𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐭

ii. MIRKWOOD

TW A slur that's used a lot against homosexuals will be used in this, so, I am very sorry if it offends you.

 

    

     The next day at school, Mike, Dustin, Lucas and Charles all drive their bikes to the bike rack, where they set them. "I don't see Will anywhere.. do you guys see him?" Charles said, as he looked everywhere. "I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again. Don't worry about it." Lucas said, patting Charles' back.

     "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz." Dustin says and Charles smiled, or at least forced it, trying to believe that. "Step right up, ladies and gentlemen." Charles sighed as he and the other three turn to face Troy and his friend, James. Assholes.

     "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show." He said with a smile and Charles sighs. "Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?" Troy asked James then walks over to Lucas, punching his chest. "Midnight. Frogface. Stuttering faggot. Or Toothless?" He said and Charles looks down, thinking of the word that Troy had called him. James pretends to think.

     "I go with Toothless," he says, mimicking Dustin and Charles rolls his eyes. "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia." Dustin says.

     "I told you a million times." James just mimicks Dustin again and Charles sighs as James then chuckled. "Do the arm thing." Troy says as he points to Dustin. "Do it freak!" Dustin takes off his jacket. Charles looked away as Dustin dropped his backpack and when he heard the popping noises, he grimaced. The two groan, "God! It gets me everytime!" Troy says before pushing past Lucas and Mike as James pushed past Dustin and Charles.

     "Assholes." Lucas said as Charles sighed. "I think it's kinda cool." Mike says to Dustin who Charles looks at. "Yeah, it's like you have superpowers or something." He said with a smile as the curly headed boy picked up his things.

     "Like Mr. Fantastic." Mike continued with an excited tone. "Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it." Dustin says before they head inside.

     After school, the bell rang as everyone is starting to pack up and leave, "remember, finish chapter twelve and answer twelve point three on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover chapters ten through twelve. It will be a multiple choice with an essay section." Mr. Clarke trailed off as everyone by now is gone.

     He turns to the front, where Mike, Lucas, Charles and Dustin stood, patiently waiting. "So, did it come?" Mike asked excitedly. "Sorry, boys.. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but.." When their teacher says this, Charles' face dropped.

     "It came." He suddenly said. In the Audio Visual room, the four boys quickly rushed to the desk, all excited. "The Heathkit ham shack." Mr. Clarke said as Charles grinned widely.

     As Mike grabs the headphones, "ain't she a beaut?" Mr. Clarke asked them. "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing." Dustin said, twisting one of the knobs. "Think bigger."

     "California?" Lucas says to him. "Bigger." The teacher says and Charles widely smiled. "Australia?" Mike asked in disbelief. The man nodded and Charles gasped lightly, looking back at the ham shack. "Oh, man! Whenn Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit." Lucas said and Charles laughed. "Lucas!" The teacher scolded.

     "Sorry," he says and Dustin chuckled. "Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins Middle AV Club." Mike says in an Australian accent and then Dustin grabs the headphones. He puts them on and leans over, "What are you doing?" Mike asked as he is chuckling. "Hello, this is Dustin, and this is the secretary and treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club." He said in an accent as well.

     "Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" He says and they all laugh, Lucas grabs the headphones but stops when there was a knock at the door. They all look over to see the principal and two police officers outside in the hallway.

     "Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I burrow Michael, Charleston, Lucas and Dustin?" The man asked and Charles visually cringed at his name. In the office, the three all talk over one another as Charles stayed quiet, not doing so well with talking in front of people, especially cops. "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, alright? You." Hopper points at Charles who looks up, wide eyes. "Uh, m-m-me?"

     "Charleston is not good with communicat—" "Charleston, you've been quiet. Wanna know why." He says and Charles looks down. "I-I-I—" "Don't make him talk if he doesn't want to." Mike said, cutting off Charles. "Fine. You, you said he takes what?" Hopper asked.

     "Mirkwood." Mike says as Charles looked down at his lap, his eyes kind of sad because he felt bad he couldn't do anything to help. "Mirkwood?" The chief asked. "Yeah." Mike nods.

     "Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" Hopper says as he looks at Deputy Callahan. "I have not. That sounds made up to me."

     "No, it's from Lord of the Rings."

     "Well, the Hobbit."

     "It doesn't matter." Lucas says in annoyance at Dustin who corrected him. "He asked!" Dustin shouts back. "He asked!" Lucas mocks him and Charles sighs as the two start shouting at each other. "Hey, hey, hey!" Hopper says, leaning over. "What'd I just say?" He asked the two arguing.

     "One at a damn time. You." He says, looking at Mike again. "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerly meet." Mike tells him.

     "Yeah, alright, I think I know that—" "We can show you, if you want." Mike cuts off Hopper who looks up, "I said I know it!" He says. "We can help look." Mike says and Charles nods at this in agreement. "Yeah." Dustin says with excitement.

    "No." This only caused the three to start trying to convince him to let them help. "No. After school, you are all to go home. Immediately." Hopper says. "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 corrects again. "Shut up!" Lucas says, hitting Dustin who hits him back, "hey!" He shouts as he did. "Stop it!" The boys start to bicker again, hitting each other over Mike and Charles, both had very annoyed looks on their faces. "Do I make myself clear?" Hopper asks.

     The man then stood up, looking down at the four twelve year olds. "Do I make myself.. clear?" He asked and they all start nodding. "Yes, sir." Dustin, Charles and Mike say. "Yeah."

     After they let them go, Charles drove on his bike all the way to Will's place and into the woods in the back of the house. He starts running past all the trees until he stops at the front of Castle Byers, he sighs before pushing the sheet out of the way. He looks around, sighing softly. "Oh, Will.." He whispered then lets the sheet down.

     "Where are you?"

   

  

   

   

authors note dang i already miss will+charles
word count 1000+