A/N: Hey, guys! So, this takes place after the end of season two, the summer before the kids all start high school. I did this because then I'm not boxing myself in; plus, everyone writes about the same few moments in the show, which isn't a bad thing, but I thought you'd want something new. Enjoy!

*Nikki's POV*
Summer in Hawkins. By far the worst place to be during my vacation. My parents left for a tropical getaway in Hawaii, leaving me and my brother Steve alone for a few months.
"Hey there, Squirt," Steve greeted as I came into the kitchen one morning. It was eight, but he always woke up before I did so he could make breakfast and keep me company.
Yeah. To everyone at school, Steve Harrington was King Steve. The jock, the cool guy, the one who didn't give a- well, let's just say he gave off the Farrah-hair-don't-care vibe. (Steve doesn't let me swear, even though he has a sailor mouth. Hypocrite.) But to me, Steve was the best big brother ever. The one who cared, the one who is there to dry my tears when Mom and Dad fought and made me laugh when I thought I'd never smile again.
"Morning, Hairboy," I replied. "Where were you last night?" Steve had been out pretty late,  it being the last day of school and all.
   "There was an eighth grade graduation party for some of Dustin's friends. I would've taken you, but I figured you didn't want to go, for obvious reasons." Steve looked at me sympathetically. He had become friends with Dustin Henderson for some reason the previous winter, and had been hanging out with them ever since. I never hung out with them, but Steve spent a lot of time at Dustin's.
   "I graduated eighth grade this year, too, ya know," I grumbled, taking the bowl of corn flakes Steve had fixed for me.
   Steve sighed. "Yeah, but you didn't want to have a graduation party. You don't talk to anyone in your school!"
   "Yeah, coz they're all juvenile dipshi-"
   "Nikki!"
   I looked down. "It's true," I mumbled.
   "You might want to actually get to know some of them before going around calling them dipshits. I mean, some of them are, but Dustin isn't a dipshit. He's pretty cool-" He stopped himself. "He's fun to hang around."
   "If you love him so much, marry him." I started to walk out of the kitchen, but the doorbell rang, making me walk back in to put down my cereal, then into the entryway to answer the door.
   Speak of the devil. "Hey there." Dustin Henderson smiled uneasily at me, his face crinkling up. "I'm Dustin. Is Steve here?"
   "I know who you are. We've been in the same classes since the fourth grade, Dustin." I was too pissed off to even worry about the fact that I was still wearing my pyjamas. And bunny slippers.
   Steve could smell the resentment in my voice from a mile away. "Hey, Dustin. You know Nikki, right?" He came up behind me, pulling my arm back and shielding me slightly from Dustin.
   "Uh...yeah. We've- we've met." Dustin looked between me and Steve. "Sorry, dude, did you- did you not want to hang out today?"
   Steve looked at me. "Do you mind?" he asked.
   "Not at all." What was I supposed to say? No, Steve, you're not allowed to bring friends into your house. Like, I'm not that big of a bitch!
   Steve smiled at me. "Cool. You wanna hang out with us?"
   I wanted to say no, but the look in Dustin's eyes made me rethink it. Seriously, he's like a freaking puppy dog! "Um... sure. Just let me change." Forgetting about my cereal, I dashed upstairs, putting on a fresh outfit and brushing my hair out a little. I wasn't even the least bit stylish, but I was hanging out with two guys, so I didn't really care.
   When I came downstairs, Steve and Dustin were nowhere to be found. "Steve? Where'd ya go?"
I heard whispering in the basement. Walking closer to the door, I could make out some of what the whispers were saying.
"What about the Demogorgon?" I heard Dustin ask.
Demogorgon? What the hell?
"Dude, she can't. Know." Steve put emphasis on the last word. Did he mean me?
"Come on, Steve. She's your sister." Yup, they were talking about me.

Before I could go downstairs, I was distracted. There was a small creaking noise in the living room; those idiots were trying to scare me, they knew I was listening in. Realizing that I was smarter than the two of them combined, I walked into the living room, fully prepped to see whatever little prank they set up for me. It would be their idea of "terrifying," so it was probably a box with a motor inside that moved. (I saw Dustin's Halloween costume last year.)
