◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
"Something is coming. Something hungry for blood," Michael Wheeler said in an ominous voice. Samantha Hughes was hunched over her character's information sheet, raising an intrigued eyebrow as he went on. She pushed her glasses further up her nose as they began to slip. Mike was looking around at the entire Party, "A shadow grows on the wall behind you, swallowing you in darkness... It is almost here."
William Byers leaned forward, "What is it?"
"What if it's the Demogorgon?" Dustin Henderson asked anxiously.
Sam's eyebrows widened at Dustin's theory, "No! We'd be so screwed!"
"It's not the Demogorgon," Lucas Sinclair told the two friends, trying to calm the latter down.
Mike's hand slammed down on the table, placing down a figurine Sam had yet to distinguish, "An army of troglodytes charge into the chamber!"
"Troglodytes?" Dustin scoffed.
Lucas smiled like a smart-ass, "Told ya!"
All of them chuckled at Dustin's overthinking and Sam's panicking. Sam took her time again to look around the table once more. Dustin, Lucas, Mike, and Will had been Sam's best and only friends since the second grade (well, Lucas joined the Party in third grade and Dustin in fourth, but that was irrelevant). They were her idiot, nerdy boys, and Sam loved them all.
Not that she'd admit that aloud, of course.
They were now reaching hour ten of their Dungeons and Dragons campaign — something the five of them loved more than life itself. It combined fantasy, imagination, combat, critical thinking, and adventure into one, awesome game they could play for the rest of their lives. "Ten hours" be damned. Each member had their own perspective roles and characters. Will (the Wise) was their Cleric, Mike was their paladin (and Dungeon Master), Lucas was their Ranger, Dustin was their Bard, and finally, Sam was their Druid.
"Wait a minute," Mike continued softly, eyebrows furrowing for suspense. "Do you hear that? That... That sound? Boom... Boom... Boom!" Mike slammed his hands on the table, getting Sam to flinch again.
"Michael!" Sam hissed.
Mike smirked at her, "That didn't come from the troglodytes, no. That... That came from something else.
Sam had a bad feeling it was the Demogorgon.
Mike slammed another figurine on the table, "The Demogorgon!"
Everyone began groaning, throwing up their hands helplessly. Sam gaped incredulously at Mike, glasses inching down again. Dustin eyed the game board miserably, "We're in deep shit."
"Will, your action!" Mike called to Will.
Will shook his head in distress, "I don't know!"
"Fireball him!" Lucas shouted.
"Cast protection!" Dustin disagreed.
Will's head darted between the two boys before he locked eyes with Sam. He was wordlessly asking for her input on the dire situation.
That's what Sam liked most about Will. When you're stuck in a group full of boys, they don't really remember that the girl of their group was still there, except for Will. Will, Sam's first friend. Will, the one that was there for her when she had no one. Will, Sam's best friend.
Sam shifted her glasses back up her nose in distress. She frowned, "I— I mean, I don't know. I would fireball, but I think you should cast protection, Will."
"No, Will, screw that!" Lucas yelled again. "You need to fireball him!"
Will groaned, "I'd have to roll a thirteen or higher!"
"Too risky," Dustin shook his head. "Cast a protection spell."
"Yeah, keep yourself safe, Will," Sam pleaded. Dustin was right, it was too risky, and Will could get hurt. Not only that, but the whole Party. It was safer if Will cast protection.
Lucas rolled his eyes, "Don't be a pussy! Fireball him!"
"Cast protection," Dustin argued further.
Mike slammed his hands on the table, gaining the attention of his four friends. Sam gasped at the loud noise. She was about to fuss at Mike again before he interrupted her, "The Demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. Boom!"
"Fireball him!" Lucas turned to Will with wide eyes.
"Another stomp, boom!" Mike continued building suspense.
Dustin began yelling at Will, as well, "Cast. Protection."
"Can we all just take a few seconds to calm down?" Sam tried offering peace, but of course her voice went unheard.
Mike lurched forward with a glare, "He roars in anger!"
Then, Mike, Lucas, and Dustin were all yelling at Will over each other. Sam had given up trying to calm everyone down, now scratching her arm nervously and watching the anxious Will make his decision. She knew that all the shouting voices weren't helping at all.
Finally Will rolled the dice, "Fireball!"
Instead of rolling it onto the table, Will must have underestimated the strength of his throw. The dice slid across the board and onto the floor, location unknown to the whole Party.
"Oh, shit!" Mike called. He and everyone else shot out of their chairs to look for where the dice went.
"Where'd it go?" Lucas searched.
Sam crouched down to look under Mike's stairs, "See, look what you guys did!"
"What we did?" Mike scoffed at the girl.
"Yeah!" Sam turned to argue with him. "If you guys weren't freaking Will out, his throw wouldn't have thrown like a spaz!"
Mike rolled his eyes, "That wasn't our fault!"
"Is it a thirteen?" Dustin questioned anxiously, watching his friends search for the dice.
Lucas lifted up one of the chairs, "I don't know!"
"Where is it?" Will checked around.
Dustin put both of his hands in his hair, pacing back and forth, "Oh, my god! Oh, my god!"
"Mike!" Karen Wheeler, Mike's mother, called from upstairs.
"Oh, my god!" Dustin continued.
"Can you find it, yet?" Lucas asked Sam, Mike, and Will.
"Mike!" Mrs. Wheeler tried to gain Mike's attention again.
Sam furrowed her eyebrows, "We can't find it."
Mrs. Wheeler opened the basement door with a hand on her hip, "Mike!"
Mike, in return, threw his arms up, "Mom, we're in the middle of a campaign!"
"You mean the end?" Mrs. Wheeler mimed pointing at a wristwatch, suggesting Mike look at his own. "Fifteen after."
Mike threw his head back, running up the basement stairs to try and convince his mom for more time. Back downstairs, the remaining Party continued looking for where the dice went.
