far too young to die ✰ m.w.

CHAPTER ONE

I'm so ready for spring break. Mostly because I get to see you. I'm so excited to finally see you again and show you around. You'll love it here, but I won't explain why now. I want it to be a surprise. We'll have the best spring break ever, I know it. You'll probably be getting this not long before you leave, so, see you soon!

Love, Em. P.S. Don't forget, El goes by Jane in public!"

Currently, it was the morning of the last day of school before spring break, and all of the Byers children were in their respective bedrooms, with the three youngest all working on the finishing touches for their projects. The basic instructions of the project were to create a visual aid centered around someone you considered a hero, and Emily had chosen Diana, Princess of Wales. Briefly interrupting her concentration was the sound of her doorknob rattling.

"Jesus, why do you always have your door locked?" complained the voice of Emily's only friend in Lenora, Amber Wilson.

Ironically enough, Amber had also moved to Lenora Hills from Hawkins. In fact, she and Emily had been best friends until Amber had moved during the summer after 5th grade. What's more, the two now lived in the same neighborhood, only a 5-minute walk away from each other. Although, the two had no idea until Emily's first day at Lenora Hills High School, when Amber had recognized her in the hallway.

Standing up from her desk, Emily walked over to her door, unlocked and opened it, pulled Amber in by her sleeve, and quickly shut and locked the door again behind her. Immediately, Amber began to cough and wave her hand in front of her face due to the intense smell of marijuana hitting her as soon as she entered the room. She quickly spotted the culprit as the joint in between Emily's fingers.

"Christ, Emily, have you even had breakfast yet?" Amber questioned.

"There was no time for breakfast," Emily replied, motioning to the nearly finished poster board on her desk. "Thanks to Mrs. Gracey."

Amber rolled her eyes. "She assigned the project last week. It's not her fault you waited until last night to even start it."

Emily took another hit from her joint and then held it out to Amber. "Sounds like you need this."

With an unimpressed expression, Amber looked at the joint, then back up at Emily, before sighing, taking it, and taking a hit. "Byers, the ice you're on," she began, exhaling, "is thin and fast-melting."

"I'm aware."

Just then, the incessant sound of a familiar car horn came from right outside of the house, and both girls knew that Argyle had just arrived to pick them all up for school. Emily raced to stub out the joint in her ashtray and hide it in its usual spot under her bed, making a mental note to take care of it after school, sprayed perfume over herself, her room, and Amber in an attempt to cover up the smell, grabbed her backpack and her project, and rushed out of her room to join her siblings and Amber in climbing into Argyle's Surfer Boy Pizza van.

"All right," said Argyle as soon as Will shut the sliding door behind them. "Hold on to your butts, brochachos." This always served as useful advice, as Argyle peeled out of the driveway and continued to drive erratically all the way to school. Emily often wondered how he had managed to get his license.

As always, the group arrived to Lenora Hills High just in time, as the bell rang as soon as they entered the building.

Eleven, Emily, and Will walked through the halls together, with Eleven and Will on either side of Emily. They always walked in this order, and every time, it reminded Emily of when they first started school at Lenora, and everyone thought they were triplets because of how similar they look, since Eleven had been given an identical haircut to Joyce and Emily. That had also been back when Emily's hair had still been brown, but she had since dyed it black with the help of Amber.