Dorothy got home from work a few hours later. Jenna was dressed and ready to go to Steve's, feeling the anticipation of the party. She wasn't sure if she was going to let her go, especially since everyone was in a panic over Will Byers. With the tequila hidden in her knapsack, Jenna took a deep breath and headed downstairs, finding her mom making herself dinner.

"Hey, sweetie," she greeted Jenna.

"Hey," she replied. "How was your day?"

She looked up at Jenna, her eyebrows furrowed. "Strange. Joyce Byers came in to buy a new phone."

"A new phone? What happened to her old one?"

"No idea, but she needed an advance on it. She sounded desperate." Her mom sighed, getting herself some water. "So, where are you going?"

"What makes you think I'm going somewhere?" Jenna retorted playfully.

"Because you're my daughter, that's why," she replied, grinning. "And you have your knapsack. So, where are you going?"

"Carol's," she lied. "We're working on a project together."

Dorothy gave her a serious look. "Jenna--"

"I'll be careful tonight. Promise."

She nodded in response. "Okay, well, be home by ten."

Jenna was relieved at her answer. "Got it." Right on cue, she heard the sound of a car honking from outside. "See you later!" She rushed out the door and practically ran to Tommy H's car, getting in the back with Janet. "Just in time. My mom didn't suspect a thing."

"Did you bring anything?" Carol asked, turning around to face Jenna.

"You know I did," she responded, smirking as she pulled out the two bottles from her knapsack.

"So, do any of you think Nancy will show up tonight?" Janet asked.

"Well, I doubt she's ever been to a real party before, and she seems to really like Steve..." Jenna answered.

"She better come," Carol said. "Someone has to keep Steve in line," she added jokingly.

"Yes, as if we can't do that ourselves," Janet retorted, rolling her eyes.

With Tommy H's reckless driving, the teenagers got to Steve's house pretty fast. They could already see the lights around the house and the pool were on. The four of them got out of the car and headed inside the house without knocking.

Steve came out and groaned at them. "Thanks for knocking," he stated in a sarcastic tone.

"Do we really need to knock?" Tommy H retorted, grabbing a beer from the refrigerator.

Steve turned to Jenna and raised his eyebrows. "Why am I not surprised you brought tequila?"

"Because I never bring it, that's why. Everyone simply brings it to me." She grinned and placed them on the counter. "Where's Nancy?"

"She's not here yet," he replied, going to the mirror to fix his hair.

Janet was the first to roll her eyes. "Really, Steve?"

"Shut up, Jan," he muttered.

She responded by taking one of the bottles of tequila and heading outside by the pool. Jenna followed suit, sitting beside her in a chair.

"He's such an ass," Janet commented, opening the bottle and taking a swig.

"And yet we still stick around," Jenna pointed out, taking the bottle from her and drinking from it.

Janet scoffed. "He needs us more than we need him."

Jenna laughed, knowing that she was right. The music was now blaring from inside the house. Soon, they heard the doorbell ring, which let them know that Nancy was here.

"Wow, she showed up," Janet stated. "Let's see how long she stays."

"Be nice," Jenna told her.

She chuckled. "Yeah, okay, dudette. I should probably say the same to you."

"I can be nice," she protested.

Janet snorted. "Whatever."

Carol made an annoyed look. "Barbara is here, too."

They turned around and sure enough, Nancy's best friend strolled behind her. The two sat in some chairs, with Nancy taking her coat off, but Barbara looking down at her hands, minding her own business.

"Great," Jenna mumbled.

"So, who wants to go for a swim?" Tommy H asked, picking up Carol.

"Tommy, put me down!" she screamed, hanging onto him.

"Oh, come on, babe. Don't be a wimp!" he exclaimed.

Carol continued to scream, as if she was being murdered, but Tommy wasn't ready to stop teasing her. The other watched in anticipation, wondering if he was actually going to throw her in.

"One...two...three!" He went to throw her in, but put her down at the last second, laughing.

"You're such an asshole, Tommy!" Carol said as he put her down.

Jenna and Janet snickered as Steve took his pocketknife and poked a hole in his beer can, shotgunning it in front of Nancy. While none of them were impressed, Nancy stared at him with a smirk as Steve sighed and sat down in the chair beside her, leaving the can on the ground.

"Is that supposed to impress me?" she asked.

Steve took the cigarette from behind his ear and put it in his mouth. "You're not?"

"You are a cliché, you do realize that?"

"You are a cliché, with your...your grades and your band practice..."

Nancy laughed. "I'm so not in band."

Steve lit his cigarette and nodded his head. "Okay, party girl..." he grabbed a beer and the knife and handed it to her. "Why don't you, uh, show us how it's done, then?"