"Oh, I got it!" They heard Will exclaim. He stood up with dice in hand. "Does the seven count?"
Lucas tilted his head, "It was a seven?"
Will nodded.
"Did Mike see it?" Sam asked the boy.
Will shook his head.
At the same time, Sam said, "Yes," while Lucas said, "No."
They whipped their heads to look at each other, Sam incredulous that Lucas wanted to lie, and Lucas with a wide-eyed gaze that couldn't believe the opposite.
Sam tried, "Luc—"
"It doesn't count," Lucas cut her off with a pointed tone. Sam opened her mouth to argue further, before realizing it wasn't worth it. She sighed like a disappointed mother, shook her head, then gave up.
Sam put on her jean jacket, yellow bomber jacket, and her backpack. She began heading up the stairs with the rest of her friends before Dustin stopped them.
"Yo, hey, guys," he held up a pizza box with one last slice in it, "does anyone want this?"
"No thanks," Sam responded, at the same time Lucas and Will deadpanned, "No." They all turned around again to successfully make it up the stairs this time.
As Sam was walking out of the Wheeler residence, she found Mrs. Wheeler cleaning up the kitchen. Sam sent her a friendly smile and wave, "Thanks for having us over, Mrs. Wheeler."
"Any time, Sam. You're always a pleasure to have around," the mother turned to Sam with an adoring face. "Are those boys still treating you right?"
Sam shrugged, unsure, "They're still treating me like normal, I guess?"
Mrs. Wheeler always seemed to worry about the boys' friendship with Sam — since she was the only girl in their group and didn't have much of a female influence in her life. Ever since Mike, Will, and Lucas pulled out one of Sam's baby teeth out with a door and string, Mrs. Wheeler was worried about their effect on Sam.
It was, of course, Dustin's brilliant idea to finally get Sam's last, lose tooth out of her mouth so they could score money from the "tooth fairy" and use it towards the arcade. Will tied the string around Sam's tooth, Mike held her still, then Lucas slammed the door shut. They were successful in getting her tooth out, but that wasn't the actual problem, in the end.
The boys thought Sam was dying because of how much blood Sam was losing, and that's how they found out Sam fainted at the sight of blood. Then they really did think she died. Mike's mom thought the boys attempted murder, and ever since then they were dubbed "bad influences" on Sam.
Sam didn't really blame her. The boys truly were idiots.
Mrs. Wheeler sighed, "I worry about you, Sam."
"Most people do," Sam grinned. She continued for the garage door again, "Bye!"
She finally made it to their garage where Mike, Will, and Lucas were waiting for her. Mike was still upset about the campaign being cut short, telling his friends they needed to play again and soon.
Sam just stayed quiet and listened to Mike rant before Dustin was coming outside as well. He had seemingly given up trying to hand out the last slice of pizza, because he was now eating it for himself.
"You know, Specks is the only person in this world who has manners, anymore," Dustin said, shutting the garage door.
Sam would've rolled her eyes, but she was accustomed to that nickname for herself. Ever since she found out her eyesight was jack shit in the fourth grade, she'd been wearing her stupid glasses ever since. The frames were round (not those nerdy circles that made you look like a dweeb) with a full rim in the color brown.
Then, Dustin pointed at Mike with, "And there's something wrong with your sister."
Mike sighed exasperatedly, "What are you talking about?"
"She's got a stick up her butt," Dustin replied.
Lucas nodded in agreement as he got on his bike, "Yeah. It's because she's been dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington."
"Yep. She should start hanging out with Sam's sister and her friends," Dustin hopped on his bike as well. Sam and Will did the same, and the four kids turned on their bikes' front lights.
Sam scoffed, "Steph's friend group is so weird. No."
"And we're not?" Dustin questioned her.
She raised an eyebrow at Dustin, retaliating with, "Yeah, but they spend their time at — like — Jo's dad's repair shop and shit. Trust me. It's weird."
"Either way," continued Dustin, "maybe if Nancy was friends with them, she wouldn't be turning into a real jerk."
Mike frowned, "She's always been a real jerk."
"Nuh-uh," Dustin sent one glance back towards Mike, "she used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder tree campaign."
"Four years ago!" Mike yelled after Dustin as he began peddling out of Mike's driveway.
Dustin's voice was now far away as he replied, "Just saying!"
Lucas sent Mike a nod, "Later."
"Goodnight, Mike," Sam threw a glance at Mike with a friendly smile. "At least your sister doesn't smell like oil."
Then she, as well, biked off to the street where Lucas and Dustin were. They were left waiting, as Will held back for a moment to talk to Mike some more. Sam obviously couldn't see much from the distance she was at, but as she tried squinting, Sam noted the lights began to flicker.
She did not have a good feeling about that.
But Dustin said, "Can he come on already?" and Sam decided to shake her head of the usual, foreboding thoughts.
"Come on what?" Sam snarked, throwing a proud smile Dustin's way.
Not only did she hear Dustin's and Lucas's groans, but Will's as well. Sam saw that the smallest of the bunch had finally joined them in front of Mike's house.
Lucas shook his head, disappointed at Sam's dirty joke. He began riding his bike again and said, "Yeah, okay, let's get out of here."
As the four of them were properly biking down the street, Dustin cursed under his breath tiredly. "This is so not fair!"
"What is?" questioned Sam.
"That you and Lucas live mere houses away, but me and Will have to ride to, like, Narnia!" he complained, sounding more like a kid Holly's age rather than a twelve-year-old. As Sam giggled, the light in front of her bike flickered. It was odd, but she didn't even notice it, really.
Although, that could just be because Sam's smile faltered when she saw her uncle's house. She tried to travel further but couldn't even leave the street with the amount of dread filling her body.
