Invisible- Stranger Things Fanfiction

Chapter Five: The Sleepover

   When we got inside, I found that everyone had already put down their sleeping bags except for me and Dustin. And- oh, how convenient!- the last two available spaces were right next to each other. Will Byers, that little asshole.
   "Oh, look at that," Max said smugly. "Guess you two have to sleep next to each other."
   "I hate you all," Dustin muttered. He put his sleeping bag down on the side closest to everyone else. "That way, you're not smushed in between everyone," he said to me.
   "Thanks, Dustin," I said, putting my sleeping bag next to his.
   "Thanks, Dustin," Will, Lucas, Max, and El mocked, making kissy faces at the two of us.
   "Oh, grow up, guys," Mike said.
   "I guess it's someone's time of the month again," I whispered to Dustin, making him laugh a little louder than he should have.
   Hopper stared at us all like we were the freakiest mutants he had ever seen. "Alright, nerds. I have a case I have to work on tonight, and I don't want to be a test subject for any of your pranks while I'm sleeping, so you've got the place to yourselves. If you have a crazy party or pull any shenanigans whatsoever, I expect this place to be clean by the time I get back tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"
   We all nodded. "Yes, sir."
   Hopper smiled. "Good. Then have fun, and don't let anyone get pregnant." With that, he turned and walked right out the door, leaving us all mildly uncomfortable with his last rule.

*Time skip, an hour later*
   After perhaps the thousandth game of charades (which we all sucked at), the party decided to move on to a new game.
   "Truth or Dare!" Will suggested immediately, winking at me and Dustin, making me punch him right on the shoulder.
   Dustin rolled his eyes. "You're such an ass sometimes, Will."
   Will shrugged innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about, I just like the game."
   Mike's face swirled into a disbelieving smirk. "Uh-huh. Yeah, sure, Will." We all laughed before Mike turned to El. "Truth or dare?"
   She thought for a minute. "Truth," she finally said.
We all know where this is going.
   "Do you love me?"
   We all groaned at Mike's question, knowing exactly what the answer was as well.
   "Sure."
   "Uggggh!" The rest of us all groaned at El's answer.
   Mike glared at us. "Shut up. Your turn, El."
   El smirked. "Will, truth or dare?"
   Will looked around, trying to get help deciding from one of us. When that didn't work, he decided on his own: "Dare."
   "I dare you..." El thought for a moment, then she made a funny face. "I dare you to... let one of us put makeup on you."
   Will grimaced as everyone else watched in intrigue. "Nikki, you seem the most talented at makeup. You do it," he replied.
   I laughed as I ran to my overnight bag, grabbing my makeup and scooting closer to Will. I took out my pink eye shadow and a brush, making Will's eyes pop out of his head.
"What's with the pointy thing?" he squeaked.
"It's a makeup brush, calm down," I replied. I lifted the brush to his eyes. "Close 'em." As I got closer to his closed eye, he flinched back. "Hey," I said quietly. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."
Will nodded, taking a deep breath. "I trust you."
Finally, I was able to do his makeup. I gave him pink eyeshadow with blue liner- which scared the shit out of him- and pink cherry-flavored lip gloss.
Everyone clapped when I unveiled my masterpiece. Will couldn't see it yet, so he was still terrified, his face mirroring a cherry tomato. I handed him my compact, allowing him to look at himself.
He gasped. "I'm beautiful!"
We all giggled at this, waiting for him to pick the next victim. He grinned evilly before speaking. "Dustin."
"You've got nothin' on me," Dustin said confidently. "Dare."
After meeting eyes with me, Will said the very words I had been dreading. "I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room."
I laughed. "Well, that's a relief! We all know it's not me because-"
I was cut off by Dustin's face colliding with mine, kissing me on the lips- well, mostly on the lips; his mouth ended up at the corner of mine, so he was partially just kissing my cheek. It was awkward and weird, and I wanted to laugh my ass off. Everyone else was screaming the stereotypical teen "Oooh" and clapping.
   Dustin pulled away after only two seconds, his face red and embarrassed. "Sorry," he whispered. "I don't know why I did that, I just-"
This time, I cut him off. Unlike Dustin, I actually maintained my cool and accurately kissed him on the mouth. Max and El were squealing, while the boys were just holding their breaths. Dustin was still as a boulder in a hurricane as I moved away from him, the smirk on my face uncontrollable.
"Hell yeah, Dustin!" Lucas said, clapping very obnoxiously.
Dustin was blushing even more now, his toothless grin making me laugh a little. He was staring at me with those damn eyes, which were now all dewy and sparkly.
   "Your turn, Dustin," I said nonchalantly.
   Dustin looked confused, then realized we were still playing Truth or Dare. "Max, truth or dare?"
   "Truth," Max said, most likely afraid of being dared to kiss Lucas in front of everyone.
   Dustin thought for a moment, then, after glancing at me, looked back at the redheaded girl. "Who's the most attractive guy in this room?"
   Lucas smiled cockily. "Me, of course."
   Max looked at me, winked, then looked back at him. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
   Lucas looked at her skeptically, then shrugged it off, putting his arm around her.

