Worlds Turned Upside Down: Will Byers x Reader

Chapter Twenty: The Funeral

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The women have moved slightly away from the crowds and over to a shady area under a tree in the cemetery. "I wanted my husband to come talk to you too but he's doing crowd control so..." Mrs. (L/N) says in a slightly eccentric voice, trying to bring a lighter tone to the conversation. Joyce stays quiet and her eyes shift. "Listen, I'm sorry...I...I didn't mean to say you didn't care about Will...I was just angry about Lonnie and...I'm sorry," Mrs. (L/N) says and looks to Joyce, waiting for a response. Neither woman speaks for a few seconds.
"No...you don't need to apologize...I'm sorry," Joyce says guiltily, "You were right...I shouldn't listen to Lonnie...it's just hard...everything between us is...complicated," She looks back at the crowd, "And I'm also sorry about what I said about you and your husband—"
"No, you were completely right about that," Mrs. (L/N) says lightheartedly, "And I'm working on that...I won't be pushed around anymore," Joyce returns her smile and they both laugh, relieving the tension. "Friends?" Mrs. (L/N) says putting her hand out.
"Yeah...friends," Joyce says taking her hand. Mrs. (L/N) pulls her into a hug. Joyce awkwardly hugs back, not really used to having friends.
(Y/N)'s mother pulls away and looks at Joyce excitedly, "Okay, so, you aren't going to believe what my husband—"
"Hey," Lonnie says walking up to the two. Mrs. (L/N) stops speaking and the women stand there awkwardly. "Oh, sorry, I didn't interrupt did I?" Lonnie asks as he throws his arm around Joyce's shoulder.
"Nope," (Y/N)'s mother says innocently, "Just girl talk."
"Oh," Lonnie says nodding, "Well, Joyce, I think we should head back to your place. This is pretty emotionally exhausting isn't it?" Joyce stammers, however this time (Y/N)'s mother catches her.
"Oh, yeah, completely. Joyce I'll talk to you later okay?" She says, putting on a bubbly, people-pleasing demeanor which she's had to use quite a few times at her husband's work events.
"Uhh, yeah, see you," Joyce replies as Lonnie leads her to the car. Mrs. (L/N) smiles and waves at the two as they leave. Just as the couple has gone far enough, she rolls her eyes and grumbles, annoyed that she was interrupted by that imbecile. She turns and walks back over to her husband to thank the mourners, once again putting on that kind, polite persona to hide the dark truth of the phoney funeral.

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At the funeral's reception, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas approach Mr. Clarke, their science teacher, as he fixes himself a plate of food. "Mr. Clarke?" Mike says, getting his attention.
"Hey there," the teacher responds kindly, "How're you boys holding up?" Mr. Clarke feels pity for the boys. They lost two friends in one night.
Dustin, Lucas, and Mike freeze up for a second due to their teacher's question. They sure aren't feeling sad because their friends are alive, but they can't reveal that to anyone else just yet. Finally, Lucas spits out an answer, sounding a bit too apathetic, "We're...in...mourning."
Dustin takes a small cookie from a bowl and takes a bite, he looks disappointed and shakes his head, "Man, these aren't real Nilla Wafers,"  Lucas and Mike look at the boy with scowls on their faces, wishing he'd be a bit more serious.
"We were wondering if you had time to talk?" Mike asks Mr. Clarke.
"We have some questions," Lucas clarifies.
"A lot of questions," Mike finishes seriously.
The group finds a seat at a nearby circular table and Mike starts the questioning, "So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like beyond our world?"
"Yeah, sure. Theoretically," Mr. Clarke responds.
"Right, theoretically," Mike says, remembering that the teacher doesn't know what he's actually referring to.
"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asks.
"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds Interpretation, haven't you?" Mr. Clarke questions the boys intelligently. The friends look at each other confused, but they let the teacher keep talking, "Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened," Mr. Clarke believes the boys are asking him this question out of grief, however he is far from the truth.
"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about," Lucas bluntly corrects.
"Oh," Mr. Clarke says blankly, wishing he hadn't rambled on.
"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows," Dustin adds in casually, "You know the Vale of Shadows?"
Dustin smirks and nods while Mr. Clarke gives a very literal and scientific definition of the dimension, "An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic—"
Mike cuts him off, wanting to get to the point quicker, "Yeah, exactly. If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?"
"Theoretically," Lucas attempts to make them look less crazy.
"Well..." Mr. Clarke moves a paper plate in front of him and takes a pen out of his jacket. He draws a horizontal line across the plate, "Picture..." he draws a stick-figure, "An acrobat...standing on a tightrope. Now, the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards, or backwards," Mr. Clarke draws two arrows on either side of the stickman pointing opposite ways from one another, "But, what if...right next to our acrobat, there is a flea?" He draws a small bug next to the acrobat, "Now, the flea can also travel back and forth, just like the acrobat. Right?"
"Right," Mike is lost in Mr. Clarke's words, that's what makes him a good teacher.
"Here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way...along the side of the rope. He can even go...underneath the rope," he draws more arrows.
"Upside down," Lucas, Dustin, and Mike murmur.
"Exactly."
"But, we're not the flea, we're the acrobat," Mike states.
"In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat."
"So we can't go upside down?" Lucas asks, disappointed.
Mr. Clarke shakes his head, "No."
"Well, is there any way for the acrobat to get to the Upside Down?"
"Well...you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you, to open up some kind of tear in time and space, and then..." Mr. Clarke folds the paper plate in two, then stabs the pen through it leaving a hole, "You create a doorway."
"Like a gate?" Dustin asks.
"Sure. Like a gate. But again, this is all—"
"Theoretical," Lucas repeats.
Mike furrows his brows, "But...but what if this gate already existed?"
"Well, if it did, I...I think we'd know. It would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, out environment. Heck, it might even swallow us up whole," The boys glance around at one another worriedly, "Science is neat. But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving.
The three boys wear uneasy looks. What have they gotten themselves into?

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Hi guys! Sooo, I'm gonna be honest...at first I was going to make the parents marriage a complete train wreck that would have ended in divorce. But, I realized that I didn't want to tell that kind of story. I feel like that's the case of all the stories on both Quotev and Wattpad, there's, almost, always some terrible trouble with parents and I understand that sadly many, many people have trouble with their parents, but I didn't want to reflect that in this story. I wanted to create parents that try and send a positive message. I hope you like your fake parents so far, there's only more growth from here♥︎ Thank you for all the love ~WoodCeiling♥︎

*THE CHARACTERS, THEME, AND SOME DIALOGUE BELONG TO STRANGER THINGS AND THE DUFFER BROTHERS*