Lucas, Will, and Dustin were all watching Sam worriedly. She still hadn't moved towards the driveway yet, only staring at the house before her.
"You okay, Hughes?" Lucas asked. His tone was now soft compared to a few moments prior.
"Yeah," her tone did not agree. Sam finally decided to peer over at Lucas, "I just... don't want to go back."
Lucas had already figured that was what it was. He and the boys knew all about Sam and her home life. It wasn't that Sam lived in an abusive household, or anything. It was just that she didn't live in her own household.
A couple years back, when Sam was only ten, her parents had died in a bad car crash. December 7th, only four days before Sam's own birthday. Lucas wasn't even involved and he still remembers the day like it was yesterday. He still remembered that look in Sam's eyes, how she refused to eat or move, how the sunshine girl in her was thundered upon for months and months.
Now, Sam and Sam's sister — Stephanie Hughes — lived with their aunt, uncle, and cousin. He's accustomed to hearing Sam's rants about feeling so out of place and that she didn't belong. How they hated she and Stephanie, and Corey was mean to her, and Uncle Daniel claimed Sam was insane, and Aunt Kathryn was too fake to her. Lucas listened to her every time, taking her side no matter what.
Sam just missed her parents. She just wanted her mom and dad back.
"Sorry — Sorry, I'm just being depressing," Sam shook her head, breathing in deeply through her nose. She began riding her bike again, leaving the three boys behind her.
Will tried, "Sam—"
"Goodnight, guys!" she put on a cheery, friendly voice, although she was feeling the opposite. Her eyes were stinging, and she did not want to get upset about this right now.
From behind Sam, she heard a sad sigh. Then came Lucas' voice with, "'Night, Sam."
"Bye, Sam," Dustin intoned.
"Goodnight," Will piped up.
"Stay safe!" Sam called out, trying to forget about the embarrassing occurrence. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"
She waved at the trio before Sam turned around to lean her bike against the front porch. With a sigh, she knocked on the front door belonging to Kathryn and Daniel Gray.
Her mood only depleted further when Corey was the one who opened the door to let her in. Her older cousin crossed his arms, unamused, "You're late."
"Traffic," Sam replied sarcastically in a monotone voice. She brushed past Corey to head up the stairs and run to her room.
She kicked her shoes off and took off her jackets, unfazed by the dead silence her house was settled in. Sam figured Uncle Dan was out "working late," and that Aunt Kat still didn't know what that meant. She also guessed Stephanie was out at either Jo's or Gina's houses, because Stephanie hated being here just as much as Sam did. Sam would be sleeping out every night if she was a teen and her friends weren't boys. Judging by the pounding footsteps, Sam assumed Corey had stomped back to his room to brood further.
Corey Gray was Sam's only cousin. Once upon a time, her Aunt Kat had a brother named Anthony Hughes. Anthony Hughes married a beautiful woman named Diane. Diane and Anthony Hughes had Stephanie and Samantha Hughes. Diane and Anthony Hughes went out on December 7th to buy Samantha Hughes a birthday present.
Diane and Anthony Hughes got into a car wreck and died.
Sam still rode the bike they planned on gifting her, though. She remembered telling her dad how tired she was of having to ride on the back of Lucas' bike all the time when she and her friends went out. Back then, she didn't even know how to ride a bike. Now? Now Sam wished she had never told him anything at all. Maybe then...
It's not your fault, Sam, Lucas' voice rang in her head, quit thinking that.
Bullshit, she told the tiny Lucas speaking in her head. It was all bullshit.
Sam quickly realized it wasn't normal to have "a tiny Lucas speaking in her head" and she's been hanging with those boys for too long. But at least Sam had some good friends, she could be living like Corey.
No offense to Corey or anything, but Sam couldn't understand how he constantly brooded 24/7. Maybe it was because he was always causing trouble at school. Defacing school property and getting into fights with everyone around you must make him sad, Sam guessed.
That story was true, believe it or not. Corey even had gotten held back. In seventh grade. The "middle schooler bad boy" trope just made Sam want to roll her eyes. But then again, everyone in the Gray household was going through something. And Sam was convinced Corey wasn't actually bad; that he was a softie at heart and didn't want anyone to know. One day, Sam would make him crack.
"Can you shut the hell up?" Corey called through the house.
Sam stared dumbfounded at her walls, "I wasn't even making any noise!"
"Your nerdy thinking is audible," he insulted (??).
"That doesn't even make sense!" She rolled her eyes, finally deciding to change in her pajamas and call it a day.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
"Sam!" someone's voice was yelling. "Sammy! Samantha, get up!"
Stephanie threw Sam's sheets to the floor, only receiving a tiny groan from her little sister in return. Stephanie rolled her eyes, going to the side of Sam's bed. She brought up her leg and kicked Sam off the bed, watching as she rolled off with a yelp.
Sam's blonde head shot up, squinting angrily, "What the shit, Steph?"
"Ms. Byers has been calling," Stephanie crossed her arms, unwavering.
Sam stood up, patting down her messy hair, "And you didn't answer?"
"Warren's here and I've got to go before I'm late!" Stephanie bickered.
The younger sister rolled her eyes, now thoroughly annoyed that she was kicked awake for this. Sam argued, "You mean late for stalking a certain trumpet-player's band practice—?"
"Shut up, Samantha!"
"IT'S ASS CRACK OF DAWN, WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING?" bellowed Uncle Dan. Both Sam and Stephanie immediately flinched, the fight draining out of them.
Stephanie turned back to Sam, no longer in a defensive stance. She gestured to the phone in her hands, then, "Answer it."
Sam exhaled, nodding as she took the phone from Stephanie's hands. She watched Stephanie trod out of Sam's room and put on a cheery tone, "Hi, Ms. Byers! Sorry about that."
"Um, it's — it's all good. No worries. Are you... okay? I heard slamming? And shouting?"
