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Will Byers was found dead in the quarry last night. It was on the news this morning. The second the girls woke up. Jen was already on edge from yesterday afternoon and now this.
Alex went and threw up in the sink.
Jen stared at the old TV with wide watery eyes. It felt like her throat was closing up. Like she'd eaten cotton balls for breakfast, and dinner the night before.
Will Byers is dead. A little boy is gone. A mother has lost her child. A brother has lost his friend.
Jen needed to get out of the trailer. She needed to go to school and distract herself. She needed to see Nancy, and see what had happened after she dropped her off yesterday.
Jen and Alex didn't speak a word to each other that morning. (For the better.)
The halls were loud, and Jen wasn't sure what she was expecting this morning—but it wasn't for things to be normal. No one here likes Jonathan Byers. They all thought he was weird. A freak. So why would they care about the death of his little brother? And if one's did show care, it wasn't genuine.
Jen had swallowed herself in a large knit sweater that day, it was beige and was soft against her soft pink shirt with lighter pink stripes. The sweater had been her mothers. Her jeans were too large in the waist and had a hole on the left knee. She wore her white high top Converses, though, they were a dirty white.
Her hair was thrown back in a mess of a braid, with her baby hairs against her forehead. She felt sick and cold.
Will Byers had barely done anything with his life. He was a kid.
Jen's eyes burned as she opened up her locker, pulling books from her crossbody bag. The material was rough against her palms, and it reminded her of Nancy's soft hands.
"I've been looking everywhere for you."
The blonde girl flinched harshly, nearly getting her fingers in her locker door. Her wide eyes landed on another set, Nancy Wheeler, who was staring at her with now wide eyes. "Are you okay, Jen?"
"I'm.. I'm okay. Sorry. You're looking for me?"
Nancy blew out a shaky breath. "Of course I have. My mom talked to Barb's parents last night. They're talking to police about her disappearance. There's a case opened up now. And Will—"
"Will's dead. I know."
The two girls just stared at each other for a moment. Nancy sniffled a little. "I.. I need to go talk to Steve about yesterday. I was hoping you would come, and, like, back me up or something?"
