chapter eighteen , Welcome to the Team!

a/n: a certain character gets introduced...

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"No fucking way."

Hopper's eyes widen and he snaps his eyes over to the brunette. Gus' mouth hangs open and a scoff escapes. Hopper scrunches his lips together. Gus tenses. Hopper was telling her to not speak again, so she folds her arms and sinks into her seat. Hopper's face relaxes and he turns to the principal.

"I am sorry about that, ma'am." Hopper chuckles. "Gus is sorry, aren't you, Gus?"

Gus stays silent and Hopper snaps his eyes back over to her once again. The brunette looks at Hopper and her eyes widen. "What?--"

"Apologize."

Gus sits up, "You gave me the 'I don't want you to speak' look." she holds her hands up and her eyes blow wide.

"Well, now, I want you to speak--"

"You know what? It's fine. I don't need an apo--"

"No, no." Hopper quickly says, letting out a soft unstable laugh. The principal swallows nervously. He shifts his eyes between the Chief of Police and the teenager.

"Gus, you've been practicing this." Hopper states.

Gus rolls her eyes, but she looks at the principal. A small breath of annoyance leaves Gus' lips. "Fine. Uh..." she wipes her nose. "I am sorry, Mrs. McKinely, for swearing at you."

Hopper clears his throat in an obnoxious manner and Gus' eye twitches. She looks at her father and he raises his brows, waiting for her to continue.

Gus inhales her frustration. "I have been...working on my temper and I hope that one day, I will be able to have a simple conversation without using my fists and harsh words." She tilts her head to the ceiling. "Please, be patient with me. I. Am. Trying." The teenager forces out.

The principal raises her brows. She looks between the father and daughter. "I appreciate the apology, Gus--"

"But there is no way, I am joining the school's track team." Gus places a finger on the McKinely's desk. "I mean, come on...I don't exactly scream 'school spirit."

"Look, August." Hopper voices.

Gus looks at the Chief of Police with a stern expression.

"This could be good for you." Hopper chuckles. "You can go out there and make friends."

"I am fine with the friends I have now." Gus inhales. "And...I don't want to run for this school. I hate it." she looks at McKinely. "No offense."

"Oh, none taken." She waves a hand. "Gus, you have risen all of your grades and have been working 110% and more, making up your past work."

Gus nods her head with her eyes squinted. "I feel like there's more."

The principal looks at Hopper and Gus spots it.

"What? What am I missing right now?" Gus grips the arms of her chair.

"Miss Castillo, it seems that you have flunked some classes." McKinely states.

Gus scoffs, "That makes no sense—I do all my work!"

"Well, if you're not there most weeks..."

Simultaneously, Gus and Hopper look at each other. Hopper shakes his head and she sends him a sheepish smile. "Oops?"

"Gus."

"Oh, come on!" Gus holds her hands up. "That was a different time--a different me!"

"But, I do have a proposition for you." Mrs. McKinely speaks with her hands folded.

Gus and Hopper look at the Principal. The short haired teen shakes her head. "I'll pass—thanks."

"Uh—what?" Mrs. McKinely blinks.

Gus bunches her shoulders. "I'm not gonna carry any drugs for you, I'm not gonna have sex, I'm not gonna beat someone up—"

"I was going to offer you a spot on the track team." Mrs. McKinely cuts the rambling girl off.

Gus blinks, "Oh..."

Hopper nudges Gus and she grunts.

"Apologies, Principal McKinely." Gus slightly bows her hand.

The principal clears her throat, uncomfortable.

"If you join the track team, I will make sure that you don't have to take any classes you have flunked."

Gus slightly cranes her neck forward and quietly laughs. "I-I'm sorry?" She pinches the bridge of her nose and her laughter increases. "This isn't some feel-good sports film. Can you actually do that?"

"Miss Castillo, you are a skilled student. Academically and Athletically." The principal explains. "And if you...help the school, the board will help you."