"I'm good," Sam laughed awkwardly. She reached as far as she could to grab her glasses from the nightstand, "Did you need anything?"
Sam could hear Will's mom sigh from the other line, "This might sound weird, but did Will come home with you last night? Or do you know where he went?"
The youngest Hughes girl searched her brain to remember, "Um, I actually got home first, so I don't know. Why? Did he not come home?"
"Oh, no, I just... I think he left early for — for school," Joyce's tone was odd, putting Sam on edge. "Thank you so much, though, sweetie."
Sam frowned, "Um, no pro—?"
"Bye," Joyce hung up the phone.
She pulled the phone away from her ear, looking at it in confusion. "Bye?" Sam told no one but herself.
Stephanie popped into Sam's room again, scaring her little sister for a second time, "Well? What did she want?"
Figuring it best not to pick another fight with Stephanie for scaring her again, Sam just recuperated quickly. Throwing the phone back at Stephanie, she said, "Will didn't come home last night."
Sam tried keeping the shakiness out of her voice, but it managed its way in there anyways. She had been feeling off about something since last night, and now Will went missing? Sam didn't have a good feeling about this.
"Oh, shit," Stephanie's demeanor changed, morphing into shock. "Mini Byers?"
Sam nodded, worry increasing by the second as she thought more and more. "Y-Yeah, but... but Ms. Byers said he probably went to school early..."
Stephanie could hear the unfaithfulness in her tone, and Sam knew she could, too. Not even Ms. Byers sounded convinced at the excuse. Sam was smart enough to understand social clues, even through a phone. Something was wrong.
SomethingwaswrongSomethingwaswrongSomethingwaswrongSomethingwaswrongSomethingwas—
"Well, he probably did then, yeah?" dismissed Stephanie, trying to calm her younger sibling down. She even ruffled Sam's hair to drive the point further. "Get ready for school before you're late, too."
To change the subject from being tense, Sam laughing shakily and snarked, "Well, I don't have to get anywhere early because my crush has morning band practice—"
"I'm leaving now!"
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
Stephanie didn't know how to drive. Seriously. Like, she's taken her driving exam three times and failed all three times. She wasn't legally allowed to drive, so all Gray-Hughes kids had to find their own form of transportation. Usually, Stephanie rode with her friend Jo to school, but on days like these — where Stephanie wanted to watch the band practicing for no particular reason whatsoever — Stephanie carpooled with her friend Warren Aquino. He was a drummer in the band, so he usually notified Stephanie on the days they had early practices.
Obviously, both Sam and Corey were under the age of sixteen, so they couldn't drive either. Aunt Kat and Uncle Dan both had to get to work (aka, they didn't feel like driving the kids to school), so both of them rode their bikes to school — separately and respectively. They left the house at separate times so Sam could bike to school with her real friends that actually could stand her.
Today, that group consisted of Lucas, Mike, and Dustin. Sam tried really hard not to think about how Will didn't join them, but it obviously didn't work.
"Did you guys get a call from Will's mom, too?" Sam asked anxiously.
Dustin shrugged, "I think so, but she just told my mom something about leaving early for school."
"Yeah, same here," answered Lucas. "She's probably right, too."
"I don't know," Sam continued warily. "Something doesn't... feel right."
Unsurprisingly, she heard Mike make a little noise as he rode next to her. "Something doesn't 'feel' right?" he asked in a deadpan tone.
At the reminded of how crazy Sam sounded — how crazy she was — Sam deflated in defeat. "Yeah. Or something. I don't know."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Sam," Lucas tried calming Sam down, as much as it didn't work.
Sam frowned, looking at the dirt beneath her before she hopped off her bike and chained it to the bike rack. Mike finished locking up his bike first, scouting the outside area for Will.
"That's weird," Mike commented. "I don't see him."
Lucas continued brushing their worries off, "I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again."
"Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz," Dustin agreed.
"But doesn't he usually tell us good morning, or something?" Sam pinched at her skin. "I mean, it's Will."
Lucas began walking backwards to face Sam, "The same Will who's probably studying for a pop quiz. He's fine, Sam."
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen," a monster by the name of Troy Walsh yelled for everyone to hear. He smirked at the Party of friends, "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show."
Troy Walsh. Just the sound of his voice made anger crawl up Sam's spine. She turned around to look at his ugly face. Troy glanced at his best friend, James Dante, "Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight, Annie, Frogface, or Toothless?"
He gave each one of them a punch when he reached their designated title. Sam, of course, was "Annie" because she was an orphan because both of her parents were dead. Sam had to give it to them, it was kind of a clever nickname. But only kind of.
James put on a thinking face. His eyes darted between the group of four, "I'd go with Toothless."
"I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in," Dustin tried to defend himself. "It's called cleidocranial dysplasia."
"'I thold you uh million thimes,'" James mocked Dustin's lisp. Sam wanted to cut his tongue from his mouth.
Troy pointed to Dustin, "Do the arm thing."
Dustin glared back at their bullies, and the expressions of his other friends weren't too far off. Sam held an empathetic frown, "Don't do it, Dustin."
"Shut it, Four-Eyes!" James yelled at Sam. He took an intimidating step forward, causing Sam to take one back. The boy seemed satisfied at Sam's quick retreat, nodding back at Dustin, "Do it, freak!"
With a defeated sigh, Dustin shrugged off his brown corduroy jacket and backpack. He twisted his arms into each other, showcasing his lack of collar bones.
Troy and James gagged when they heard his other bones cracking, as if they didn't force Dustin to do it.
"God, it gets me every time," Troy groaned, beginning to walk inside the school. As he and James did so, they split the group of four in half by shoving Sam and Mike.
As they got further in the distance, Sam could hear Troy yell out to Sam. "And tell your psycho cousin hi for me, Annie!"