"Okay," she replied, standing up from her chair.

Jenna raised her eyebrows in surprise, kind of impressed with the challenge she just took. Maybe she wasn't a prude after all.

"You gotta make a little hole right in--" he began to say.

"I got it," Nancy cut Steve off.

"Yeah, she's smart, you douche," Tommy H added, finishing his own beer, then crushing it on the side of his head.

Janet stood up and grabbed Steve's pack of cigarettes and lighter from him. As she came back and handed Jenna one, Nancy cut a small hole and chugged the beer.

"Chug! Chug! Chug!" everyone minus Barbara, began to chant for Nancy. When she was done, she threw the can onto the ground and smiled.

Jenna lit her cigarette and looked at Janet. "Impressed yet?"

She blew smoke out, smirking. "Not quite there."

Nancy looked over at her friend, who was not paying any attention to what we were doing. "Barb, you wanna try?"

Barbara looked at her then responded. "What? No. No, I don't want to. Thanks."

"Oh, come on..." Nancy pressed on, getting a beer.

"Yeah, come on," Steve chimed in.

"Nance, I don't want to," Barbara stated.

"It's fun! Just give it a--"

"Nance..."

"Just...just give it a shot." Nancy handed her the knife and beer.

Barbara stood up and looked down at the drink. "Okay."

"Here we go," Janet muttered.

"So you just..." Barbara mumbled as we watched her make an attempt at cutting a hole. However, it didn't work in her favor as the knife slid across her thumb, causing her to drop the can.

Tommy H, of course, couldn't contain his chuckling or his comments. "Gnarly."

"Are you okay?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah," her friend answered, covering her hand.

"Barb, you're bleeding."

"I'm fine," she said firmly, then looked at Steve. "Where's your bathroom?"

Steve stood up and pointed towards the house. "Oh, it's...it's, uh, down past the kitchen, to the left."

"Okay, thanks," she said, heading inside.

Carol giggled. "Oh, that was embarrassing to watch," she whispered to Jenna.

"She's just not used to this," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Janet asked.

"You know, going to parties, shotgunning beers, smoking..."

"Well, that's what happens when you don't have many friends," Carol commented, snickering, then standing by the pool with her cigarette, along with Tommy H and Nancy.

Tommy H looked at the others with a devilish grin, then at Carol. Before any of them could comprehend his look, he pushed Carol in the pool, a scream coming out of her.

Jenna and Janet stood up and went by the pool, watching Carol rise from underwater. "Oh my God! What the hell, Tommy?!"

Tommy H then dove right in, making the others laugh harder. Steve pushed Nancy in, a shriek coming out of her, followed by Steve backflopping in next.

"They're idiots," Janet said.

Jenna finished the last of her cigarette, then took a few more swigs of the tequila. She ran towards Janet, grabbing her from behind, and pushing her with Jenna into the pool. She could hear muffled laughter as they were underwater. They broke the surface, taking a deep breath.

"You're crazy, dudette!" Janet shouted at Jenna, splashing water her way.

Jenna laughed, doing the same to her.

For a while, the six of them splashed around in the pool, swimming and just having fun. There were no cares around them, only some teenagers living their best lives.

"If only Janet and Jenna had boyfriends so they didn't feel left out," Carol said.

"Well, Jenna is actually no longer single," Steve stated.

"What are you talking about?" Jenna replied, acting dumbfounded.

"You and Craig. You're a thing now. He told the team."

She rolled her eyes. "Great."

"Besides, you didn't think we wouldn't find out, did you?" Steve asked.

Tommy H and Carol grinned at me. "I can't believe you didn't tell your best friend that you finally had a boyfriend!" Carol protested.

"Well, now you know," Jenna said, getting out of the pool and grabbing the bottle of tequila.

Everyone else followed suit, with Steve getting towels for everyone from inside, where they all shivered, dripping from head to toe. Steve came back in no time with towels, then they all headed inside to continue drying off.

"I'm freezing," Carol complained, hugging her body to keep warm. "If you hadn't pushed me in, Tommy..."

He shuddered, laughing a bit as well. "Oh, come on, you had fun." Tommy H paused, putting his towel around his shoulders. "Hey, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace."

"Oh, yeah?" Carol smirked, following him to the other room.

"Are you kidding?" Steve spoke up, a bit annoyed. "Okay, well, you know, you are cleaning the sheets." He then looked at Nancy. "You all right?"

Nancy nodded her head. "Yeah."

"Come on, let's get you some dry clothes." Steve led her out of the living room and up to his room. Janet and Jenna stayed put, knowing what would come next for them.

