𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑷𝒀 - Dustin Henderson

001. MADMAX

    STEVE PARKED HIS CAR OUTSIDE THE ARCADE AND CINDY WENT TO GET OUT, EAGER TO GET INSIDE. "Cindy. wait," she turns back around and sees him holding a handful of coins, "don't let any of those dipshits take these." Her eyes glisten.

"Thank you!" She grins, taking them from his hand.

"Have fun, I'll pick you up in an hour." She nods and leaves the car, stuffing the coins in her pocket.

"Hey guys!" She calls out, the group sees her and smiles.

"Hi Cindy!" Dustin calls back.

• • •

    "To slay the dragon, use the magic sword." The video game said seductively.

"Oh, Jesus! I'm in uncharted territory here, guys." Dustin exclaimed.

The others shout at him directions and he grows frustrated at them, shouting back to shut them up. He ends up losing and hits the game and shouts, "I hate this overpriced bullshit! Son of a bitch! Piece of shit!"

"You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day. But until then, Princess
Daphne is still mine," Lucas boasted.

"Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug," Dustin replied.

"You sure about that?" Someone asked, they turned to see Keith standing beside him, stuffing his face with chips.

"Sure about what?" Dustin asked, but then quickly realised and gasped, rushing over to both games to check the leaderboard, "you're kidding me. No, no, no. Hey, no! No! No!" He exclaims as he sees he's no longer top place on Centipede or Dig Dug.

"751,300 points!" Cindy read, shocked.

"That's impossible," Lucas denied.

"Who is Mad Max?" Dustin asked Keith.

"Better than you."

"Is it you?"

"You know I despise Dig Dug."

"Then who is it?"

"Yeah, spill it, Keith." Lucas chimes in.

"You want information, then I need something in return." He looks to Mike and the ravenette quickly realises what he means.

He shook his head, "no, no, no. No way. You're not getting a date with her."

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date." Dustin begged.

"I'm not prostituting my sister!" Mike complained.

"But it's for a good cause."

They all kept on arguing but Cindy had stopped listening when she realised Will was no longer standing next to her. She turned around and jumped when everything around her quickly turned into the Upside down. She let out a sharp breath, twirling her hair between her fingers.

She saw Will standing outside staring up at the sky as it flashed with the familiar red lightning.

She felt her feet carry her outside, "Will?" She spoke softly, he didn't move, he looked completely frozen. Why was he here? Why would he be in her flashback? Cindy really wished these were just flashbacks and she'd be over them soon, but the more they occurred, the more real they felt.

She followed his gaze, both kids could tell something was there, but before they could see, Mike came up and grabbed their shoulders, "hey. What's going on?" He asked, looking between the two.

Cindy's eyes slowly peeled off the sky, and switched to Mike, "uh... yeah, fine." He smiled, before turning to Will.

"I... I just needed some air," he spun around but was quite startled to see Cindy standing behind him. Did he not realise I was there? She thought, squinting her eyes.