Bloody Negatives {Stranger things}

Chapter Twenty-Three

《Chapter Twenty-Three》
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"I'm going to be grounded until I have grandchildren," Tally muttered bitterly as he sat on the sofa in the Wheelers' basement.

Robin laughed, even though Tally hadn't been joking.

Max was scribbling something down on a piece of paper as she sat in the corner, plugged into her walkman.

Tally was listening to "Danger Zone" on repeat, but only with the right side of his head. The other half of his headphones sat slightly behind his left ear, so he could still hear most of what was going on around him.

"I'm going to... I'm going upstairs," Tally said. Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure where he was going. He just had to get up. Move.

The stairs out of the basement were steep enough to make him dizzy. He hated how he always felt like that now. Like he could pass out at any given moment.

Ted Wheeler was sat in an armchair in the living room. He was fast asleep. Holly lay on her stomach at his feet, watching cartoons with her elbows propping up her head. She barely even glanced at Tally when he entered the room.

He walked straight across the floor into the kitchen. He wasn't hungry—he never was—but walking into the kitchen was something to do. Somewhere to go.

Nancy was standing at the counter, staring at the glass of water she'd left to get ten minutes ago.

"Hey," Tally said. For some odd reason it was suddenly difficult to speak.

Nancy practically shrieked, spinning around to see who had spoken.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, wincing at her reaction. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She seemed to calm down almost immediately after seeing him. "No, it's okay, it's... not your fault. Just... I've been a little high-strung lately."

Tally nodded. "Yeah, me too."

The two teenagers stared at each other for an oddly long time. Though it somehow didn't feel awkward. If anything, it was a comforting silence. Nancy smiled. That made Tally smile.

Comforting, but still odd, Tally decided after a few moments.

Tally and Nancy both began to speak at the same time.

"Sorry," Tally said, squeezing his eyes shut and internally cursing himself for acting weird. He was acting weird, wasn't he? Could Nancy tell that he was acting weird? Why did he care?

"No, it's okay, you go first," Nancy muttered, eyebrows furrowing again.

"No, no, I don't even remember what I was going to say," Tally laughed awkwardly, his nose wrinkling as he cringed slightly.

Nancy looked him in the eye for a second, before she started speaking. "I was thinking that..."

"That..." Tally prompted, not sure why sudden anxiety was gripping his body.

"You can do some of the things El can, right?" Nancy asked, not waiting for an answer before she continued talking. "I want to know how many things."

Tally narrowed his eyes in confusion. "How many things?"

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, you know... have you shown any possibility of telekinetic abilities?"

"Probably not?"

Nancy laughed and looked at her hands. "I was thinking that we could maybe test it out."

Tally felt his lips curve into a smile. "You want me to test of I have magic powers?"

"You already have magic powers."

They stared at each other for a long, tense moment. Then Tally laughed. Not the kind of laugh he'd had when Dustin told him about the Upside Down. This was a genuine laugh. And then Nancy laughed. And then they were both laughing.

Tally wasn't sure why he found it funny. Maybe all the stress had been simmering in his head long enough to make him delusional, but for some reason that was one of the funniest things he'd heard in weeks.

Nancy seemed just as humoured by it.

The two of them somehow ended up on the floor, rolling around as they cackled so hard they cried.

Tally was surprised at how good it felt to laugh.

When they finally managed to get a hold of themselves, they were lying next to each other on the cold tile kitchen floor, facing the ceiling.

Tally tilted his head to look at the girl next to him, already looking at him, her lips drawn into a giddy smile.

The way she looked at him stirred a feeling he hadn't felt in a very long time.

Fuck.

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