𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬~ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ (on hiatus)

-the girl in the basement

The next day, Alexis felt well rested. She had slept well, it was easy to get Eric ready and in the car, the weather was nice so they rolled down the windows, and she was excited to give the boys their gifts. 

"Alright, so I'm picking up a shift tonight so don't stay up too late okay?" she went over the plan with Eric. He nodded.

"And lock the doors, call if I need you, don't open the door unless it's you or someone we trust. Yeah yeah. I know the drill Lexi," Eric responded while getting out of the car. He held almost a smug look on his face. 

Alexis just shook her head and leaned against the car. 

"Yeah yeah, get out of here," she shoved his head to the side softly, leaving them both to chuckle. As he walked towards his group of friends, Alexis found her boys. 

"Hey, over here!" she shouted. The boys looked at each other and sprinted towards the girl.

"I've got something for you!" "We've got something to tell you!" 

They all looked at each other. 

"You know what, you go first Alex," Dustin motioned for her to start talking. Alexis furrowed her brow but continued anyway.

"Okay... anyway. I deliver a gift for each of you. I've got one for Will too but I'll use it as an excuse to see Joyce," Alexis stated, reaching into the car and grabbing the bag. "For Dustin, I grant you some sweet bread," she handed it over and chuckled as his eyes grew wide and his smile stretched across his face. "For Mike and Lucas, I grant you some chocolate chip cookies," she handed them the two batches of cookies. She couldn't help but chuckle when they all looked like they had gotten everything they wanted for Christmas. 

"Thank you Alex!" "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" "You're literally the best!" they all thanked her as they hugged her, nearly making her fall over. 

"Of course guys," she said, her smile never leaving. "Now, what is it you need to tell me?" Alexis was quickly concerned when all the boys' smiles dropped. "Mike? Lucas?" she looked at each of them, "Dustin?" this was his breaking point.

"We found a girl in the woods while we were looking for Will!" it spilled out of his mouth so fast that when his hand slapped over it, it was too late. 

"I'm sorry, you what?" Alexis had slightly shifted into 'mom mode', glossing over the Will part for a moment. 

"Yeah, we found her and took her to Mike's house, she's in his basement. He's gonna ride home and stay with her during the day," Dustin continued, fearing what would happen if he didn't tell her the truth. 

"Dustin!" Mike exclaimed as he slapped the boy on the arm. 

"Mike! You can't skip school!" Alexis scolded. She couldn't believe what she had just been told. 

"But she's not comfortable alone! She needs someone," he gave the teen what she would call 'failed puppy dog eyes', meaning they didn't work but they still made her break. 

"Fine, but just this once. Okay?" she didn't want to, but she knew a compromise was the only thing she'd get from Mike Wheeler. The boy in question smiled at the teen, just relieved that she wasn't mad at him.