For the next couple of days, i just stayed in my room and only came out for food. I haven't spoken to my mother since one of our many fights.
This wasn't the worst one we've had since i have been home, but i still think she has taken it too far. I was packing my bag as i was leaving for the airport today to go to California.
Seeing El was the only thing that got me through the week. Once i finished packing my bag, i heard a small knock at my door. My mom walked in with a cold look on her face.
"You ready?" she asked. I nodded as i walked past her. I loaded my suitcase into the the car and got in the front seat.
I began putting on my headphones until my mom took them off me. I rolled my eyes. "So are we going to talk or what?" she asked. "There's nothing to talk about" i mumbled.
She scoffed. "When are you going to get your haircut again? That fringe hides your face" she said. "Joyce cut my hair before you forced me to move back. I like it!" i snapped back.
"Jesus alright! I was just saying!" she exclaimed. We drove the rest of the way in silence. Once we arrived at the airport, i began opening the door until i heard it lock.
"What now?" i questioned. "I wanted to say sorry... For what i said about Jim. I miss him too you know" she said. "Yeah, sure" i said trying to unlock the door. It locked again immediately.
She gave me a small smile as she brushed the hair out of my face. "Have fun. I'll see you when you get back" she said. I gave her a small, fake smile. "I'll see you soon mom" i said getting out of the car.
"Wait! I also packed your book on your bedside table. But it had this dead flower inside. Will i throw it out?" she asked taking the flower out of her pocket. "No!" i exclaimed as i grabbed it off of her.
She gave me a strange look. "It's... Its an English class thing" i said with a fake laugh. She nodded and gave me a judgmental look. "Well, i'll see you later" i said as i slammed the door.
After a long flight, i finally arrived in California. I walked through security and finally saw a familiar face. "Mike?" i questioned. He turned around and my bright smile turned into a judgmental look.
He was wearing a colourful bucket hat, large shorts and a bright yellow shirt over his t-shirt. He was also carrying bright yellow flowers which i was guessing were for El. "Joy!..Hey" he said noticing me looking him up and down.
I shook it off as i forced a smile. I walked with him to the gate as we looked for El. I felt like crying when i saw her. She stood up and waved with a bright smile across her face.
She ran straight past Mike and embraced me tightly causing me to nearly fall to the ground. "I missed you" she mumbled into my shoulder. "I missed you too... So much" i said.
She turned around and hugged Mike tightly. I gave Will and Johnathan a small wave. They waved back and i saw both of their smiles drop as they stared behind me.
"What?" i questioned. I turned around and took a step back as i saw a guy with long hair inches away from me. "Half your hair is purple" he said. He grabbed the bottoms of my hair and began looking at the faded purple bottoms.
"Nice observation... Could you maybe back up now?" i asked sarcastically. He laughed and took a step back. "Joy, this is my friend Argyle... He's weird" Johnathan said. "You mean he's high" Will mumbled.
He looked down at my top and his mouth fell open. "Is that a Bob Marley t-shirt?" he questioned. "Um... Yeah" i said. "That's... That's ... Wow" he mumbled. "Okay! Moving on" Johnathan exclaimed as he gave me a fake smile.
I gave him a fake smile back as i fought the urge not to roll my eyes. I looked to El who had a big frown on her face reading a small card which was attached to Mikes flowers.
"What's wrong?" i asked. "Nothing... Come on, let's go or we'll be late" El said grabbing my hand. "Late to what exactly?" i questioned.
"I have our whole day planned. First, El Rodeo for burritos" she said. "What, really? Burritos for breakfast?" Mike questioned. "Yes, that's Joys favourite" she said. Mike gave me a confused look.
"Just trust me, it's good" i said. "Then, after burritos, i want to go to Rink-O-Mania" El said. "Rink-O-Mania. Okay... Wait, what's Rink-O-Mania?" i asked.
"It's the most fun place in Lenora. They have skating and games" she said. "Okay, sounds fun. Are we going to meet your friends there?" i asked.
"Friends? What friends?!" Will exclaimed. "You know, Stacy and Angela" El said as she hit Will with the flowers. I found it weird but i ignored it.
"You'll meet them, i promise. Just not today. I want today to be about us" she said. I gave her a small smile as we headed into Argyles van.
As we got in, a waft of weed made me wince. "Jesus, did you just smoke in here?" i questioned. "Purple palm tree delight calms the nerves bro. You should try it sometime" he said.
"Purple plan tree delight?" i questioned. "Just... Ignore him" Johnathan said. I laughed quietly as we left. We got some burritos which were nice... But not as nice as the ones back in Hawkins.
We then made our way to Rink-O-Mania. As we were sitting in the van, i noticed El staring at me. "What?" i questioned. "Your lip. What happened?" she asked.
I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. "I fell! I'm a klutz these days" i said with laughter. I cringed the moment i said it.
I didn't want to tell Eleven i got into a fight. I don't know why i lied. It's not like she would have cared.
But maybe she would have. She's having fun in Lenora, i don't want her to worry about me too. She nodded and smiled as we continued our way to Rink-O-Mania.
Once we got there, El grabbed Mikes hand and led him inside. "Hey, Joy. Are you sure you want to go in with them? You can stay with us if you want" Argyle said.
