CHAPTER TWENTY NINE. WARM WELCOME

☆ミ ☆彡

DUSTIN HENDERSON WAS ONE OF THE SWEETEST PEOPLE CHALLAN HAS HAD THE PRIVILEGE OF GETTING TO KNOW. He wasn't what she had expected. Yes, she expected him to be really smart and nerdy. But she didn't expect him to be funny, kind, reliable, loyal, and just a great friend. Their friendship had grown a lot since that Halloween night and she really was grateful to know him.

So, she was fairly excited that he would be coming home from summer camp today and the party would be surprising him. But to do this, they all had to ignore his attempts to get ahold of them through his walkie-talkie once he was back in town. Challan felt bad for doing this but knew it would all be worth it to see the excited look on his face.

They were all in Dustin's house, waiting patiently for him to come home. Their chatter died down as they heard Mrs. Henderson pull into the driveway and they all immediately jumped into action. They went to go hide as the two entered the house. Dustin went straight to his bedroom, sulking a little as he went. They waited a few moments for him to settle in before they began.

Eleven used her powers to turn on some of Dustin's toys. The toys began moving about his room and toward the door with Dustin following after them. "It's just a dream. You're dreaming," Dustin tried convincing himself. The toys walked into the living room where the group was hiding behind a wall. They stood in place for a moment.

"Now!" Mike whispered. Eleven opened her eyes and the toys stopped moving. Quietly, the six began walking out from behind the wall. Lucas was holding the welcome home sign that they had made for Dustin, a noisemaker in his mouth whilst the rest of the party had their own noisemakers at the ready.

Max counted down to them with her fingers and once she got down to one, they all blew into their noisemakers.

Dustin let out a terrified scream, pointing a bottle of hairspray in Lucas's face and pressing down on the nozzle. The hairspray went flying into Lucas's eyes, causing the boy to let out a high-pitched shriek. The two boys were now both screaming as the others jumped away and shielded their eyes.

"Dustin, stop!" Challan yelled. He obliged, quickly calming down as he registered what was happening. He looked around at his friends as Lucas continued screaming. Challan grabbed Lucas' arm, leading him away from the others and to the kitchen. "Max!" She called over her shoulder to the redhead who quickly went to follow after her.

Max turned on the kitchen faucet and Challan instructed Lucas to use his fingers to open his eyes wide enough for the water to go into it. Lucas did as he was told. "How long does he need to wash his eyes out for?" Challan asked Max.

"In science class, when you get chemicals in your eye they say to rinse it for fifteen minutes so I'd say fifteen minutes," Max answered and Challan nodded.

"That's what I thought," she agreed, looking down at her watch to start counting down the minutes.

Lucas pulled his head out from under the faucet. "Wait, fifteen minutes?" He questioned incredulously, water dripping down his face.

"Yes," Challan said, gently grabbing his head and pushing it back under the running water. She kept her hand on his head for a few minutes before letting go. "Keep your head there, Lucas," she instructed and he shot her a thumbs up.

Challan turned to Max, sending her a smile. "That was not how I was expecting this to turn out," she said.

"Yeah, I didn't think Dustin would freak out like that," Max agreed before letting out a chuckle. "It was kinda funny though." Challan gently slapped her arm.

"Max!" She chastised, which only made Max laugh harder.

"He screamed like a little girl again, you'd think he would've grown out of that by now," Max said with a laugh.

Lucas lifted his out of the sink and turned to Max. "I can hear you," he said, eyes closed.

"Yeah but you can't see me," Max retorted and Challan couldn't help but snicker. Max smirked and sent her a playful wink. Lucas rubbed his eyes, attempting to pry them open.

"Better?" Max asked, becoming more serious and concerned.

"Still stings," Lucas answered, rubbing his eyes some more.

"Yeah because it hasn't been fifteen minutes yet," Challan said before slapping away his hands, "And stop rubbing your eyes."

