STRANGER THINGS 3 [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 1: White lie (Part 4)

Lucas stands in front of the big mirror that was placed in his room. He looked at himself from head to toe seeking for flaws. As every other teenager, Lucas was in a stage where he felt self-conscious about everything, every little detail that won't make a huge difference! When Max and he broke up, he took it quite hard. Putting on a bright face for the sake of his friends isn't an easy task, but Lucas did the best at hiding it. Max was the one to break things off. She told Lucas that she doesn't feel the same way anymore which is quite a usual excuse for when you don't have a reason to break up with a guy. Lucas forced himself to tell her that he taught the same thing, even though the boy loved her to death! Since then, Lucas had a lot on his mind.

Was it because his voice was getting deeper? Or because he grew a lot since the time they started dating? Small things that don't make sense went through his head every time he taught about Max's words. Every day he stood in front of the mirror and searched for his flaws, just like he is doing right now. While looking in the big mirror, Lucas taught that he may need to start exercising now. It was unusual for the boy to be self-conscious.

Before spraying some perfume he checked his outfit for the last time. His black turtle neck shirt was tucked in his mom jeans neatly with a belt secured around his waist. His shirt was wrinkle free and tucked neatly! Before going out of the house, he grabbed his colourful bomber jacket and draped it over his shoulder. Whistling a tune that he found funny, "Eat it!" by "Weird Al" Yankovic, Lucas was walking towards his front door all ready to go out. "Hey, nerd!" – His little sister, Erica shouted after the boy. Lucas stopped and huffed before turning to face his sister with a smug smile on his face. "Aren't you forgetting something, idiot?" – She smirked towards the boy. His eyebrows scrunched up together before looking up and down himself. Lucas noticed that he forgot his shoes and before Erica could mock him for forgetting his shoes, he sprinted up to his room and put some on. "What an ass..." – Erica rolled her eyes before devoting her full attention towards the TV screen.

-

Mike was standing in front of his house facing their new neighbours place. He couldn't stop thinking about what he saw. That green eye was keeping him wondering what it hid inside. Maybe he will see it again at dinner and process it even more. Something about that house seemed fishy to him and he didn't like it. The last thing he needed was someone to come and disturb their peace and quiet that was maintained for a year and a half! Up and down, down and up, Mike inspected each window of the house, his eyes searching for the one he saw before. The only things he could see were white curtains being hanged by Darlene in the living room, Al putting on a light in one of the room on the second floor and lights turned on next to the one Al was in.

Lucas strolled down the street and saw Mike's "curious" face; the one Mike always does when a subject in school is hard, but interesting at the same time. Mike was into observing the house that much that he didn't even notice the presence of Lucas. Lucas looked towards the way that Mike was looking at and noticed the same things. "New neighbours, huh?" – Lucas broke the silence. "Yeah, creepy Al and Darlene." – Mike shortly answered, already nicknaming the new comers. "They live alone?" – The dark skinned boy asked curiously, again. "No, they have a daughter, JJ, but we didn't see her." – Mike answered shortly and bluntly as he moved around so he can maybe see something else other than what he's already seeing. "Damn, you find out shit fast!" – Lucas exclaimed.

"We went by their place today and this whole family gives me a really bad vibe! You should've seen how they acted when my mom asked about their daughter!" – Mike told Lucas as he spotted that Darlene saw him staring which only resulted in her overly-excited waving at him. He could hear her colourful jewellery jingling as Darlene flashed Mike a big smile, but before he had a chance to return a smile Darlene turned around like she was called. She closed the curtains which made Mike snap out of it. "See what I'm talking about? Creepy!" – Mike exclaimed. "Dude she just closed the curtains because we were staring like idiots!" – Lucas spat back. "You don't get it, you weren't there!" – Mike overly reacted.

Before Lucas had a chance to answer the black-haired boy back a car roared the streets. Both Lucas and Mike were familiar with the sound of the car, Hopper's car. Soon, Will came out and joined the boys. He waved Hopper off. "What are you guys looking at?" – Will asked. "Well ,actually, Mike is spying on his new neighbours because he's paranoid that they have some dirty secret in the closet." – Lucas joked. "They may have their daughter in a closet! By the looks of the girl, she probably was stuffed in some closet filled with creepy things!" – Mike said, totally serious. "Wait, didn't yo just say that you didn't saw the girl?" – Lucas asked with confusion written all over his face.

"I didn't saw her fully, just her eye and hair. She was peeking from the stairs and trust me, she didn't look like she was willingly absent. I'm telling you, something is up with this family!" – And before Mike had a chance to say anything else, another car's engine roared and a Camero rode down the street and parked in front of Mike's car. That Camero was well known in Hawkins! Max exited the car and joined her friends, while Billy drove off. "Hey, you guys look worried!" – Max pointed out. "Mike is!" – Will said. "Why what happened?" – She asked. "Mike's paranoid, as always! That's all..." – Lucas said bluntly, trying to ignore the hot stares Mike sent to the house opposite them.

They waited for Dustin to come. He was casually late as always! Soon, a BMW strolled down with rolled down windows and parked in front of Mike's house. "Girls on Film" by Duran Duran was playing loudly from the car as Steve Harrington rolled his window down, his Raybans on his face and hair slicked back as usually. "Pile up in the back kids!" – And with that all of the kids hopped in the back seat. The boys squeezed so Max can have enough space because they're gentlemen. Dustin sat at the front while bobbing his head to the melody playing.

"Hey, Steve! Stay with us tonight if you don't have any plans!" - Lucas offered. "It's Friday night, what makes you thing that I can sit with you little dipshits at Jack's and drink milkshakes?" – Steve answered. "So, is that a yes?" – Mike butted in. "Yeah, it's a yes..." – Steve confirmed with a moaned yeah.