Hold On ·Will Byers x Reader·

8

Y/N POV

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, y/n," the boys said in unison.

"Um, have you seen Will?" Mike asked.

"I haven't, actually," I said a bit disappointed.

Will never radioed last night. I finally had someone to talk to about what happened, and he didn't even bother to call. Something was very wrong and I could feel it. I knew I hadn't known Will for very long, but I knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't just stand me up like that. Not intentionally.

"He probably just went to class early," Lucas shrugged.

Everyone just silently nodded.

"Hey, um, I've gotta go to the bathroom. We'll catch up at lunch though, okay?" I said and they all nodded.

I rushed to the restroom and pulled out my walkie-talkie. If Will wasn't in class that would mean he was still at home probably with his walkie nearby.

"Will?" I whisper yelled into the walkie-talkie. "This is y/n, do you copy? Over..."

There was no answer, so I tried a few more times.

"Will, this is y/n. If you're hearing this, come in. Over." I tried one last time.

Still, no answer. I clicked off my walkie and shoved it back into my bag. I quickly left the restroom and headed to my first period. But someone grabbed my arm halfway there.

"Hey, dork."

In one swift movement, I turned around to face them and held onto their shoulders. It was Troy and not too far behind was James.

"I told you... to stop calling me a dork!"

I kneed him in his groin and walked to class. I didn't have to look back to know that he was crouched on the floor in pain, with the few kids that were still in the hallway surrounding him as James helped him up.

I rolled my eyes as I entered first period. But I couldn't focus. My mind kept wandering to Will. Maybe the guys felt a bit weird and thought he was just sick, but I knew something else had to be going on. Something bad happened to Will.

By the time lunch rolled around there was still no sign of Will Byers. My mind was thinking and my heart was racing. I could hardly focus on anything going on in my classes. I met up with the boys in the middle of lunch. Apparently, the police came to asked them about Will.

"What did they ask? What did you say?"

"Will's gone missing," Dustin answered.

"Yeah, they said his mom went up to the police station this morning!"

"Do you know Mirkwood?" Mike asked me.

"Isn't that from The Hobbit?"

"See, I told you!" Dustin hit Lucas on the arm.

"Yes, but it's also what we call the street Will takes home. It's where the roads on Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

"Oh, okay."

"They said that they'd search over there but..." Dustin trailed off.

"They won't let us help find him, which is total bull!" Michael exclaimed. "I mean he's our best friend, we know him better than anybody."

"Not true! What about his mom and Jonathan?" Dustin pointed out.

"Would you shut up?" Lucas huffed.

I stifled a giggle and got up to throw my trash away. When I sat back down everyone was back to being serious. It had only then occurred to me that this was Hawkins; the town where nothing crazy ever happened. But then I met the guys, Will and I were attacked by a monster, and now Will is missing.

I felt kinda bad lying to them. Those boys were trying figure out what happened to their best friend, and there I was, only having known them for a week and holding on to a secret that only Will and I shared. I wanted to tell them everything, but I couldn't bring myself to do so.

I was sure his disappearance had something to do with the monster attack. It had to, right? I wondered if there was anything I could do. I was the only person who knew about what happened.

I went to my next class after lunch with a bad feeling in my chest. I still couldn't focus on anything my teachers were saying. In the middle of my last class I began to get a terrible headache. I placed my head down on my desk to shield my eyes from the light shining through the window, which was only making it worse.

"Y/n?" my teacher called out.

"Yes?" I replied, slowly lifting my head.

"Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

I looked around to see the entire class staring at me.

"Sorry, I just..." I spoke, running my hands across my face. "I have a headache."

"Would you like to go to the nurse's office?"

"Please? That would be great. Thank you."

I rubbed my temples before grabbing my bag and walking up to my teacher. She handed me a written pass and I left the room. The hallways were unusually bright, so I walked the halls with my head down.

If I was being honest, I didn't really want to go to the nurse. It was the last period of the day, and we had about forty-five minutes left of school. I turned the corner and headed for the door. I had to get home. I had to figure out how all of this monster crap was connected, and why Will was missing.

Before I could head out the door, I heard a voice call out to me.

"Hey!"

I stopped in my tracks, mentally cursing myself for getting caught. I slowly turned on my heels, hoping whoever it was wouldn't get me into too much trouble.

"Y/n?"

"James?"

I sighed a breath of relief once I realized who it was. There was no way James would narc on me, especially not with all the dirt I had on him.

"Where are you going?"

"Home? Why?"

"Troy's been looking for you all day," he stepped closer.

"Yeah, well he had my address and knows where to find me. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"Why have you been avoiding him?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because he's my best friend."

"Funny. I didn't think either of you were capable of friendship."

"Whatever. My point is, you guys are like family or whatever."

"Family?" I scoffed. "Look, you and I both know that Troy's a pain in the ass, and the only reason I tolerate him is because of my sister."

"Whatever y/n."

"James, was there a reason you stopped me just now?"

"No, not really."

"Good," I said, ignoring the sharp pains in my forehead. "I think I'll be leaving now."

"Yeah, okay," he waved me off. "Hey, tell Frog Face and those other little freaks we said hi."

I opened the door and turned around again, anger burning my cheeks.

"His name is Mike, and those other "freaks" are my friends. And if Troy wants to keep his reputation as his mommy's little golden child at home, and you want to stay out of detention for that stunt you pulled last week in the chem lab, I suggest both of you leave them alone."

And with that I spun back around and headed out the doors.