||𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐑'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕||
The three of us were invited to stay for dinner. Since there weren't enough chairs, they were kind enough to pull out an extra chair for me, so Dustin and I shared the end of the table, opposite Mrs. Wheeler. Nancy and I seemed to be the only kids who were eating.
"Thank you so much for letting us stay Mrs. Wheeler. The food is amazing!" I said, followed by another bite of mashed potatoes.
"You're very welcome, Y/n. And thank you." She said, with a kind smile.
She looked around and noticed the boys were just playing with their meatloaf.
"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" She asked.
"Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch," Dustin said a goofy smile on his face. There's a noticeable pause before he speaks again. "I don't know why." I breathe out a light chuckle and take another bite of mashed potatoes.
Lucas chuckles nervously. "Me, too."
"It's delicious, Mommy." Nancy bats her eyelashes and a quizzical look flashed across my face. I know that tactic. Hell, every kid knows that tactic, she wants something and she is trying to butter up her mom. But to see a Nancy of all people do that is almost laughable.
"Thank you, sweetie."
I look to Mike to gauge his reaction to his teenage sister's odd behavior towards their mom. I fight back a laugh when his actions closely resemble that of an adult in a movie who takes a drink of beer with a thousand-yard stare, trying to forget something said at that moment in time; only this time it's a glass of milk.
"So, there's this... special assembly thing tonight... for Will at the school field."
I furrow my brow in confusion and shock. 'Nancy is nice and all, but since when does she care about Will?' Then it dawned on me. I remember Mike complaining to us earlier about that "douchebag Steve Harrington" and how he and Nancy have been dating. And how he's been sneaking in and out of Nancy's room.
"Barb's driving."
My jaw clenches.
"Why am I just now hearing about this?"
'Because she wants to use my best friend's disappearance as an excuse to leave the house and suck face with her stupid boyfriend.'
"I thought you knew." She said, playing innocent. Mike and I look to each other knowingly and then at Nancy. Well, glaring was a better term for what I was doing.
"I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found."
"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there."
CLANG
I half drop, have threw my silverware on the table in a mix of shock and frustration. When everyone turns and looks at me silently, I quickly play it off with a chuckle.
"Heh, sorry about that. Lost my grip. I'm just thirsty." I say with an innocent smile as I hold up my water, gesturing to it before taking a large gulp.
Everyone but the boys seem to buy it.
Nancy continued and I had to bite my lip so as to not say anything.
"As I was saying, everyone is going."
Mrs. Wheeler sighs and looks to us, then back at Nancy.
"Just... be back by 10:00."
Nancy nods, happy with herself.
"Why don't you take Mike and his friends, too?" She suggested. We all panicked and spoke at the same time.
"No!"
"Mmm-mmm."
"I have a headache" I finished weakly.
"Don't you think you should be there? For Will?"
The four of us all spot Eleven walking down the stairs behind Mrs. Wheeler.
Mike nearly chokes on his milk while I accidentally inhale my water and I begin to choke for real. Mrs. Wheeler turns to see what provoked us so much but the mix of Dustin randomly slamming his fists against the table a few times and me going into a coughing fit was enough to grab her attention.
She looked between the two of us in shock. During my horrendous coughing fit, I was relieved to see El had gotten out of sight.
"Sorry. Spasm." Dustin says sheepishly.
However, it was still incredibly awkward seeing as it was quiet as and everyone just stared at me while I coughed obnoxiously. The coughs got less violent to a point where I could speak.
"Ahh..." cough. "I'm okay... really, I" cough. I hold up a finger and cough for a few seconds. I look up, a painful and sheepish look on my face as I awkwardly try and diffuse the tension. "Don't you hate that. Like, what can you do, wash it down with water?" I look around laughing weakly, but not for long because my awkward chuckles turn into more coughing and I groan. "Haha, ahawww god." I put hands on my knees and take a breather.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
"El?" Mike called down the stairs. Mike and I had were able to sneak some food downstairs for her. Thankfully we found her down here, she was in the fort that Mike had made for her, fiddling with Mike's Supercomm.
