love me - stranger things²

[004] trapped.

CHAPTER FOUR

trapped.

ERICA LOOKED INTO THE AIR DUCT, POINTING THE FLASHLIGHT INSIDE TO GET A BETTER LOOK. "Hmm..." She mumbled before climbing down the ladder. "Yeah, I don't know." The girl said, looking to the four two leant against the wall in front of her. 

"You don't know if you can fit?" Dustin asked, trying to clarify what Erica meant. 

"Oh, I can fit. I just don't know if I want to." Jennifer rolled her eyes, the girl starting to get on her nerves. 

"Are you claustrophobic?"

"I don't have phobias." The girl snickered. 

Steve looked back at the girl after having shook his head out of annoyance. "Okay, well, what's the problem?" He questioned. 

"The problem is, I still haven't heard what's in this for Erica." She said with a stern tone.

Later, the group sat across from Erica at one of the booths in the ice cream store, ice cream sundaes, drinks, and more covering the table. "More fudge, please." Erica said, pushing away the banana split Steve had just handed her. "Go on." She rushed the boy. 

As Steve got up, Jennifer ended up following after him, not wanting to have to explain the plan to Erica who would likely nit pick at everything they said. "Do you really think this thing's gonna work?" Steve questioned once he noticed Jennifer standing next to him as he added more fudge to the girls banana split.

Jennifer shrugged. "I dunno." She muttered, her mind elsewhere. Steve looked at her concerned, his eyebrows furrowed. 

"You alright?" He asked. Jennifer shook her head, her mind coming out of the clouds.

"Yeah. Just, thinking about the plan." She responded after thinking for a moment. Realistically, she was thinking about the fact it was her birthday in a day. It would be the girls first birthday without Nicole, something she wasn't sure she was ready for. She hadn't even told Steve or Robin yet, not sure if she wasn't to even acknowledge it at all.