✺

MAX HAD BEEN ANGRY WHEN Carly had bailed. For the first few months, Max had refused to answer Carly's calls or reply to her letters — to Max, Carly had abandoned her, and then she had been forced to move away from their home in California.

Neither had spoken about the reasons why, though Max knew. Even at thirteen, Max had figured out that their step-brother had harassed Carly, causing her to run back to her dads to escape the hell hole that their home had become. Carly did not regret leaving, but she regretted leaving her family.

Both sisters had not spoken about it. The anger had been brushed aside, somewhat fixed with the Walkman that Carly had bought Max for her birthday. After that, Max returned Carly's letters before picking up the phone and starting again.

"Do we have to do that?" Max asked, frowning.

"What's wrong with face masks?" Carly questioned.

"It's gross," Max insisted.

"It's good for you," said Carly. "It cleans your pores."

Then, with that, Carly dug her finger into the face mask, pointing it towards Max, who ducked away from her sister. For once the two were spending time together: first, they had gone rollerblading, and now, they were having a girly night.

The rollerblading had been for Max, which had resulted in Carly clinging onto the smaller teenager, who had her lips pressed tightly together to hide her laughter. Carly had still done it for Max, though she could not stand straight with wheels on her feet.

"Please," Carly pleaded. "I cut my knee for you."

"How sweet of you," Max teased, sarcastically.

Carly pouted, which caused Max to sigh, giving in. Grinning brightly at that, Carly did not wait for Max to change her mind as she put the slimy cream on her sister's face. Max frowned, flinching slightly as she didn't enjoy it in the slightest.

Though, after, they ended up in the bathroom with Carly wiping it off for Max. Maybe the two sisters were different, but Carly found herself smiling, happy that they were finally fixing their relationship.

"So," said Carly, laying in bed with Max that night. "Tell me, honestly: are you happy here in Hawkins?"

Max was silent for a moment as Carly's head turned, seeing the hidden smile in the glow of the bedside table lamp that was on. "At first, it was hard," Max confessed. "I was so angry and I missed home. Billy and Neil... they've not made it any easier, especially Billy. He can be so spiteful and cruel — you know what he's like. Every time I saw him, I would get so furious, blaming our move to Hawkins and losing you on him."

"Max..."

"But it's okay now," Max insisted. "I mean, I still hate him, I suppose. I've just found a way to cope with him being around. Sometimes, I just wish I could escape, though — just like you did."

"I wish I could have taken you with me," Carly confessed. "You know, I'm so sorry, Max."

"It's cool," Max shrugged it off, turning her head slightly so Carly couldn't see her expression. "I understand why. I like Hawkins now anyway."

"Yeah?" Carly clung to the good, smiling happily.

"Yeah," Max agreed.

✺

The next day, Carly had been first to sit outside Starcourt Mall with her headphones on, knowing she was far too early. Carly was listening to her mixtape that her dad had made for her, where the Grease soundtrack was currently playing, distracting her.

While Billy had not come home last night, Carly had still fled the house long before anyone woke up for breakfast. There was tension in the household that Carly cowardly avoided — yet, she wasn't the only one as Max too tried to be out as much as possible.

Again, Carly's attention was stuck on the drawing of Billy, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. The drawing had expanded: Billy was trapped within the darkness, but there was a shadow lurking behind him, watching Billy closely.

Something was wrong, but Carly couldn't place it.

Instead, she flipped back to the front of her sketchbook to when the drawings had first started. This one was of an innocent boy, lost within the woods of another world. Though staring at him, Carly recognised him, but it wasn't Billy.

Then, a hand was falling in front of Carly's face, causing her to jump. Quickly turning — and closing her sketchbook — Carly spotted Steve, wearing a thin jumper over his uniform.

"Steve!" Carly protested, pulling the headphones from her ears.

Steve smiled, eyes soft in apology, but still amused too. "I didn't mean to scare you," said Steve, sitting down on the bench next to Carly. "I did call your name first, but you couldn't hear me. Have you been drawing?"

