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SIX!
confused beyond belief
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         When Wendy had gotten home from her excruciating long school day, she never expected to receive a frantic call from Mike Wheeler, demanding her to immediately leave for his house.

But that's exactly what she did.

The girl immediately dropped her backpack on the staircase before hurrying out to the side of her house to collect her bike. She rode as fast as her short legs would allow her to as she had reached her final destination, the Wheeler house.

Mike had instantly greeted the Harrington girl before quickly pulled her away upstairs to his room, where the other two boys stood waiting.

She couldn't help feel a shiver go down her spine as she made direct eye contact with the mysterious girl, known only to Mike and Wendy as Eleven.

She knew the mysterious girl had a lot more to say about the matter as the glance she sent towards Wendy held a lot more meaning and fear than intended. She was hiding something from the Harrington girl but she seemed afraid to break down her rough exterior in order to drop the bomb of truth.

For now, Wendy would just silently wait and overthink everything possible scenario until Eleven is comfortable enough to reveal the meaning behind their connection.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lucas questioned in disbelief, abruptly cutting off Wendy's deep thoughts.

She hadn't ever realized that the three boys were having a conversation as she was so focused on having a staring contest with Eleven.

"Just listen to me." Mike begged, trying to calm the Sinclair boy's sudden loud outburst.

"You are out of your mind?!" Lucas confirmed.

"She knows about Will." Mike announced. Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws dropped all in sync at the sudden bomb drop.

"What do you mean she knows about Will?" Dustin pondered in confusion.

"She pointed at him, at his picture. She said his name!" Mike exclaimed.

"She said his name?" Lucas asked.

"Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place Will disappeared?" Mike pointed out.

"That is weird." Wendy agreed, nodding.

"And she said bad people are her. I think maybe these bad people are the same ones that took Will. I think she know what happened to him." Mike pondered his thoughts out loud.

"Then why doesn't she just tell us?" Lucas pointed out before going over to the girl.

The two made direct eye contact and Wendy could see that Eleven had basically shrivelled up in her own skin due to the hostile aura that Lucas excluded.

"Do you know where Will is?" Lucas demanded, aggressively shaking the girl's shoulders. 

"Do you know where he is?!" Mike immediately stepped in to pull the boy away from the fearful girl.

"Stop it, you're scaring her." Wendy reminded, trying to sooth the situation between the boys.

She put her arm out in front of the two boys to get them to move back a few inches. She could just sense the fear that was radiating off of Eleven, based on how much she was shaking.

"She should be scared! If you know where he is, tell us!" Lucas exclaimed.

"This is nuts! We have to take her to your mother." Dustin breathed out.

"No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger." Mike warned, trying to stop the boys from doing something they might regret.

"What kind of danger?" Dustin pondered.

"Who's Eleven?" Lucas asked in confusion when he heard the Wheeler boy refer to the mysterious girl by a singular number.

"Her name is Eleven. El for short." Mike explained, trying to steer the conversation away to a new topic.

"Mike! What kind of danger?!" Dustin demanded, her nerves starting to panic.

"Danger! Danger!" Mike emphasized, trying to get his point across to the two panicked boys.

"No, no, no! We're going back to plan A. We're telling your mom." Lucas exclaimed, reaching over to grab the door handle.

What he didn't know was that Eleven had beat him to it and had taken matters into her own hands or her own mind to be more specific.

Lucas Sinclair must of jumped a foot in air once he had caught sight of the handle locking on its own. Dustin, Mike and Wendy also stumbled backwards in disbelief at the sight as well. They couldn't believe what they had seen with their own eyes.

It felt right out of a action movie or a comic book. It didn't feel like real life at all. Eleven had locked the boy's bedroom door, using nothing but her mind. The four preteens could not fathom the idea of a real human being, let alone a human being sitting right in front of them, actually having real superhero like abilities.

"No." Eleven demanded in a low tone.

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         "You're at who's house?" Thomas Harrington had questioned his daughter through the phone line.

Wendy Harrington was currently standing in the Wheeler kitchen, on the phone with her father. The girl had totally forgotten to call or leave a note of some kind to assure the older man that she was out of the house. She ultimately decided to give the man a call to let him know about her whereabouts before his heart exploded from panic.

"Mike's house, dad." Wendy confirmed.

"What are you doing at Mike's house?" Thomas asked, voice full of suspicion.

"We're working on our science project." Wendy came up with the first thing that came to her mind, not realizing that it would come back to haunt her.

