Ringo Wheeler had enough problems - she was named after a member of a band she doesn't even like, she can't find her favourite record in any store along the East Coast and she pissed her parents off enough to be shipped to Indiana.
Now, she has a ne...
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THE DAY OF WILL BYER'S FUNERAL HAD ARRIVED, and needless to say, the entire household held a dark tone to it.
Nancy and Ringo were getting ready in their shared bedroom, donning their clothes and preparing themselves to look appropriate.
"You know," Ringo began randomly, disrupting the silence of the bedroom, "one time down in the basement a few years ago - I came to visit for the weekend, remember? Anyways, I dressed up as Princess Leia or something, and the boys had to all run around and save me. At the end of the day, Dustin brought cookies for everyone that his mom made for the gang. There wasn't enough for me but I didn't mind, but Will split his cookie and made me take half. He said that we were friends now and that friends should always look after each other."
Nancy looked down after hearing the anecdote, a sad expression on her face.
"I mean, I know it's a stupid story," Ringo shook her head with a soft smile, "but he was just such a great kid. Like if that was my brother I'd have been so proud."
"He was really nice," Nancy admitted, embarrassed that she had barely gotten to know her brother's friend recently. As she grew older, she strayed away from the group in her desperate attempts to appear like an adult.
"I can't help but think that I should have walked them home or something, I'm seventeen now. I should have walked them all home to make sure they were safe."
Nancy inhaled sharply, knowing how much more dangerous the world was now, something she had yet to tell her cousin about.
"You can't blame yourself, Ringo," she reached out and gripped the blonde's forearm in comfort. "He rode his bike home every night he came here. You couldn't possibly have predicted this would happen."
Ringo nodded, smiling softly in gratitude at the younger girl.
"By the way," Ringo sighed, knowing she couldn't put off this conversation any longer. "You should probably know, it might damage your reputation a little to hang around with me for a while."
"Why?" Nancy frowned.
Releasing another breath, Ringo sat down on the large bed aside her cousin and relayed the story to her - the events that happened in Orlando and what happened the night before. It was something she hadn't disclosed before, only Nancy's parents knew.
"Wow," Nancy whispered, speechless, her eyes wide with surprise by the end of the story. She felt nothing but sympathy. "Ringo, that isn't your fault, you have to know that."