"Maybe," Carly said.

"Can I see?" Steve asked.

Carly shook her head at him. "No one sees my sketchbook."

"Are you that bad?" Steve teased.

"No," Carly answered, staring down at the book. "I don't know, I just like to keep it to myself."

"Okay," Steve decided, sensing Carly didn't want to share. "So, what are you listening to?"

"You have all the questions this morning, Steve," Carly noticed.

"Maybe I just want to get to know you," Steve confessed.

"Have you ever seen Grease?" Carly asked him.

"No, I haven't," said Steve, shaking his head before he removed the headphones from Carly's neck, putting them on his ears as he listened to the song that was playing. Steve's nose crinkled, not a fan as Carly only smiled at him. "This is from a film?"

"It's a musical," Carly told him as he removed his headphones. "I love it."

"Oh, yeah?" Steve said, sensing an opportunity. "Maybe we could watch it together."

"Or maybe we could go to work," Carly suggested.

"Yeah, I guess so," Steve agreed, handing back her headphones as the two stood, heading inside the Starcourt Mall that was starting to open for the workers. "You know, you've been heading to work early a lot lately. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all good," Carly reassured him.

"You sure?" Steve questioned.

"Positive," said Carly.

Though it was a lie, where Carly was becoming on edge again around her step-father and Billy, and she couldn't shake the strange feeling she felt around him. Of course, Carly had never been comfortable, but the tension was heightened and her sketchbook didn't help.

"Hey, Carly," said Steve, most likely seeing how terrible of a liar she was. "I know what Billy's like, and it's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but if you need anything, then just call, okay? I've said the same to Max too."

Carly was touched by that, where she met his stare again, finding a soft smile on her face that matched his expression. "Thank you, Steve. You're sweet."

At work, Carly found herself at the front with Robin, whose facial expressions were the complete opposite of Carly's: gloomy with boredom that was completed with a frown. Carly had a smile on her face, scooping ice cream for a customer.

"Have a nice day," Robin told them with Carly handing over the ice creams.

"Thank you," the young girl replied.

"Come back soon!" Carly added.

Then, a curly-haired teenage boy appeared, who looked as perky as Carly felt. "Hi."

"Hi," Robin replied, lacking enthusiasm.

"Welcome to Scoops Ahoy," Carly said. "How can we help?"

"I'm Dustin," the boy replied.

"I'm Robin," the girl said.

"Carly," the blonde added.

"Max's sister?" Dustin's smile became wider.

"Yeah, that's me," Carly said.

"That's so cool," Dustin decided. "You guys don't look that alike."

"Different dads," Carly reminded him. "But we have the same eye colour."

"Yeah, I see that," said Dustin. "Pleasure to meet you, Carly... and Robin. Uh, is — is he here?"

"Is who here?" Robin questioned.

But the back door had opened, revealing Steve Harrington. There was an excited glint to his eyes, where he looked absolutely delighted to see the younger teenager.

"Henderson!" Steve exclaimed, hands in the air, where they both laughed as the two girls watched, truly shocked at what they were witnessing. "Henderson! He's back! He's back!"

"I'm back!" Dustin agreed, just as excited. "You got the job!"

"I got the job!" Steve's voice rose with his enthusiasm.

Then, Steve imitated a trumpet in celebration before the two finally greeted each other. There was a special handshake between the two, which included imaginary lightsabers with Dustin stabbing Steve. The two laughed, nothing destroying their joy.

"Oh, you guys are adorable," Carly told them.

"How many children are you friends with?" Robin questioned Steve.

Steve sighed at that, hands gesturing to Robin as if to sum up that was who she was. While Carly and Robin still worked, Steve sat down with Dustin, catching up with his small friend while he ate ice cream, enjoying the perks.

"So do you really just get to eat as much of this as you want?" Dustin questioned.

Close by, Carly was wiping down a sticky table.

"Yeah," Steve answered. "I mean, sure. It's not really a good idea for me, though. You know, I gotta keep in shape for the ladies."

