[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘: 𝗦𝗨𝗭𝗜𝗘, 𝗗𝗢 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗖𝗢𝗣𝗬?]

"YOU'RE LATE," LUCAS SAID AS MIKE pulled up to the starcourt mall. "again."

"we're gonna miss the opening," will stated while having his arm linked with sage's. "yeah, if you keep whining about it. let's go!" mike said.

" "if you guys keep whining about it. nyeh-nyeh-nyeh." " lucas mocked mike. "just please stop talking, dude." mike said and turned lucas around so he can start walking inside the mall.

"let me guess. you were busy." lucas smacks his lips together. "oh, yeah, real mature, lucas," mike rolled his eyes. " "oh el, i wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends," " lucas mocked again.

"your lips are plump, mike." sage commented and snorted a bit. "lucas, stop," max said to the dark-skinned teen. "will and sage think it's funny." lucas told the red-head.

"because it is!" will and sage say in unison.

"yeah, it's so funny that i want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend," mike said sarcastically.

"i'm spending romantic time with my girlfriend," lucas said, wrapping an arm around max.

sage's smile fell when she saw lucas put his arm around max. the wheeler girl looked away and gulped, but then felt will take her hand. he gave her hand a light squeeze before dragging her to the escalator with mike, max, and lucas.

"hey!" a girl said after being shoved.

"excuse us! sorry!"

"sorry!"

"sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"excuse me, i'm sorry,"

"sorry,"

the five teens made it down the crowed escalator and began to rush through the corridor.

"hey! watch it!" a girl said after mike bumped into her.

"yeah! watch it, nerd!" erica said, sitting down with her friends eating ice cream. "isn't it past your bedtime?" lucas asked his sister. "isn't it time you died?" erica shot back.

"oH," sage whispered to herself, getting a small voice crack.

"psycho!"

"butthead!"

"mall rat!"

"fart face!"

lucas blows a raspberry at his younger sister before getting dragged into scoops ahoy by max.

"oh, now that was mature,"

the five teens walk into the ice cream parlor and mike rings the bell repeatedly.

"hey, dingus, your children are here." robin said to steve, who was in the back. "hey, robin!" sage waved at her with a smile. "hey, sage," robin smiled at her, waving back a little.

steve opens the two doors from the back and sighs. "again? seriously?"

mike stares at steve then hits the bell again. steve opened the door to the back and allowed the teens to walk through.

"come on, come on," steve says. "i swear, if anybody hears about this —"

"we're dead!" the five teens say in unison.

once they get to a specific door, mike peeks his head out to check if the coast was clear.

"all clear," mike said then walked out.

max, lucas, sage, and will followed behind the older wheeler twin into the theater.

DAY OF THE DEAD

mike, sage, and will went to their seats while max and lucas went to theirs. they all sat down and will began to get the snacks out.

"see, lucas? we made it." mike whispered to the sinclair teen. "we missed the previews," lucas told him. "still made it. fart face." max told lucas.

"shh!"

will handed sage her drink and candies, handed lucas his drink and candies, then got his own drink and candies. the younger wheeler twin opened her candy, and popped one in her mouth.

the movie began to start making sage grow excited.

"skittles?" lucas offered max. "thanks," she said and took some skittles.

a woman on the screen was leaning against the wall until she stood up, walking towards the calendar. the last thing the screen showed was the woman staring into the camera, before the audio slows and stops.

the crowd clamors and sage groans, eating more of her candy.

"seriously? i came here to watch a movie not sit in a dark ass theater." sage mumbled to herself then took a sip of her drink.

the five teens sat in the movie theater, waiting for the movie to come back on. and it did.

"finally!"

the crowd cheers as the movie soundtrack resumes. sage smiles at the screen before feeling will move is hand away from hers. the wheeler girl looks over at the byers teen and furrows her eyebrows.

"hey," mike says, noticing how will was.

will snaps out of his trance and gasps, looking over at mike.

"you okay?" sage and mike ask in unison. "yeah," will replies. "are you sure?" mike asks. will nods at him. "of course,"

mike nods, "okay."

sage frowns then looks back at the screen, seeing the woman reach her hand out to the calendar on the wall. it was until hands appeared from the wall cashing sage to jump, and scream a little.

   "THIS IS GOLD LEADER, RETURNING to base. do you copy? over." dustin says into his walkie as his mom drives. "this is gold leader, returning to base. do you copy? over."

no answer.

"i repeat: this is gold leader, returning to base. do you copy? over. i repeat: this is goddamn gold leader —"

"dusty!"

"what?"

"relax! for goodness' sake."

"i'm in range. they should be answering." dustin told his mom. "you've been away a whole month, honeybun. maybe they just . . . forgot." dustin's mom told her son.

dustin sighed and looked out his window. it didn't take long for the henderson teen to get home. once the teen got home, dustin got his stuff and walked inside his house — heading straight to his room. the henderson teen put his stuff down on his bed and sighed.

