Invisible- Stranger Things Fanfiction

Chapter Thirty Four: Homecoming

Quick A/N: The songs in this chapter are Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears and Raspberry Beret by Prince; both came out the year the kids went to high school and I love them both, so enjoy!
*One month later, Dustin's POV*
Well, this was it. Homecoming. Mr. Clarke has been assigned as the temporary high school principal after O'Connell resigned, and school was back in session. All of us kids (and Steve) were gathered at Hopper's place. The boys were getting ready in the living room, the girls in Sarah's.
"Holy shit, Dustin, what the hell did you do to your collar?" Steve fixed my shirt, patting my hair slightly. "Sure you don't want..." he lowered his voice. "the spray?"
I shook my head, my normal big curls shaking too. "Nah, she likes my hair like this."
Yep, you guessed it. I fixed things with Mon, and she agreed to be my date to homecoming. She's still pretty guarded around me- around all of us- but that'll take some time. Sarah's become her faithful companion, following Mon everywhere, like a big blonde puppy.
Hopper walked into the living room, smirking at us all. "Well, don't you nerds clean up nice?"
Mike smiled at him from the mirror Steve brought over, adjusting his bright pink tie with determination. "Thanks, Chief. How are the girls doing?"
Hopper held up his pointer finger. "One sec." he banged on Sarah's door. "How ya doin' in there, ladies?"
"Don't get your panties in a knot, we'll be out in a second!"
Sarah had also gotten much more comfortable with the Party, being able to sass everyone with as much ease as the rest of the girls.
The door opened to reveal Mon, my date. We weren't exactly dating again, but we were working our way up to it. She was currently wrapped tightly in one of Sarah's blue bathrobes, her hair and makeup already done. At the hem of the robe, I saw a hint of her dress, although not enough to make out what it would look like.
"Hey," Hopper said to her. "Where are the others?"
Mon rolled her eyes at Sarah's door. "They're still complimenting each other on how pretty they all-"
Eeeee!
We all laughed as a loud shriek erupted from Sarah's room. Mon rolled her eyes again and went to help Will fix his hair. "What'd you do, let a bird live in here? Shit, Will, they've got this thing called a comb, don't be afraid to try it."
I laughed as Mon effortlessly got the tangles out. "It's short, how did I even tangle it that badly?" Will asked.
"The Upside Down must've done some crazy ass voodoo or something to make it permanently unmanageable." Mon laughed, and so did Will. She was the only one who could get away with joking about the Upside Down with him. Yeah, they're really close. And yeah, I'm done being a bitch about it.
I walked over to them, pulling Mon outside as the other guys talked to each other. "So, when can I see the dress?" I asked, giving Mon a cheeky smile.
Mon groaned. "I look stupid."
"How could you possibly look stupid?"
"The dress doesn't match my scar," she huffed, motioning toward the still-noticeable pink line running down her left cheek. "Takes all the toughness away. I earned that damn toughness."
My hand brushed the scar, noticing just how much more beautiful it made Mon. Her eyes twinkled and sparkled, and not just because of the makeup Nancy gave the girls. (She was afraid her eyeshadow would seep into her skin and turn the baby different colors or some shit.)
"Damn, Henderson, stop staring. I know, I look like a carnival attraction."
"You look like the most beautiful girl in the-"
"Hell, just stop talking," she laughed. "I don't need any more sappy shit from you."
I smirked. "Then this is gonna be a long night for you, kid."
Mon rolled her eyes at me, shaking her also curly head. (Nancy also gave the girls her curler.) "You know, Will's gonna freak."
"Why?"
"I mean, his date's gonna be out here any minute, and we all know she's gonna look fantastic."
Yep. Will has a date to homecoming. Which means we all have dates to a school-organized function. Finally, am I right? At least this time I won't have to dance with Nancy.
As if on cue, Will came out to join us, frantically fixing any aspect of himself that could be askew. "How's my hair now, Nik?"
Mon smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder to stop him from fidgeting. "You look great, buddy. She won't be able to take her eyes off of you."
At this, even I smiled. Mon had become super supportive of everyone in the party- still totally sassy and sarcastic, but supportive. Even Mike couldn't help wanting to be her best friend again, and the two of them were now thick as thieves.
"Nikki!" We all jumped at the shrill shriek from behind us, eyes wide as El came out onto the deck in her pink bathrobe, trying not to be noticed by anyone. "We agreed not to show the guys until we were all ready!" she whined, pulling Mon back inside with her.
"Guess I'll catch you guys on the flip," said Mon, letting El drag her back to Sarah's room.
Will and I laughed as we went back inside. For October, it was freezing. "You doing okay, buddy?" I asked Will.
"We're not talking about homecoming anymore, are we?" Will- along with everyone else except Sarah- knew that the anniversary of his disappearance was coming up soon. None of us wanted to tell Sarah yet, but it would probably be a good idea, seeing as Will didn't do so well last year around this time.
