"Bitch!",Joyce yelled angry at the phone.
She was trying to call Lonnie, Will's Dad, but apparently it wasn't him who answered.
"Mom.",Jonathan exclaimed and sighed.
He designed flyers to find Will while I sat next to him and selected a photo of the little Byer for the flyers.
"What?",his mother asked still a bit upset.
"You have to stay calm.",my best friend said.
Joyce chuckled bitter, clearly not in the mood for that conversation.
She ignored her son's statement and went to the phone again. She was probably trying to call Lonnie again.
I sighed. "When was the last time you heard from Lonnie anyway?"
The boy shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Probably the last time he needed money. I'm not even sure if he still knows how Will looks like."
"Well I guess then we both have pretty shitty fathers.",I answered bitter and continued looking for a perfect picture.
I stopped when I heard a car approaching.
"Mom?",Jonathan seemed to notice the car too.
"What?" "Cops."
We hurried outside just to meet Hopper, who got Will's bike out of his trunk.
"It was just lying there?",Joyce asked confused and followed Hopper, Powell and Callaghan who entered her house.
The chief was looking around, like he was searching for something, while Joyce was interrogating him.
I was behind them with Jonathan, listening to everything Hops said.
"If you found the bike out there, why are you here?",my best friend asked confused.
"Well, he had a key to the house, right?",Jim asked.
"Yeah."
Hopper walked around in the kitchen. "So...maybe he came home."
"You think I didn't check my own house?",Joyce asked in disbelief.
"I'm not saying that.",the man argued while he was looking at a little hole behind the kitchen door. "Has this always been here?"
"What? I-I don't know. Probably. I have two boys, plus Emma sometimes. Look at this place.",the woman answered, clearly not knowing where this conversation was going.
I really didn't know if that was a compliment or not.
"You're not sure?",the chief asked.
Joyce sighed. The last thing she needed right know was talking about the condition of her house.
The conversation was interrupted by Chester, who was barking loudly outside, which caused Hopper's attention.
He went outside, a bit confused why the dog was barking.
Jonathan and I stayed inside.
"I don't get it. Why would Hopper look for Will here?",the boy asked desperately.
"Maybe something happened here...Maybe he's been here but then he disappeared...I don't know but Hopper knows what he's doing...I guess."
The boy laughed. It sounded a bit crazy. "You guess?"
I gave him a small grin. "That man's full of surprises."
It was silent for a few seconds before I remembered Steve who was probably at home now, pissed at me.
"Hey Jonathan, I'm gonna use the telephone real quick. Steve's probably freaking out right now."
Jonathan nodded and I made my way to the telephone and dialed our number from home.
"Hello?",my brother's voice appeared.
"Hi Steve, it's Emma."
"Emma, Jesus, where have you been? I was waiting for you."
I sighed. "I know, I'm sorry about that but I had to see Jonathan. Will went missing."
It was silent on the other line.
"Well, when are you gonna be home?"
"Are you serious right now? I just told you that Jonathan's brother disappeared and you don't even show a little empathy?"
"What am I supposed to say? It's not like I'm friends with that freak.",Steve replied upset.
"You're such an asshole. It's unbelievable. You don't even care about Will, who's out there lost and alone, without his family. I can't even tell if this attitude of yours is just against Will or against everyone. Would you- Would you even care, if I was the one missing?"
"Emma, you're being ridiculous."
"No Steve, I'm being realistic.",I hissed. "I don't have time for this bullshit. I just called to tell you that I'm staying at Jonathan's. That's all. Bye."
And with that I hung up and went back to the living room.
"Is it okay if I stay here tonight? I can't deal with that idiot right now."
My friend nodded. "Yes- yes of course you can stay."
I smiled and sat down next to him. "Thank you."
I went into Jonathan's room and sat down on his bed.
I just needed some minutes for myself.
It was all a bit...overwhelming.
And if I feel like that, as a really close friend of Will's, I couldn't even imagine how Joyce and Jonathan must feel.
"What happened to you, Will...?",I mumbled to myself and sighed.
He must feel so alone right now.
Without his mother, his brother, his friends.
My thoughts wandered to the boys.
I haven't spend a single thought about them all day.
I cursed myself. I was such a bad friends sometimes.
I wanted to reach for my walkie-talkie when I realized that I left it at home.
"Shit.",I mumbled to myself.
I looked around and had an idea.
I sprinted into Will's room, quickly sat down on the floor and pulled out his walkie-talkie under his bed.
I searched for the right channel and started talking. "Mike? Mike, this is Emma. Do you copy?"
No answer.
"Mike, this is Emma. Please, I-I know I should've been there for you guys. I'm so sorry. Please, do you copy?"
There was silence.
No Mike.
Until... "This is Mike, I copy, Sunny."
I let out a relieved sigh. "Hey honey, how are you? How are the boys?"
"I'm mad. My parents won't let me out and search for Will. They don't care at all. Will's missing and they are eating their stupid chicken, like nothing happened. Dustin's at home, Lucas too. Hopper talked to us, earlier at school and informed us about Will...Where are you right now?"
"I'm at Jonathan's. But I can come if you need me.",I answered.
"That would be great, Sunny. I just- I can't sit at home and do nothing! We can go and search for Will with Dustin and Lucas."
I sighed. "Do you really think that that's a good idea? I mean what if something happens?"
"That's why you should be there. You can protect us.",the boy exclaimed.
"You're gonna go, right? No matter what I say."
"Definitely."
"We'll meet at your place. Contact Lucas. You probably won't reach Dustin, so we'll just inform him on the way."
"Thank you, Sunny. You're the best."
I rolled my eyes. "Oh shut up, Wheeler."