"Yeah, and how is that working out for you?" Robin questioned him.

"Ignore her," Steve replied.

Carly smiled at that, heading back to the front counter, where Robin was serving the next customer. Helping out, Carly made the ice creams while Robin took the payment. Then, afterwards, Carly wiped down the side, eyes flickering to Steve every now and then.

"So, since when were you and Ronnie Munson friends?" Robin asked.

"I guess since the start of summer, so not long, really," said Carly, leaving the dirty rag on the side since she had finished. "Ronnie's a little shy, but she's pretty cool, and smart. She's talked me out of  doing a few dumb things."

"Like dating Steve?" Robin guessed.

Carly's lips pressed together at that, eyes falling on Steve again. All she could do was shrug in response.

"I intercepted a secret Russian communication!" Dustin shouted.

All eyes had fallen on the two now, confused by the statement. Though, for the two who were working, another customer had arrived at the counter with Carly greeting them with a warm smile. In the end, Steve and Dustin ended up heading to the back of the ice cream parlour, leaving the two out of whatever they were up to.

Both Carly and Robin ended up busy with customers — by customers, they meant young children in search of freebies. Robin gave the young girl a small spoonful of ice cream, keeping quiet.

"Can I try the peppermint stick?" The girl asked.

"Haven't you already tried the peppermint stick?" Robin questioned.

"Yes," snapped the girl. "And I'd like to try it again."

"Sure thing, Sweetheart," Carly told her with a smile. "But this is the last one, okay?"

Robin sighed, watching as Carly offered the child another freebie. Finally, the group of children left while Steve and Dustin were talking loudly about translating Russian behind them.

"I've had enough," Robin insisted.

"Robin—"

Opening the back door, Robin's voice was loud as Carly followed. "All right, babysitting is over," Robin told Steve. "You need to get out in there."

Sensing her anger, Steve stepped backwards with his mouth full of banana.

"Hey, my board," Robin noticed that her whiteboard had been replaced with the Russian alphabet. "That was important data, shitbird."

"I guarantee you, what we're doing is way more important than your data," Dustin explained.

"Yeah?" Robin questioned, walking towards them. "And how do you know these Russians are up to no good anyways?"

Dustin and Steve shared a look. "How do they know about the Russians?"

"I don't know," said Steve with his mouth full still.

"You told them about—"

"It wasn't me!"

"Hello, we can hear you," said Robin.

"You both talk so loud," Carly told them.

"We can hear everything," Robin added. "You think you have evil Russians plotting against our country, on tape, and you're trying to translate, but haven't figured out a single word because you didn't realize Russians use an entirely different alphabet than we do. Sound about right?"

Then, Robin reached to snap the tape. Carly stared at the tape, knowing if she touched it, then she would end up in whoever's mind owned it. Personal items were Carly's downfall, so she tended to avoid touching anything that belonged to someone.

"Whoa!" Steve was quicker. "What do you think you're doing?" 

"I wanna hear it," Robin replied.

"Why?" Both questioned.

"'Cause maybe I can help," Robin offered. "I'm fluent in four languages, you know."

"Russian?" Dustin hoped for.

In response, Robin spoke in another language that surprised them all.

"Holy shit," said Dustin.

"That was pig Latin, dingus," Robin stated.

Steve slapped Dustin's arm. "Idiot."

"But I can speak Spanish," said Robin, sitting down opposite Dustin. "And French and Italian, and I've been in band for twelve years. My ears are little geniuses, trust me."

The two didn't seem sure at that.

"Come on, it's your turn to sling ice cream, my turn to translate," Robin told Steve. "I don't even want credit. I'm just bored."

Steve sighed at that, sharing a look with Dustin, but then Steve's eyes landed on Carly.

"Don't look at me," said Carly. "I have no hidden talents to help unless you want me to start cheering Robin on. Come on, I'll help you out front."

Giving in, Steve let out another sigh before swapping the cassette player for the ice cream scooper. Out front, they had a bit of a rush of customers before things quietened down. Steve leant on the counter with a smug look on his face.

