CHAPTER FOURTEEN.
OPERATION D'ARTAGNAN

☆ミ ☆彡

HER PARENTS SEEMED TO REALLY LIKE LUCAS. Maybe it was just their excitement for their daughter having friends. Challan thought her mom was especially happy that Lucas was Black. Not that she had anything against white people but she was glad that Challan had a friend who she could relate to. Challan was glad too. Although, she was feeling a little concerned about this friendship because of the whole Upside Down thing.

The longer she sat with everything he had told her and Max, the more she slowly began to believe it. Everything that happened with Will last year didn't add up completely. She hadn't realized it until now and now that she knew the truth, her entire life would change. She just wasn't sure if it would change for the better or worse. Realistically, it would probably be for the worse.

That night, Challan hadn't slept well at all. But she hadn't really slept well since the incident with Abigail. She was plagued with nightmares of being burned alive, being chased by monsters, and being trapped in an alternate dimension that looked like Hawkins but wasn't. Lucas's descriptions had been very illustrative and her mind took on a life of its own. Her own mind was against her.

Challan gave up on trying to sleep and instead decided to distract her mind. She was sat up in her bed, the Walkman Max had given her in her lap, the headphones over her ears as she listened to the mixtape Max had made her again. She had listened to it a few times now and each time she did, it got better and better. Did some songs still make her emotional? Yes but she was sure that would lessen in time, she hadn't listened to it for that long. Listening to the mixtape calmed her down for some reason. It made her feel better. She was really grateful for Max and the mixtape. It was good to have something like this that could keep her mind off of the crazy things. And now that she knew the truth about Hawkins, she was sure she would be listening to it a lot more.

It was the morning now and she was still sitting on her bed. Her parents had both gone back to work, which a part of her was grateful for. They had been hovering since what had happened at the school with Abigail. While she understood where they were coming from, she still found it annoying.

She looked over at her clock and when seeing the time, she decided to get out of bed and take a shower. Challan didn't usually take long showers, not wanting to be the reason the water bill went up. She was just supposed to take a quick shower and wash her hair. But that morning was different. She couldn't bring herself to get out of the bathtub. The hot water was starting to turn cold now but she couldn't bring herself to care or even move. It was like she was in a trance, thoughts floating around in her mind and she couldn't focus on a single one.

The ringing of her doorbell pulled her out of her trance-like state and she was quickly turning off the shower and drying her body. The doorbell continued to ring as she pulled on her undergarments and quickly put on a shirt and jeans. Her wet hair immediately made her shirt wet and she didn't have time to dry it as she was quickly running out of the bathroom and to the front door. The doorbell rang one last time before she pulled the door open. She pushed her wet hair out of her face and breathed heavily as she stared ahead at the two people standing in front of her.

For a moment, the two outside just stared at Challan and she stared at them back. The three were thinking different things. Challan was wondering why Max and Lucas were at her doorstep. Lucas was wondering why her hair was wet and why she looked a mess. And Max, well Max couldn't help but think how beautiful Challan looked at that moment, wet hair and all. She didn't understand the feeling that arose in her stomach as a confused Challan stared between her and Lucas. What was happening to her?

"Did you just get out of the shower?" Lucas broke the silence.

Challan moved her wet hair behind her shoulders and frowned, feeling like she was being judged. In reality, Lucas was just curious and a little confused as to why she would be showering so late. She cleared her throat uncomfortably, "Uh... what are you guys doing here?"

Max opened her mouth to respond but the words got caught in her throat. Challan raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the redhead who just stared in return. Say something, Max. What are you doing? A blush rose onto Max's cheeks.

Lucas looked at Max, confusion swirling in his eyes before looking back at Challan. "Uh, I have proof. About everything I told you yesterday but I need you to come with me now. We don't have much time," Lucas said.

Challan took a breath, thinking it over. Whatever she decided to do in this moment would change the trajectory of her life forever. She could choose to go with them, sealing her fate in whatever supernatural things she would get involved in. Or, she could tell them no and go back to having a normal life. But did Challan want to go back to her old life? No. Her old life sucked.