Lucas opened his eyes fully and looked directly at Max, his eyebrows furrowing as he pointed at her face. "Is that a new zit?"

Challan's eyes widened, her mouth dropping open. He should not have said that.

Max blinked at him in surprise, her concern shifting to contempt. "What is wrong with you?" She grabbed Lucas's head and shoved it back under the faucet as Lucas shouted, "I was just asking!" Another shout escaped his lips as the water stung his eyes.

"Challan!" He called out to her, unable to free himself from Max's grip. Challan looked down at her watch.

"Nine more minutes," she said. Max smirked, pushing Lucas's head down a little harder.

After a few more minutes passed, they could hear the other four members of the party walking out, talking about something Challan couldn't quite hear at first. "Think Phoebe Cates, only hotter," she heard Dustin say making her eyebrows furrow.

"What's going on?" Max asked, stepping away from Lucas to look at the four who were walking out of the front door.

"Going to talk to Dustin's girlfriend," Will answered excitedly.

Lucas pulled his head up from the sink. "Girlfriend?" The three out of the loop questioned simultaneously. They looked at one another before Max and Lucas were quickly following the group out the door, Lucas grabbing his backpack on the way out. Challan turned off the faucet and looked at her watch again. "It hasn't been fifteen minutes," she said before walking to the door.

••••

On any other day, Challan would be happy to trek up Weathertop Hill with Max. But today, it was exceptionally hot and the two weren't there for a picnic. Instead, they were on their way to the top of the hill to set up Dustin's super radio, which he named Cerebro. Challan assumed it was a reference to the X-Men, only knowing this from the comic books Max had forced her to read.

She and Max shared the weight of one of the bags containing part of Cerebro but even with a two-person effort, the weight of the jumbled-up mess of parts put a strain on her muscles. It didn't make it better that they had to walk far up the hill to set it up for whatever reason.

They were all panting and Challan's arms and legs ached painfully. She wasn't sure how much longer she could do this but she was sure that she would be extremely sore tomorrow.

"Aren't we high enough?" Lucas asked.

"Cerebro works best at a hundred meters," Dustin said.

"There's a reason why no one goes to the top of the hill, Dustin. It's too far," Challan panted, the weight of the bag feeling even heavier than before.

"We're almost there," Dustin assured.

"Max and I have been on this hill many times and I know for a fact that we are not almost at the top," Challan replied.

"What do you guys come here for?" Dustin looked back at them.

"Picnic dates. You don't need to go all the way to the top to have a nice view," Challan said, gazing over at Max who turned her head to hide a blush.

"That was extremely smooth," Lucas complimented.

"Yeah and it sounded weird coming out of your mouth," Will said. It honestly felt weird for her to say but it kind of just slipped out.

"She's spending way too much time with Max, I'm telling you," Lucas said to Will.

Challan and Max looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"It's the summer, once school starts, we might not have a chance to hang out as much alone so I for one am going to enjoy some quality time with my girlfriend and I don't care what either of you say," Challan said.

"Yeah and if you two were in a relationship, then you'd understand but you're not so..." Max trailed off.

"Oh, burn!" Dustin said, turning to Max to give her a high five. She stared at his hand and then looked at him, her face holding annoyance because of having to walk so much. He lowered his hand to his side and the group continued walking.

"You know, I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones," Max breathed out in annoyance.

"Yeah, but Suzie's Mormon," Dustin said.

"Oh, shit. She doesn't have electricity?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, that's the Amish," Max corrected.

"What are Mormons?" Will asked.

"Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but... since I'm not Mormon, her parents would never approve. It's all a bit... Shakespearean," Dustin answered.

"Shakespearean?" Max questioned jokingly. He couldn't be serious with this analogy.

"Yeah. Like Romeo and Juliet," he replied.

"Right," Max sarcastically said.

"Star-crossed lovers," he went on.

"I got it," Max responded.