Sam frowned, stepping forward. She was unfortunately stopped by two pairs of arms grabbing her own and pushing Sam back. Sam sent Lucas and Mike a glare.
Troy wasn't allowed to say shit about Corey. Sure, Sam thought he hated her and, sure, Corey was mean to her 24/7, but if someone other than her or Stephanie dared to say something bad about him... Well, that's just crossing the line.
"It's not worth it, Sam," Mike tried to console.
Lucas shook his head, "Assholes."
Dustin bent over to pick up his belongings, and Sam tried to lift everyone's spirits. "I think it's kinda cool," she complimented him.
Mike shot both her and Dustin a smile, "Yeah! It's like you have superpowers, or something. Like Mr. Fantastic."
"Or Ms. Marvel!" Sam peered forward, head popping up from the side of Mike.
"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it," Dustin dismissed any attempts to make him feel better. The group of four started walking for the school again, Will still nowhere in sight.
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
The bell rang, signaling the end of Mr. Clarke's science class for the day. As most of his students began to pack his bags, Mr. Clarke tried to continue talking while they were still in his class.
"Remember," he announced, "finish Chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover Chapters 10 through 12," he began trailing off as he realized none of his students were listening to him. Mr. Clarke frowned at the door they all exited, "It will be multiple choice with an essay section."
Sam and the rest of her friends waited until Mr. Clarke was finished talking to eagerly walk up to his desk. Their teacher was met with four excited smiles staring up at him.
"So, did it come?" Mike asked, gaining Mr. Clarke's attention.
"Sorry, boys," Mr. Clarke frowned, and so did Sam before he remembered she was there, "and girl. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but..." a smile replaced his frown, "it came!"
The four friends wasted no time in sprinting to the AV room. Mike opened up the door, face brightening up at the sight of what they'd all been waiting for. The Heathkit ham shack.
"Yes!" Mike cheered, sitting in the chair behind it. Sam, Lucas, and Dustin were right behind him, inspecting everything they could.
"The Heathkit ham shack," Mr. Clarke revealed. "Ain't she a beaut?"
"Woah," Sam stared at it in awe. So overcome in her awe, Sam had no problem in completely shoving Mike out of his seat so Sam could sit down.
She's not usually that type of person, but Sam was also the biggest tech freak out of her whole friend group. Science and math were her things, and she understood the subjects like breathing. Devices like radios and computers amazed her to no end. Sam didn't even notice she had pushed Mike, really. The Heathkit ham shack was just so cool. She picked up a pair of blue headphones with delight.
Dustin turned the radio on with one of the knobs, "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing."
"Think bigger," Mr. Clarke smiled.
Lucas glanced back at him in disbelief, "California?"
"Canada!" Sam guessed, putting the headphones over her ears.
"Bigger," Mr. Clarke repeated.
Mike turned around in their seat to look at his teacher, "Australia."
Mr. Clarke nodded, amping up the kids' excitement.
"Oh, man!" Lucas exclaimed. "When Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit!"
"Lucas," Mr. Clarke scolded him for his language.
Lucas didn't seem sorry at all, "Sorry."
Dustin chuckled while Mike reached for the headphones that Sam was wearing. "Give me that," he snatched them, putting the headphones on for himself. Sam glared at him, but neither of them truly cared. He bent forward — since Sam was sitting in the chair — and picked up the microphone so he could speak to it in an Australian accent, "'Ello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins Middle AV Club."
It was Dustin's turn to steal the headphones now. "What are you doing?" Mike laughed.
"'Ello, this is Dustin, and this is the treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club!" Dustin spoke into the mic, mocking an Australian accent as well. "Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?"
The four friends all laughed together in glee. Lucas went to take his turn with the radio before a knock on the door stopped him.
"Sorry to interrupt," Principal Coleman walked in, followed by two men in uniforms, "but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Samantha, Lucas, and Dustin?"
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
So as it turns out, Sam wasn't so crazy for being worried about Will.
Ms. Byers had filed a missing person's report, because Will hadn't been seen since leaving Mike's house last night. Sam, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin were now squished together on their principal's couch, talking over each other. They were currently being interrogated by the Chief of Hawkins — Hopper.
"— He takes —"
"— we were playing Dungeons and Dragons —"
"— He —"
"— I was racing him for a comic —"
"— He — He takes Mirkwood home —"
"— and now he's gone —"
Chief Hopper sighed, "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, all right?" He pointed at the only girl of the group. Sam nodded nervously.
It probably wasn't the reason he picked her, though. Sam was pretty sure Hopper had a soft spot for her; ever since he had to tell Sam personally about her parents.
She could swear she saw him smile once, but maybe he was just drunk.
"You said he takes what?" Hopper asked her.
"Mirkwood," Sam answered with a nod.
Hopper raised an eyebrow, "Mirkwood?"
"Yeah."
The Chief turned to his deputy, "Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?"
"I have not," he looked up from his notepad. "That sounds made up to me."
Lucas shook his head, "No, it's from Lord of the Rings."
"Well, The Hobbit," Dustin corrected him.
The Sinclair boy turned towards Dustin incredulously, "It doesn't matter!"
Sam and Mike's heads looked forward with matching deadpan expressions, being stuck in the middle of the two. Sam exhaled tiredly while Mike shook his head in annoyance.
"He asked!" Dustin defended.
"'He asked,'" Lucas mocked.
Mike rolled his eyes, "Shut up, guys!"
Lucas and Dustin started reaching for each other, causing Sam to try and push them both away with her arms. She struggled uncomfortably, "Guys, stop!"
"Shut up," Lucas told Dustin.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Hopper broke their bickering up again. "What'd I just say? One at a damn time. You," he nodded towards Sam again.
"Mirkwood," Sam explained. "It's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."