I patted him on the back. "Just remember we're here, okay? Tell us if you need anything." With that, I dropped it. He didn't need to hear anymore about it, his mom already obsessed enough.
Lucas came over to us, spinning on his heel in an effort to drive the point home that he was the only guy who wasn't nervous. "Do I look good or what?" he asked, swaggering over to the mirror.
"What," all of the guys said at once, making
Lucas roll his eyes, then proceed to check himself out in the mirror.
"Damn, how did I not get a girlfriend sooner?"
"Okay, okay, calm down," Mike laughed. "We're all wearing basically the same thing, why do you think you look so great?"
Lucas chuckled sarcastically, flicking Mike's neon tie up in his face. "Because my girlfriend isn't going to the dance dressed as a highlighter."
"Yeah, and all you have is a boring blue tie," Mike countered, defending El's color choice. "Pink's a good color."
"Yeah," I agreed, examining my own neon green tie. "And so is green!"
Will and Lucas both rolled their eyes. "I don't see the point in matching your ties with their dresses," Will said. "Who's actually going to care?"
"They do," I said, gesturing toward Sarah's door, "and that's all that matters."
Will nodded, trying desperately to fix his red tie. "Damn it, why can't Nikki come back out and help me?"
Mike rushed over, tying the tie with ease. "Got it."
Steve has been sitting on the couch, but now jumped up in annoyance. "Are they ready yet? The whole thing's gonna be over by the time they're done complimenting each other's choice of socks."
I laughed, knocking on the girls' door as Steve kept ranting. "Mon, you're brother's about to flip shit. Are you guys ready?"
"Well, I am, but-"
"We have to make sure we look perfect!" El gushed. This was the first time she really got to prepare for one of these things when she knew what she was doing. The Snow Ball was just kind of chaos for all of us.
I heard Mon struggling to get to the door, groaning in frustration before calling to me, "Ready or not, I'm opening the door!"
Despite the three shrieks of protest she received (even from Max), Mon flung open the door, walking out as if it were just another normal day.
"Damn."
Honestly, when Max told us all to match our ties with our girls' dresses and I got handed the bright neon green one, I was horrified. Not just for me, but for Mon. She agreed to let her girlfriends help her pick an outfit for homecoming, and I thought they'd picked some frilly spectacle of a dress.
But when Mon walked out, she was anything but a spectacle. She was a vision. Her long brown hair had been twisted into little ringlets that cascaded down her back, stopping at her waist where her black belt was. The bright neon green came from her miniskirt, which was by far the shortest thing I'd ever seen her wear. Her neon pink top was perfectly accented by a black choker with a silver moon pendant attached (this was El's, but I'm assuming she made Mon wear it for the night).
"Gonna pick your jaw up off the floor or what, Henderson?" she asked coolly, slightly towering over me in her black heels, which she walked in as easily as if they were sneakers.
The other boys clapped and wolf-whistled at her, making both of us roll our eyes.
Next was El, who came out in a bright pink strapless minidress. This time, Mon joined in the applause, and Mon let out a loud whistle. Mike started blushing like we all knew he would, fumbling for a response better than last year's.
"Um- I, um- you- woah- shit, I'm screwing this up... Stunning, you are."
"Don't hurt yourself there, Yoda," Mon laughed. "Max, come on, it's your turn!"
Sure enough, our favorite redhead walked out of the room, stumbling slightly in her tall blue heels. Her dress was almost like El's, except it had spaghetti straps and was a bit longer, plus it was blue.
Mon rushed to help her walk over to Lucas, laughing as they went. "We've been practicing for weeks, and this is the best she's done so far," she told the group.
"Woah," Lucas said, all of the confidence in him draining. "You... just, wow."
Max's face became the color of El's dress, smiling for a second before it flattened into a smirk. "Same to you, Stalker," she said with a wink.
"Okay, Hopper, you're the last one," Mon called.
The chief of police rushed into the room with a camera. "This is her first dance," he gushed excitedly. We all stared at him wide-eyed as he fidgeted with the camera, anticipating his daughter's entrance.
"Come on, Sarah, there's nothing to be worried about," Mon said.
"Sarah, Sarah, Sarah." We all started chanting, Hopper the most emphatic of us all. When the door finally opened won the way, we erupted into a thunderous round of applause, excitedly waiting to see how the older Hopper looked.
Honestly, she looked amazing. Mon had no doubt done her makeup, as it was the most subtle look out of all of them, making her dress stand out even more. The cherry color-which had turned out to be Sarah's signature color- perfectly complimented her skin, which was more tan now than when we'd first met. It was a tight, long-sleeved dress, paired with black combat boots, Mon's favorite pair. Sarah can me out of the room self-consciously, but her smile got bigger and bigger as she walked to her date for the evening.