"So, you're a cheerleader," Steve picked up on the fact.

"I am," said Carly.

"That doesn't surprise me," Steve insisted.

"What do you mean?" Carly asked.

"Well, you're always so happy and likeable," Steve insisted.

"I guess I am," Carly agreed. "My mom used to say I was the reason California was so sunny."

And then she moved away, leaving California not so sunny.

"I can see why," Steve said. "Do you miss Riverside?"

"I do," Carly said, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised it was just her dog (Peach), her dad and his family that she missed. "Parts of it, I suppose. Everyone liked me at school, but not everyone was nice to me. I was teased a lot for daydreaming. Even my ex tended to join in."

It had started as Carly's powers had blossomed a couple of years ago. When she was still understanding, Carly had still touched things, slipping into the minds of others. There had been a time when it had been believed that Carly was fitting, but the more control she had, the easier she could hide the truth again. But, the teasing had still remained — Justin had not helped either.

"What a douchebag," Steve summarised.

"Yeah," agreed Carly. "I know that now."

"As for everyone else at your school," said Steve. "Well, they all seem like idiots. I think you're pretty cool, Carly, and so does Robin — even your friend Ronnie, I suppose."

Carly smiled at that, feeling that maybe she did have a handful of friends here, even if it was just for the summer. Though, she did miss her friends at home too.

"Does this mean we're friends?" Carly questioned.

"Yeah," said Steve, though he sounded disappointed, which made Carly feel bad. There was that spark between them, but she couldn't let herself fall into the trap of it. "I guess we're friends."

And then Carly's eyes fell on her sister entering Scoops Ahoy with another teenage girl. Carly was confused for a second, having not heard anything about a teenage girl that Max was friends with; all she had heard about was the group of boys.

There was something about the teenage girl that struck Carly, but she couldn't place it. Thinking about it, maybe Max had told Carly about her, and Carly had just forgotten.

"Max, hey," said Carly, instantly perking up. "This is a nice surprise."

"Hi," Max greeted. "Uh, El, this is my sister, Carly."

"Hi," the girl said.

Carly smiled. "Hi, El! What are you girls up to today?"

"Shopping," Max told her, then she smiled sweetly at her older sister. "Are we allowed free ice creams?"

Carly looked to Steve, who shrugged. "Sure, just this once."

Steve made the ice creams as Carly spoke to Max before the window slid open behind them, capturing both Carly and Steve's attentions.

"We've got our first sentence," Robin announced.

"Yay," Carly cheered. "Congrats!"

"Oh, seriously?" Steve replied.

"Yeah," Robin answered before she spoke with a Russian accent. "The week is long."

"Well, that's thrilling," said Steve, having hoped for more.

"I know," Robin agreed. "But, progress."

"Well, keep going," Carly encouraged. "Call us if you need anything."

"Okay, here you go," said Steve, handing the ice creams over to the two teenage girls. "You got a strawberry and then a vanilla with sprinkles, extra whipped cream."

"Thanks," they both replied.

"Wait a second," said Steve suddenly, eyes focused on Max's friend El. "Are you even allowed to be here?"

The two teenage girls giggled at that before hurrying away. Carly smiled, happy to see that Max had a decent girl friend that she seemed comfortable around.

"What was that about?" Carly asked, confused.

"Oh, uh..." Steve fumbled on his words. "Strict dad, you know?"

"Oh," Carly said. "So El's here without her dad knowing?"

"Probably," Steve replied.

✺

The mall was dark with just a few lights as they finished their shift for the day with everything closed up. Carly walked with Steve, Dustin, and Robin, where her backpack was on her back and the headphones hung loosely around her neck.

Behind Carly, Steve had closed the shutter for Scoops Ahoy.

"It just can't be right," Steve insisted.

"It's right," Robin told him.

"Honestly, I think it's great news," said Dustin.

"How is this great news?" Steve questioned with a chuckle as they started to walk away from their work. "I mean, so much for being American heroes. It's total nonsense."

