"Lucas? Ross, you copy? I've got four quarters. What's your haul?"

Ross clenched her teeth, and snatched up her walkie talkie, pressing a button on the side. "Two on my side. Dad went though my jar again," she said, glaring at the now empty jar labeled Change on her dresser. She thumbed the two quarters in her pocket, and stood up.

"Take your puny hauls and multiply it by five," Lucas's voice came through the walkie talkie. Ross glanced at it in surprise before continuing towards her closet.

"How?" Dustin asked, and Ross silently wondered the same thing. For being eighth graders, money was scarce, especially quarters. Had Lucas done a chore for someone? Or did he just have that much change lying around?

"While you two were scrounging around like homeless bums, I mowed Old Man Humphrey's lawn," Lucas said, pride lacing through his voice. Ross huffed. Of course he mowed someone's lawn. If she didn't live in the middle of the woods, maybe she could be raking in that kinda money, too.

"Old Man Humphrey's got that kinda cash?" Dustin speculated. Ross pressed the button, deciding to add her input.

"Hey, we aren't complaining. Lucas next time you should mow that lawn for me."

"Ha, ha, Ross," Lucas bit back. "Just call Mike already."

"You call Mike," Dustin replied.

"I have to go take a shower from doing real work, like a man," Lucas argued, taunting Dustin. Ross stifled a laugh. It was an ongoing occurence, the boys trying to make points and argue how much of a man they were. She found it comical, because their evidence were measly things, like mowing a lawn, for instance. "Over and out."

A groan came in from the static, and Dustin said," Ross, call Mike."

She made a sour face. Why did he insist on not doing it? She had no problem with calling Mike, but Dustin demanding her to do it made her not want to do it even more. "Why can't you do it?"

"Just call him, please," he said.

"No way. Anyway, I've still gotta change. It's getting colder and I need to find a long sleeve shirt," she argued. "You call him, please and thank you. Over and out."

Ross clicked off her walkie talkie and set it on her dresser. Then, she swung open her closet door, eyes scanning the shirts on their hangers. She was looking for her favorite long sleeved shirt, a plain teal, thin, turtlenecked shirt. Pushing over some shirts she found it, and pulled it off.

She'd gotten the shirt from Joyce a few years back for christmas, when Will's mom had bought all his friends something. Ross shrugged off the t-shirt she was wearing and snatched up the teal one, slipping her arms in.

From somewhere in the house, Ross heard a knocking at the door, and her dad shouted, telling her that one of her friends were here. Quickly she pulled the shirt over her head and onto her body, then grabbed her jacket from the bed and shrugged it on. "Coming!"

She picked up her shoes from the floor and ran from her room. Her dad stood at the open door, where Will stood in the frame.

"Hi, Ross," Will said, smiling lightly. She smiled back, grabbing her snow hat from the table, and shoving it on her head.

"Put on your shoes, Ross," her dad said. She glanced up at him as she passed, nodding slightly.

"I will when I get in the car. Bye dad," she said, grabbing Will's elbow and pulling him down the steps of the porch with her. It was cold, and Joyce waited in the car on the drive.

"Tell your mother I said hi, Will!" Ross's dad called after them. They reached the car, and Will got into the passengers seat while Ross climbed in the back.

"Hi, Ross," Joyce greeted happily, smiling back on the redhead.

"Hello, Ms.B," Ross said, smiling at her as she pulled on her shoes. They were black converse, and she placed her foot on the seat next to her so she could lace them up. "How're you?"

"I'm great." Joyce replied.

"Ross's dad says hi, mom," Will said from the front seat. Joyce glanced to the man who was still standing in the doorway, and waved slightly.

Ross sighed quietly," I'm sorry about him, Ms. B."

"No, you're completely fine," Joyce assured her, pulling out of the drive. The woman faced forward, glancing at Ross through the rear view mirror.

It was no secret that Ross's dad harbored a crush on Joyce. He'd had it sweet on her since high school, which caused complication within Ross's parent's marriage.

"You ready to get beat on Pac Man?" Will asked playfully from the front, breaking the silence. Ross snorted, rolling her eyes.

"In your dreams."

Ross smiled as they pulled up to the Palace Arcade, spotting Dustin, Mike, and Lucas placing their bike in the racks. Joyce honked twice, grabbing their attention.

"Hey!" Lucas called, waving.

"Okay, so I'll pick you both up in two hours," Joyce told them, placing a hand on Will's shoulder. "That's 9 o'clock on the dot, okay?"

"Will do, Ms. B," Ross chimed.

"Okay," Will nodded, eager to exit the car.

"And if anything happens, and you need to come home, just ask them to use their phone and call home, okay?" Joyce continued. "And don't-"

"Don't walk or bike home, I know," Will reassured her. "I know."

"Okay, but sweetie-"

"Mom, I have to go," Will stressed, opening the car door.