"at least someone's happy i'm home," dustin said, smiling softly at his pet turtle.

suddenly, a distorted robotic whirring was heard in dustin's closet. it came out of the wardrobe along with some other toys. cymbal's were crashing together from a stuffed monkey. dustin stood up from his bed, looking down at the his toys with total confusion. the henderson teen then felt small disks hit him in the chest. dustin then had noticed the toys were heading for his door, and out of the room. dustin grabbed his spray he used on his hair for the snowball last year, took off the cap, and aimed it outside.

dustin walked out of his room, staring at the live toys. "it's just a dream."

"you're dreaming,"

the henderson teen slowly kept following the toys with the spray clutched tightly in his hand. hidden behind a wall, was max, lucas, will, sage, eleven, and mike. sage and eleven had their eyes closed as they were the ones controlling the toys. the older wheeler twin turned his head to his sister and eleven, whispering:

"now!"

the two girls opened their eyes and wiped the blood off their noses. the toys power down and dustin grabs one of the toys in his hand, examining it. his friends slowly come out from behind the wall with a banner as dustin grabs another toy — also examining it.

max looks at her friends and counted down with her fingers, lucas holding the banner.

welcome home
dustin !

on the count of three blew on their noisemakers causing dustin to scream. dustin whips around and sprays lucas' eyes with the spray causing the sinclair teen to scream in pain.

sage reaches over and pulls max next to her so the red-head doesn't get any spray in her eyes.

"goddamn it, lucas!" dustin shouts as he stops spraying the hairspray. "my eyes! my eyes!" lucas whines, fanning his face with his hand.

"jesus, come here," max mumbled with an eye roll, grabbing lucas' arm and dragging him to the sink. "that was funny," sage said with a small laugh as dustin put the hairspray down.

"stop, sage," lucas murmured before feeling his face get put down in water. "AH, MY EYES,"

the wheeler girl snorted before following her brother, el, will, and dustin to the henderson teens bedroom.

"ow, ow, ow," lucas mumbled as he wiped his eyes, moving his head away from the sink, groaning a little.

"better?" max asks him. "still stings," lucas said then looked at the mayfield teen. "i's that a new zit?" lucas asked his girlfriend.

max gave him a look, "what is wrong with you?" the red-head grabbed the sinclair teens head and dunked his face water. "i was just asking!" lucas tried saying before screaming.

"i call it . . . the forever clock." dustin introduced as he spun the design that looked like a windmill. "all right? powered by wind. very useful in the apocalypse." dustin added in then handed it over to will, who took it gently.

"then, i give you . . ." the henderson teen said, grabbing another design.

will looked at sage with a smile as he spun the forever clock design. the wheeler girl smiles at the byers teen.

"the slammer."

dustin turns on the device, allowing it to vibrate in his hand as he moved it closer to mike and eleven. eleven moves back a little as it comes near her, her face dug onto mike's arm.

dustin chuckles, "pretty neat, huh?"

"but this . . . this is my masterpiece."

dustin grabs his duffle bag then puts it down on the floor, grunting a little at how heavy it was. the four teen sit on the floor to get a closer look at the design their friend had made.

"i would like you to meet . . ." dustin began as he zipped open the duffle bag. "cerebro."

"what exactly are we looking at here?" mike asked his friend. "an unassembled one-of-a-kind battery-powered radio tower." dustin told him with a proud smile on his face.

"so, it's a . . . a ham radio," will said. "the cadillac of ham radios." dustin smiled. "what's the purpose of it?" sage then questioned. "this baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast distances. i'm talking north pole to south." dustin said explained to the younger wheeler teen.

"i can talk to my girlfriend whenever and wherever i choose," dustin finished off.

the four teens look at each other with surprised looks.

"girlfriend?" they all asked at the same time.

dustin nodded at them with a smile.

"wait, so her name is suzie?" mike asked as him, el, sage, and will follow dustin out of his room so that way they can speak to his girlfriend. "suzie with a "z". she's from utah." dustin informed.

"girls go to science camp?" will asked. "i would if i wasn't so lazy," sage said with a shrug. "suzie does. she's a genius." dustin answered will.

"is she cute?" sage questioned. "think phoebe cates, only hotter," sage gasped at his response.

"lucky bitch," the younger wheeler girl whispered to herself making will laugh a little.

"what's going on?" max asked as she saw her friends walking to the door. "going to talk to dustin's girlfriend," will answered before following his friends out the front door.

"girlfriend?" lucas and max asked at the same time. the couple look at each other for a second before following their friends.

   "AREN'T WE HIGH ENOUGH?" LUCAS asked dustin as the seven teens hike up a hill.

"cerebro works best at a hundred meters." dustin stated as he kept walking.

"you know, i'm pretty sure people in utah have telephones." max mentioned. "yeah, but suzie's mormon." dustin told the red-head.

"oh shit. she doesn't have electricity?" lucas asked. "oh, that's the amish," max told her boyfriend. "what are mormons?" will asked.

"super religious white people. they have a electricity and cars and stuff, but . . . since i'm not mormon, her parents would never approve." dustin explained. "it's all a bit . . . shakespearean." dustin added in.