   Everyone had gotten kind of bored, so we changed into our pyjamas and decided to play some of Hopper's records on the old player. I found an Elton John record, which I immediately put into the player and turned up the volume.

   Blue jean baby, L.A. lady...

   I sighed happily as I heard Tiny Dancer, one of my all-time favorite Elton John songs, began to play. Will, Mike, and Lucas knew who it was and rolled their eyes at me. Dustin and the girls looked at each other.
   "This, my dear friends, is real music," I said, grabbing El and Max and making them dance around the room with me. I started mumbling the words along, but tried to make it so that nobody could hear me. Soon enough, Max and El went back to hanging out with our friends, so I went outside to get some fresh air. I stood on the porch, leaning against the railing as the summer night breeze tousled my hair and tickled my face. It was so calm out there; so calm, I almost found it hard to believe that I was almost killed by a monster- twice- in this very town today.
   "Hey there."
   Dustin came up next to me, jumping up to sit on the railing of the porch.
   I tired to do the same, and after a few failed attempts, I did. "Hey," I said softly.
   "Listen, Mon, about what happened during Truth or Dare, I-"
   "Don't even mention it," I interrupted. "It was... fun."
   Dustin raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Fun?" he questioned.
   "Yeah." I looked out at Hopper's yard, watching the leaves on the tree in front of us sway in the gentle wind. "Fun."
   Dustin laughed. "Damn," he uttered.
   "What?"
   "Nothing, it's just- I mean, you- you're just so... and I'm just so..."
   "What are you trying to say?"
   He huffed, then looked at me, avoiding my eyes. "It just doesn't make sense, that's all."
   "Doesn't make sense?"
   "No," he responded. "You're Monica Harrington. You're Steve's little sister! Why would anyone so... I don't know, perfect... think that kissing me was- was fun?"
   I smacked his arm. "First of all, dipshit, I may be Monica Harrington, but until today, you didn't even remember who I was. Who I'm related to has really nothing to do with this. I'm not any more important than any of you. If anything, I'm less important because at least you guys get noticed."
   "We get noticed because we're losers."
   "But you get noticed," I countered. "You guys are at least a part of the school. I'm nobody.
   "Secondly, you shouldn't talk such shit about yourself. You're actually a really cool guy to hang around."
   "Me?" Dustin scoffed. "Cool?"
   I nodded with slight annoyance. "Yes, Dustin, you're cool. And your friends think so too."
Dustin looked at the ground. "They think I'm an idiot, actually."
"Well, you were pretty cool today. You saved me from the Displacer this morning. Even though I wasn't cooperating and we were all in a ton of danger, you got me out of my house as fast as you could. And you got me to calm down at Mike's house when I started freaking out. No matter what your friends think, I think it's safe to say that you're secretly braver than all of them."
Dustin didn't have a response for that; he looked up at the full moon above us, decorating the sky like an accent pillow on my mother's couch. "It's weird to think that all of this has happened in one day."
I shrugged. "Time flies when you're being hunted by a monster." I then looked up to see my favorite constellation. "There's Pegasus." I pointed it out to Dustin.
He looked up and laughed. "You know, I am beginning to remember you a little more."
I raised my eyebrow at him. "Oh?"
   "Yeah. You were the girl who was obsessed wth Greek mythology and astronomy and a ton of other geeky things that you were somehow able to make girly and kind of cute."
   "Cute? You- you think astronomy is cute?"
   Dustin nodded. "I think you're cute."
   I cringed slightly at his awkwardness, but then we both burst into laughter
   "That was terrible," he sighed. "I'm sorry."
   I smiled back at him, laughing so hard that I rocked forward a little bit. "Holy shit!" I squeaked, almost falling off of the railing. Dustin caught me by the waist and pulled me back up, making me accidentally fall against his shoulder.
   Dustin helped me steady myself, then looked at me with a little smile. "You okay?"
   I rolled my eyes in fake annoyance. "Why the hell is it that you've been saving me all day?"
   "Maybe I'm just that good," he said, nudging my arm.
   A yawn escaped my mouth, making me look like a witch because I'm uber-ugly when I yawn.
   "Tired?" Dustin asked, laughing at my lion's yawn. I nodded. "Why don't you go in and sleep? The others are doing the same thing."
I looked inside to see everyone on the floor. How convenient, all of the couples were together- except for Max and Lucas. Poor Will was smushed in between the two of them. (That's what he gets for giving me shit about Dustin.)
   "I'm just fine right here," I said, putting my head on Dustin's shoulder and looking at Pegasus in the sky.