"And smoke with you two weirdos? I'm good" i said. "Okay. But Joy... Could you look out for Will for me? Just, make sure he's having fun" Johnathan said. "Of course. We'll have fun. Don't worry" i replied with a small smile.
We walked into the Skating Rink and saw everyone in their neon clothes, skating around. We grabbed our skates and walked over to a bench to put them on.
"Bitchin, right?" El said. "Totally bitchin. Do you come here a lot? " i asked. "No" Will said. "Yes" El said simultaneously. "Will does not, but i go to parties here. It's a big party place" she said.
"You go to parties? You have a better social life than me" i said. As we began putting on our skates, i noticed Will was visibly uncomfortable. He almost seemed annoyed.
"You okay?" i asked giving him a small nudge. "Me? I'm fine... Totally fine" he said. "You sure?" i questioned. "Yeah it's just... I'm worried about falling when i skate" he said with nervous laughter.
"Well that's fine. I've never skated before either. I went through a skateboarding phase when i was like fourteen but quit after i broke my arm. So if any one of us is going to fall, i promise you, it will be me" i said causing Will to give me a small smile.
We all began making our way into the rink as we tried our hardest to skate. It was actually quite fun. I did in fact fall... Twice.
I tried to keep Will entertained and include him as much as possible but something was off with him. He seemed upset about something, i just couldn't put my finger on what.
When we were done skating, we got some milkshakes and fries. "The best milkshake i ever had was from Benny's Diner before it closed down. But this, this comes pretty close" i said slurping the strawberry milkshake.
"Did you like the skating?" Eleven asked. "Yeah, it was fun. Even though i have about fifty bruises all over my legs" i said with laughter.
"You have bruises? Did you see me? I was like bambi on ice out there" Mike said with laughter. My smile slowly faded. Eleven looked at me uncomfortably as everyone went quiet.
"Joy... I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was just-" "What? No! I'm fine! Seriously, it's fine Mike" i said with a fake laugh.
Everyone still sat in uncomfortable silence. "I'll be back in a minute. I just need freshen up. These fries are so greasy" i said leaving the booth quickly.
I saw El about to follow me before she sat back down. I ran into the toilet and leaned over the sink.
"God, what the hell is wrong with you? One little thing and you break? Just... Just pull yourself together. You've got this" i said to myself as i took several deep breaths.
I washed my face under the tap and tried to keep myself together. Today wasn't about me, it was about El. "Just... Keep it together. Keep it together" i mumbled.
After a small while of trying to get my act together, i finally got the courage to go back to the booth. As i walked back into where El, Mike and Will were, i couldn't see them.
I looked around to see an old janitor mopping up the rink. I looked curiously to see what happened but looked away when i saw Will and Mike running towards me. They looked anxious.
"Joy! Did you see El?!" Mike exclaimed. "What? What are you talking about? I thought she was with you?" i exclaimed back. "No... Something happened. Something bad happened" he said.
"What do you mean something bad?" i questioned. Will and Mike both looked at each other and stayed quiet.
"Mike. What do you mean something bad happened?"
I was beyond mad. I felt as if my blood was physically boiling. Mike and Will told me that El had been lying. She wasn't actually fitting in as well as she said she was.
This girl Angela and some of her friends have been bullying El. When i was in the toilet, apparently they embarrassed her in-front of everyone in the skating rink by throwing a milkshake on her and filming it.
I looked everywhere trying to find El but she was nowhere to be found. I was about to give up on looking until i spotted her walking towards a group of people.
I realised quickly that they must have been the ones bullying her. I made my way towards them as i began hearing their conversation.
"Angela!" El shouted as she stormed towards the group of people. "Look who it is" Angela said. "You ruined my day!" El exclaimed.
"Oh no! Did we embarrass you in front of your boyfriend?" the girl asked sarcastically. "I want you to say sorry to me, and i want you to tell my sister that it was just a joke, and that we are really friends" El said.
"Or what? You gonna hurt us with your mean stare again?" the girl said sarcastically as all her friends laughed.
"Sorry you can't cry to teacher today. You'll just have to cry to your daddy instead. Oh wait, you can't do that either."
My heart dropped as i heard her say those words. I saw Els heart break when i looked at her. Suddenly, all those sad knots in my stomach quickly turned to anger.
The one thing keeping me going was knowing that El was okay. That she was happy in Lenora. And i wasn't going to let one snotty, teenage, know it all, ruin that.
It was as if my brain had turned off. I was so angry. I began storming towards Angela and her group of friends. As i did, i grabbed someone's roller skate from them.
"Angela!" i called out as she turned around. Without hesitation, i whacked her in the head with the roller skate. She fell to the ground as all her friends circled around her.
Once i did hit her, i finally snapped out of it. I looked down at the roller skate which was covered in blood. I then looked back at the girl i just hit who had a stream of blood rushing down her face.
I looked behind me to see everyone gasping and staring at me with fear. I dropped the roller skate realising it happened again. The same thing that happened with Steve and Jake. It all went black. I went dark.
El, Mike and Will ran over to me and stood frozen in fear when they saw what i had done. "Oh my god" Will mumbled. "Joy... What did you do?" Mike muttered.
Tears began forming in my eyes as i looked to El who was looking at me in complete fear and shock. Angela was screaming as blood continued streaming down her face.
My hands began shaking as i felt everyone's stares burning my skin. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.
There is something very wrong with me. And everyone knows it.