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SHE HAS TO COME HOME SOON.
ISADORA HAD STILL NOT SHOWN UP BY THE NEXT MORNING.
Steve had gone to her house first thing in the morning and when there had been no answer after he had knocked on the front door, he had made his way around the house until he managed to find an unlocked door and once inside her house, he had looked around but had found it was completely empty. Frustrated, he left her house and then drove to Kendra's house to pick her up.
"Hi," Kendra nodded as she got into the car before noticing it was only Steve in the car and she sighed softly, "Isa wasn't home?"
"No, and I'm worried about her," Steve said. Kendra stayed silent as she looked down at her hands and thought about the last time Isadora had disappeared right around Christmas 1983 and no one had heard from her for ages.
"The last time she disappeared was right after her Mum had died —"
"I know. That was right after the lab accident and she disappeared for days," Steve said. Kendra nodded as she looked out the window and sighed softly. No one had known where Isadora had gone, not until Ellie Hopper had been the one to find her. As they arrived at the school, Steve parked the car and the two of them got out and made their way into the school together before spotting Hazel and making their way over to her.
"Hi, Isa isn't with you?" Hazel asked them. Kendra and Steve shook their heads as they joined Hazel by her locker.
"No, she wasn't at her house this morning," Steve said.
"Has Billy shown his face yet? Right now he might be the only person who knows where Isadora might be hiding," Kendra said.
"No, I haven't seen him," Hazel said.
"You really think Billy could know where she is?" Steve asked Kendra.
"It's possible, although after what happened at the dance, I don't know," Kendra said. Steve didn't say anything as the three of them made their way to homeroom, hoping their best friend would show up but Isadora didn't arrive for homeroom and it was so unlike her to skip school, so when she hadn't shown up by lunchtime, Hazel, Kendra and Steve were all worried.
"Is still hasn't shown up to school?" Steve asked, as he joined the girls at their normal table, the blonde's absence obvious. It was weird not having Isadora sitting at their table, eating a salad and arguing with at least one of her friends about whether she ate anything other than salads.
"No and no-one has heard from her. I'm getting really worried," Kendra said.
"I think we have to involve my Dad," Hazel said.
"You don't think —"
"No, don't think like that, Steve. She's going to be fine. She has to be fine," Kendra tried to reassure her friends but she looked down at her lunch before pushing it away. The last time Isadora had disappeared like this had been right after she had learnt that her mother had died in an accident at the Hawkins Lab and Isadora had disappeared for days before she had finally been found by Ellie, who had given no insight into where Isadora had been hiding or what had happened. This time Kendra had a bad feeling that Isadora was going to stay hidden until she was ready to face anyone again and Kendra wasn't sure how long it would be before Isadora would be ready to face anyone again.
"Where did she go after her Mum died?" Steve asked. Kendra shook her head.
"The only person who ever knew was Ellie and she never told anyone else where Isadora was. You know she would probably never speak to us again if she ever found out we knew the truth about what really happened to her Mum," Kendra said.
"She's not going to find out, Ken. I'm going to go and call my Dad and let him know what's going on. He might have more luck finding Isa," Hazel said. Kendra and Steve nodded as Hazel left the cafeteria and made her way out to the phones so she could call Hopper.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Dad."
"Should you be in school?" Hopper asked.
"We're on lunch right now. We need your help, Dad."
"What's going on, Hazel?"
"Isadora hasn't shown up to school today and she wasn't at home this morning. Dad, no-one has seen her or heard from her so we're worried about her. She took off from the school dance last night and just disappeared, and we really need your help finding her," Hazel explained to Hopper.
"Alright, I'll try and find her, but try not to worry, Hazel. She could be staying with her family and might have just taken the day off school," Hopper said.
"She doesn't have any family in town, Dad," Hazel said softly.
"Alright, I'll try and find her," Hopper said. Hazel thanked him before she hung up the phone and made her way back to the cafeteria where chatter about the events that had taken place last night at the dance filled the cafeteria and Hazel walked past a group, she could hear them talking about the fight between Isadora and Hazel.