"-have fun," Joyce finished, smiling at her son. Will got out, pushing up the front seat so Ross could climb out behind him.

They both raced for the doors, excited for the next two hours.

Inside, the five of them crowded around Dragon's Lair, listening as the princess told Dustin how to slay the dragon.

"Oh, Jesus," Dustin said. "I'm in uncharted territory here, guys."

"Down! Down, down," the rest of them chorused, watching the screen.

"I'm going! I'm going!" Dustin exclaimed, pushing down on the joystick.

Their prodding became muddled together as they all stressed for him to do something different, desperate for him to win.

"I'm going, I'm going, I'm going!"

"The sword!" Ross pressed, bumping agaisnt Mike as she tried to look over Dustin's shoulder. "Get it!"

"Okay!" Dustin exclaimed at all of them. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

The boys cried out as the knight was engulfed in the dragon's flames, and Dustin gasped. He put a fist to his mouth and said," No. No. No!" His knight crumbled into a pile of bones.

"No, no, no!" Dustin exclaimed. He hit the machine," I hate this overpriced bullshit! Son of bitch! Peice a shit."

Lucas leaned against the game, smirking. "You're not nimble enough. But you'll get there one day." He pointed, leaning forward. "But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

"You know what, whatever," Dustin said, shaking his head. "I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug." Ross laughed, moving some hair out of her face.

Behind them, someone asked," You sure about that?" They all turned to see Keith, a teenager just about Nancy and Jonathan's age. He stood with his usual bag of cheese puffs, smiling at the group.

"Sure about what?" Dustin asked, eyes wide.

Keith said nothing, and instead bit down on another puff. Dustin pushed past Will and Mike and rushed to the next isle of games, telling people to move from his way.

"No! No!" he shouted, grabbing at the machine and staring with dread at the screen. Unlike usual, it was not Dustin's name that held the top rank.

"Mad Max?" Ross muttered.

"751,300 points!" Will exclaimed.

"That's impossible," Mike said, peering at the screen.

Dustin stood straight and turned to Keith, glaring hard. "Who is Mad Max?"

Ross turned, too, just to see that the boy was directly behind her. She stepped back, trying to keep a look of disgust from her face. She bumped into Mike, who glanced at her and pulled her from in front of him to beside him.

"Better than you," Keith remarked smartly, orange crumbs falling from his mouth. Ross furrowed her eyebrows.

"Okay, smartass," she said, rolling her eyes. Dustin flipped him off, moving aside as Will pointed at Keith.

"It is you?" Will asked.

Keith squinted his eyes. "You know I despise Dig Dug." Ross inwardly thought that he wasn't very good at any games anyway, but kept it to herself. He shoved another cheese puff into his mouth.

"Then who is it?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith," Dustin spat.

"You want information, then I need something in return," Keith said, spitting a bit as he spoke. Ross groaned, immediately knowing where this was headed. He turned to Mike, pulling the corners of his mouth up in a creepy, tight smile. The boys turned to Mike as well, and he shook his head.

"No, no, no," Mike said, looking back at Keith. "No way. You're not getting a date with her."

"Mike, come on," Lucas pleaded. "Just get him the date."

Mike swivled to look at Lucas, a look of disbelief on his face. "I'm not prostituting my sister!"

Ross frowned, speaking up," One, not sure that's exactly what prostitution is." She looked at Keith, gesturing to him as whole, finally allowing her disgust to show. "And two, Nancy's got a boyfriend anyway. I mean I really doubt she'd go out with you before, but now?" Keith glared at her.

"It's for a good cause!" Lucas exclaimed, waving his hands.

"No, don't get him the date," Dustin spoke up, stepping forward. "Know why? He's gonna spread his nasty ass rash to your whole family!"

"Acne isn't a rash, and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid," Keith hissed defensively.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid?" Dustin asked. "She wouldn't go on a date with you anyway. You make like what, 2.50 an hour?"

"Nice perm," Keith taunted, shoving a cheese puff into his mouth.

"Gonna make fun of my hair?" Dustin asked. Ross rolled her eyes at the boys. As amusing as it was, she knew it would now just turn into another arguement over pointless things.

"Hey." Ross turned around when she heard Will's voice. She blinked, furrowing her eyebrows to see him staring at the door. "Hey, do you guys see the..." He turned around and trailed off, staring ahead at them. Ross opened her mouth to asked what he was talking about until he stepped forward and peered down the next isle. What was he doing?

He began to look around the arcade, almost like he was looking for something that wasn't there. Suddenly, he spun around to the door, and Ross took a step forward. Was he okay?

She turned back towards the other boys, looking to see any of them were paying attention. They were still arguing with Keith. When she turned back around, Will was outside.

Ross walked up to the door and grabbed the handle, not yet going out. She watched at Will walked forward a bit, staring out towards the street, and then to the sky.

