Shutter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things I

XIV: Family

fam·i·ly

noun

a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household.

"I passed," Emilia was beaming; though there was that everlasting sadness deep in those blue eyes, it was currently masked by joy. The bell had rung and Jonathan had rushed to Emilia's locker, waiting for her. When she left her English class, she was smiling from ear to ear. She'd taken the test the day before, and gotten her marks back today. From the look on her face, Jonathan knew that she had passed before she said it, and still hearing the words brought them both joy. She'd crossed the small space between them, not caring of who was walking through the halls, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him in a tight hug.

"I knew it," he grinned, feeling her arms tighten around him, and carefully wrapping his own around her. They'd spend the duration of the week studying and getting Emilia ahead in her class; Mrs. Krasinski had allowed her to retake a test she had failed with the promise that she would do better. She'd done bonus assignments to bring her grades up as well, and with passing the test, she had brought her F to a C+.

"Thank you, so much, Jonathan," she broke from the hug, "I truly can't thank you enough."

"How about a celebratory dinner?" He asked out of the blue, at least it was to her.

"You mean..."

"Yes, my mother will be there. Will too."

Emilia hadn't met Joyce yet, given that she always left the Byers household before 6 PM. Since the incident where she had arrived home late, never telling Jonathan how she had gotten out of that one because she'd been embarrassed, she was always punctual. It was a Friday night, surely she could convince her father to let her stay out later. Though she wanted so badly to disobey all his rules and ignore him for the rest of her life, she worried about what he might do.

Emilia nibbled her lower lip. "Okay."

"Yeah?" His eyes widened in surprise, joy.

"Yeah," she nodded, confirming it for good. 

There was still one more class for the day; photography. It was almost more of a spare class these days. The project for showing their Christmas Spirit was given mid-October and wasn't due until December first. Most of the students didn't even show up at this point, and to Emilia's joy, that included Carol. She was able to breathe these days, and couldn't decide if it was because of Jonathan or because Carol seemed to disappear now that she could. Probably off with Tommy, Emilia suspected.

When class came to an end, Emilia and Jonathan walked side by side to each of their lockers. Discarding what they didn't need and grabbing that which they did, they left the school grounds. Even though Emilia had been at Jonathan's house every night for the last week, she had not yet met Joyce Byers. From what she had heard from Will and Jonathan, she was a kind woman who cared about them, something Emilia almost forgot the feel of. According to the people in town, the adults in particular, Joyce Byers was a bit off her rocker, and had been for some time. Emilia chose to ignore those, as she knew too well how much people liked to talk. She was going to see for herself what Joyce was like, and she had a distinct feeling that she was going to like her.

I hope she likes me.

"I'd like to make her dinner, if that's okay," Emilia blurted as they were pulling into the driveway. Joyce hadn't gotten off work yet, but would be off at six, and since Emilia had decided to overrule her father's curfew, she would finally get to meet her. She decided, however, that it would be a good idea to phone her dad and let him know she would be home at a reasonable hour, that she had passed her test, and that she would respect a later time he gave. Though she wanted to ignore her father's existence, it wouldn't end well for her.