Gus honestly couldn't care less about joining track. She only needed one person's approval and say so. Gus looks at Hopper and raises her brows.

"Look, kid. I can't tell you what to do with your life." Hopper shifts toward her. "But, I know you. And I know you wouldn't want to repeat another year in this shithole. This place has put you through enough." he looks at the principal.

"No offense."

Gus gnaws on her lower lip with her brows pulled together. "Yeah, okay." she exhales sharply.

"Great!"

Hopper and Gus both jump.

"Practice starts next week."

Gus blinks, "So, I don't have to try out?"

"No. You're a shoo-in, Miss Castillo." The principal stands up and so do Gus and Hopper. "I will be sure to talk to the board."

Gus slowly nods her head, "Uh...right." She holds her arm out toward the principal and they shake.

Gus and Hopper leave Mrs. McKinely's office and walk down the school hall. The brunette looks at the Chief of Police. "Do you really think I would be good at track?"

"Definitely," Hopper says. "Just, don't get too competitive, all right? I don't need you getting kicked out of this."

Gus bunches her shoulders and sputters. "How does someone get kicked out of track?"

"Knowing you. You could find a way."

Gus presses her lips together and bumps Hopper's hip. He stumbles off to the side and laughs. Gus quietly laughs too.

Quick footsteps are heard down the hallway. The short-haired teen raises her brows, instantly recognizing the squeaking of the boots approaching quickly. A smirk forms on Gus' lips, she spins on her heel and turns toward the person. The boy wraps his arms around Gus' waist and she stumbles.

Hopper stops in his tracks and watches as the two high school students start to playfully scuffle. "Uh, I'll meet you in the car, okay?" The man quickly walks away from the two.

The brunette quickly hooks her ankle behind the back of the boy's ankle and he falls to the ground. Gus exhales a triumphant chuckle. She points at the boy, whose eyes were on her. "Hah!"

"I think that's now...3 me and 0 for you." Gus places her hands on her hip.

"I snuck up on you and everything!"

Gus presses her lips together, "Yeah, well...you should consider not wearing those boots running down these halls." she bunches her shoulders. "They squeak."

"God Dammit..." The boy huffs.

Gus holds her hand out to the boy. "Don't worry, I'll buy some oil." she gives him a wink.

He looks at her hand for a moment before smiling and accepting her hand with a laugh. The brunette helps him up and she sighs. "So, what do I owe you for this special sneak attack?"

"Well, my aggressive friend." The boy reaches into his bag and holds the shirt out to her.

Gus' eyes widen and her jaw hangs open. "No, shit!" she grabs the shirt and jumps up and down. The brunette stops her excitement and points at the mullet-wearing boy. "Hold on..." she purses her lips. "...you do know I'm already a part of a party, right?"

"What?! I had no idea..."

Gus squints her eyes, "Munson, I have a duty as D.M.--"

"Okay, okay, just hear me out." Eddie holds his hands up.

Gus bites the inside of her cheek and folds her arms. "I'm listening."

Eddie grabs ahold of the brunette's hands and she raises her brows as the boy falls to one knee. "Uh..."

"Gus Castillo--"

"Or August."

Eddie slightly glances at the ceiling and nods. "August 'Gus' Castillo."

The brunette smiles, "Yes?"

"You have been a part of that shrimpy party for far too long." Eddie shakes his head. "You just recently became the Dungeon Master and before that, you weren't even in the campaigns at all."

Gus frowns. He had a point.

"If you Join Hellfire club, you will be in those campaigns," Eddie says.

"But--"

"And you will still keep your rightful title as Guardian."

Gus tilts her head side to side, still unsure. And Eddie holds his pointer finger up, "The Guardian."

Gus closes her mouth and swallows, the deal sounding too good to be true.

"So..." Eddie raises his brows. "...what do you think?"

"I think...I should sleep on it." Gus sighs.

Eddie frowns, "Fair enough." he stands up. "You can keep the shirt as a form of persuasion."

Eddie sends her a two-finger salute and walks away from her.

