Argyle (AR64LE) : A STRANGER THINGS Story

Chapter Three : Fiesta De Uno

"I was starting to think I might have hallucinated that phone call." I say out loud and not in my head like I wanted to. Jonathan doesn't take it as a joke though and asks, "Does that happen often?" And he really seems interested and not in a judgey way either. So I tell him the truth. "Yeah. But this time, I thought it was because Byers sounded like a made up name."

He smiles like he wants to laugh and shows me a framed photo. It's of him and what I assume is his mom, who doesn't look much like Jonathan, his brother, who looks like a teenage version of his mom but with a bowler cut, and his sister, who's pretty much the mom 2.0. "I assure you the name is real, but you won't find the man it belongs to living here. Sorry, I don't know why I told you that."

But I reckon I do, "It's cool. You can say whatever you want around me. I won't tell anybody." And for some reason, probably from looking at his beady eyes again, I blurt out, "I don't really have anybody to tell. Well not not anybody. There are people from work and school and my folks. I just mean I don't have anybody, as in any close friends, to tell."

Jonathan seems taken aback and I'm sure it's because I've over shared, which happens a lot and ends the same with the other person needing to split. But this is Jonathan's house, so I'll go this time. "Wait." He calls me back though, "You're in my shop class. I knew you looked familiar."

Oh, yeah! He's that quiet guy that showed up around the start of senior year. "We made a tiny chest last week. What did you do with yours?" And he runs over to a drawer and shows me the tiny chest he made. "I gave it to my mom, so she can put her keys in it. She has a habit of misplacing them. What did you put in yours?" I have to think a little to remember, but it comes to me, "Quarters."

Jonathan approves, but he's more preoccupied with his tiny chest and opens it. "It's empty. Which means she either took her keys when she left or she hasn't been storing them in here and has forgotten them." I'm pretty sure there's another option and say, "She could have kept her keys someplace else and not forgotten them when she left?" But Jonathan seems pretty sure of himself.

"I wouldn't bet on that. She was rushing out with my brother and sister to make it to some work party." Oh! I totally get it now and explain, "So there is a party, just not here!" But I think I've lost him, because he says. "This dude who placed the order, are you sure they weren't a crank caller?" I could see that. The dude's excuse for laughing being someone was tickling them, seems pretty lame now.

Jonathan knows it, but he doesn't make a point of it. "So what are you gonna do with all that pizza?" This sucks, but I'm just glad it's the end of the day. "Well the restaurant is closing, so in case we get any last minute orders to unload these thirty pineapple pizzas, most of it will end up in a dumpster."

"Really," Jonathan sounds as bad as I feel, "That's a heavy loss of profit, too. Man, I'd help you out if I had the cash and my mum would make the same offer if she was here and could spare it." That's sweet, but looking at this place you'd think they could afford it. And then I get that tingling feeling, this time from below. But it's the other kind of tingling, the kind if you ignore for too long you'll end up with a serious problem sooner than you think and so I ask. "How many bathrooms do you have?"