Challan's chest was beginning to burn now and she groaned, which only made the pain worse. She needed to get off this hill.

Mike and Eleven, who hadn't even been helping them carry a thing, their hands free of anything but one another's, had been trailing behind them the whole time. Now, Mike was calling out to the group, grabbing their attention.

"Hey, guys!" They turned to look at him. "This is fun and all, but, uh..." he tapped on his watch and Eleven continued for him.

"I have to go home," she gently spoke.

"We're almost there," Dustin said, hand going behind him to gesture toward the hill.

No, they weren't.

"Sorry, man. Curfew," Mike said before turning to Eleven and grabbing her hand. "Come on, let's go."

"Good luck," Eleven smiled at Dustin before the two were rushing back down the hill, giggling like lovesick fools.

"Curfew at 4:00?" Dustin asked, unconvinced.

"They're lying," Lucas stated matter of factly.

"It's been like this all summer," Will complained.

"It's romantic," Max tried to defend but even she didn't believe what she was saying.

"It's gross," Will countered.

"It's bullshit. I just got home," Dustin said, his tone shifting to a sadder one. Challan's face fell and she sent him a sympathetic smile.

"Well, their loss, right? Onwards and upwards! Suzie awaits!" Dustin became more enthusiastic.

Max and Lucas groaned and they along with Challan began walking up the hill again. Dustin noticed Will remained standing and called out to him. "Will, come on!" The boy quickly turned and began running to catch up.

The group continued on and it took about another hour and a half before they finally made it to the top. Challan sighed in relief, taking in breaths in pants as they began slowing down. She wasn't out of shape, as a dancer, she couldn't be. But walking up an incline like a hill was not something she trained for. But still, she was fairing better than the others.

Dustin dropped his bag onto the grass. "Made it."

"Yeah, only took five hours," Max exaggerated. Challan pulled on her sweaty shirt uncomfortably. She and Max both set the bag they were holding onto the ground.

"Why couldn't we just play D&D?" Will complained.

Lucas began taking off his backpack quickly, "I'm so thirsty." He pulled out the water bottle that was in there and began noisily gulping down the water. Challan and Max watched him in disbelief as water began spilling down the sides of his face. He pulled the bottle from his mouth and wiped his lips.

"Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?" Max asked calmly, though it was evident that she was extremely irritated.

Lucas spit the water in his mouth back into the bottle and held it out to Max with a large grin. Challan sent him a look of disgust as Max shook her head and walked away from him. Challan took ahold of Max's hand as the redhead moved past her, the two walking toward Dustin and Will.

After a few minutes of resting, they got to work assembling Cerebro. The assembling took a lot less time than the walk up the hill did and in no time, it was built. They pushed the radio up to a standing position and stared up at it.

"Pretty impressive, right?" Dustin asked. He received a chorus of breathy, "Yeahs."

"Now, you ready to meet my love?" He asked next.

"Okay, sure."

"Yeah."

Dustin sat in the grass and turned on the radio, holding the receiver up to his lips. "Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over." The only thing that could be heard was radio static. He looked up at his friends. "One sec. She's probably... She's still there. Suzie... this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over." More silence.

Challan took in a breath, a light breeze blowing against her skin as she waited patiently for Suzie to respond.

"I'm sure she's there. It's just—"

"Yeah," Lucas said.

"You know, maybe she's, like, busy or—"

"Yeah," Lucas repeated.

"It's around dinnertime," Dustin continued.

"Mm."

"Yep."

Dustin continued trying to get Suzie on the radio.

••••

Night had fallen a while ago and Challan was fast asleep. Her head was resting in Max's lap, the redhead gently rubbing Challan's scalp. She hadn't meant to fall asleep but she was exhausted from the trek up the hill and when Max said she could lay her head in her lap, Challan didn't object. But then Max started playing with her hair and massaging her scalp and it was as if the redhead was purposely trying to make her fall asleep. So if it was anyone's fault, it was Max's.