"Hey, Will," she said, smiling brightly at him, her eyes twinkling in the living room lighting.
Will smiled back at her, fiddling with his tie nervously. "You look really pretty," he said quietly, taking a red rose from his jacket's breast pocket and handing it to her.
We all awed, and each of the other girls simultaneously looked at their dates. We all just shrugged and laughed.
Steve clapped his hands. "Let's get this show in the road!" He grabbed his keys as Hopper grabbed the keys to his own car, heading outside as we all followed, Mon and myself bringing up the rear.
   "Only room for six passengers," I said to her. I wasn't sure why I was telling her this, seeing as we both already knew that.
   She nodded, just to humor me. "Come on." Mon went to where both of our bikes were parked and started to get on hers, but I stopped her.
   "This is homecoming," I pointed out, patting the seat of my own bicycle. "Get on, Harrington."
   Rolling her eyes at me, Mon got on the back of the seat, which was surprisingly still almost big enough for both of us. "Well, isn't this romantic?"
   "Shut up," I laughed.
   Mon put her arms around me and held on tight as I pedaled toward the school, following closely behind Steve, who was following closely behind Hopper.
   I had to keep my eyes on the street, but I really wanted to look back at Mon, who had just let go of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her fingertips behind me, her arms spread out like a bird. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked, filled with amusement and concern for the silly girl behind me.
   Mom's next two words were quite possibly the most adorable I'd ever heard her say:
   "I feel like I'm flying."
   How was she so amazing?
Wait, no, I told myself. We all know where this is going. Stop thinking about her like that, she doesn't think about you like that anymore.
   Mon and I fixed things, but we weren't back together. She didn't want that right now. Will tells me she's happy the way things are right now, and I told him I was too. (God knows he's gonna tell her everything I say anyway.) But really, I miss her. She's around all the time, but I miss her. Around the time we came to our little armistice, Steve had finally gotten his apartment set up so Mon could go live with him; we'd all been staying with Hopper for a few days, but she and I had to go back to my place to get her stuff. Needless to say, my mom was heartbroken, but so was I, so I didn't have much sympathy. After she left, Mon still hung out with the party and everything- every day- but my house seemed emptier without her. I had nobody to talk to until they fell asleep, no one to wrap my arms around, no one to tell me that this was all going to work out fine.
"Son of a bitch, Henderson, watch it!"
Mon reached in front of me and turned the handlebars of the bike as everyone came to a stoplight and we almost rammed into Steve's car. We were suddenly twirling, tilting sideways a little, as Mon shrieked and jumped off the bike, grabbing me to keep me stable on the seat.
As I looked at Mon to make sure she was okay, I noticed the look of relief on her face. We kept eye contact for a minute, then Mon seemed to snap out of whatever she was thinking as she jumped back on the bike.
"Honestly, it's a good thing you don't need a license for these things," she muttered, although I could hear the smile in her voice.
As the light turned green, I took off again on the bike, being extra careful but still fast.
She was worried about me.
She's worried about everyone, though. If Will has almost crashed his bike, she'd flip shit. Probably even more than she just did. He's like her little brother now.
"We're here, Dustin. You can get off the bike now."
Yep. There we were. Hawkins High. The other cars had already taken off, our friends all waiting for us. Well, for me. Mon was already off the bike, standing on the sidewalk and smirking at me.
"Daydreaming?" she asked, maintaining a cool and confident air as a blush crept up on her face.
I smiled at her, not even wanting to think of a comeback. Then I looked at all of our friends, who I now realized were watching us. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
   Everyone rushed inside, leaving me and Mon outside. Damn it, I was still on the bike. I quickly got off, rushing to open the door for my date.
   Rolling her eyes, Mon smiled at me. "Thanks, nerd." She walked inside the door, waiting for me to come in. Together, we walked into the school's gym, which had been decorated with tons of balloons, streamers, and lots of glitter.
"This is..." Mon trailed off, her eyes sparkling in the dimly-lit gymnasium. She looked at me, then grabbed my arm and ran out to the dance floor.
"What are you-"
"Come on, Henderson!" she laughed. "We have to be normal teenagers once in a while. Besides, I love this song."
One of the newer songs from this year started playing in the gym, all of the teenagers dancing along to it. Mon grinned at me as we both started dancing, and I could hear her singing along, having every lyric memorized:
Help me make the
Most of freedom
And of pleasure
Nothing ever lasts forever
Everybody wants to rule the world

