Stranger Things One-shots (Requests Closed)

One Mistake

shuckfacepotter

Norah

Blood boiling, I stare at my "friend" who sits in front of me.

"You switched the dice, Norah!" Lucas instantly accuses, repeating his complaint for maybe the millionth time. "I didn't touch your dice! Why would I do that, fucking the party over?"

"I don't know, you tell me! I rolled a natural twenty, and I could've killed the monster! But now, it's a ten!" He continues to sporadically shake his finger at the dice, and I arch an eyebrow in anger. "First of all... grow up, I di-"

"She admits it! Come on, Mike. Why did we let her join, she screwed the party!" Lucas was far from benevolent at this moment; it's a frivolous attempt for me to argue. I'm just going to lose.

"Lucas, that isn't fair. I didn't do anything wrong, how could I have touched the dice?" Even though it's near impossible to contradict, I make my best efforts as I stand up, leering at him. "I don't know, you tell me."

"You're fucking paranoid!" I retaliate. "I don't know why you're going out of your way to screw me over. It's not fair!"

Mike stands up besides Lucas, and stares down guiltily. "Um... I think you could've. The roll did look like a twenty, but after Lucas came back from the bathroom, it was a ten." I throw my hands up in the air, angrily. Will then submerges behind Lucas. "Yeah, it seemed a little sketchy." He agrees in finality, and I bite my lip with a menacing smile on my face.

"The dice was probably imbalanced, or some draft came in. Why the hell would I touch the dice? I don't want to fuck the party over; I'm the Cleric, I don't have enough spells to heal the wounded barbarian!" I continue to argue against his inferior logic. He's such an asshole.

And the worst of all is... no one's on my side. Not even my crush, not even Dustin. He's standing neutral, his head wildly shifting from my direction to Lucas's. What I want to know is: why are we all being pussies? Why can't we just grow the fuck up?

Dustin grits his teeth and turns around, bolting towards the door and opening it effortlessly. "Nice going, bitch." Lucas nastily spits, in an acidic tone.

I slap his arm with no remorse, the sound of my wrist slamming into his forearm is enough satisfaction, before I sprint after Dustin.

*~*~*~*~*

"Dustin!" I yell loudly, my voice off key and cracking as my legs carry me as fast as they can. He couldn't have gotten far; he's not that fast... is he? "Dustin, where are you? Come on, it was a stupid argument! Seriously, that's not a reason to run off! I'm sorry that your friends are assholes, though!" I continue to exclaim, still running in what feels like circles. I have no lead, no flashlight, and no idea where I am. All I know is that my friend- crush, ran off after having to choose sides, and it's pitch black. The stars and the half-moon do illuminate the forest in an aura of grayish-blue, but the shadows are most consuming to the perceivable image. I keep my legs working, running as fast as remotely possible, and I keep yelling, screaming, until I hear footsteps and rustling behind me. "Hello?" I ask softly, lowering my tone and spinning around, to the direction of the subtle noise.

"Hello?" I ask a little louder, after receiving no response. "Hello?" A voice finally calls back, and I instantly know.

It's Mike. And the two following voices tell me that it's Will and douche bag- I mean, Lucas. "Why are you here?" I ask, tone drenched in exasperation. "Dustin's our friend, too. We should all look for him, and Lucas... he's sorry. Right, Lucas?" Stepping out into the light... well, as light as the forest at nine PM can be.

The three of them emerge into view, and they all have a look of worry and somewhat penitence. They're wrapped in coats and do have flashlights; they're gripped tightly in their hands.

"I'm sorry, Norah. I didn't mean to get so upset, I just-" I cut him off. "I get it, you're just worried about me screwing the party over, because I'm new. Sorry, too. For... cussing you out, and hitting you." He just waves his hand, and with a quick nod, I turn the other direction and run.

After a little while of running, and some more of desperately screaming his name, I stumble over a root and crash-land into the hard ground. "Fuck," I curse, a deep prickling sensation percolating up my arm. I try to stand up and steady myself, trying to resist tears as the pain becomes even worse, unbearable almost.

"Dustin?" I call again, clutching my arm and continuing to run.

"Dustin?" I yell, even louder than before. In the distance, I can hear the sounds of my friends, boyish voices shouting for the same objective as I.

"Dustin, stop being a baby, we're all good now. Got it?" I ask, my voice stern and sounding somewhat irritated. I am, though. My friend ran off after a stupid fight.

"Dustin? Come on..." I falter as I see a figure, a silhouette of a person, sitting on something. I deduce it's a log... it should be. "Dustin?" I ask once more, inching closer to the figure that's about seven feet in front of me.

"Is that-" then, the shadow stands, and walks closer to me. I can finally see his face, he's right there, only about a foot away. "Hey, Norah." Dustin says softly.

"You jerk, you scared me!" I retort, much ruder than it was supposed to be. "I'm sorry, I just... I was just upset, I didn't want to choose between friends. Because if I chose them, I didn't want you to hate me. And if I chose you, well... they might say that it's only because I... I like you?" Dustin pulls an object from his pocket, and flicks it on.

"I'm just a wimp, that's all." The flashlight fills the gaps and crevices of darkness from an eight foot radius, leaving the both of us vulnerable to sight.

"Sorry."

I stand there, shocked. He likes me? I'm speechless, and as I try to open my mouth, no words spill out.

"I didn't want to be teased, because I was afraid you'd find out. I don't want to ruin a friendship."

I smile and give him a hug, a warm embrace. "It's okay. Don't worry, we're all good now." I inform him with a reassuring smile. "And... let's get teased together. I like you, too. At least we don't like a girl with telekinesis." He lets out a laugh, as he knows I'm talking about Mike.

"So, want to get back to playing?" I ask, pointing back the way I came. "The boys are still looking, we can find them and then crush the army of Half-orcs before the seventh kingdom of goblins and werewolves invade the castle of shadows."

Dustin raises his eyebrows. "I'm impressed, you know what's going on."

I laugh. "I told you, I can game."

"Then let's get to it." And with that final note, we head back to Mike's house, the game continuing for a campaign until midnight.

(I'm awful with updates, I swear. I'm very sorry, and don't be a silent reader! Tell me what you think, feedback, what I should change, etc. Thanks, I love you all! ❤ Also...

qotd: What's your favorite part of the holidays?

aotd: Everything!! I love the snow, I love the cheer, and baking along with Christmas and Hanukkah is incredible. I love it all.)