Max began braiding her girlfriend's hair, completely bored as Dustin continued to repeat the same sentence over and over again, never getting a response from anyone.

Eventually, the Mayfield girl got fed up. And after expressing to Dustin that she didn't believe Suzie was real and how this was all a waste of time, she gently shook Challan awake.

Challan groaned softly, moving her head briefly before settling down again. Max sighed and shook Challan again. "Hey, Chal. Time to wake up. We gotta go, okay?"

"No, 'm comfortable," Challan mumbled into Max's thigh.

Max smiled down at her fondly before shaking her again. "Come on, tiny dancer. Let's get you to a real bed," she continued. Challan tiredly rubbed her eyes and lifted her head from Max's lap. She looked over at the redhead and sent her a tired smile.

"Hi," Challan whispered.

"Hi, beautiful. Did you have a nice nap?" She joked, rubbing Challan's arms to try and wake her up some more. It only made her want to go back to sleep.

"Yeah, I had a very comfortable pillow," Challan yawned before looking around the darkness. "It's nighttime?" She asked, looking back at Max.

"Yeah, we've been here a while," Max answered, standing up. She held out her hands for Challan who took them and was pulled off the ground.

Her eyes drifted around the hill and landed on Dustin who looked a little defeated. "Did you ever get through to Suzie?" Challan asked.

"No, he didn't because Suzie isn't real," Max answered for him.

"She's real! I just... I don't know why she's not picking up," Dustin defended.

"Maybe her parents took her radio or something?" Challan suggested, trying to make him feel better.

"Or maybe she just doesn't exist, which seems more likely," Lucas said, also standing up to leave.

"Why would Dustin bring us all the way up here if he was lying about Suzie? That doesn't make sense to me," Challan said.

"Exactly, thank you!" Dustin exclaimed, glaring at Max and Lucas.

"Doesn't matter, we're leaving," Max shrugged. She grabbed her stuff and took Challan's hand, leading the tired girl down the hill.

"Good night, Dustin. I hope you get through to Suzie!" Challan called over her shoulder. She sighed as the two girls made their way down the hill.

"It's gonna take so long to get to the bottom," a voice complained from behind. Lucas shuffled down the hill until he was walking beside Challan.

"Going up is always harder than going down," Challan said, leaning into Max's warmth as the wind blew and raised goosebumps on her skin.

"It sucks both ways," Lucas grumbled.

Challan shrugged, eyes scanning the area as they continued down the hill. "It's beautiful here at night too," she commented. Max looked around the grassy area illuminated by the moon and nodded.

"Yeah," the redhead agreed.

"If you say so," Lucas muttered.

Eventually, Will had caught up to them and the four continued down the hill to their bikes. Challan was concerned that Dustin was left on his own but Will assured her that he was fine. Once they got to the bottom, they retrieved their bikes.

They rode their bikes together for as long as they could before going their separate ways to their respective houses. Challan and Max pedaled in a similar direction but eventually, they broke away from one another. They bid each other a good night and Challan continued to her house.

The wind picked up again and sent a shiver up her spine. Her eyes flickered around her area, beginning to feel paranoid. She pedaled a little faster, speeding down the sidewalk as fast as her bike could take her. A relieved sigh left her lips as her house came into view. As soon as she was on her front lawn, she was hopping off her bike and running to the door.

She fumbled with her key for a brief moment before shoving it into the lock and unlocking the door. She opened the door, unintentionally slamming it shut behind her. She locked it, letting out a sigh and closed her eyes.

After learning about the horrors that went bump in the night in Hawkins, Challan was a little more on edge. Little things scared her and she didn't want to be out at night by herself. She didn't know why she was so worried, the gate was closed and they were all safe. But still, she couldn't help but be scared. She wasn't sure if that feeling would ever go away. She really wanted it to.

••••

Coming up with chapter titles is so hard lmao. Sorry it's been a while since I last updated, I've been busy. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.