"Well, I think we should start this bottle," Janet suggested, grabbing the other bottle and opening it.

"Cheers," Jenna said, clinking my bottle against hers.

"Nance! Nancy." They heard Barbara call out to Nancy from the front of the house. "Where are you going?"

"Just...upstairs. To change," she replied. "I...fell in the pool," she added, chuckling. There was a long pause as the two listened. "Why don't you go ahead and go home? I'll just...I'll get a ride or something."

"Nance..."

"Barb, I'm fine."

"This...this isn't you."

"I'm fine. Just...go ahead and go home, okay?" With that, the conversation had ended and Nancy continued going up the stairs.

"Damn," Janet mumbled. "Looks like Nancy Wheeler has grown a backbone."

Jenna snorted and began to snicker, along with Janet. They stopped as soon Barbara entered the room. She gave us a small glance, then headed out back, making her way to the diving board and sitting there, looking down at the water.

"Why doesn't she just go ahead and leave?" Jenna asked Janet. "Seriously, she didn't want to be here, and I don't think anyone but Nancy wanted her here..."

"Well, not Nancy anymore," Janet pointed out.

"True, but still, she doesn't need to keep hanging around."

They went back to drinking their tequila, trying to figure out what to do now with everyone else occupied.

"You know, I could tell you were dating Craig," Janet admitted.

"Yeah? How?"

"Just how you were looking at each other today. It was obvious."

Jenna scoffed. "It hasn't even been 24 hours and the entire school will know by tomorrow."

"Then let everyone know. You'll hear it from anyone, including us, so don't think we're going to stop talking about it."

Jenna smiled, shaking her head. "I didn't think you would."

"You know us so well."

All of a sudden, out of the corner of Jenna's eye, the lights at the pool and around the outside of the house went out. Janet didn't notice, still drinking. Then, the lights came back on, and something wasn't right. "Hey, Barbara's gone. Did you see--" She looked to see that Janet was no longer there, and she was back where she was before. "Oh, shit."

Steve's living room was dark and covered in vines again, the smell of mud and dirty water made her almost gag. Everything stuck to the walls and the floor, particles of dust floating all around. Through the glass door, Jenna caught a glimpse of Steve's pool, which was completely drained of water. She felt her head throbbing, then something running down to her lip. Blood, which meant another nosebleed.

"Hello? Nancy? Nancy!"

Jenna widened her eyes. "Barbara?" All of a sudden, she heard a scream. "Barbara!" More screams came from her as she struggled to get past the vines. By how hard it was to get through them, they didn't seem to look or feel like vines anymore. "Hang on, Barbara!"

Along with her screaming, Jenna heard a sharp growl, which terrified her even more. She stumbled onto the back patio and found Barbara hanging onto the ladder.

"Nancy!" she screamed one more time before being pulled back down into the pool, the low growling continued.

By the time Jenna got to the pool, everything was back to the way it was. "What? No! Barbara!"

"Jenna!" She heard Janet call out, startling her as she grabbed her shoulders. "Jenna, what is it?"

"It's...it's Barbara...she was right here, screaming for Nancy...she...she was..."

"Okay, calm down, dudette," she told me. "Come on, let's go inside."

"No. No, I have to go look for Barbara." Jenna shot up and headed out through the gate, wiping her bloody lip and nose with her jacket.

"Jenna, she probably went home," Janet said. "Look, come back inside, okay?"

"Janet!" Jenna shouted, then paused to compose herself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. Look, I need to find Barbara, okay? I'll look for her on my way home." She went in Tommy H's car and grabbed her knapsack, then closed the door. "I'll be okay. I promise."

Janet sighed. "I don't think you should go alone."

"Well, by all means, come with me."

Janet looked back at the house, then at Jenna. "Everyone's too busy screwing each other, anyway, so why not?"

Jenna couldn't help but snicker, then she looked up at Steve's bedroom window, seeing the light was still on. "Yeah, everyone's definitely preoccupied. Come on, we can't waste any time. She's out there, I know it."

She nodded her head in response, but she still didn't look convinced. "Yeah, okay."

With that, the two girls left Steve's house and walked off into the night, an eerie feeling coming over them. They remained quiet for a while, letting the sound of crickets be the only thing heard in the night sky. Jenna wasn't sure what else to say to Janet regarding what she saw. Hell, she didn't think her friend would even believe her with how crazy it would sound if she said it out loud. Still, with them searching for a girl they hardly spoke to, Jenna knew she'd have to say something eventually.

"So, dudette, what's been the deal with you lately?"

