The Haunting - Stranger Things [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

21 - Kiddie Pool

"-- you always say we should never stop being curious." Dustin speaks into the phone near the wall of the Byers' kitchen. His back is to us while the everyone else sits or stands around the table. "To always open any curiosity door we find. Why are you keeping this curiosity door locked?" 

I look over at Jonathan across the table. He's too focused on Dustin to notice me behind him. A warm hand falls onto my arm and I follow it to see Mrs. Byers smiling at me. Oh, wow. Okay. She caught me staring at her son. 

Her arm opens up and she comfortingly pulls me into her side. The chair I'm sitting in slides across the floor a couple of inches to bring me closer to Jonathan's mother. Mrs. Byers' arm wraps around my shoulders and I lean against her side, letting my eyes land back on the curly haired boy. 

Dustin wanders over to the dining room table, plopping down in the seat at the other end of the table, left hand reaching for a pencil and some paper. He listens to his teacher on the phone and writes down all of the information he needs on how to build a sensory deprivation tank.

"How much?" Dustin stops writing to listen to the teacher's answer. He nods his head and begins to write again. "Yep, all right. Yeah, we'll be careful. Definitely." 

I quietly chuckle at the look of concentration on his face. The boys said that their teacher Mr. Clarke would know how to build a sensory deprivation tank. That's exactly what we need to help El find Will and Barbara. There is still hope.

"Yeah, I'll see you on Monday." Dustin yanks the phone away from his ear. He holds the phone out by his mouth, rushing to say his final words. "I'll see you on Monday, Mr. Clarke. Bye." The phone is set down on the table. Dustin points a finger at Mrs. Byers. "Do you still have that kiddie pool we bobbed for apples in?" 

Jonathan swivels around in his seat, eyes growing wide when he spots me curled up in his mother's side. A hint of a smile spreads across his lips. 

"I- I think so. Yeah." Mrs. Byers nods her head. Her right hand waves in the air toward Jonathan, asking for his confirmation.

Jonathan nods, "Yeah."

"Good. Then we just need salt." Dustin points with the end of his pencil. "Lots of it." 

"How much is lots?" Hopper asks. 

Dustin glimpses down at his piece of paper, mentally calculating the numbers. "Fifteen hundred pounds."

"Well, where are we gonna get that much salt?" Nancy and I ask in unison, earning weird looks from everyone else. 

Nancy, Mike, and I walk up through the gate of the building near the gym of the school. The three of us were told to grab as many hoses as we could from the storage room. Everyone else is on their own tasks to get prepared for the sensory deprivation pool. 

I step up to the blue door. A padlock hangs from the door, locking us from getting inside. "Shit." I mutter under my breath. 

Nancy grabs a decent sized rock from the ground. "Stand back." 

I drag Mike back away from the door, letting Nancy break the lock. Our brother gapes in awe when Nancy takes the lock off of the door and lets the three of us inside. My eyes lock on a wheelbarrow in the corner of the room. 

"Here." I push it over to the shelves. 

Nancy grabs the rolled up hoses from the shelves around her and drops them inside of the barrow. The three of us work as a team to gather all of them. Nancy grabs the handles of the wheelbarrow and pushes it out of the door once we have all of them.