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AT HOME, THE KIDS WERE exhausted. Eleven and Max were ʼtoo busyʼ to play board games with the family, so it was just Kali, Nancy and Cole left to compete against each other for the night, as Hopper was still out at work for a while. The girls didn't mind much, the two of them happy enough to spend time with the boy, but Cole seemed affected by the way Eleven was always ignoring him lately. They used to be so close, inseparable really, but now she was getting older and she didn't need her little brother tagging along anymore.
"So, Cole, did you have fun with Dustin today?" asked Nancy with a kind smile, seeing the sadness in his eyes as they didn't leave the closed door to the girlsʼ room.
Cole nodded, rolling over the floor on his stomach and soaking up in the thick carpet as he moved his character up the board.
"El told me you were at the mall," Kali said, and her brother froze. She rolled her eyes bitterly. "With Steve."
Nancy shook her head and sent Cole a sympathetic smile, nudging her girlfriend in the arm. "Don't worry, she won't tell your dad," she assured him. "We're just happy you're out of the house, that's all."
Kali nodded. "Yeah, remember when you were scared of trees?" she said, causing him to smile.
Sometimes, Cole missed when it was just himself and Kali. Things were dark, things were scary, everything was dangerous, but there was something about the reckless lives they once lived that comforted him a little — it was that he had Kali by his side all the time. They didn't have anybody else, and so all they could do was cling to each other. Cole knew their lives were better now, a lot better, but sometimes he missed being the most important person in his sisterʼs life. Because she'd always he the most important in his.
After a few more rounds of Monopoly, Kali furrowed her brows, thoroughly inspecting the board before turning to Nancy. "You cheated," she accused seriously.
Nancy looked at her, choking on a laugh at Kaliʼs straight face. "I did not," she defended.
"Yes, you did," insisted Kali. "You were all the way up there a second ago." She pointed at the spot beside the jail, which Nancy had spent half of the game trapped in. "Go back."
"Kali, that was three turns ago," she said, unable to keep a straight face, seeing how seriously Kali took the game. And she called Eleven the dramatic one!
Kali rolled her eyes, picking up Nancyʼs character and moving it back to its previous place.
Nancyʼs mouth flew open in shock. She leaned forwards to put her piece back to where she had it.
Kali stood up. "I'm not playing with you," she said suddenly with a shrug. "You cheated."
Glancing back and forth between Kali and Cole, who both took the game way too seriously, Nancy chuckled, watching her girlfriend walk away. "Kali — you can't be — you can't be serious?" she said, getting up and following her.