Jenna turned and looked at Janet in confusion when she broke the silence. "What do you mean?"

"You've been acting weird since yesterday," she pointed out. "It's like you're in another dimension or some shit."

Jenna raised her eyebrows at her words, seeing it as a start to the ridiculous subject she was about to bring up. "Do you think that's possible?"

"What?"

"Other dimensions. You know, ones that haven't been discovered or something."

Janet snorted in response. "Dudette, there's no way in hell that's possible."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, how can you be so sure that there are other dimensions?" Janet retorted.

Jenna opened her mouth, trying to come up with a rebuttal, but her mind went blank. So she groaned in response. "I can't be sure. Maybe I'm just crazy or something."

"Yeah, you can be at times," Janet agreed, chuckling.

"Oh, and you're not?"

"Fair point," she said, exhaling. "So, do you really think we'll find Barbara out here?"

"I have no idea," she admitted. "But we've got to try."

"So what exactly did you see?"

Jenna stopped walking and looked at Janet. "It's some crazy stuff, Janet. You wouldn't believe me."

Janet rolled her eyes, taking out the pack of cigarettes from earlier, along with the lighter. "Well, if we're going to be out here for a while, then I have no choice but to listen. Plus, after all that 'other dimensions' crap you just told me?" She let out a small laugh. "I have to admit, I'm interested to hear about what you think happened to Barbara."

Jenna took a cigarette and had Janet light it for her. "Be prepared to have your mind blown, because I can promise you, Janet, it's some messed up shit." She took a deep breath. "How about you let me start from the beginning, okay?"

Blowing the smoke, Janet cracked a small smile. "I'm all ears, dudette."

So as the two kept walking down the empty road, Jenna started her story back to Monday, practically reliving the events over again. Then, she transitioned to earlier today all the way up to when Barbara disappeared right before her eyes. She felt nervous, her voice getting shaky every now and then. Finally telling someone about all of this felt strange, but a huge weight being lifted at the same time.

Janet's attention stayed with Jenna as her eyes never looked away, blowing the smoke from her cigarette as she twiddled with it between her fingers. She never made a weird or surprised face or even made some type of noise of amusement. If Jenna knew anything about Janet Attaway, she was good at hiding how she was feeling.

Once she was finished, Jenna inhaled the cigarette, the smoke consuming her. "Well?"

Janet pursed her lips, nodding her head. "Yeah, that is some messed up shit."

For some reason, Jenna laughed, even though she knew that would be her answer. "I warned you, didn't I?"

"You did, but..." Janet shook her head. "Barbara Holland being taken away to another dimension by some monster? It's hard to top that."

"Please don't tell anyone, okay? Especially Steve or Tommy H or Carol. I'd never hear the end of it from them." Jenna sighed, feeling the nicotine calm her nerves a little. "And if Nancy found out..."

"I won't say anything," Janet assured her, flicking her finished cigarette in the road, stomping on it. "Trust me, no one would believe me if I told them what you just told me."

"Good point," Jenna said, blowing more smoke in front of her.

"How much longer are we gonna be out here?" she asked. "I mean, we have school tomorrow."

"Since when do you care about school?" Jenna retorted.

"I don't, but I'm pretty sure my dad and your mom would wonder why we weren't at school the next day, let alone why we never returned home from 'studying' the night before."

Jenna kept going, reluctantly nodding her head. "We don't need to go missing like that Will Byers kid, either."

"My point exactly."

"But...let's stay out a little bit longer."

With some hesitance as well, Janet let out a sigh. "Just a few more minutes, then we head home."

The two girls kept walking, though their feet began to get sore. It seemed like there was nothing to look for out here. Jenna's mind was getting concerned, her heart getting anxious for Barbara's sake. She didn't care for her, sure, but did she want something to happen to her? Hell no.

"How many blocks have we walked?" Janet asked, breaking the silence.

"Three, maybe?" Jenna answered in an unsure tone. "We've been walking for a while."

"And there's no one out here," Janet said in an annoying tone.

"Barbara!" Jenna began to yell.

"Dudette, it's late and you're screaming," her friend pointed out. "How about we not wake the neighbors around here?"

Jenna put her hands down, realizing why she didn't shout Barbara's name earlier. She definitely felt dumb now. "Oops."

Janet paused, looking around as they passed a blue car parked on the side of the street. "It's quiet tonight, now that I think about it."

"Yeah," she breathed, and that really scared her in so many ways.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Wow, okay. Look what just happened there...

I've really been wanting to get back into this story for a while so I'm glad I'm getting the chance now! Hopefully, this story comes together like I want it to and everything will make sense, lol.

Comment, vote, more soon!

-A