Gus smiles softly, "Thanks, Eddie."

Eddie turns back to her, he holds his arms out and bows. "Anything for The Guardian."

Gus rolls her eyes and laughs softly.

☆

Sofía keeps her eyes on the wall with her eyes shaking. Ever since the girl was rescued from the Upside Down, she has been having constant nightmares. She wanted to ignore them and pretend she was okay. But every day, Sofía had to go to Hawkins Lab and tell the doctors what her nightmares were; hoping they would interpret them.

"Sofía?"

The girl blinks and shifts her eyes from the wall to the boy with the bowl cut. Sofía stays quiet, but she had a calm expression.

"Are you ready to go?"

Sofía raises her brows, "Uh, yeah..." she hops off the examination table.

Will gives the girl a soft smile. Sofía follows Will out of the room. Joyce was leaning against the wall, her fingers tapping her arms nervously. She hears footsteps and she quickly looks at the two kids approaching her. "Hey, you two, every all right?"

Joyce looks at Will and sees the hesitance in his eyes. She pulls her brows together, knowing Will was worried about the quiet girl. The woman looks at the girl and slightly tilts her head.

"Sofía, you okay?" Joyce asks.

Sofía raises her brows, "Oh, yeah, just...tired." she shrugs. "Doing these tests every day is..."

"...wearing us out." Will finishes.

Sofía looks at Will and smiles softly. Sofía wishes she and Will never went through that shit in the Upside Down, but she was glad that they weren't alone in the testing for Hawkins Labs. This place was scary, especially after hearing the stories about what Eleven and Gus went through.

"Well..." Joyce looks at her watch. "...I think I have something that'll make you guys feel better."

Sofía raises her brows and looks at Will, who was already looking at her. The kids look back at Joyce and she was already walking down the hall. They quickly follow after her. As soon as they made it out of the lab, cheers were heard. Sofía slows her walking, seeing the rest of her friends standing in the parking lot.

Gus raises her arms, "Byers and Alvarez back in action!"

Sofía's eyes widen and a smile spreads across her lips. She sprints across the parking lot and wraps her arms around Gus. The short-haired brunette lets out a painfilled chuckle, from the force of the hug. But she regains her footing and touches the back of Sofía's head.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sofía steps back, separating from the hug.

"We came here to pick you guys up." Lucas states.

Sofía pulls her brows together and looks at Will. "Uh, why?"

"So, we could hang out." Dustin shrugs.

Sofía looks at the young boy and her face heats up.

"The arcade, specifically."

Sofía and Will snap their eyes over to Mike.

"Seriously?!" They chorus.

Gus looks at Joyce and they both laugh.

"Yeah, hop in, squirts!" Gus motions to the car.

"Wait, Gus, you have your license?" Will asks.

Gus raises her brows, she looks at Joyce and nervously chuckles. "Duh! Wouldn't be driving without one. Who do you take me for a...a lawbreaker?"

"Well--"

"Don't answer that." Gus points at Mike.

The teenager walks over to Joyce.

"Drive safe, please." Joyce looks at the car Gus arrived in. It was a Navy Blue Chevy Chevrolet. "Does Hopper know you've got this car?"

After taking moving into the cabin in the middle of the woods, Hopper realized that no one could know their location. Which meant that no one could drive Gus home. So, as a surprise, Hopper bought Gus a car from one of his close friends. Granted, she only has her permit; but the brunette was going to get her license...sooner or later.

"Yeah, he got it for me!" Gus exclaims.

Joyce squints her eyes, "Do you have your license?"

"Yes!" Gus sputters.

Joyce arches a brow and Gus swallows. "No. But, that is why while I am supervising these boogers. He will be supervising my driving." she points to Jonathan sitting in the passenger seat.

"Hey, mom."

Joyce pulls her brows together in confusion, but she smiles and waves at her son. She looks back at Gus.

"I swear to you...it's just to the arcade and back home."

Joyce places a hand on her forehead and inhales a soft breath. She wraps her arms around Gus and the teenager hugs the woman back.

