brontide ; stranger things

ONE

Raison d'etre (n.)

one's reason for existing

-Collie's Word of the Day #112

•••

  COLLIE Raynes walked down the street toward school, tiptoeing on the curb as she went. She held her arms out to balance herself, humming a tune as the chilly October air nipped at her. The leaves around her feet swirled in the soft breeze, which also sent a shiver up her spine as she hopped from one curb to another.

  An engine made her turn to see a car coming down the street toward her, though she grinned as it came to a stop at her side. Her boyfriend stuck his head out and smiled at her.

  "Hello, beautiful," Jonathan greeted. "Can I offer you a ride?" Collie hurried around to the passenger side and got in, buckling herself up.

  "Why, thank you," she said as he leaned over and kissed her deeply. His lips were warm and hers cold, but nonetheless she grinned against him. When they at last pulled apart, they both smiled at each other.

  "I missed you," Jonathan said as they continued their drive to school. Collie giggled and faced him as she replied,

  "I saw you yesterday afternoon." He nodded and grinned, shrugging his shoulders.

  "Exactly! That's forever." Collie laughed and grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers together.

  "Well, I missed you too," she said. When they arrived at school, Jonathan parked his car and turned to Collie as she pouted, not wanting to go and have to be separated from her boyfriend for their classes.

  "Do we have to?" She asked, peering out at the other teenagers making their way into the building. Jonathan squeezed her hand.

  "Ollie, you do this almost every day," he said with a smile. "C'mon, let's go." He began to open the door, but she grabbed his wrist and held him back.

  "Wait!" She leaned forward hopefully. "One more before we go in?" Jonathan laughed, then pressed his mouth to hers for one more passionate kiss.

•••

  That afternoon, Collie and Jonathan emerged from one of their classes with their hands linked, Nancy Wheeler right behind with a smirk on her face as she watched them. Another student stood at the door and gave out flyers, though skipped the pair before Nancy, watching with a judgmental stare as they passed.

  Nancy was handed a flyer and she questioned,

  "Can I get one more?" The girl gave her an extra one and Nancy hurried to Jonathan and Collie, holding it out to them with a smile.

  "You guys have to come to this," she said as Jonathan took the bright orange paper.

  "Come and get sheet-faced," he said, reading from the flyer as Collie looked it over with a slightly disgusted expression. "Yeah, we'd rather not." Jonathan shook his head. Nancy scoffed and replied,

  "I can't let you two just stay at home on Halloween! It's unacceptable!"

  "Well, you can chill," Collie retorted. "We're not just going to sit at home on Halloween. We're taking Will trick-or-treating." Nancy looked over at them with wide eyes.

  "All night?" she questioned in disbelief.

  "Well, yeah!" Collie nodded as Jonathan smiled at her. "We're gonna show him how trick-or-treating is really done."

  "Guys, just come!" Nancy told them as they reached her locker. "Steve and I haven't gotten to hang out with you guys in a few weeks and-" She was cut off as Steve suddenly appeared and grabbed her from behind to sweep her off her feet, attacking her with kisses.

  Smiling, Collie led Jonathan further down the hall and around the corner. They stopped at her locker and Collie asked as she spun the combination,

  "Did you want to go?" Jonathan looked up from examining the flyer and held her bag for her as she grabbed her books.

  "What? No." He shook his head. "Did you?"

  "God, no." Collie slammed her locker shut and took her bag from him. "Sounds boring, anyway." Jonathan nodded and smiled, taking her hand and pressing his lips to the back of it.

  "Love you," he whispered softly. She grinned and kissed the side of his head.

  "I love you too, raison d'etre," she replied. The two made their way down the hall, both smiling contentedly.

  However, in their next class, their happiness was quickly cut short. Their teacher's lecture was interrupted as the classroom door opened and the principal stepped in, looking around.

  "Colleen Raynes," he said once he spotted her. Her heart sped and she gripped her pencil as the other students stared at her. "You're being checked out for the day." Collie was tense as she packed her things up, glancing to Jonathan helplessly. They locked gazes for a moment before she turned away, disappearing through the door.

  After checking out at the office, the principal led Collie outside, where Joyce leaned against her car and smoked a cigarette. She only smoked when she was nervous. Looking up, Joyce smiled and waved to Collie as she walked down the steps.

  "Hi, sweetheart," Joyce greeted as she reached her.

  "Hi, Joyce." Collie smiled. Joyce had always been like a mother to her, and now she was more of one to her than ever. Joyce hesitated a moment, then asked,

  "Are you ready?" Collie nodded, looking to her feet.

  "Yeah," she muttered. They got in the car and Collie twisted around in her seat to face Will in the back. "Hey, buddy," she said and forced a smile.

  "Hey, Collie," he answered half-heartedly. Collie's face fell as he stared out the window, his expression distant and miserable. Turning to sit straight, she stared at her lap, her mood matching Will's as Joyce started the car.

  The ride was spent in silence as Joyce constantly looked to Collie and Will, trying to think of something to say. Finally, she glanced to her son in the review mirror and asked gently,

  "You feeling any better?" Will didn't reply, simply stared at the trees as they whizzed by. "Will?"

  "Huh?" Will asked, switching his gaze to her as though coming out of a trance. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Collie glanced back at him as Joyce said,

  "Hey, what did we talk about? You've got to stop with the sorries."

  "Sorry," Will replied, then caught himself and covered, "I mean, yeah, I know." Joyce looked to Collie, who stared straight ahead stiffly.

  "Hey, you two," she reassured, "there's nothing to be nervous about. Will, just tell them what you saw, and Collie, just let them do their stuff and answer their questions. Hopper and I will be there the whole time, so there's nothing to be afraid of. Okay?"

  Both Collie and Will shifted to look back out the window, obviously not believing her.

  "Okay," said Collie for the both of them. A few minutes later, they arrived in a large parking lot and Joyce pulled the car into a space next to a police truck, where Hopper stood and smoked. As the three got out of the car, he tossed the cigarette away and turned to them.

  "Hey, kid," Hopper said and pulled Collie in for a hug. She returned it, though was still tense and nervous. "Hey buddy." Hopper gave Will a nod. As they walked forward, Collie swallowed and looked up at the building before them, one that loomed over her ominously and seemed to swallow her in its shadow: Hawkins Lab.