Elijah Brooks's life is turned upside down when his best friend Will Byers goes missing one night. Teaming up with an unlikely group of friends, Eli finds himself transforming from a quiet bookworm to a courageous adventurer willing to do anything f...
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"AND YOU'RE SURE OF WHAT YOU HEARD?" Martha Baker's resounding voice was gravelly on the phone, her words polished with suspension.
"Yes, I'm sure." Brandy rolled her eyes with impatience, absently peeking through her blinds at the old man across the street mowing his lawn.
The morning sky was streaked with various shades of pink and blue, like an artist's crafty hand stroked it themself. The Brooks girl's night had been troubled, plagued with raging questions and pondering if there had been any signs.
"Well, I mean," Martha's tone trailed off awkwardly, and Brandy could almost picture her twirling the phone cord between her callused fingers. "I can't say I didn't see this coming. Didn't you?"
Brandy could feel her heart drop almost as fast as her unhinged jaw. The curtains that donned her window fell back swiftly in front of the frame as she drew towards her bed. "What? You mean it was obvious that—" Brandy paused, tucking the phone into the nape of her neck with a cautious hand as she checked to make sure her door was closed. "That my brother was gay?"
Martha's sigh was so loud it almost shook Brandy's veins through the speakers. "I dunno, Brandy. I just kind of had a feeling. Why are you making such a big deal of this anyway?" Then, in a lower, almost threatening tone: "Is there a problem with him being gay?"
"What? No!" Brandy quickly cried, her breaths becoming ragged at the idea of her rejecting her little brother just for who he was. "I don't care about that stuff. You know that."
The Baker girl paused, and Brandy couldn't help but suspect there was a mural of disbelief portrayed on her face. "Really?"
"Yes! Did you think I was?" Her heart was pounding now, and the bright red numbers on her clock printed 7:15 told her it was far too early in the day to be panicking like this.
"Well, no. I just...I..." Her voice had weakened, and Brandy's heart leapt with the sudden need to explain herself.
"It's not that I have a problem with it," she clarified hastily, her feet scouring her bedroom floor again in a shaky pace. "Of course I don't! I just didn't see it coming. I mean, when I heard people at school saying those things about him...I just figured it was because he was friends with Will."
Martha exhaled deeply again, and Brandy felt queasy at the prickling realization that she might not be handling this as well as she wanted to. "I get it, Brandy. Just don't make a big deal out of it. It could make him uncomfortable. He's still young after all, and probably terrified considering the house you guys live in."
"Oh no no no," Brandy shook her head aggressively, accidentally tangling herself in the wiry phone cord and growing more flustered. "He can't know I know. I'll wait till he comes to me. Right? I don't know. I've never dealt with this before. I don't want—" Another pause. "I don't want to hurt him."