"Steve, you just have to give it time," Carly told him.

Though, Carly did not believe the message was anything sinister in the slightest. It was truly over the top, but then again, she had powers, so how could she talk?

"It's not nonsense," Dustin insisted. "It's too specific. It's obviously a code."

"What do you mean a code?" Steve asked.

"Like a super secret spy code," Dustin answered.

"That's a total stretch," Steve argued.

"I don't know, is it?" Robin questioned.

Steve was shocked at that reply. "You're buying into this?"

"Listen, just for kicks, let's entertain the possibility that it is a secret Russian transmission," Robin said. "What do you think they were gonna say, 'fire the warhead at noon'?"

"Or could we just be jumping to conclusions?" Carly added. "You know, the Russians might be friendly."

"Defiently not," Dustin laughed at that. "I'm with Robin."

"And my translation is correct," Robin reminded them. "I know that for sure. So, 'the silver cat feeds'. Why would anyone talk like that unless they're trying to mask the meaning of their message."

"Exactly," Dustin agreed.

"And why would anyone mask the true meaning of their message?" Robin continued. "Unless the message was something sensitive?"

"Exactly," said Dustin again.

"So I guess that confirms your suspicion," said Robin. "And, I'm sorry, Carly, but they're not the good guys."

"Evil Russians," Dustin insisted.

"I can't believe I'm about to agree with the strange child," Robin laughed. "But, yeah, totally evil Russians."

"So how do we crack it?" Dustin questioned.

"Well, I guess we translate the rest and hopefully a pattern emerges," Robin suggested.

"A pattern," said Dustin. "Right, like maybe 'silver cat' is a meeting place?"

"Or a person," Robin offered.

"Or maybe a cat," Carly added, still wanting to believe that the Russians were good. "I leave messages for my dad to feed Peach. Maybe not quite 'the silver cat feeds', but 'Peach feeds at five o'clock', you know?"

"Or weapons," Dustin added on top of Carly's suggestion.

Though, Carly had noticed that Steve was no longer walking with her. Eyebrows knitting together, she turned to spot him at the carousel horse, where she walked over to him.

"It's probably gonna take a super genius to crack it, but..." Robin's voice trailed off behind them, noticing Steve. "Where's Steve and Carly?"

"Steve, what are you doing?" Carly asked him.

"I'm onto something," Steve said, hands in his pocket as he searched for coins.

"Hey, Steve!" Robin shouted as there was a clutter of coins with Steve searching through them. "What are you doing?"

"Uh, it's a quarter," said Steve, looking to Carly and then the others as he addressed them all. "I need — do you have a quarter?"

"I might do," Carly said, searching through her pockets.

All she pulled out was a lipgloss and a few cents, but she couldn't find a quarter.

Robin chuckled at that, heading over to them. "Sure you're tall enough for that ride?"

"Quarter!" Steve shouted.

Quickly, Robin handed it over as Steve put the quarter into the machine. The ride stared with the horse moving up and down, but the theme tune started to play, a sound fitting for a fun fair.

"You need help getting up, little Stevie?" Robin offered.

"Shh!" Steve hushed them, even their laughter. "Would you just shut up and listen?"

They fell quiet, listening to the music as it continued on a loop.

"Holy shit," Dustin realised. "The music. The music!"

Dustin was on his knees as he removed his backpack, pulling out the tape. Clicking play, the Russian message appeared, but the same melodic music was in the background.

"I don't understand," Robin confessed.

"It's the exact same song in the recording," Dustin explained.

"Maybe they have horses like this in Russia," Robin said.

"Indiana Flyer? I don't...I don't think so," Steve denied. "This code, it didn't come from Russia," then he looked at them, becoming serious. "It came from here."

Now, the fun had been stolen from the music, where it became haunted.

Even Carly was starting to doubt that the Russians were good.

✺

How are we liking Carly and Steve so far? The next chapter is such a mixture of being adorable and creepy! Carly's powers will be explored more and I'm so excited for it!