What I saw, however, was not a motorized box. It was a huge beast, at least seven or eight feet, with the body of a blue-black cat. Except for the fact that it had six legs, and two tentacle-ish things protruding from its shoulders. These freaks know their special effects.
   It stalked toward me, and as I began to get scared, I realized it was probably Mike Wheeler or Lucas Sinclair in a costume. But damn, was it a good costume. This thing could be really convincing; especially the throaty growl that escaped its lips.
"Very funny, dipshits!" I said, loudly enough for Steve and Dustin to hear me from downstairs. "You can come back up now, guys!"
   When I looked back, the beast was still there, but I heard a growl from next to me. There was nothing there- not that I could see anyways.
   This thing kept disorienting me, making itself appear where it wasn't and freaking the shit out of me. Why do these assholes have to be so good at pranks?
Footsteps rushed up the stairs as the costumed kid came closer. I started to laugh... but then he beast's mouth opened, showing me gnarly yellow fangs, revealing that it wasn't a boy.
This shit was real.
"Oh, shit!" Dustin and Steve screamed simultaneously.
   I screamed bloody murder as the monster reached for me. Its paw barely grazed me before it emitted another roar, spraying me with some gross blue saliva as Steve grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
   "What is that thing? What the hell is that thing?" I screamed, unable to move.
"Get a knife or something!" Dustin yelled to Steve, grabbing my arm. "We've gotta get out of here, come on!"
I looked at my brother. "Steve, come on-"
"No, he can handle this, but we have to go now!" Dustin tried to pull me along, but only got me a few feet away.
I stood firm. "I'm not walking out of here without my brother."
   Steve glanced at me as he opened the cabinet under the kitchen sink. From it, he grabbed a baseball bat with nails sticking out.
   "Where the hell did you get that?" I screamed, my voice rasping.
   Again, Steve looked at me. "Nikki, go with Dustin. He'll protect you."
   "No, not without y-"
   "Go. With. Dustin." Steve's face was tough and firm, but I could see the absolute terror in his eyes. A tear escaped mine as I felt my lip start to quiver. Damn it, here come the tears.
He realized that I wouldn't move, so Dustin thought for a split second, considering his options. "Fine. I'm really sorry about this, Nik, you left me no choice." Dustin steadied himself, picked me up bridal style and ran out of the house.
"Put me down! I need my brother!" I screamed, trying to wriggle out of his weirdly firm grasp. "Damn it, Henderson, why are you such a strong nerd?"
Dustin smirked. "You're officially my favorite of my friends' sisters." He kept running with me in his arms until we got to the next street over, where he stopped to look at me. "Can you walk from here?"
"I could have walked from the begin-"
"The shock is too much for most of the people we've shown this stuff to," Dustin explained simply. "Nancy almost flipped her shit when she found out. Max didn't believe us for days."
I jumped out of his arms, landing on my feet but wobbling slightly. "Woah, holy-"
"I've got you." Dustin gently held my arm, helping me regain balance. "Alright?"
I nodded. "Thanks."
"Anytime. Mike's house isn't too far from here." He kept walking, but I stopped him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.
"Mike's house?" I asked incredulously. "My brother is stuck in our house with a monster, and you want to go on a playdate?"
Dustin shook his head. "No, Steve's got this. He made me swear that if anything like this ever happened-"
"Anything like what?"
"-I would get you out of there straight away, let him handle whatever the problem was, and meet at the nearest party member's house." Dustin ignored my question, then realized I wouldn't drop it until I had an answer. "We can explain everything at Mike's house, once everyone is there." Dustin started off again, this time holding out his hand for me.
I stared at his outstretched hand. "What?"
"Shall we?" His smile never wavered as he waited for me to come with him.
"Fine, but I'm not holding your hand, Henderson." I kept walking to the Wheeler home, Dustin not far behind. "But if you two dipshits are pranking me, you're two dead dipshits, got it?" I looked back at him, waiting for a response.
"Ye-yeah. Gotcha, loud and- and clear," he stuttered, his smile fading into a fearful grimace.
I smiled at him warmly. "Good. I'm glad we understand each other."
