out with the boys. Is that okay?" Mabel looked up at Jess, who was running hot water. Mabel watched as the steam from the water poured out the sink, drowning out Jess' faint affirmation. The redheaded girl could make out Jess saying 'yes' and that was all she needed before she swiftly walked out the door.

She arrived at the Wheeler's, joining the two boys in the basement. The girl looked over at El's blanket fort, sighing as she was not used to it being empty. She prayed her sister was okay and was going to return to them. "I can't believe she didn't come back..." Mike began, pacing and looking down at the floor. "She's gotta be close," Dustin suggested. "She said it wasn't safe," Mike recalled to the girl's words yesterday at the field. Mabel sat down on the couch, leaning back. She wasn't really listening to anything the boys were speaking about. She hadn't felt this much worry since she had escaped from the lab and she wasn't even worried about being caught, she was worried about her sisters getting in trouble for her wrongdoing.

"Hello?! Mabel?!" a voice yelled at her. She looked up to see Dustin and Mike with their jackets on. She furrowed her eyebrows, sniffling softly. "What?" she squeaked. "Are you coming?" Mike pursed his lips awkwardly. "Where?" Mabel asked. "To get Lucas and to find Eleven. Come on, get up!" Dustin grabbed the girl's arm dragging her body upwards. She scoffed and was the first to walk up the basement stairs and out the Wheeler's front door.

Mike noticed the girl wasn't her usual bubbly, cheerful self when her sister wasn't around to witness it. When she had gotten on the back of his bike, he slowly rode distanced away from Dustin so he could talk to her. "Hey, Mabel, are you okay?" he asked, the question coming out in more of a whisper than the boy wanted it to. "Just fine," she blankly responded, but the boy noticed her grip on his waist had tightened. He sighed and brushed it off, not wanting her to get annoyed with his questions as he peddled faster to catch up with Dustin.

THE GROUP OF three had arrived at the Sinclair residence, Mike ringing the doorbell. The door opened what felt like minutes later, revealing Lucas Sinclair. His brown eyes fell on the three of them as he sighed in annoyance. "What do you want?" he coldly asked, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. It went silent as Mike stared at the ground, not saying anything like he was supposed to. Dustin gave him a swift smack on the arm and then pointed towards Lucas.

"I drew first blood, so..." Mike started, slowly holding up his hand towards Lucas. Sinclair glared at Mike's pale hand, his cold expression from when he opened the door not changing. Before the three kids knew it, they were in Lucas' living room. Lucas slowly walked in circles in his living room, thinking hard whether or not to shake Mike's hand. "Okay. I'll shake," Lucas nodded, crossing his arms. Mike held up his arm once again, to which Lucas didn't uncross his arms. "On one condition, we forget the sister of that weirdo behind it all and go straight to the gate."

Mabel looked up from the floor for the first time since they had gotten here and scoffed at Lucas. She knew this would happen. She would be the only one looking for El while everybody else would be looking for Will. "I might as well leave then," Mabel shrugged, turning on her heel before a hand grabbed her wrist, spinning her right back around. "The deal's off. We're looking for El," Mike told Lucas. "Fine!" Lucas shouted. "Fine!" Mike repeated, louder than Lucas. "No, no, not fine. Guys, seriously?!" Dustin complained, putting his hand on Mike's shoulder. "Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

The boys shared confused looks with each other as Dustin's mouth fell open, surprised. "We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!" Dustin spoke, trying to encourage the two boys who kept sending each other death glares. "Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room," Lucas said. "El and Mabel are both one of us now," Mike nodded. "Um, no, they're not. Not even close. Never will be. They're liars, traitors—" Lucas began listing off insulting names towards the two girls as if one of them wasn't right there.

"Yeah, just a reminder that I'm in the room so when you go to insult me in future times, make sure I'm not there," Mabel sarcastically butted in, crossing her arms tightly. "El was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident," Mike argued. "An accident?" Lucas repeated Mike's words, scoffing coldly. "All right, accident or not... admit it, it was a little awesome," Dustin added on to his friend's disagreement. "Awesome?" Lucas threw his arms up as if he was deeply offended. "Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind," Dustin nodded.

Lucas groaned. "I could have been killed!" he yelled over Dustin. "Which is exactly why we need her and Mabel. They're weapons. Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket? That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead," Mike defended the two girls who were bullied before his own eyes. "You three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, because I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way! I'm going to the gate. I'm gonna find Will," Lucas pushed into the middle of the two boys, separating them and then proceeded to bump shoulders harshly with Mabel and with that, he left.

"THIS IS WEIRD without Lucas," Dustin spoke over the silence as Mike and him rode their bikes down the road, Mabel on the back of Mike's as always. "He should've shaken my hand," Mike complained. "He's just jealous," Dustin told the raven-haired boy. "What are you talking about?" Mike questioned. Dustin sighed. "Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind," Dustin stifles a laugh, teasing his friend. "That's a big word," Mabel mumbled as she rest her head gently on Mike's back, clutching onto his waist like her life depended on it.

"Lucas is your best friend, right?" Dustin asks Mike. "Yeah... I mean, I don't know," Mike answers. "It's fine. I get it. I didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters. What matters is that he is your best friend. And then Mabel just shows up and all you want to do is pay attention to her. Then we find her sister in the woods and she starts living with you," Dustin explains. "That's not true," Mike quickly defended himself. Mabel sighed, pretending not to hear their conversation.

"It is true. And you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of zero. Now everything's weird," Dustin says. Mabel snickers and turns to face Dustin. "Goblins with intelligence scores of zero. Nice one," she compliments his insult, to which he smiles at her. "He's not my best friend," Mike mutters. "Yeah, right," Dustin chuckles. "I mean, he is, but so are you. And so is Will," Mike tells the curly head boy.

"Can't have more than one best friend," Dustin shakes his head. "Says who?" Mike scoffs. "Says logic," Dustin says. "Well, I call bull on your logic, because you're my best friend, too," Mike admits. Dustin turns to face his friend and sighs. "Okay," he blankly responds. Suddenly, they abruptly stop causing Mabel to lift her head up. She looks in the direction of where the boys are gawking and see tons of people crowded around the entrance of the grocery store. "Whoa," Mike breaths. "You don't think..." Dustin begins, turning back towards Mike and Mabel. "Definitely," Mabel nods, furrowing her eyebrows. Her sister had to have been there. The boys peddled their way past the grocery store, observing the people as they rode. Little did the three kids know, eyes were on them as well.

author's note !
fck vol 2 fr ☺️✨🙏🏽
(this was wrote 4 days after it came out)