"She called him a fucking asshole but from what I've heard, it was her who was the asshole," a girl sitting nearby said.
"What makes you say that?"
"From what I've heard, she only slept with Billy because she thought it would make her more popular. If you think about it, it was pathetic really."
"Why did she think it would make more people like her? From what I've heard, most people don't like Isadora Jones."
"You're not wrong," the girl nodded before noticing Hazel standing nearby and immediately her cheeks turned red as the two girls realised Hazel had heard them. As the two girls looked at each other, Hazel shook her head before she walked over to sit down with her friends, who were talking quietly.
"I cannot believe what I just overheard. Have you heard what everyone has been saying about Isadora?" Hazel asked.
"Yeah, it's the talk of the school. Everyone heard what happened at the dance last night," Kendra said, as Hazel looked over to where the two girls were still talking and laughing.
"Let me guess, they're all talking about how pathetic they think Isadora is," Hazel said, as she looked away from the two girls and back towards Kendra and Steve, who nodded.
"Yeah, they have been talking about how Isadora apparently was using Billy to become more popular. The way everyone sees it, she apparently only slept with Billy so people would like her more, which we know isn't the truth. You know, I do think Is was falling in love with Billy and I'm not sure Billy did anything wrong. I don't really know what happened but it almost sounded like Amanda was trying to break them up," Steve said quietly.
"Since when were you on Billy's side?" Hazel asked him.
"I never said that, however, I heard the same thing you two did and it honestly sounded like Isadora didn't even give Billy a chance to explain. I mean, we know Amanda has never liked Isadora and has always bullied her, including doing anything she can to keep Isadora away from Billy. What makes you think Amanda wasn't doing the same last night?" Steve asked.
"You know, if Isadora was here right now, she'd probably make some smart-ass remark asking when you got so smart," Hazel joked, trying to lighten the mood a little.
"Hilarious, but you're right," Steve nodded.
"Well, it doesn't take a genius to work out who started the rumours that have been going around the school today," Kendra rolled her eyes, as she looked over to where Amanda was sitting, the brunette cheerleader looking awfully pleased with herself.
"I don't understand how Isadora is the bad one in this. And are they only saying negative things about her?" Hazel asked.
"No-one has really mentioned how much of an asshole Billy was for making that bet in the first place or for hurting Isadora the way he did," Kendra scoffed.
"Wait, so Billy made a bet that he could sleep with Isadora, broke her heart and yet somehow she's the asshole? That doesn't make any sense," Hazel said.
"Yeah, well everyone only heard what that wanted to. Most people are believing the rumours that were spread," Kendra said.
"How do we even know he made that bet and Amanda isn't lying about that too? You didn't see the look on his face, Billy was hurt when Isadora called it off before leaving the dance," Steve said.
"Has Billy shown his face at school yet?" Hazel asked.
"No, he hasn't," Kendra shrugged. Steve looked down at the plate of food sitting in front of him and scrunched up his nose. A part of him was surprised Isadora had been so quick to believe what Amanda had said, especially since Isadora knew how much Amanda disliked her and hated the fact that Billy had shown interest in the blonde, and he couldn't help wondering if it was Isadora who had been in the wrong this time. As Steve pushed his food around on his plate, around him, he could hear people continuing to talk and whisper about Isadora and Billy, and Hazel frowned as she listened to a group of girls talk about Isadora.
"I wish they would stop talking about her. Everyone is making Isadora out to be the bad guy and she's not," Hazel said.
"We know that, but they're going to believe what they want to believe," Kendra sighed. Hazel nodded as the group finished lunch before they left the cafeteria and went to their last classes for the day. Throughout the rest of the day, Kendra tried to focus on her classes but she was worried for Isadora still hadn't shown up to school and there was also no sign of Billy anywhere either. Throughout the afternoon, the gossip and rumours continued to spread through the school like wildfire and by the time the school day was over, the rumours were wildly out of control, but the friends ignored them as they headed to Hazel's house together, where they found Hopper waiting for them.