   We had arrived at Mike's door, but still no sign of my brother. With another look at Dustin, I stepped back from the door. "I'm sorry, I can't go in there without him."
   Dustin nudged my shoulder. "Hey. Look at me." I kept my head down. "Come on, Monica, look at me." When I finally looked up, he continued. "Steve's dealt with this stuff before. He's a badass, don't worry, he'll be here before you know it."
   "Are you sure?" I asked, choking back the frightened tears that threatened to drip from the pool of water in my eyes.
   Dustin smiled. "Of course. How could he be a weakling if he's got such a tough sister?"
   I didn't let Dustin see me smile as I reached for the doorbell. Dustin grabbed my hand quickly and pulled it back, emitting a confused and pissed off glare from me.
   "We have an emergency knock." He banged on the door. Twice. One. Three times.
   Before I could even question this weirdness, I heard running footsteps from inside before Mike Wheeler opened the door. "Dustin, what's the emergency- who's this?"
   I huffed angrily. "I'm Nikki Harrington." No recognition. "I've been in your classes since kindergarten... Steve's sist-"
   "Oh, Steve's sister! You don't look anything like him," Mike said. Then, with realization: "Oh, shit, you're Steve's sister!"
   Dustin pushed us both inside. "Yes, she's Steve's sister, and yes, it happened."
   "What happened?" I asked as I was ushered downstairs to Mike's basement. "What the hell was that thing?"
   "Language!" I heard Mike's father, Ted Wheeler, shout from the living room. I rolled my eyes before looking around the basement. It hadn't changed since I had last been down here.
   "Hey, Lucas. Will," I said to the boys sitting in Mike's basement, who were reading X-Men and/or listening to their Walkmans.
   Lucas Sinclair looked at me in confusion. "And you are...?"
   "She's Nikki Harrington," Will said, recognizing me and smiling. "What's up?"
   Dustin spoke for me. "We have a... situation."
   Will's face darkened. "A 'situation'? Like, a Steve situation?"
   "Yes, the situation that Steve prepped me for that I prepped all of you for."
   I smacked Dustin's arm. "Whatever you've 'prepped' them for, you sure as hell haven't prepped me for it. So someone tell me what the hell is going on, or I'm gonna start kicking ass!"
   "Calm down, Harrington." A redheaded girl stood up from her spot on the couch across the room, next to a short-haired girl.
   "Hey, Max," I said to the redhead. "Wait a second- why are you here?"
   "I'm in the party, and dating Lucas," Max replied. "How do you know my name?"
   "She goes to school with us," Dustin answered.
   "I can speak for myself, Dustin," I snapped. "And yeah, I go to school with you."
   Max crossed her arms out of curiosity, not condescension. "Then how come I've never noticed you?"
   "I'm good at being invisible," I smirked, crossing my arms to mirror her stance. "It's my thing."
   "So, you have, like, superpowers?" Max joked.
   "Yeah. It's a little thing I like to call 'avoiding all of the idiots in Hawkins by avoiding everyone altogether.'"
   The short-haired girl chuckled. I had never seen her before, so I went over to introduce myself. "Hi there. My name's Nikki. Nikki Harrington." I held out my hand for her.
   "El," she said quietly, shaking my hand gingerly.
   Mike got a bit nervous, turning to Lucas angrily. "I never agreed to this, dude. She can't know-"
   "Calm down," Dustin interrupted calmly. "I trust her. Steve trusts her."
   "Of course Steve trusts her! She's his freaking sister!" Mike exploded.
   "Stop, Mike. You didn't want me to know either," Max said, shooting a friendly look in my direction. "I've kept all of our secrets, she can too."
All of a sudden, the basement door burst open, and I heard footsteps running down to join the group.
"Steve!" I screamed, running to my brother and engulfing him in a hug.
He laughed, rustling my hair. "Hey, Squirt."
Max, Dustin, and Will ran over to join us in a group hug; Lucas, Mike, and El stayed sitting down.
"Steve, what was it?" Will asked, wrapping his arms around my big brother.
"Sit down."
