ACE OF HEARTS ( mike wheeler! )

CHAPTER FOUR

"Don't worry," said Cassie, shoving her hands in her jean pockets. "Byers is probably just early to Bio or some shit."

"Yeah," the group mumbled in unison as they walked into the school.

───────────────

Will Byers didn't show up for the rest of the school day. Cassie mentally forced herself to think that Will was just at home—sick. She couldn't believe that she was thinking about someone this much. She never cared about anyone...why was this time so different?

At the end of the day, Cassie made her way over to the AV room. On her way, she spotted two cops, one of them Sheriff Jim Hopper and the other Officer Callahan. Cassie's eyes widened as she raced the rest of the way to the AV room.

When she appeared, she saw that Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and Dustin Henderson were already in there, playing with some sort of radio.

Noticing the girl, Mike Wheeler beamed as he waved his hands, "Cassie! Come over here and check this out!"

Hesitantly, Cassie walked in, looking down at the device. Mike looked up at her, his eyes filled with wonder, "You can talk to Australia on this!"

Cassie smiled, though it never reached her eyes, "Thats cool, Wheeler, but I need to tell you something."

"Ello, this is Mike Wheela," Mike spoke in what he thought of an Australian accent. "President of Hawkins Middle AV Club."

"Wheeler!" shouted Cassie, causing the three boys to shoot their eyes up to hers. "The cops are here!"

"What?" said Mike, his smile dropping.

As if they were on cue, the cops walked in with the principal, asking for the four of them, "Sorry to interrupt, but can I borrow Cassandra, Micheal, Lucas, and Dustin?"

Cassie cringed at the mention of her full name, then exchanged glances with each of the boys before following Principal Coleman and the cops to his office.

In Principal Coleman's office, the three boys were squished on the small couch while Cassie sat in a chair beside them—Hopper and Callahan sat opposite of them.

"So you were...racing?" Hopper asked Dustin.

"No," said Dustin, shaking his head. "We were going to have a race, but Will didn't want to, so he rode with Cassie all the way home. I went on ahead of them."

Hopper then turned to me, "So you saw him go all the way home?"

"Well," Cassie started. "Not exactly. The kid was with me until I turned off Cornwallis and Kerley, then he was left on his own."

"Mirkwood," Mike corrected. "Will takes Mirkwood home."

"You ever heard of Mirkwood?" Hopper asked Cassie, who shook her head saying 'no'.

"Sounds made up," Callahan spoke, raising his eyebrows.

Lucas spoke, "It's from Lord of the Rings."

"The Hobbit," Dustin immediately corrected.

Lucas turned to Dustin, annoyed, "It doesn't matter!"

"He asked!"

"He asked!"

"Guys, shut the hell up!" Cassie shouted at the two boys, who silenced immediately. "What else you gonna ask us?"

"All we know is the last place Will Byers was seen," said Hopper. "That's all for now."

"We can help look!" Mike suggested, causing all eyes to shoot to him.

"No!" Hopper said sternly. "After school, you go straight home. All of you. That means no biking around, looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book..."

"The Hobbit," Dustin corrected.

Hopper bit his tongue, and Cassie rolled her eyes and stood up, "I think we're done here."

"Cassandra Harrington," Hopper spoke sternly. "Sit down. You have to understand that you are forbidden to look for your friend. Understood?"

Cassie scoffed, turning around, "First of all, my name is Cassie. Second, I barely knew Will Byers so you don't have to worry about me going to find him. Really, I couldn't fucking care less."

"Language!" Principal Coleman snapped.

The boys looked up at her in shock as she grabbed her backpack, "Now if you excuse me, I have better things to do than search around for some kid who probably just got lost on his way home. He may even be at his dads house, so stop worrying."

"How do you know about Will's dad?" asked Mike, causing Cassie to turn to him.

Cassie hesitated, "I don't."

And with that, the youngest Harrington stomped out of the office with regret filled inside her. She didn't mean to lash out on the boys, or even Will, for that matter. But, she didn't want anyone to think she actually cared about the boy. Even though she sort of did.

It was true—Cassie was changing. Just like Principal Coleman said she would.