DONT FUCK WITH THE BABYSITTER ♡ STEVE HARRINGTON (1)

t h r e e

Things in Hawkins, Indiana were a lot different than they were since last November. Ever since the vanishing and reappearance of Will Byers, some people in town became more secretive. Some people like Frankie's neighbor Dustin Henderson. Sure, Frankie wasn't the most smartest person at school, but she could tell when someone was acting different, especially Dustin.

Before Will's disappearance, Frankie would babysit the Henderson boy every once in a while when Claudia would want to go out. Since Will's return, Claudia had Frankie babysit her son whenever she wasn't home. It was good on Frankie's wallet, but bad on Frankie's free time. Knowing that she could never disappoint one of the two women who raised her, Frankie would welcome Dustin into her home with open arms or vise versa. 

Before Will's disappearance, Dustin and her would watch TV, play games in his room, or simply talk about their day to day lives. The twelve and sixteen year olds were very close and would tell each other everything. Dustin knew the details about her hang outs with Keith to her assignments in Chemistry. Frankie knew everything about Mike, Lucas, and Will to Dustin's secret code words on his walkie talkie. Since Will's return, it had been just Frankie sitting on the couch watching TV by herself as Dustin stayed in his room whispering to his friends so low she couldn't hear a thing.

Things between Dustin Henderson and Frankie Walsh would never be the same unfortunately, and Frankie would continue to stay in the dark until the day a dog from another dimension came barreling into her life.

Getting off the phone with Keith, Frankie sighed in disappointment. Her best friend had told her at school that he read the schedule wrong and they could hang out tonight, but he just finished telling her that someone called in sick and he had to cover for them. She had been thinking about what they'd do since he told her at lunch, and now it seemed as if Frankie's ideas went to waste. Getting up from her bed, Frankie trudged towards the front of the house as she heard the ring from the door bell.

"Oh, hi Claudia." Frankie said looking at her neighbor in confusion. Not sure why she was on her door step, the teenager noticed the scared and anxious look on her face coupled with a few tears leaking from her eyes. 

"Claudia are you okay?" Frankie asked putting a hand on her shoulder. Claudia nodded and let out a sniff trying to swallow back tears.

"Mews is missing and Mr McCorkle said he saw her wandering around Loch Nora." Listening to the older women, Frankie looked at her in shock as she said Loch Nora which was a good couple miles away from their home. How did that fat domestic cat end up in Loch Nora?

"Would it be okay if you stayed with Dustin until I get back? I don't want him to be alone while I'm running around town." Claudia's face looked hopeful but still had traces of fear at the thought of her missing cat.

"Yeah, of course Claudia. Let me just get a few things and I'll be on my way over." She said comfortingly to her neighbor. Watching the older woman walk over to her car, Frankie closed the door and began to get ready to leave. Not thinking she would be spending her Friday night with Dustin, the girl let out a sigh as she slipped on her sneakers.