Argyle (AR64LE) : A STRANGER THINGS Story

Chapter Five : Byers Family Special

Next thing I know, I'm following Jonathan downstairs and he just totally starts wigging out, "Okay! So you gotta leave, man! Because my mom's here and she thinks I'm home alone." I have so many questions, but I can't catch a word in as he keeps wigging.

"We're not supposed to have new people around. Not yet. For a while, that is. But don't worry about that. It's more like I don't want to explain all these pizzas to my mom. She'll think I'm throwing a party or something and she's plenty stressed as it is to cancel her one night out. Even if she believes me."

For the quiet guy that he is at school, Jonathan can sure say a lot when he's stressed. And he's got me stressed out too, because we both jump when there's a knock at the door and a voice that must be his mom. "Jonathan! Are you there? I forgot my keys. Can you open up, sweetie?" I look at Jonathan and mouth 'sweetie', but he shushes me. Message received, I will not bring that up again.

Then he explains, "You gotta try and keep quiet, alright. Sorry about this. You can sneak out the back." And he points me to a door at the end of the kitchen. I don't wanna mess this up for Jonathan, so I move as fast I can and swoop up the stack of pies I got by the door. There's really no time for goodbyes, so I give Jonathan a salute as I head towards the kitchen.

And then I hear Jonathan's mom from outside, "Oh, that's weird. I can turn the doorknob. It must not be locked." Suddenly it's like everything is moving in slow motion and Jonathan is waving me down, "You won't make it. Go into the downstairs bathroom. No one will use it with the water shut off."

I whip around so I can hang a left downstairs, but there's three doors, so I figure it's the one at the end. Like a classic suspense movie, I open my door at the same time I hear the front door open. However, instead of a toilet bowl, I find a bed and a lot of art supplies. I try not to get too distracted by a half finished painting of a buff dude in the corner and plop the stack of pies on the bed.

I should probably close the door, but I can hear Jonathan and his family right down the hall and I reckon they'd be close enough to hear me closing it. But that means I can keep it open a few inches and peek through in case I need to book it out the window. Wait, what am I thinking? It won't come to that. I'm not like actually breaking in to steal something. Then again, this doesn't look good. Hiding in a teenager's bedroom. It's probably the sister's, with that painting. Man, I've gotta stop looking at it.

When I turn back to the door, I panic as I see Jonathan's brother with the bowl cut walking in my direction. But his mom calls out to him, "Will, aren't you going to help me look for my keys?" And he says, "Yeah. I just want to change my shirt, first. This one's got some paint on it." So this is his room. Damn, he's really good at painting buff dudes. But seriously, I've got to hide.

"Why is my door open?" I watch Will say, as I then scoot from my peeking gap so he doesn't spot me. I can't hide myself and the stack of pies in the closet, since Will is coming to grab a shirt, so my only option is to head out the window even if it's gonna make a ton of noise. But then I hear Jonathan, "I borrowed a record. Sorry, I should have asked before you left. But hey, do you mind helping look under this couch first." And Jonathan steps into view, giving me the signal to come out.