"Let me put on some shoes," she said. Lucas smiled and nodded and she let the two into her house before running back to her bedroom. She rummaged through her dresser for socks before grabbing a pair of sneakers from her closet. Her eyes landed on the Walkman that rested on her bed. She thought about bringing it with her before deciding against it. Instead, she grabbed her not-so-lucky scrunchie, tying her wet hair up into a ponytail before grabbing a pad of paper and a pen. She wrote her parents a note before walking back out to where Lucas and Max patiently waited in her living room. She dropped the note on the kitchen counter and walked over to where the two stood.

"All right, let's go."

••••

Challan and Lucas rode side by side on their bikes to the old junkyard. Max was on the back of Lucas's bike, Challan's being too small to have the both of them ride on. The curly-haired girl wasn't sure why they were meeting Dustin at the old junkyard, something about Dart. Lucas didn't really go into too much detail, too busy rushing them to get there.

Lucas slowed his bike to a stop and Challan did the same, getting off her bike when he did. The three walked side by side, Challan and Lucas wheeling their bikes beside them as they walked the rest of the way to the old junkyard.

The boy began trying to explain things a little bit better to them, which Challan appreciated. She really hadn't wanted to go into this whole thing completely blind. Max was only half listening, her sense of smell picking up as a mildly familiar scent filled her nostrils. It smelled good, like vanilla and honey. She looked to Challan walking beside her who was listening attentively to Lucas's every word.

Max moved a little bit closer, sniffing discreetly. The scent was coming from her. Was it her body wash? Her shampoo? Conditioner? Max didn't know. But it smelled really good. And it was all the redhead could think about.

"You smell good," Max blurted, pulling Challan's attention away from Lucas and onto her. Max's cheeks heated up in embarrassment when the shorter girl's gaze landed on her and she wanted to sink into a hole and die. Why did I say that?

"Oh, uh, thanks," Challan replied. That was random.

"You're welcome," Max squeaked. Her embarrassment intensified and the redness in her cheeks darkened noticeably. Challan thought nothing of it, merely sending Max a smile before turning her attention back to Lucas. Lucas on the other hand raised a suspicious eyebrow at the redhead. That was weird. But it didn't mean anything, right? He turned his head to look between Max and Challan a few times before resting his gaze on Challan. She did smell good though. He resumed his explanation of what they were doing.

Soon enough, the junkyard came into view as did Dustin Henderson and, to Challan's surprise, Steve Harrington. What was he doing there?

"I said medium-well!" Lucas shouted from the hill the three were standing on, grabbing Dustin and Steve's attention. The three began walking down the hill and towards the two standing at the bottom. Dustin looked between Challan and Max before his eyes landed on Lucas and sent him an expression that Challan couldn't quite read.

Before she knew it, Dustin was dragging Lucas off to speak to him behind an old car. Challan watched them walk away, before putting down her bike and beginning to get to work. She began looking for pieces of scrap metal or anything that they could use to barricade the doors of the bus they would be hiding out in. The plan that Lucas had briefly explained to them sucked. Like majorly sucked. She didn't want to tell them that she had no faith in their plan but she had no faith in their plan. She was really hoping for the best.

She pushed a piece of metal upward, grunting at its weight. She pushed it up against the side of the bus and sighed. Her eyes moved in the direction that Lucas and Dustin were talking, not seeing them from where she was standing and where they were crouched behind the car. What were they even talking about?

Her eyes then landed on Max who was pushing away trash and looking for scrap metal as well. Challan watched her every movement. She watched her move away junk as she searched. Watched her push her hair out of her face when it fell into her eyes. Challan was completely mesmerized by the girl. Why? Well, she didn't know. But as she watched Max, studying the side of her face from her eyes down to her freckles, and watching her confident movements, she realized just how beautiful her friend was.