I spun her around, her hair flying everywhere as we both laughed. I hadn't seen her this happy in a while. Which I guess makes sense, seeing as the most we've had to worry about lately was the pop quizzes Mr. Clarke liked to spring on us. There were no more monsters, no more Lab escapees, and no more evil school principals to fight off. We were all free to just be.
"Finally," I said. "We get to be normal teenagers again."
"We were never normal teenagers," Mon countered, "but yeah, I guess normalcy is pretty nice for right now."
I laughed. "At least the Upside Down was considerate enough to let us get through one rite of passage."
"It's weird," Mon said suddenly, her dreamy eyes losing a little bit of their dreaminess.
"What is?"
She rolled her eyes. "Ever since middle school, I thought my freshman year would be so uneventful. I'd go in without friends, and graduate the same way. But now? Look at us. I've got all of you, Nancy and Jonathan are gonna be parents... I've got an actual family now, not just two adults I call my parents while they leave me and my brother to go to parties and booze cruises."
Mon hadn't talked about this a lot. She almost never mentioned her parents, let alone any of her feelings about them.
"Mon," I said, "you know we're always here for you, right? All of us, not just me and Steve. We'll never leave you like that."
"You'll go to college someday."
"What about you, Mon?" She was almost totally back to her serious, tough facade now. While I didn't want her to stop being happy, I had to know. "Where are you going after high school?"
She thought a moment, her eyes going all dazed again. "Someplace warm, definitely. Hate being cold. Um... let's see- I don't exactly know what I want to do for the rest of my life, so maybe I'll take a year off? Travel, maybe go to Greece or something. My cousin Donna went to Greece, and she and her daughter seem pretty happy there."
"Greece?" That was so far. "You-you're not going alone, are you?"
She smirked at me. "Why? Worried a little girl like me can't protect herself?"
"Oh, gosh no, I just meant- I'm, um, well... would-would you possibly want company on your adventures?"
Her smile was so contagious, I started to smile too. "It wouldn't be an adventure without you, Henderson. God knows you'll get us into trouble wherever we go."
"And that's a bad thing?" I asked.
Mon shook her head. "It's a wonderful thing."

That's when I saw her
Ooh
I saw her
She walked in through the out door
Out door

"Holy shit, I love this song!" I said, jumping up and down as Mon and I sang along:

She wore a raspberry beret
The kind you find in a secondhand store
Raspberry beret
And if it was warm
She wouldn't wear much more
Raspberry beret

I looked Mon right in the eye as the last part of the chorus played:

I think I love her.