"I'll be careful with them. I promise."

...

"Oh, My God--I HATE YOU SO MUCH!!!"

Gus rolls her eyes, "Relax!" she gets slams her foot on the brake and all the kids and Jonathan jerk forward. The brunette parks the car and lets out a breath. She runs a hand through her brown hair and looks at the carsick kids.

"I'm getting better, right?"

Mike snaps his eyes over to the teenager and Gus pulls her face back from his glare.

"Are you shitting me?!" Mike exclaims.

Gus blinks. "So...is that a no or--"

"No!" All the kids shout.

Gus presses her lips together. "Oh, what do you guys know." she waves a hand at them and gets out of the car.

The kids all fall out of the vehicle, dry heaving.

"You guys are being dramatic!" Jonathan calls out. "It wasn't that bad."

Mike rolls his eyes, "You're only saying that because you've got a huge crush on--"

Will covers Mike's mouth and Jonathan's eyes widen. He snaps his eyes over to Gus who was talking to Sofía and Dustin. Jonathan lets out a breath of relief and looks at his brother.

"You told?!" Jonathan seethes.

"I-It just slipped out!" Will holds his hands up. "I am so sorry!"

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with us." Lucas says. "For a price."

Jonathan looks at the sky, "How much?"

"Fifty dollars."

"What?! No way!" Jonathan rummages through his pockets and hands Lucas a five dollar bill.

Lucas looks at the bill and frowns. "This'll do just fine." he tucks it into his pocket and walks into the arcade with Will and Mike.

Gus turns back to Jonathan while Dustin and Sofia walk into the arcade. "Hey, Byers."

Jonathan turns to the brunette approaching him.

"You okay?" Gus places her hands on her hips and searches his eyes.

Jonathan keeps his eyes on the brunette, trying to come up with words. Gus purses her lips. Jonathan quickly shakes his heads, "Uh--yeah. I'm just tired."

Gus slowly nods her head, "Well, after I give the kids some quarters, how about we get like a coffee or something?"

"O-Or something?" Jonathan stammers, his heart rate increases.

The brunette raises her brows, "Yeah. It could like our thing." she nudges his elbow. "Whaddya say?"

Jonathan swallows and he bunches his shoulders. He opens his mouth to say something, but he just ends up nervously chuckling. Gus' eyes slightly widen. Jonathan slams his mouth shut and nods his head. "Yeah, yeah, coffee's good."

Gus smiles and her back straightens. "Great! I'll be right back." she jogs toward the arcade. Jonathan exhales a sharp breath.

As soon as Gus entered the building, there was so much shouting. Her eyes travel around the arcade and she sees the kids at the Space Invaders game. Over the past month, Gus made a promise to Hopper. She wasn't going to tell anyone about Eleven still being alive. She has continued to keep that promise, but it gets more difficult every day.

"GUS, WE NEED QUARTERS!!!"

The brunette jumps and snaps out of her thoughts. She focuses on the kids again and walks over to them. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." she pulls a bunch of quarters from her pockets. "Here, you fiends. Go wild."

As soon as Gus gave the green light, all the kids reaches for the quarters in her hands. Her eyes widen, "I didn't mean literally!" she snaps. "I will shut this shit down!"

The kids all freeze and slowly grab the coins from her.

"Now that is better." Gus smiles. "Now, what do we say?"

"We're not babies, Gus." Mike scoffs.

Gus pats the top of Mike's head in an obnoxious manner. "What do we say...?--"

"Thank you!" Mike swats her hand away, causing Gus to laugh.

"Thanks, Gus!"

"Yeah, no problem." Gus waves her hand. "Jonathan and I will be back at 8:30!"

Sofía turns to the brunette, "Wait, you're not staying?"

Gus stops walking away from the kids and turns back to the young girl. "Uh, no. I was gonna get coffee with Jonathan."

Lucas, Mike, and Will all look at each other.