"Hi, El," I say with a smile as I walk over and kneel down next to her. Mike does the same and sets down the tray of food. Dustin and Lucas remain standing.
"We brought you some dinner,"
"Yep. No adults. Just us and some meatloaf." Mike replies.
She looks to me, then warily to Dustin and Lucas.
"Don't worry. They won't tell anyone about you. They promise." I assure her in a gentle voice. I turn for them and give them a look. "Right guys?"
Dustin gives her a goofy smile. "We never would've upset you if we knew you had superpowers." I roll my eyes and Mike turns around and swats Dustin in the shin.
I look back to El.
"What my brother meant to say was, they were just scared... earlier. That's all."
Lucas speaks up. "We just wanted to find our friend." I turn around and smile warmly at Lucas, mouthing a 'thank you'. He's a great person, he's just skeptical is all. And protective. He nods his head at me. I look back at El to see her face riddled with confusion.
"'Friend'?" She asks.
"Yeah, friend. Will?"
"What is 'friend'?" She asks.
Lucas starts to say something but cuts himself off, thinking better of it.
"Um, a friend—" He begins.
"Is someone that you'd do anything for." Mike finished for him.
"You lend them your cool stuff, like comic books and trading cards," Dustin said, wistfully.
"And they never break a promise," Mike adds.
"Especially when there's spit."
"Spit?" She asked, looking concerned.
"A spit swear means..." Lucas spits into his palm and shakes Dustin's hand. "you never break your word. It's a bond."
I cringed, while Dustin looked at his hand in disgust. I turn back to El and smile.
"That's super important, because friends... they tell each other things. Things that parents don't know. A friend is someone you can trust completely."
She seems to be soaking up the information, then she looks at me and smiles.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
We had all convinced El to come out of her fort. The three boys were huddled together whispering and I joined El at the D&D table. In fact, she sat where Mike sat during the campaign and I subconsciously sat where Will did on that night.
Although I was a little surprised to see how focused she became. She gently spread her hands along the table, her fingers touching the board.
The three boys walk over. "What's the weirdo doing?" Lucas questions. I give him a glare, to warn him. He clears his throat and corrects himself. "Sorry. Eleven."
I smile, silently thanking him.
"El?" Mike asks. She had her eyes closed for a short while and suddenly she opens them. She grabs Will's signature miniature, the cleric. I hold my breath in anticipation.
"Will." She says.
"Superpowers." Dustin whispered. Lucas rolled his eyes and Mike sat down between me and El, and started asking the questions that were on all our minds.
"Did you see him? On Mirkwood? Do you know where he is?"
She set aside the cleric as I spoke up, my voice barely above a whisper.
"El?" She looks up at me. "Is there... is there anything, anything at all that you could tell us? Anything that you know about our friend?" I ask, my voice breaking. She gives me a sympathetic smile and clears the board by swiping her arm across the table. We all watch intently as she reaches forward and flips the board upside down.
We all stare at the board and then look to El as she grabs the cleric and slams it down in the center of the board. My stomach seems to drop in perfect sync with the miniature.
"I don't understand." Mike croaks.
The room is silent for a few moments as we stare at El, waiting for her response. "Hiding." Her voice came out in a whisper.
"W-Will is hiding?" I stammer.
She nods her head 'yes'.
My fingers subconsciously begin wringing together as I try and swallow all of this information.
"From the bad men?" Mike clarifies.
Her brows furrow ever so slightly as she shakes her 'no'. I take a deep breath.
"Then from who?"
She looks to her side and grabs another miniature, and places it next to the cleric. I let out a breath of air I didn't even know I was holding when I recognized the dreaded piece. We all look around to each other, a look of horror on our faces. Dustin puts his hands behind his head and I put my head in my hands as I try not to panic.
It was the the Demogorgon.