Max's head snapped up and looked in Challan's direction as if she heard the shorter girl's thoughts. Challan froze in her spot, beginning to feel awkward at Max catching her staring. The redhead raised a questioning eyebrow before a smirk grew on her lips.

"Whatcha staring at, tiny?" She called, beginning to stride toward where Challan was standing. Challan gulped slightly, her stomach twisting into knots. Or was it butterflies? Same difference, she supposed. "We're supposed to be working," Max continued.

"I am working. See," Challan motioned over to the pile of pieces of scrap metal that she had found.

"Right," Max said, her smirk unwavering. "So you weren't just staring at me then?"

"Nope," Challan answered a little too quickly.

"No?" Max asked. Challan shook her head and Max laughed. "Okay, Challan. Whatever you say."

"You know, Max, not everything is about you," Challan shrugged, trying to feel less embarrassed.

Max gasped dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. "How dare you? Everything is about me. Because I'm just so awesome."

Challan smiled, glancing back over at Max who was grinning from ear to ear. "Yeah, I guess you are kind of awesome. Just a little bit though," she admitted.

The grin didn't leave Max's face, "You're awesome too, tiny dancer."

"You need to stop calling me that," Challan groaned.

"Why? It's cute," Max defended with a teasing smile.

"No, it's not," Challan denied.

"Yes, it is. A cute nickname for a cute person."

Max hadn't meant to say that. In fact, she didn't even mean to think it. But she had. She thought it and she said it and Challan heard it. The two stood silently, both too stunned to say anything. She thinks I'm cute? What does she mean by that? Cute in a friend way or—

"Wow, you guys are doing great," Steve Harrington interrupted her thoughts as he walked over to them, Lucas and Dustin in tow. The girls were grateful for the distraction. "Henderson, Sinclair, take notes and get to work." Both Dustin and Lucas nodded before doing just that.

Max awkwardly cleared her throat and walked away, going to look for scrap metal elsewhere. Challan watched her go for a moment before her attention moved to Steve who was staring down at her.

"Hi?" She greeted.

"Hey," Steve replied. His eyes studied her for a moment and she grew uncomfortable under his gaze. "Sorry, uh. Just never met a Logan before. I mean, I've seen your mom before a few times and she's so hot— I mean... pretty, and she looks nice. So does your dad, he looks nice and you look nice and..." Steve took a breath as Challan stared at him for a moment before she chuckled softly.

"Um, okay," she said before moving to look for more things to protect them. Steve followed behind her.

"Sorry, that was weird. I meant to say, I'm Steve Harrington," the older boy started over.

"I know who you are," Challan looked at him briefly. "And you clearly know who I am."

Steve nodded his head and she studied him for a moment. "How did you get dragged into this?" She asked him. He chuckled briefly before shrugging.

"I was gonna ask you the same thing."

"Guys! What are you doing? Come on!" Dustin yelled over at the two who had been talking instead of working.

"Coming, Henderson! Geez," Steve replied. Challan smiled to herself and the two went back to helping the others.

The five worked together like a well-oiled machine, handing each other parts and putting them in place. They rolled barrels down the small hill and placed them strategically. Challan helped Max carry some heavier pieces of metal to the bus, the two working silently. They didn't even look at one another. Max was too mortified to say anything and Challan was both confused and shocked. To say that it was awkward between the two was an understatement. It was completely discomfiting.

As soon as they had placed the metal down inside the bus, Challan was quickly making her way over to where Lucas and Steve were. Max watched her walk away, biting her lip anxiously. She messed things up. Again. Why couldn't she just keep her big mouth shut? She needed to be more careful or she was afraid she would lose her forever. Maybe she was just being dramatic.

When the five finally finished what they were doing, they clamored into the bus one after the other. Dustin was the last to enter the bus, closing the door behind them. And now they wait.

••••

Challan is now officially in the mess that is Stranger Things. My poor sweet baby has no idea just what she's gotten herself into. She'll find out soon enough :)