veda henderson

      It felt like hours before their game of dungeons and dragons finished, sure enough, I checked my watch to see that two hours had passed. There were a few times when Dustin and his friends lost their shit over a dice roll that I laughed rather loudly. Each time, Eddie would look up at me possibly due to my obnoxious laughter and send a small smirk my way before turning his attention back to his game.

   Honestly, I think it's been a while since a lot of them had seen a girl in this room by the way they reacted. 

   Soon enough, their game finished and everyone was leaving. Everyone except Eddie was in a bad mood considering they all lost to him, it was hard for me to contain my laughter as I looked at my sulking brother. 

   "Do you guys need a ride home?" I ask Mike and Lucas as they walk beside Dustin and I. 

   "Yes, please," Lucas replied, offering me a grateful smile as Mike nodded in agreement. I know they weren't exactly children, but I wouldn't want them walking home alone in the dark

   "Munson strikes again," Dustin huffs in defeat, shaking his head as he kept his eyes on the road. 

   "Who's Muffin?" I laugh to myself, reaching the drivers side of the car and unlocking it for the kids to climb in. 

   "I didn't say muffin!" Dustin exclaimed as he climbed into the passenger seat. I paused with my hand on the handle of the car door, my butchered version of the name setting off a light switch in my brain. I glance over the roof of the beige car to watch as Eddie almost skipped towards his own car across the car park.

   "Veda, let's go," Dustin taps on the driver's seat to get my attention. I open the door, leaning down enough to make eye contact with Dustin. Once he got a look at my wide grin, he groaned in annoyance.

   "I'll be right back, Dusty-bun," I mock him with a grin before shutting the car door, laughing quietly at the nickname I can never let him live down. Once I heard his possibly fake girlfriend call him that, I never let it go. 

   I walk around the car, jogging slightly across the car park and towards Eddie as he reached his own car, struggling with his many pockets in search of his car keys. "Eddie!"

   He spins around quickly, the lower half of his body following him as he turned completely and faced me with a cocky smile, watching me slow down my jog as I got closer to him. I stand still in front of him, smiling up at him. "Need something?"

   "Do you happen to know a Ricky Fitz?" I squint up at him, watching his eyebrows furrow before his mouth opens slightly into an 'O' shape, his expression turning to normal as he nods.

   "Well, that depends on what you were after, little lady," He comments, reusing that stupid nickname from the beginning of their game. He seemed to like that it annoyed me slightly. 

   "Well, that depends," I begin, taking a step closer to him. The action caused his smile to falter as he gulped, watching me stand even closer to him than I was before. "Are you available tonight?"

   "I might be," He smiles, stepping back to pull his car door open and stand behind it as if it were a shield, protecting him. "Henderson's house?"

   "I'll be ready for you to pick up at nine-thirty," I inform him, turning on my heels without waiting for his reply and walking back towards the car where I could hear all three boys talking rather loudly.

   Climbing into the car, all three of them fall silent and stare at me, Dustin's gaze the strongest. 

   "Got something to say, Dusty?" I ask, turning to him with a smile as I lean down to jam the keys into the ignition and start the car. 

   "If you steal my friend, I will literally run away, Vey," Dustin threatens, turning to look out the window as I laughed at his dramatics. 

   I was feeling much better already knowing that a fix was coming to me very soon. I dropped Dustin's friends off in no time, both of them thanking me as they got out of the car and ran off inside. 

   The rest of the time, Dustin was ranting to me about how he was going to fail his Spanish test and that I, as his slightly Spanish-speaking sister, should help him cheat on the test. He wasn't too happy when I told him my Spanish was rusty and he would just have to study.

   Soon enough, we get to our house. I check the time on my watch, seeing it was nine o'clock already and Eddie would be here in half an hour. I almost jumped in joy when I realised how close it was to high time. 

   "Thank you for coming tonight," Dustin stopped me just as I was about to climb out of the car. I hold the door half-open, turning back to him with one leg hanging out the door. He met my eyes, smiling at me "I like you living with us, Vey,"

   A real, genuine smile spreads across my face as I look at my little brother, a weird feeling spreading through my chest at his genuine words. "You better, because I'm not leaving again,"

   He laughs at this, opening his own door and climbing out of the car. I follow after him, thinking about his heartfelt sentiment. I've been living here for the past three years, but I guess Dustin and I haven't really talked much in that time due to my own fault. Maybe I should start making an effort with him. He's not a bad kid and considering everything we went through, especially with star court mall, we should really have a slight bond. 

   I think he could tell how distant I was becoming after star court. I didn't mean to, it just felt like my final breaking point in regards to the upside-down and the creatures from there. I don't know how Dustin handles it so well. 

   As I get into my room and shut my door, I flop down onto my bed without bothering to take my shoes off. 

   The upside-down is terrifying, I remember when Will Byers went missing and got trapped in there, it was right after I has just moved to Hawkins. I only learned about what was going on when my mum sent me over to the Byers home to give Joyce some baked goods and a helping hand only to walk inside and find something pushing against the walls, trying to break through. I barely saw what the thing looked like before I started screaming, dropping whatever it was that my mum baked and running outside.

   My butt didn't leave the gravel off the Byers drive way for thirty minutes until both Johnathan and Joyce came home and found me shaking in the dark, watching their house. I didn't think they'd believe me, but they did. Part of me had wished I was just crazy.

   My brain wouldn't shut off that night, I couldn't sleep peacefully without staring at the walls and shaking. I got up and walked down the hallway to the bathroom, jumping at every noise our cat made on my way. I wasn't intending on opening the bathroom mirror and taking a few of my Mum's xanax's that she was prescribed to help her with her back pain, but I remember it being the best sleep I ever had. 

   Looking back on it now, it was rather dramatic. But I grew up with a paranoid, crazy father who believed me when I told him there was something in my closet. He didn't see himself as crazy and at the time, I thought maybe I was turning into him, seeing monsters that were never there and everyone was just being gentle with me. 

   Dustin always seems so unphased by everything, it makes me wonder if maybe I'm making everything up in my head or maybe I'm just being oversensitive. But, I also think maybe Dustin just hides it a lot better than me. Hell, I'm the only one who developed a drug addiction over it. 

   I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of a car pulling up outside my house. A quick glance a the alarm clock beside my bed told me that it was 9:29 pm. 

   A minute early

   Smiling, I quickly stuff a few random objects under my covers to make it look like I was in bed incase anyone came sneaking into my room. I highly doubt it, but better safe than sorry. 

   As soon as that's done, I swing my leg out of my window and quietly drop into the bushes below my bedroom window. I wait for a moment to make sure it woke no one up before leaving the bush and jogging towards the white car parked slightly down the street. I almost skip to the car, excited for whatever Eddie has to offer me. 

   He sees me approaching the car, lifting his hand up to give me a small wave right before I climb into the passenger seat of his car. His car smelt like cologne and tobacco. Honestly, it wasn't too bad, it smelled kind of good. 

   I turn to him, seeing him already looking at me with a smile on his face and excitement in his eyes. I think Eddie was an easily entertained person, the thought of hanging out with a druggie was like an early Christmas to him. 

   "You are going to fall in love with my stuff, little lady," He grins before turning on his car and driving away. 

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