Hopper leaned back in his chair, "Yeah, all right, I think I know that —"
"We can show you, if you want," Mike leaned forward, eager to help search for Will. Sam was worried enough; she couldn't even imagine how stressed Mike was. Will and Mike were each other's first ever friends. Of course Mike wanted to find him.
No, he needed to find him.
"I said that I know it!" Hopper told the boy exasperatedly.
"We can help look, though," Mike added.
"And we're smaller," Sam agreed. "We can reach the places you guys can't!"
Dustin brightened up, "Yeah!"
Hopper huffed, "No."
All four friends gaped, trying to convince the Chief otherwise.
"Yeah, come on —" Mike started.
"No," Hopper cut him off, more firmly this time. "After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."
"The Hobbit," Dustin corrected again.
Lucas leaned across Sam and Mike to hit Dustin, "Shut up!"
Dustin hit him back, causing the middle two to grow annoyed again. They both began to fight each other, accidentally hitting Sam in the face and causing her glasses to fall off.
With a deadpan expression, she slid her glasses back on just in time to see Hopper with an even more peeved face than hers.
"Do I make myself clear?" Hopper muttered incredulously, and the two fighting boys dropped their hands to their laps. The man stood up, forcing the four of them to crane their heads up at him, "Do I make myself... clear?"
Their heads nodded rapidly, "Yes, sir."
"Yeah," Sam mumbled, but immediately after began whispering, "We can stop by Castle Byers after school —"
"I heard that, Samantha."
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
Sam had her head in her locker as she tried not freaking out about Will's disappearance. While she knew Ms. Byers can be quite overprotective, Sam really meant it when she said something didn't feel right. It was starting to freak her out.
The fluorescent light right above Sam started flickering the more she thought about Will. Sam slowly looked up, confused by the intermittent electricity. Then, wanting to know if anyone else was perturbed by this, Sam glanced down the right-side of the hallway. It seemed as if no one else but her was on edge today. Why did this —
"Hey, Hughes!"
With a tiny yelp, Sam whipped around in the other direction she hadn't looked yet. To her left, Sam was face-to-face with a taller, sandy-haired boy that wore a friendly smile. Although, it faltered at Sam's freak-out.
"Agh!" squeaked Sam, kind of flailing but trying to straighten up. "Zim — I mean — Justin! You — I — shit!" Sam attempted to be as normal as possibly, leaning against her locker. This caused a strand of hair to fall in front of her face. Sam blew it away, then forced a smile. "Hi. What's up?"
Justin Zimmerman. Friends called him "Jay." In the seventh grade along with Sam. Birthday was July 16th. Quarterback on the middle school's puny football team. In Mr. Clarke's class, he sat promptly one desk in front of Sam. Sam knew this because she spent a lot of her time daydreaming and staring at the back of Justin's head.
The very obvious secret was that Sam's had a minor crush on Justin since last year. During PE, the boys were practicing football while the girls were given no instruction. Sam had been walking the track that surrounded the football field when their football went flying towards her head. The ball never made contact, though, because none other than Justin jumped in front of her to catch it — causing both of them to topple over, and Justin to help Sam stand up again with a friendly hand and perfect smile.
Of course, her friends teased her relentlessly about Sam's behavior around Justin. If they saw her little spasms right now, they'd be dying of laughter.
But they weren't here. Sam reminded herself she had no reason to be nervous.
"Sorry to scare you," Justin apologized, looking as if he didn't know whether to laugh or be sorry.
Sam laughed nervously. "No, you're good, I'm just..." a little on edge. "That was my fault. Anyways." She motioned her hand towards him, as if saying, 'Go on.'
Justin matched her smile, too. Shrugging as he put his hands in the pocket of his jeans. "Uh, I was just wondering... What did Mr. Clarke say about the test? Did you catch any of it?"
Okay, Sam. You're actually doing it. You're actually having a conversation with Justin Zimmerman that lasts more than 20 seconds.
"Oh, the science test?" Sam straightened up off her locker, brightening a little. "Just that we have to finish Chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation 'cus the test is gonna cover Chapters 10 through 12. It's multiple choice with an essay question."
These are the most words Samantha Hughes has ever spoke to Justin Zimmerman.
For some reason, Justin scoffed a laugh at Sam's information. "'Just,'" he repeated, because apparently all of what Mr. Clarke said wasn't simple enough for him. "God, I don't know how you listen in that class, Hughes. It's all, like, in one ear and out the other."
"Well," Sam shrugged, adjusting her backpack strap over her shoulder, "it's not that bad. I kinda like science, so..."
Justin nodded incredulously, "Yeah, you're, like, a genius."
Sam tripped over nothing again, falling into her locker. She straightened up, adjusting her glasses after they slid down her nose again. "You think I'm—?" she cleared her throat, "You think I'm a genius?"
"Um, yeah," Justin scoffed as if it was obvious. "For a girl, you're actually really smart."
Justin's words sounded... weird to Sam, then, but she gave him a pass because Justin Zimmerman was calling her smart.
"I wish I sat behind you," he continued. "That way I could cheat and not have a C anymore."
Sam was a little off-put, though she tried not to show it. She nodded stupidly at Justin, hand clenching around her bag's strap. "If you need help in the class, maybe we can study —"
"Jay, are you coming or what?"
Justin's eyes peered behind Sam, and Sam turned her head to see who the new figure was. Although, Sam didn't need her vision to know that Carrie Cunningham was standing right behind Sam with an impatient glare.
Carrie Cunningham. The evil, younger sister of Chrissy Cunningham. Also in the seventh grade with Sam. Birthday was unknown. Cheerleader for the middle school's puny football team. Hated Sam for no apparent reason. Sam knew this because Carrie was always staring at her, like...
Well, like this.
"My mom's here," Carrie continued, snapping Sam out of her thoughts.
Sam faced Justin again to see him sending her an apologetic look. "Shit, sorry," he commented. "Carrie's my carpool. You understand, right? Same neighborhood and all that."