Was he having an episode? She knew it happened. There was no way Will was going to leave the Upside Down unscathed, after being in it so long. Ross had never actually known how serious these episode were until she'd been there for one. It had scared her, when he woke in the middle of the night, screaming and kicking at a monster that wasn't there. One thing she never understood, though, was why she didn't have them. Granted, she hadn't been in the Upside Down as long as he had, and maybe that was why.

"What's he doing?"

Ross jumped, looking to the side as Mike appeared next to her. He glanced down at her, and smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

She shook her head, looking back out towards Will. "Not sure, he just turned around and walked outside. Looked like he was looking for something."

Mike furrowed his eyebrows and pulled the door open, stepping outside. Ross put her foot in front of the door so it wouldn't close, and stood in the doorway.

"Will!" Mike said, take a few steps towards their friend. "You okay?"

Will gasped, turning around to look at Mike. He glanced at Ross and then turned to look at the skyline. She followed his gaze, frowning when she saw nothing unusual.

"Yeah," Will said. "I just...I needed some air." He was lying. She narrowed her eyes. Why was he lying?

"Come on," Mike said. "You're up on Dig Dug." He wrapped an arm around Will's shoulder and turned him around. Ross stepped back inside and held the door open for them. "Let's take that top score back, huh?"

"Meet the human brain."

Ross watched as Mr. Clarke sat a model of a brain down on his desk.

"I know. I know, it doesn't look like much," their teacher said. "A little gross even, right?"

Ross inwardly nodded, looking back down onto her desk where she'd been doodling.

Unlike the boys, she did not have a distinct interest in science. She did not win awards in science fairs, nor did she excell in math, or in english, or in any particular subject at all, besides history. History, Art, and P.E. were her best classes. History was interesting, easy to remember. Out of all her friends, she was best in the subject. In Art, much like Will, she was talented, and genuinely enjoyed doing it. And then P.E. was an easy way to keep active, helping with her ADHD. The only down fall of the class, was her asthma. She was made to sit out for any days they ran, and in games than involved lot of running, she had to stop if she got out of breath.

Otherwise, she was not the best in her classes, falling behind her friends. Sometimes it made her feel left out. While they were all celebrating over their science awards, she just sat and watched. Luckily, she was apart of the AV Club. She couldn't think of any reason the boys wouldn't let her in, but knowing that even though she wasn't as smart as the rest of them, they still accepted her whenever it came to school activities.

As she continued to drown out Mr. Clarke, bless his poor soul, she drew random pictures all over her desktop. It wasn't that she found Mr. Clarke boring, it was just the subject. If he'd been their history teacher, she would be ecstatic. She genuinely like the guy. He was nice, and she always thought it funny when he talked about their curiosity "doors and voyages."

Suddenly, the door opened, and the principal walked in with a girl around Ross's own age.

She had red hair and blue eyes, was as tan as a redhead could probably get, and looked bored out of her mind. It was amusing. Hadn't even been in class for two seconds and she looked ready to die of boredom.

"Ah, this must be our new student," Mr. Clarke said.

"Indeed it is," their principal said, smiling. "All yours." He looked out at the students, and Ross threw her arms on her desk, attempting to block out the doodles. She'd gotten in trouble with multiple teachers for drawing on the desks. Mr. Clarke never particularly seemed to mine, yet she doubted his opinion would keep her from getting in trouble with the principal.

"Miss King," he said, giving her a small smile. "You can meet me in my office after class to discuss you're drawing habits."

Ross slumped, frowning as he turned around and left. Mike glanced back at her, and she could see the ghost of a smile on his face. Of course he found that amusing. Ross wouldn't doubt it if she spent her time during recess being teased by the boys.

"All right. Hold up." Clarke held a hand out as the new girl tried to skirt past his desk. "You don't get away that easy. Come on up, don't be shy."

Ross caught the girl roll her eyes as she retraced her steps to stand next to the desk.

"Dustin, drum roll." Two seats in front of her, Dustin closed his book and began to beat his hands agaisnt the desk.

"Class, please welcome, all the way from sunny California, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage," Ross smiled as Clarke rambled. "Maxine!" He turned and held his hands out towards her like he was presenting his newest science discovery.

Maxine shook her head. "It's Max."

"Sorry?" Mr. Clarke asked.

"Nobody calls me Maxine. It's Max," she corrected sharply.

"Ah, well, all aboard, Max," Clarke said.

Max headed towards the only open seat in the room, and all the boys turned in their seats, watching her as she went.

Ross blinked once she found Mike and Lucas looking at her expectantly. Was she missing something?

"MadMax," Lucas whispered, barely loud enough to hear.

"Oh!" Ross exclaimed loudly. When a few heads turned to her, and Mike and Lucas glared at her pointedly, she sunk in her seat a bit.