"I thought you two had finished your science project on Saturday?" Thomas reminded, pointing out his daughter's white lie with ease.

Wendy mentally cursed herself for being so stupid. "We did but we have to.....write a paper on the other kids projects! Yeah! We have to do that! Mr Clark wants to see our opinions!" She chuckled nervously.

She mentally cursed herself again at how quick her father could catch on to her lies. It also didn't help that she had the same stupid nervous habit as her older brother, Stanley, making the two siblings nearly identical when it came to lying straight to their father's face.

"Alright......." Thomas sighing.

He could most definitely see right through yet another one his daughter's white lie but allowed it to pass through. He trusted his daughter enough to know that she only lived during desperate situations, so he suspected she was only lying to cover up the fact that she was searching for Will Byers.

He would let it slide this time because he understands that she's going through an emotional time.

"So, is it ok if I stay for dinner?" Wendy asked.

"I guess it's alright since I'll be home late tonight. I'll call Stanley to let him know and he'll come pick you up at eight." Thomas reluctantly agreed.

"Thanks, dad! I love you!" Wendy practically bounced up and down on the spot.

"I love you too, Wen. I'll see you later." Thomas chuckled before hanging up on his daughter.

Wendy just sighed in relief as she placed the phone back up on the receiver. She then entered the Wheeler dining room to see that everyone had taken a seat at the dinner table.

The eldest daughter of the Wheeler family, Nancy and the youngest, Holly, sat together on one side of the table. Across the table from the two sisters were the only males in the Wheeler household, Mike and his father, Ted. Dustin and Lucas sat at the edge of the table and Karen Wheeler sat in the seat closest to the door. An extra chair was smack down in the middle between Dustin and Mike as that was the reserved spot for Wendy.

"Is everything alright?" Karen Wheeler asked. She looked up from the spoonful of carrots that she's currently trying to feed the giggly child in the high chair.

Wendy nodded awkwardly, despite receiving a warm smile from the older woman. "Yeah, everyone is good. My dad was totally cool with the idea of me staying here for dinner. My brother is just coming to pick me up at eight."

The preteen girl sat down in the seat that was placed down in between Dustin and Mike. As soon as she had settled into her chair, a plate of the steaming hot dinner was placed in front of her on the floral placemat for the Harrington girl to dig into.

An awkward silence immediately overtook the atmosphere in the packed dining room. The only noises that could cut through the thick atmosphere was the clattering of silverware against the ceramic plates and the soft clanking sound that crystal cups made when they hit fabric covered surfaces.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Karen questioned, suddenly breaking the awkward silence. She made direct eye contact with the four preteens as they were the most obviously disinterested in the meal.

Mike was trying to settle his rumbling stomach by taking large gulps of his glass of milk. Lucas used his fork to push around the chopped up pieces of meatloaf and vegetables to make his portions seem smaller. Dustin had proceeded to drown his portion in a layer of gravy to make it seem as if he couldn't dig into a meal without spicing the food up.

The three boys had decided that it would be best to save their leftovers for Eleven, who was currently waiting in the basement with a rumbling stomach.

The three boys didn't have to give up their meals as Wendy was most likely not going to eat her plate due to a lack of an actual appetite. After the stressful events of the past few days weighing her down, one look at the bland looking meatloaf dinner and her hunger immediately evaporated.

It's not that the Harrington girl thought Karen Wheeler was a terrible cook, it's just the slice of meatloaf that currently sat on her plate looked like pure grey matter.

All sad and dry looking, only drenched in a layer of gravy with a side of boiled vegetables. Her older brother could probably make her a better dinner if she stayed home and that boy had a habit of burning toast.

The girl was not about to stomach this mediocre meal and would rather surrender it to someone who didn't have the privilege of receiving consistent meals.

"Aw, no, I had two baloney sandwiches for lunch." Dustin lied with a large toothy grin.

"Me too!" Lucas agreed, trying to make the lie more credible than it actually was.

"It's delicious, mommy." Nancy complimented.

The older girl was totally sucking up to her mother in order to probably ask for a favour as that's what she always did when she wanted something.

"Thank you, sweetie." Karen smiled.

"So, there's this special assembly thing tonight.....for Will. At the school friend. Barb's driving." Nancy started.

Wendy rolled her eyes as she glanced down at her sneakers. She knew what the Wheeler girl was going to do as soon as she complimented her mother's dry meatloaf.