We all found a seat somewhere around the basement. Lucas, Steve, Mike, Max, and Eleven sat at the little round table, while Will and Dustin sat on either side of me on the couch. We all impatiently waited for Steve to start talking.
"Guys, there's a new monster," Steve stated simply, but seriously.
   Lucas finally spoke up again. "A new monster? What'd it look like?"
   I decided to speak up. "Like a huge cat- maybe a panther- but with six legs and... and... tentacles in its shoulder."
   Will stared at me. "You saw it?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "It tried to attack me. I thought you guys were just trying to pull a prank."
Mike stood up dramatically. He's definitely the self-appointed leader. "We have to do something. Now. Before it tries to hurt one of us."
Dustin looked at me, then at Mike. "It already did. Like it or not, Nikki is one of us now. She has to be."
"Why?" Mike snapped. "It tried to hurt her. So what? It's not like she's actually beneficial to us."
"Careful," Steve interjected.
I stood up, slightly towering over Mike. "Listen, Wheeler. I might not be part of your little Nerd Herd, but I can still kick your ass. So stop being a little bitch, and accept that fact that I'm here. At least for now."
   Mike glared at me, stepping way closer than I was comfortable with. "I don't know what your problem is, Harrington, but you can't talk to us that way. Any of us. You're lucky to be here right now, and if you're not more careful, we can send you right back with that monster."
   "Stop it, Mike," Dustin said, pushing him back, then turning to face me. "Come with me."   He took my arm again and pulled me away from the group, into the Wheelers' laundry room and closing the door.
   I pushed his hand away from my arm. "What the hell, Dustin? Why'd you bring me here if Mike hates me?"
   "He doesn't hate you," Dustin said softly. "He just doesn't like it when there are new members in the group. Especially ones that question his authority in front of El."
   I smirked. "What, he likes her or something?"
   "Exactly," Dustin smiled. "Anyway, don't worry about him. He can be a little bitch sometimes, but he's pretty cool once he warms up to you."
   Scoffing, I blew a piece of hair out of my face. "Can't wait," I muttered.
   Dustin sighed. "Look, everything's gonna be fine, okay? Steve isn't going to let you anywhere near that monster, and neither will I. I'm sure Lucas and Will would protect you, and Max and El are normally pretty cool about being team players, too."
   "So, what? Am I just your little team mascot now? The one you have to protect?" I was getting both angry and indignant at this point, not even letting Dustin speak. "Well, no thanks, okay? I can take care of myself- no nerds required."
   I reached for the door, but Dustin stood in front of it. "It's not safe," he said, looking me dead in the eyes. "We don't even know what we're up against yet, so it would be suicide for you to leave unaccompanied."
   I looked right back at him, more serious than I'd been all day. "Bullshit." Pushing Dustin out of the way, I opened the door to the laundry room and made a beeline for the stairs. I tried to run, but I couldn't move my legs. Straining and straining, I felt myself going red in the face from trying so hard to move. I was paralyzed.
   "Don't. Run."
   Whipping my head around, I saw El, the shorthaired girl, staring at me with intense concentration, Scarlett blood running from her nose.
   "What the hell?"
   "Promise me you won't run," she said aggressively.
   "You better stop-"
   "Promise me!" she screamed.
   I look to Dustin, who was acting as if this were totally normal. The others were just nonchalantly watching me as well. Except for Will, who was immersed in a big book whose title I couldn't see. "Damn it, fine, I promise."
   El smiled in satisfaction, then took her eyes off of me. As I felt all control return to my legs, I walked back over to the table, standing behind my brother.
   "So, while you were all freaking out," Will said, shooting a glance in my direction, "I think I've figured out what the monster is." Will came over to the table, dropping his open book down and pointing at the page.
   "That's- that's it!" I squealed, pointing to the picture on the page. It looked just like the monster in my house. "That's the thing that attacked me."
   "Tried to attack you," Mike corrected.
   I lifted my middle finger at him and pretended to scratch my nose. "Up yours, Wheeler."
   Dustin smacked Mike's arm as he did the gesture back (only more conspicuously). "Will, what is it?" Dustin asked, directing our attention back to the book.
   Will looked up at me, then at Mike, whispering, "It's the Displacer Beast."