Was this new girl the same one who'd beaten Dustin's highscore? It did make sense. Just yesterday they'd discovered MadMax had broken the record, what were the odds a new girl named Max came in the next day?

Ross bounced on her feet as she made her way to the principal's office. Last time she'd been inside it, it was when Will had gone missing. The police had been asking them questions, and had also forbidden them from going out to look for Will. They didn't listen. And when they went out into the woods that night...

"Roslyn."

Ross looked up to see Mr. Coleman standing in front of the door to his office. He nodded, smiling.

"Hello, Mr. Coleman."

He opened his door, and she followed him in, closing the door behind her. Sitting herself in one of his chairs, she dropped her bag on the floor.

"Look, Mr. Coleman," she started. "I'm really sorry about the desks. I can't help it, I-"

"It's okay, Miss King. However, it does need to stop. Our custodians don't appreciate having to clean sketches of moutain ranges off the desks," Mr. Coleman said. "In fact, they've said they'd like you to invest those doodles into your art work, during art class."

"I know, I know," she said. "I'll come in after school to clean the desks, I swear."

"As appealing of an offer that is," he said," I have a different job for you."

Oh god, she thought. He's gonna make me clean something else. Like the bathroom!

"As you may know, we've gotten two new students today," he said. She blinked.

"Two? I know about Max, but-"

"The other one is Richard Tozier," Mr. Coleman said. "He's your age. Moved from Derry, Maine. I think you'll find him...quite interesting."

"What do you mean?" Ross asked.

"You'll be showing him around. This morning one of staff was allowed to show Maxine around, but everyone else is too busy at the moment to show Mr. Tozier."

"And you want me to do it?" Ross asked.

Mr. Coleman smiled.

"I'm sorry, sir, but-"

Behind her, the door opened.

"Ah, Mr. Tozier," Mr. Coleman said. "Glad your finally here."

Ross turned in her seat to look at this new kid. And when she did-

"Please, take a seat next to Miss King."

The boy eyed her before sitting down in the chair to her right. She stared, before forcing herself to look at Mr. Coleman.

"Mr. Tozier," Coleman said," this is Roslyn King, she's in your class. Roslyn, this is Richard Tozier."

"It's Richie," the boy corrected.

"Well, Richie, Miss King will be showing you around for the day," Mr. Coleman said. "And to start you off, she can take you to recess."

He smiled at the both of them. "There is your schedule, it will be the exact same as everyone else's. Have a good day."

Ross leaned forward, panic building in her chest. "Mr. Coleman, I-"

"Miss King, if you do not show Mr. Tozier around not only will you have to clean the desks, but there will be other consequences."

She sighed. "Okay."

Snatching up her bag, she headed straight for the door, expecting the new boy to follow.

The new boy. He was a stranger, but a familiar one, at that.

As Ross walked down the hallway, the boy caught up to her, walking next to her. She kept glancing at him, unsure that if it was real.

Finally, the kid stopped, staring at her, unamused. "Okay, what's the fucking deal? Why do you keep giving me that look? I've known you for five minutes and your acting like I asked you to suck my wang."

Ross blinked, his words snapping her out of whatever panic she'd been in. He was so...vulgar.

"I'm sorry, just..."

"Just what?"

"You look exactly like my friend."

And he did. Mike Wheeler stood before her, just with curlier hair, and coke bottle glasses that made his eyes look unnecessarily large. He wore jeans, a t-shirt that had Derry written across it, and a Hawaiian shirt over top.

"Really?"

"Yes," she said. "Spitting image. Just you're hair is a bit curlier, and you have glasses. May even be a bit taller."

Richie blinked at her a few times, taking her in.

"I guess you kinda look like one of my friends," he muttered awkwardly. Ross couldn't tell if he was serious, or telling her this to play off the situation.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Her name was Beverly. Her hair was red, too, just not as big. Her eyes were blue. And you're smaller than her. She was a total babe."

Ross felt the heat rush to her face. He'd just told her she looked like his friend, who was a total babe? Wow.

They stood for a few more seconds of silence before he spoke again.

"So...recess, Roslyn?"

She began walking again, and glanced at him as she did. "Call me Ross."

Disclaimer: I don't own the plot, idea, or characters of Stranger Things or It

A/N: So, if you haven't noticed, this is a crossover between Stranger Things and It (the movie, 2017). This is my first story, and I kinda really pulled it out of nowhere, just decided to write it. Honestly, I wasn't even considering putting it on here or anything until I finished it, and then didn't know what to do with it. Anyway, yes, I did just start this in season 2, because I felt like it. We're going to say the events of It happened during season 1 of ST, and that they were in 7th grade, as well. So that places all of them in the 8th grade during this story. Sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. I hope you enjoy, if not, my deepest apologies.

- blockthewriter