"And why am I just hearing this?" Karen questioned in confusion at the sudden announcement.

"I though you knew." Nancy shrugged.

"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found....." Karen reminded the teen girl.

"I know but it'd be super weird if I'm not there. I mean....everyone's going." Nancy begged.

"Just.....be back by ten." Karen reluctantly agreed.

"Why don't you take the boys and Wendy with you?" Karen offered suddenly.

"NO!" The four preteens shouted in sync, violently shaking their heads to get their point across.

Even a look of disagreement of the idea is plastered on Nancy's face as the last thing she needed was a group of twelve years old with her.

"Don't you think you should be there? For Will?" Karen pondered in confusion by their reaction. She never expected the four preteens to all violently disagree with her on the idea.

Suddenly, loud creak caused by slight pressure on the wooden stairs, sounded through the house. The four preteens eyes widened when they spotted Eleven was currently tip toeing down the stairs.

Mike immediately choked on his glass of milk, causing his mother to turn towards where his eyes had landed. Dustin quickly drummed his fists against the table to earn everyone's attention away from Eleven, so the girl could quickly slip back into the basement without anyone noticing.

The adults all stared in confusion at the boy, who just gave another toothy grin in return.

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         After dinner had been dismissed for the night, the four preteens had retreated back down to the basement to be alone.

Mike had quickly grabbed his full plate and Wendy's half eaten plate of meatloaf before his mother had noticed, so he could serve dinner to Eleven, who patiently waited.

"El." Mike called.

The girl in questioned immediately popped her head out of her blanket fort and moved some items out of the way to let the boy kneel in front of her. He handed her his plate of food with a smile and she happily accepted the dinner due to the severe rumbling in her stomach.

"No adults, just us and some meatloaf." Mike announced, hoping this would bring some sort of relief to the nervous girl.

"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise, right?" Mike asked, turning a bit to face the two apprehensive boys. Wendy immediately nodded to help calm the tense situation.

"We never would've of upset you if we knew you had superpowers." Dustin assured.

"What Dustin is trying to say is that they were just scared earlier. That's all." Mike paraphrased and Eleven's face fell, causing a deep frown to overtake her facial features.

"No, no, no, no! They weren't scared of you!" Mike quickly tried to explained, hoping he didn't just back himself into a corner.

"We just wanted to find our friend." Lucas reminded.

"Friend?" Eleven questioned in confusion at the new found word.

Friend? Something as simple as a friend seemed to fathom the young girl's mind.

Eleven's lack of knowledge on the subject of friendship was another reason to send Wendy Harrington spiralling back down her hole of confusion and worry. It was as if she was witnessing deja vu all over again but this time it was with Eleven and not Nina.

Nina had asked her about the subject of friendship when they first met but Wendy pushed this asking off as the older girl just never having any friends due to some traumatic experiences. She never realized that all people who were only known by number codes, didn't understand the basic concept of human interaction.

It's as if the two girls had been wiped clean of all world experiences and she held the key to unlock the memories for them, just by explaining the most simplistic concepts to their naive minds.

"Yeah, friend, Will." Mike confirmed.

"What is friend?" Eleven pondered.

"Is she serious?" Lucas asked in annoyance with an eye roll.

"Shut up, Lucas. She's clearly asking because she's never had a real friend before." Wendy shot back with a glare, hoping that would shut the boy up.

"It's someone that you'd do anything for." Mike began to explain.

"You lend them all your cool stuff like comic books and trading cards." Dustin added.

"And they never break a promise." Mike agreed.

"Especially when there's spit." Lucas chuckled.

"Spit?" Eleven asked in confusion.

"A spit swear means you never break your word." Lucas clarified before spitting in his own hand and shaking Dustin's to demonstrate.

Dustin and Wendy both held the same disgusted looks on their faces from the boy's action. The curly haired boy immediately wiped his semi-wet palm on his jeans.

"I don't participate it that because girls don't do that." Wendy shook her head in disgust.

"It's a bond." Lucas nodded.

"That's super important because friends.....they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know." Mike finished off with a smile.

💬 AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I didn't mean to bully Karen's meatloaf but that shit looks so dry 💀💀 Also, I hate meatloaf with a living passion because it reminds me of when my dad used to make it when I was a kid when we had like four different packs of almost expired ground beef and mixed it with other expired food. There is so much better food out there than meatloaf.

★ 𝐎𝐃𝐃 𝐄𝐘𝐄 ! stranger things fanfic ★
(© 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱)