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VALENTINA FELT LIKE A LITTLE KID who'd snuck out of their bedroom after bedtime and was peering into their parents' room while they watched a scary movie. She should not have been there. She was a chicken compared to these highly intelligent individuals and Steve.
She stood next to Steve, following the wild mannerisms of Dustin, Mike, and Lucas with her eyes while they tried to explain the details of their Dungeons & Dragons game to the rest of the group. Valentina felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her skull with everything going on.
After Steve confused the hive-mind, a collective consciousness super-organism, for a super-orgasm, Valentina took herself out of the equation. She was about as helpful as Steve's sixth-grade education. She assumed the boy hadn't given a shit about his schooling since she stopped forcing him to study with her, which was a long time ago. It made her curious what his report cards looked like.
"The Mind Flayer," Dustin announced, slamming a D&D manual onto the table. The group leaned in, Steve's breath hot against the back of Valentina's head. She wished he wouldn't stand there. She was at least trying to learn something here.
Hopper asked from the other side of the table from Dustin, "What the hell is that?"
"It's a monster from an unknown dimension. It's so ancient, it doesn't even know its true home."
"That's helpful," Valentina snorted. Steve laughed and nudged her side.
"Okay, it enslaves races of other dimensions by taking over their brains using its highly-developed psionic powers."
Valentina considered herself a very smart kid, but this was out of her league. If the Mind Flayer was a celestial being or came from space, then she'd be a bit more of a help to the group. But she didn't even know what 'psionic' meant.
"Oh, my God, none of this is real. This is a kids' game," Hopper grumbled. He took his weight off the table and stood up, crossing his arms.
"No, it-it's a manual," Dustin replied, "and it's not for kids! So unless you know something that we don't, this is the best metaphor-"
"Analogy."
Dustin's jaw dropped further than it did at Hopper's diminishing remarks. He turned to Lucas, ready to continue their argument that had blossomed in the woods an hour ago.
"Oh, shit," Steve whispered in Valentina's ear. She cursed herself for giggling at his jokes.
"Analogy?" Dustin mocked. "That's what you're worried about right now?"
"The girls are fighting," Valentina whispered back to the only other teenager at the table. Nancy and Jonathan were off elsewhere.
"Fine! An analogy for understanding whatever the hell this is."
Nancy then came over to the table from where she'd been comforting Jonathan and listening idly, "Okay, so this mind flamer thing-"
