Jeopardy- Stranger Things

Chapter Thirty Seven

November 11th, 1983

George let the door slam behind him and ran off down the drive, kicking the back tire of Nick's car as he went. He stopped in his tracks and looked back at her car. Then he looked at the house. He could see her through the kitchen window as she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table and held her head in her hands. He shoved his hands in his pockets, shuffled his feet and carried on walking away.

He'd never meant to say half the things he'd said to Nick. He didn't want to shout at her or make her feel bad but after everything that had happened he just needed to shout and scream and be heard so he didn't feel so utterly helpless. It didn't make him feel any better. He trudged down the dirt track heading into town and kicked at loose twigs as he went. He just felt even worse now he'd made Nick upset.

George was one of the first people to make it to the funeral. Joyce and Jonathan were sat at the very front already and looked like they'd been there for a while. There was a guy with them that kept looking at his watch and tapping his foot impatiently. George hung back a little ways and waited for the others to arrive.

It was weird, seeing an open grave. George peered down to take a good look. It was pristinely dug and lined to keep the earth from falling back in. It was strangely perfect and all too normal. He expected to feel overwhelmed, made all too aware of his own mortality but it wasn't real. None of this was real. Will wasn't dead. This wasn't his grave and there wasn't really a funeral. What did he have to feel overwhelmed about? They were going to get Will back...somehow.

George heard footsteps behind him and turned his head in time to see Mike walking up to him. Mike smiled, a small straight line of a grimace. George returned the gesture, except his smile kept getting wider. Mike held his gaze and his smile grew wider too. Both boys' lips tugged at the sides and drew up their faces, cheeks creasing their eyes until they were grinning and had to look awkwardly at the floor to hide their faces from Joyce or Mike's parents who would be less than happy to see Will's closest friends grinning like maniacs at his funeral.

Dustin was the next to arrive and, unlike George and Mike, had completely forgotten he even needed to pretend to be sad. He sauntered up to them, a big toothless grin plastered on his face and stood in front of Will's grave beaming like an idiot. His mother gasped upon seeing him and slapped her glove down onto his mop of curls. His smile quickly faded.

Lucas was the best of them all when it came to acting. He trudged up to them alongside his parents and younger sister. His head was held low, barely looking two inches away from his polished black shoes. His hands were clasped together in front of him in a sombre reflection and his eyes were even glistening with tears. The other three could only stare at his, jaws hanging slightly open and gaping like goldfish as he took his place next to them. Mike leaned over to him.

"What have you done with the real Lucas?"

George and Dustin giggled, hiding their smiles behind their sleeves.

"Shut up."

*

George didn't know where to look once the vicar started talking. Everyone was either looking at the vicar, the grave or at Joyce. George felt weird looking at the vicar. He didn't believe in God. He hadn't had a reason to think that God existed and if he did, he certainly wasn't concerned with George. He couldn't bring himself to look at Will's grave, or his tombstone, without laughing. The whole thing was just too strange. Will wasn't dead. He was trapped in another dimension. And here he was at Will's funeral. In a few days, Will would be back and everything would be normal but he would still, technically speaking, be dead. His tombstone and grave and coffin would still be here. Even if Will Byers was walking around completely alive.

So, to keep up appearances, if not for his own benefit, for Joyce's, George looked at the ground. Dustin, apparently, was unable to keep still for the entirety of the service. From the corner of George's eye, he could see Dustin's head moving around. He was looking up at the sky then a second later he would be staring into Will's grave, then at George, then he would be looking at the sky again. George saw Dustin move yet again. His head was turned allt he way to the side, looking over George's head at something at the back of the crowd of people that had gathered around for the funeral. George looked up and followed his gaze. Then he looked back at Dustin, unable to pick out what he was staring at. It was just a bunch of random people looking sad. Dustin nudged him and tried to point without anyone noticing, that meant he could only raise his arm a few inches.

"Wait till we tell Will that Jennifer was crying at his funeral."

George smirked as he saw her. She was standing near the front of the crowd and looking into Will's grave. Her cheeks shone in the light and her chest heaved as she sniffed and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

From beside them, Mike noticed their movement and looked over at Jennifer too. He did a better job at keeping a straight face. In fact, he didn't smile at all, he didn't even smirk, but that didn't stop his mom from tapping him on the shoulder and telling him to "Shhh".

Dustin and George had to purse their mouths shut so tight that their lips disappeared so they didn't burst out laughing at the indignant look on Mike's face.

*

When the funeral was over, George hung around with Dustin and his mom. The crowd started to disperse. Each family made their way past Joyce, gave their condolences and then left. Just like that, Will's funeral, along with his life (or so they thought), was over. George snuck past Joyce so he didn't have to lie to her and loitered behind Will's tombstone while he waited for the others to join him. He peered over the top of it and read the inscription.

"Will Byers," It read, "Beloved son and wonderful friend."

George let out a deep breath and looked out at the crowd of people. A lot of people had come. But no one here, except for the four of them, could claim they were Will's friend.

Mike was the first to join him, the others weren't far behind, having escaped from their parents for just long enough to regroup.

"Ready?" Mike asked all of them, looking at each of them in turn. The other three boys nodded. Mike looked at them each again and nodded, a small smile creeping onto his face. This was it. They were finally going to get some answers.