The three of us

The bad dreams

When Steve and Dustin fell asleep, I grab my bike and walk home.
I drop my bike in the shed and walk inside.
'Hey, kid. Where have you been?' Hopper asks.
'Dustin and Steve.' I say.
'Of course.' Hopper laughs.
'I'm gonna get some rest.' I say. 
I walk upstairs and put on my pyjama's.
Then I lay in bed and close my eyes.

I walk towards Dustin's house. The lights are on. His mom is home, I can see her car.
SHIT! His mom is home.
I have to check if he's alright.
I sneak into the garden and lurk trough Dustin's window.
He's in bed, staring at the ground.
There's a broken bottle next to him, on the ground.
He picks up the bottle and rotates it.
His door opens and his mom storms in.
Dustin drops the bottle and backs up.
I look at his mom. She's drunk. Very drunk.
Mrs. Henderson grabs Dustin's arm. It hurts, I can see it on his face.
She yells something at him, and he reacts. He says something he shouldn't say, because his mom slaps him in the face.
Dustin's mouth closes and he touches his cheek.
He's hurt.
His mom walks out and slams the door. I can hear her car leave a while later.
I make sure she's gone and run into the house.
I open Dustin's door and sit down next to him.
'Y/N?'
'Dustin, oh my god.' I pull him into a hug.
He sobs into my shoulder, mumbling something I can't understand.
'Y/N?' He asks.
'Yeah?'
'I'm not even here.' He says.
'What?'
'I'm not here, Y/N. I'm dead, remember? You have to stop pretending I'm here.'
'Dustin, you're not dead.' I say.
'Y/N. I died a week ago. My mom. She killed me. This is all in your imaginations.'
'Dustin, what are you talking about? You had a sleepover with Steve yesterday. You guys had a great time, swimming in the sunset.'
'Y/N...'

I wake up from my alarm clock, but all I can think about is Dustin.
What was he talking about? Dead?
I open my curtain and watch Steve's house.
They're awake, I can see them in the kitchen.
Dustin is alive.
I put on my clothes and go downstairs.
'Hey, kid. How did you sleep?' Hop asks.
'Hm. Nightmare.' I mumble.
'You too? Will and El said the same thing before they left.' Hopper says.
'Oh. Odd.' I sit down and eat my cereal.
'Probably a coincidence.' Hopper opens his magazine and starts reading.
I wait for the doorbell to ring.

'Bye, dad!' I yell.
'Bye, kid.'
I close the door and look at Steve and Dustin. They look exhausted.
'Woah, you guys look dead.' I say.
We enter the forest.
'We both didn't sleep well.' Steve says.
'What's the matter? Too much sugar?' I ask.
'No, we both had a nightmare.' Dustin says.
'What?'
'We both had a nightmare.' Dustin says again.
I think about what Hopper said.
'Really?' I ask.
'Yeah.' Dustin and Steve say.
'I had a nightmare too. And Will and El.' I say.
Steve looks at Dustin. 'What was it about?'
'It was about Dustin. He said he died.' I say.
'No, no way.' Steve gasps.
'Yours?' I ask.
'Same thing.' Steve says.
'And yours?' I look at Dustin.
'Mom.' Dustin looks at the ground.
I get closer to Steve and whisper:
'My dream was about him and his mom. I don't think he's alright at home.'
Steve nods. 'Same.'
'We'll ask El and Will and the others.' I sigh.

When we enter the cabin, the whole party is already sitting down.
'Hey.' Max mumbles.
They had nightmares too. They all had nightmares.
'Nightmares, huh?' I ask, sitting down.
'Yeah. We were just talking about it.' Lucas says.
'We're gonna go around the table.' Max says.
'El, nightmare.' Max looks at El.
El sighs.
'My nightmare was about Max. She was sitting at home, on her bed. I could hear her cry.
I sat down next to her and asked if she was okay. She shakes her head and we hugged for a moment.
After a while she said: "you have to stop pretending I'm here." I didn't understand. She said she was dead.' El sighs again.
I look at Steve. He looks back.
'Lucas. Your turn.' Max says.