NO ONE//Stranger Things

006

18 still had pink frosting on her face as she followed Bentley and Justin inside the house. Right as they opened the door, a strange silhouette flinched when the door creaked. It was huddled beside the opened refrigerator, squatting to carelessly snatch food from the lower shelves. It stood up, and revealed to be a strange, tall man with tired eyes. His messy suit and tie hinted that he had very well had a long day at an office job. Setting the food on the marble counter, the man finally noticed them. 

"Hi, Joel." The man stared at Bentley as he referred to him as Joel. Justin quickly suppressed laughter, as Bentley's face grew red. He didn't meet the man's gaze, finding his shoes pleasantly interesting. 

"Bentley." 18 found herself correcting the man. He looked at her, his face twisting with confusion. 

"Who's that?" He looked at 18, then at Bentley, then at Justin. "And, no, I named my son, so I'll call him what his name is." His voice has harsh, as if he was used to someone who would fight back, like Bentley, on a touchy subject like names, " I'm not going to call him a silly name he made up with his imaginary friends." He muttered. Bentley's jaw tightened as he clenched his fist. He looked like he wanted to yell at his father, but had to restrain himself. He drew in a sharp breath as he spoke. 

"Okay, hello, thanks for that," Bentley cut in to distract him from 18, "But what are you doing in my house?"

The man, Bentley and Justin's father, suddenly patted down his jeans until pulling out a little box from his back pocket. He grinned just looking over it. 

"I invited Sylvia and her kids over. And tonight I'm popping the question." A wave of dazed emotions washed over his father's face, but Bentley wasn't pleased. He was actually far from it. A mixture of shock and anger surged through him. After eyeing him quickly, Justin stepped in front of Bentley and looked at his dad in the eye.

"Don't tell me," Justin began, "Are they coming here?" His nose was scrunched in disgust when his father nodded. After rolling his eyes, 18 came to the conclusion that their father liked to talk about plans at the last minute. 

"Why else would I be finding food to cook up?" His dad snorted. Not the most kind adult, 18 was glad to stumble away from their dad.  

About an hour later, Justin hid 18 in the attic-otherwise Sylvia, and her kids, who were coming over, would notice her. It was dusty, boxing creatin towers that almost reached the ceiling, had small blankets of dust on them. The floorboards would creak if the slightest amount of pressure was put on it. But the windows were 18's favorite part-the sunlight gleaming through made all the dust look like glitter. She could stare out of the window for hours at a time. Rows of neatly aligned rooftops showed 18 how large the neighborhood was. A passing car caught her attention as it parked right in front of the house. Two little spunky kids jumped out of the car. One of them-in rain boots that were too big for him proved to be a boy. The other, a little girl, slowly climbed out of the car. She took a moment to stare at the house, then smiled from ear to ear. She fluffed up her dress before following her mom and brother inside. 18 hid behind one of the towers of boxes when she heard voices downstairs.

Downstairs, Sylvia and her kids opened the door. Sylvia smiled at the three boys inside as she walked in and hugged her boyfriend, Justin's dad. Justin rolled his eyes at the sight of the couple's affection. The two kids raced around the room, shouts and overjoyed squeals were louder than Sylvia and Justin's dad's conversation, so Justin couldn't hear anything.

"Let's go outside and eat, okay?" The dad soon escorted everyone outside to two neat picnic tables covered with food. The adults and Bentley sat on one, when Justin was forced to sit in the kids table, no matter how much he complained. Somehow, Justin's dad got Sylvia's kids, Brennan and Mollie, settled on a bench. Justin groaned when he sat down across from them. 

"Hey, Justin, can you grab some popcorn from inside?" The dad called. Justin nodded, and strolled into the kitchen. Glad to be away from the two monsters, Brennan and Mollie, he let out a sigh of relief. Opening the snack cabinet door with a squeak, he searched for the popcorn. Outside, a few noisy giggles came from Brennan and Mollie as they told jokes to each other. Taking a glance over his shoulder, Brennan fell out of the bench. The laughing stopped abruptly, and, taking its place was an awful wail from the little boy. His mother ran up to Brennan and tried her best to comfort him. 

Justin turned back around to look for the popcorn. He soon heard another sound, this one more of a slow sob. Checking to see if it was Brennan, the little boy was back on the bench, still sniffling. He closed his eyes. The sob was coming from above him. 18!  Justin thought, sprinting up the stairs. He opened the attic door, and the sobs ended with a sharp breath in. 18 turned to see Justin, then she pointed to a cat who was jumping from box to box. 

"The cat? You-You're afraid of cats?" Justin asked. 18 nodded, letting out a whimper. Justin slowly walked over to the cat and picked it up. He held it close to him so it wouldn't escape no matter what it did. The white and orange cat lashed it's brown tail angrily as it tried to squirm out of Justin's grip.     

After throwing it outside and returning back to 18, he explained who that was, "That's Cups. The cat. He, uh, is a neighborhood cat, so don't worry if you see it. I'll protect you. From anything." 18 wiped a tear from her cheek. 

"Why are you scared of cats, anyway?"Justin asked. 18 showed him a slice on her wrist were a cat had scarred her. 

"Bad. Cats." 18 mumbled, staring at Justin. He nodded, his mouth hanging open. A shriek pierced the silence from downstairs. What now? Justin thought. 

"I'll be back, I just have to see what that was." Justin whispered, standing up. Slowly treading down the stairs, Justin pondered why he was always the one helping people. He dashed outside, to se Sylvia screaming, his dad one one knee, proposing to her, and the kids circling the adults with excitement. Bentley drank a can of Coke in the corner, looking more unhappy than ever. 

Justin couldn't breathe. He imagined his life with Sylvia and the monsters, and he didn't like it. He took a step back from the doorway. This is just a dream, Justin told himself, A really, really bad dream. He put a hand on his forehead. Everything around him seemed to be spinning. He missed his mom more than anything, and would give up anything that made him happy to see her one last time. His vision started to get blurry, and, after seeing Bentley's face, assumed he felt the same way about their mom. Everything grew darker as he felt himself losing consciousness.