"Yeah," drawled Carrie in her annoying voice. "Because we both live in Loch Nora."
With a deadpan expression, Sam didn't even face Carrie to say, "Yep, Carrie, I know that. Thanks."
"So you get it, right, Ann— I mean, Sam?" Carrie asked condescendingly. "Or maybe you don't." Then, "Come on, Jay. Let's go."
As she trailed down the hall further, Sam sighed at the abrupt end to her one, successful conversation with Justin. Of course, it was Carrie who interrupted it. A part of Sam was convinced they were in love with each other.
"I'm sorry about her. She just..."
"Hates me?" Sam finished for Justin, although that wasn't what she wanted to say. Is a bitch came to mind first.
Justin deflated, "She doesn't hate you. She's just... protective."
"Right," Sam nodded, unconvinced.
"I'll see you later?" Justin attempted to bring the mood back, but it was long gone.
Sam sent him a tight-lipped smile, "Right. Later, Justin."
Then, Justin surprisingly smiled again. He quickly corrected her with, "You can call me Jay, Hughes."
And surprisingly Sam found her smile again.
"Okay. Jay."
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
The Gray-Hughes family didn't eat meals together, which was a surprise to no one. Usually, Aunt Kat would make food and each member of the family could eat whenever and wherever they pleased. On days Aunt Kat didn't cook, they had to fend for themselves.
Sam had her headphones on, listening to the album "Rumors" by Fleetwood Mac (her favorite band ever, of all time) on her Walkman. Her dad used to be big on music, so Sam ended up getting really into it, too. He was the one that played her all of her favorite artists, and even taught her how to play instruments like the guitar and piano. Anthony Hughes' old guitar was propped up in the corner of Sam's room right now, actually. She inherited the instrument after he...
As Sam hummed along, she idly drew on a blank piece of paper with her alcohol markers and tried distracting herself from all thoughts of Will. Although there was music playing in Sam's ears, she was able to hear a knock on her bedroom door. Pausing the music, Sam took her headphones off and asked, "Yeah?"
"It's me, honey," came the voice of Aunt Kat on the other side. "I made hamburgers, if you're interested."
Sam breathed in, scratching her thigh with the hand placed on her lap. "I'm good. I ate earlier," she answered.
The truth was, Sam didn't eat earlier. Or at all. She couldn't stand to eat knowing that Will was out there, lost. If she ate, Sam would just throw it all back up.
"A-Alright, sweetie. Just let me know," Aunt Kat's voice wavered, and Sam assumed she walked away by the treading of her footsteps.
Sam rolled her eyes and turned towards her desk again. It's not that Aunt Kat has actually done anything wrong (actually, she's the only one beside Stephanie that's nice to Sam in this household), but that's just it — she didn't do anything. She sat back and let Uncle Dan traumatize all of the children. Aunt Kat didn't even know Uncle Dan has been cheating on her for, like, eons.
And just as Sam tried putting her headphones on again, she was interrupted again. She heard her Walkie Talkie making noises on her bed. Sam furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but her internal questions were quickly answered by the sound of Mike's voice.
"Sam? Lucas? Do you copy?" came Mike's garbled voice through Sam's Walkie. Their houses were the only ones in range of Mike's, so most of the time it was just the three of them communicating via radio.
She grabbed her Walkie off of her bed and continued sitting at her desk. As Sam pulled the antenna out, Lucas responded in the meantime.
"Guys—?"
"Hey," Lucas cut Mike off. "It's Lucas."
Sam clicked on her Walkie to add, "And Sam!"
"I know it's you guys," Mike sighed in annoyance. "And say 'over' when you're done talking so I know when you're done. Over."
Sam rolled her eyes. If Lucas was actually present with Sam, they'd be sharing the same, unamused expressions. Her assumptions were confirmed by Lucas passive aggressively adding, "We're done. Over."
"What ever could you want, Oh Dear Mike? Over," said Sam.
"I'm worried about Will," he confessed. "Over."
Sam sighed over the Walkie, "I am, too. Over."
"Yeah," Lucas included. "This is crazy. Over."
Her Walkie was quiet for a little before Mike was speaking again. "I was thinking," he paused, "Will could've cast protection last night. But he didn't. He cast Fireball. Over."
"What's your point? Over," Lucas wondered, and Sam could see the confused face he was making in her mind.
"His point's probably that I'm always right and you guys should listen to me more," answered Sam for Mike, trying to keep the mood light-hearted. "Over."
She heard Mike sighing tiredly. Then, "No. My point is... he could've played it safe. But he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the Party. Over."
And the channel went quiet again, light-hearted mood depleted. Both Sam and Lucas mulled Mike's words over. Will put himself in danger to help the Party in D&D, but then immediately went missing the same night. As Sam had been saying all day, something doesn't feel right.
With an idea in mind, Sam ended the silence with, "Meet outside my house in ten. Over and out."
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
After Sam gathered her things in her backpack, put on a raincoat, and met Lucas and Mike outside her house, the three of them picked up Dustin. It was pitch-black outside now, so the friends turned their bike lights on to help them see. The four of them rode all the way to Mirkwood — the place Will was last seen before his disappearance. Going against all of Hopper's words, they were going to try and search for Will.
As they pulled up to Mirkwood and parked their bikes, thunder sounded and lightning flashed. Looking out at the woods, Sam noticed the police had tried barricading off that patch of the forest. That was unfortunate for the police, because the kids were going to go straight into the woods.
Dustin tilted his head up the sky, holding a hand. A droplet of rain fell onto the lense of Sam's glasses when Dustin asked, "Hey, guys? Do you feel that?" The drizzling started to become more prominent. "I think maybe we should go back —"
"No," Mike immediately cut him off. "We're not going back. Just... stay close."