"two star-crossed forbidden lovers? dustin, y'all aren't romeo and juliet." sage asked with a scoff and eye roll. "shakespearean?" max asked.

"yeah. like — never mind."

"right," max said, glancing at sage for a second.

"star-crossed lovers," dustin added in just in case max didn't understand. "she got it, dustin," sage told the henderson teen.

"hey, guys!" mike called out to his sister and friends. the five teens turned around. "this is fun and all, but, uh . . ."

"i have to go home," eleven said as mike pointed to his watch. "we're almost there," dustin told the couple. "sorry, man," mike said to dustin.

"let me guess. curfew?" sage asked, getting annoyed. "yeah! curfew!" mike agreed. "come on, let's go," the older wheeler twin told el.

"good luck," eleven smiled at her friends before following her boyfriend, giggling.

"curfew at 4?" dustin asked in disbelief. "they're lying." lucas stated. "it's been like this all summer," will added. "it's romantic," max said.

"it's gross," will said. "it's bullshit," dustin added in. "i've never been more disappointed and disgusted my whole life," sage said. "i just got home," the henderson teen said.

"well, their loss, right? onwards and upwards! suzie awaits!"

max and lucas sigh before following dustin. sage stares at her brother and eleven before turning around, following her friends. will turned around before feeling an odd sense in the back of his neck. the byers teen raises his hand and touches the back of his neck, turning around.

"will, come on!" sage calls out to her friend.

will turns back around and jogs up the hill to catch up with his friends. sage smiles at him then continues to follow dustin, max, and lucas.

soon enough, the five teens made it up at the top of the hill.

"made it," dustin said with a smile. "yeah, only took five hours," max panted. "why couldn't we just play dnd?" will complaint.

the teens dropped the stuff on the grass, sage putting the ice chest she brought.

"i'm so thirsty." lucas whispered before chugging down the water he had. max stares at him, waiting to get a sip. "did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?" she asked.

lucas spit some water back into the bottle, handing it to max. the red-head shakes her head and walks away to the ice chest. sage opens it then hands the mayfield teen a water bottle.

"thanks," max said then chugged down some water. "you're welcome," sage said with a smile.

the teens then got to work on setting up the ham radio. it took them at least two hours to get the radio done.

"pretty impressive, right?" dustin asked after they stood up the radio. "yeah," sage mumbled, drinking some more water.

"now, you ready to meet my love?"

"okay, sure,"

"yeah."

dustin sat down on the grass and the other teens stayed standing up. dustin switches the radio on and speaks into his walkie.

"suzie, this is dustin. do you copy? over."

no answer.

"one sec. she's probably . . . she's still there. suzie . . . this is dustin. do you copy? over."

the four teens standing up sigh. "i'm sure she's there. it's just —"

"yeah," lucas says, trying to believe his friend.

"you know, maybe she's, like, busy or —"

"yeah!"

"it's around dinnertime."

"mm."

"yeah."

"here," dustin finishes. "is it on the right channel?" sage then asks. "yes, it's on the right channel! suzie, do you copy? this is dustin. over."

no answer again.

"suzie, do you copy? this is dustin. over."

again. no answer.

   ". . . DO YOU COPY? THIS IS DUSTIN. over." dustin repeated into the walkie.

no answer once again.

"suzie! this is dustin. do you copy? over."

god, this is ridiculous, sage thought to herself.

"suzie, this is your dustin. do you copy? over."

no answer.

"suzie —"

"dustin, come on! she's not there!" max cut him off. "she's there, all right? she'll pick up." dustin told the red-head. "maybe cerebro doesn't work." will suggested. "or maybe suzie doesn't exist." lucas said making sage nod in agreement.

"she exists!"

"she's a genius and she's hotter than phoebe cates? no girl is that perfect." lucas stated making max sit up. "is that so?" max asked.

sage looked over at the couple.

"i mean . . . you're perfect. i mean, like, per — perfect in your own way. in your special — your own special way." lucas stammers.

max chuckles. "relax, i was teasing. i'm obviously perfect and dustin's obviously lying."

the red-head stands up and reaches her hand out to her boyfriends. "come on, don juan." lucas takes her hand and stands up, walking away with her. "where are you going?" dustin asks.

"home." max stated and continued walking.

sage stares at the walking couple, frowning. she still couldn't believe she wasn't over max.

"well . . . guess it's just you and me, guys." dustin said, looking at the wheeler twin and byers teen.

the two teens stand up, sage grabbing her ice chest. "um . . . it's late." will said, trying to be nice. "sorry, dustin," sage apologized.

"maybe tomorrow we can play dnd. or something fun. like we used to?" will suggested making sage nod in reply. "yeah, sure," dustin whispered, obviously feeling disappointed.

"welcome home." will said with a soft smile before walking off. "we're sorry, dusty." sage said with a frown before following will.

"wait up for me, byers!" sage said with a small laugh, running after will. "catch me if you can, wheeler!" will laughed.

"oh, i will!"

AUTHORS NOTE //

suzie, do you copy? will only have one chapter so be ready for the mall rats next !!

bee <3