Gus watches Sofía rub her arm and the brunette exhales a soft breath. She walks over to Sofía and crouches in front of her. "Hey, I'll be back." Gus says. "And if you want me to come back early, just call me on one of their walkie's and I'll zoom back here."

"Please don't zoom." Sofía quickly says. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Gus smiles softly. "Okay, I won't zoom. But I will come back if you call."

"I just...I don't think they like me." Sofía says softly.

Gus looks at the boys and pulls her brows together. "They like you. Some of them are just still emotionally sore about..." the brunette trails off her sentence and Sofía searches her face.

"...Eleven?" Sofía asks.

Gus blinks and looks back at the girl. "Yeah. They just need some time. But they do like you, don't you guys?!"

The kids looks at the two girls. "What?"

"You guys like Sofía? You think she's cool?"

Mike shrugs, "I mean, yeah. We wouldn't let her hang out with us if we didn't."

Dustin kicks Mike's ankle and he looks back at Sofia. "Sofía, you're one of the most awesomest girl's I have ever met."

"Is awesomest a word?" Sofía tilts her head.

"It's a word I would use to describe you." Dustin shrugs.

Sofía's mouth slightly opens and her face heats up. "Uh, awesome. Cool...I like that word." she nervously chuckles.

"But it's not a word." Gus snorts.

Sofía rams her elbow into Gus' side and she groans.

"Such a cool word." Gus wheezes.

Sofía walks over to Dustin and stands next to him. The teenager inhales a deep breath and goes to walk out of the arcade.

"Hey, Castillo."

Gus stops in her tracks and winces. The brunette turns around and forces an awkward smile on her lips. "Hey, Keith..."

"You look good." Keith nods.

Gus glances at the ceiling. "Thanks, that's very kind of you."

Gus wouldn't have a problem with Keith, if he knew when to leave her alone. Over the course of 3 years, she has turned him down over 200 times.

"So, you just came to drop those little rascals off?" Keith motions his head to the kids.

Gus nods her head, "Yup." she pops the p.

"So, you're free?" Keith shoots his brows up.

"I am. But not for you." Gus bunches her shoulders. "Besides, you've got work."

"I'm my own boss." Keith points at himself in a cocky manner. "I'll be okay to take off 30 minutes."

Gus winces, "Yeah, Keith...we have had this conversation so many times. I think we should just call it, right?" she nods her head and scrucnhes her nose. "This is the last time this shit is going down and for the final last time...I am saying no."

Keith squints his eyes, wondering if Gus was lying. She was not. Too bad, Keith didn't realize that. He then smiles, "You'll be back."

Gus spins on her heel and sends him a peace sign while leaving. "Goodbye, Keith!"

Keith holds his hand out to her, "Goodbye, my love."

The brunette gets outside and shudders. She places her hands in her hair. Gus' eyes land on Jonathan, who was leaning against the car and she smiles. Jonathan looks at Gus and pushes himself off the car. "Hey, you okay?"

Gus huffs, "Keith."

"Yikes. He's still going for it?" Jonathan asks.

Gus grits her teeth and rocks back and forth on her feet. "I don't think he's ever gonna stop."

Jonathan looks at his shoes, "I'm sorry about that."

"Some guys just don't understand what 'no' means." Gus sighs.

"Maybe he needs a good ass kicking to learn," Jonathan suggests.

Gus raises her brows. "Jonathan Byers are you suggesting that I use violence?" she smiles. "That's not like you."

"Well, I did beat the crap out of Steve so, I think it's a little like me, don't ya think?" Jonathan shrugs.

Gus laughs softly, "I guess so." she walks toward him and opens the passenger door. "Welcome to the dark side, Byers."

Jonathan chuckles and gets into the passenger seat.

Gus closes the door and rounds the car. "We have cookies."

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author's note.

I find it hilarious that Gus thinks NO ONE likes her and yet EVERYONE has a crush on her.

Don't be afraid to comment! I love hearing what you guys have to say and I love hearing feedback if you have any!

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