Mike walked past Dustin, who was rooted in the ground out of fear. Lucas followed Mike, but Sam stayed back to nudge Dustin encouragingly. She motioned for Dustin to join Sam in heading towards the words. "Come on," she beckoned with a kind smile.
Sam was third to duck underneath the police's barricade. As she did so, Mike ordered, "Stay on channel 6. And don't do anything stupid."
Now that Sam was actually in person with Lucas, she was able to share an expression with him about Mike's bossy behavior. As thunder continuously sounded, Sam put the hood of her light blue rain jacket on and broke eye contact with Lucas. They met up with Mike who was deeper in the woods than them.
"Hey, guys, wait up!" called Dustin, who finally grew the nerve to go past the barricades. "Wait up!"
He ran towards the three while Sam and Lucas were turning on their flashlights. Once Dustin finally caught up, they faced the depths of the forest and began their journey.
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
The rain was now hammering down on Sam, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin the further they traveled into the forest. Their flashlights and raincoats were barely any help with how dark and stormy it was, but they searched for Will regardless. Sam's hair was beginning to curl naturally with how the rainwater was drenching her hair.
"Will?!" Mike called out, in search of his best friend.
Sam squinted, trying her best to make out anything here in the dark. The less she could see, the more nervous she became. She even had to take off her glasses, because they kept getting blocked by all the pounding drops of rain.
"Look, you guys know what kind of stuff happens in these woods, right?" Sam spoke up conversationally, pausing their yelling for Will.
Lucas nodded rapidly with, "Oh, yeah. No, I do."
"Honestly, guys," Mike groaned, because of course he did. "The stories of this place are just a load of bullshit—"
"Shhh," Dustin cut him off in a panic, scared that they would be attacked for calling the forest any derogatory terms.
Offended, Mike asked, "What?"
Sam continued walking ahead of Mike and Dustin as they bickered. She led the group, shining the flashlight for them to see, even if she couldn't. Lucas was joining her side, because he didn't want the guys to know he was freaking out, too.
Despite the pouring rain, he was quiet and close to Sam's ear when he wondered, "Which stories did you hear?"
"The one about the boy who killed his family by breaking all their bones and cutting out their eyes," Sam started as Mike and Dustin joined them again, "and that he's been living out here ever since. On certain nights, when the moon is full, you can see his silhouette behind the trees—" Sam wiggled her fingers in Lucas' face to be spooky "—Waah!"
"No, Sam, it's not funny, though," intoned Lucas once he realized Sam was just messing with him. "What if it's all true? And what if Will is next?"
Mike shoved himself in between Sam and Lucas, pushing the two a part. "Speaking of Will," he interjected, now thoroughly annoyed. "Can we keep looking for him?"
"Yeah, before we're next," Dustin mumbled anxiously.
"Sam's just fucking with Lucas, Dustin," groaned Mike, shining his flashlight in Sam's face as payback for spooking their friends.
After she finished yelping and attempting to swat away beams of light, Sam smirked, "Or am I?"
Mike rolled his eyes, ignoring the way his flashlight flickered when Sam swatted her hands. He pointed the light back out towards the woods, and it finally stopped flashing. "Will!" Mike continued searching.
"WILLIAM!" Lucas shouted.
Sam decided to quit being a nuisance and help them with, "Will Byers?!"
"I've got your X-Men 134!" Dustin tried baiting him, if Will was even out there.
The search for Will was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. They were all officially drenched by the rain, even despite their raincoats, and the walk was growing harder the wetter the mud became. A prevalent issue was that Sam still couldn't see, although she had yet to speak up about that.
"Guys, I really think we should turn back!" Dustin shouted anxiously over the thundering weather.
"Seriously, Dustin?" called back Lucas. "You wanna be a baby, then go home already!"
"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!"
Again, Lucas and Dustin were on the opposite ends of the group. Sam and Mike were, like before, stuck in between their fighting. They looked at each other, making the same, very unamused expression.
"No!" yelled Lucas. "You're just being a big sissy!"
Dustin glared back at Lucas, and everyone stared at him as he rambled, "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad?"
"Like the boy in the woods!" Sam piped up, just to scare Dustin further.
"Samantha!" Mike scolded, on his last leg.
"No, Specks is right, Mike!" Dustin argued. "And now we're going to the exact same spot where Will was last seen! And we have no weapons or anything!"
Mike's head was craned in a particular manner. Sam couldn't see the expression on his face from how it was tilted, but it wasn't annoyance in his tone when he said, "Dustin, shut up."
"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?" defended Dustin.
Then Mike shot out a hand in front of Dustin, saying, "Shut up! Shut up, shut up." Sam, Lucas, and Dustin stared at Mike dumbly, confused on what he was getting at. "Do you guys hear that?"
And then Sam did. There was a rustling of leaves and sticks to the left of them. The four Party members whipped to the side, shining their flashlights at the potential threat. Sam's heart dropped down to her feet in fear. Maybe there actually was a boy that killed his family by breaking all their bones.
They shone their flashlights where the sound came from, but none of them could see anything. For just one second, Sam calmed down enough for her shoulders to relax. But that moment was cut very short. Because then there was another rustling that came from their right side this time.
The four of them jumped, flashlights following their line of sight while they were at it.
But this time...
This time, they weren't looking at nothing.
Sam, Lucas, Mike, and Dustin were met face-to-face with a bald girl their age in an oversized Benny's Burgers shirt.
And she looked terrified.
◦☆＊★ ━━━━━━ ★＊☆◦
FIRST CHAPTER OFFICALY DONE HOW DO WE FEEL!!
i know y'all won't be as excited as i am but i've had this in my drafts for, like, two years and was always too scared to post it so...
like i'm literally writing season 4 right now, the rest of the seasons are done
but hey better late than never!
i love samantha hughes and i hope everyone else does too this is just the beginning of her beautiful journey:))
what'd you think?