"Hi, Dad," Hazel said, as the group walked into the house together and made their way into the living room, "Did you have any luck finding Isadora?"
"I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find her. Is there somewhere she might go? Anyone she might go stay with?" Hopper asked the group.
"Not that we know of. As far as we know, Isadora doesn't have any family in Hawkins and the last time she disappeared like this was after the lab accident in 1983. No one heard from her for days and she never told anyone where she went. The only person who might know is Ellie," Kendra explained.
"I don't know where she is. I heard the rumours going around the school today so I went to the place where I found her last time and she wasn't there," Ellie said, as she walked into the room.
"You knew where she went last time? And what lab accident are you talking about?" Hopper asked, as he looked from Ellie and towards the group. Hazel sighed softly as she and Kendra looked at each other before looked over to where her Dad was sitting.
"The lab accident that resulted in the death of her Mum. All of us know that them saying it was a freak accident was a cover-up for what really happened in that lab but we can't explain any of it to Isadora. She doesn't know about any of it and we all think it's safer if she believes it was just an accident," Hazel said.
"I found her and brought her home last time, but Hazel's right. It's for the best that Isadora doesn't know the truth about what happened," Ellie nodded in agreement.
"Where did Isadora go after her Mum died?" Hopper asked.
"I ... I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and she's not there anyway," Ellie said.
"And we don't know where else she would go. We just know that she disappeared for days, but she has to be somewhere, right? I mean she wouldn't leave Hawkins, would she?" Kendra asked.
"She might. She has lost enough here as it is," Hazel said.
"But where would she go? She already told us that she wouldn't go back to California because it held too many memories for her and I doubt she would just leave Hawkins without saying goodbye to us," Kendra said, as she paced back and forth in Hazel's living room. The group had been so focused on Isadora's disappearance that none of them had really stopped to consider the fact that Billy hadn't shown up to school either.
"You know there's one possibility we haven't considered yet; maybe it's possible that Billy knows where she is," Steve finally suggested.
"Why would Billy know where she is?" Hazel asked.
"It's possible she told him about her secret hiding places," Steve shrugged.
"She hasn't even told us and we're her best friends. Why would she tell Billy?" Hazel asked.
"No, we're not going to Billy for help. He has hurt Isadora enough!" Kendra snapped.
"It may be the only way to find Is," Steve said.
"Okay, none of this is really helping right now. We need to split up and search for Isadora. Steve, I want you and Ellie to check out by Lover's Lake. Hazel, you and Kendra check out the school again. I will check downtown," Hopper told the group, who nodded and split up into groups so they could search for Isadora but it was to no avail for the group had no luck finding her.
"I'm getting really worried. We have searched almost all of Hawkins and we haven't found any sign of her," Kendra said.
"There are a few places we haven't checked yet," Steve told her.
"I know, but I don't think Isa would go to any of those places. And I am sure she definitely wouldn't go anywhere near Hawkins Lab," Kendra said.
"You never know, maybe she did go there," Steve suggested.
"No, I doubt it. It's a condemned location and no-one goes there. Besides, I don't think she would go anywhere near the place where her Mum died," Kendra said, as they walked back into Hopper's cabin. When they arrived, Steve, Ellie, Hazel and Kendra told Hopper how they thought it was possible Isadora went to the lab.
"It certainly can't hurt to check there but I don't want any of you lot going anywhere near that lab," Hopper told them. The group agreed to stay away from Hawkins Lab while Hopper went to check it out but he soon returned and shook his head. By nightfall, there was still no sign of Isadora and her friends were growing increasingly worried but all they could do was hope and pray that Isadora was safe and would come home soon.
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Poor Is 🥺
Also I did change this chapter so Steve would be the one to question if it was possible Billy did nothing wrong this time (because he didn't, not really).
Enjoy! Xo
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