A/N:
Fyi, this is quite a long chapter.
The school day started out pretty normal, of course apart from the glaringly obvious fact that Will wasn't there but maybe that would change when they went into their 2nd period class - Biology.
Their biology teacher was Mr Clarke. He was a kind, pleasant man with a thick moustache and a love for science. Grace always enjoyed his class because not only did he teach Biology but also he was the AV Club supervisor. They'd been waiting on his brand new ham radio to arrive for ages.
Will was yet again a no show for Biology. Grace had a sinking feeling, and not like the one that she got when she looked at Mike. It was a bad feeling.
A feeling as if something was wrong.
As if there was a reason for Will being gone. More than just him being late.
For the first time, she found her self losing concentration and phasing out. It was as if Mr Clarke's voice became a blur. Was Will alright? Was he really late? Was he ditching school? Did Troy or James hurt him? Did his dad come to visit him?
Nah no way. Grace didn't know Lonnie very well, but she remembered him calling Will horrible things just because she was his best friend. He called him gay, queer - she didn't want to even think about the other thing he called him. She remembered comforting him in Castle Byers when he broke down, telling her about the unspeakable things his own dad called him. Grace said that Lonnie 'could go fuck himself' - she wasn't sure what it meant exactly but she knew that it was definitely something very rude. She remembered Will laughing at her swearing and she felt so happy that she could cheer him up, even if it was just a little bit.
The curious girl looked around the class room, her classmates looked as zoned out as her but of course for entirely different reasons. She sat at the front of the class, right at the door - usually beside Will. Grace turned to her left and saw Mike deep in concentration. He looked as if he concentrating on the subject Mr Clarke was talking about. She didn't expect him to turn and look at her (which unbeknownst to Grace he had been doing every 5 minutes or so).
Both of them quickly averted their gaze to something else as soon as their eyes locked but that didn't stop them from meeting again.
This time, Grace offered a slight smile which he graciously returned. Their small interaction was interrupted by the ringing of the bell, signalling that recess had begun. Mr Clarke continued to assign homework which would help them revise for an upcoming test however Grace wasn't worried about it at all. She was naturally amazing at Biology and was at the top of the class.
As students continued to flood out the classroom, the group approached Mr Clarke's desk. "So, did it come?" Mike excitedly said, prompting for Mr Clarke to tell them the news they had been waiting for. "Sorry kids. I hate to be the barer of bad new but-"
The prepared themselves for him confirming the new radio hadn't arrived yet. "It came!" Their faces lit up as if it was Christmas morning and they followed their teacher to the AV room, where he'd already set it up. They rushed up to it, with Mike immediately taking a seat and putting on the headphones seeing as he was the president.
"The Heathkit ham shack, ain't he a beaut?" Mr Clarke waited at the door with crossed arms, making sure they didn't do anything to accidentally damage it. "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing," Dustin adjusted the frequency.
"Think bigger,"
"California?" Lucas questioned.
"Bigger."
"Australia?" Grace guessed, the man nodded causing the kids to chuckle in excitement. She felt bad that Will was missing out on this, he'd been desperately waiting for it's arrival too. "Imagine if Will was here," she imagined with Lucas adding, "Oh man! When Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit!-"
"Lucas!" Mr Clarke scolded. "Sorry," he apologized, but the man wasn't really angry at him and put on a smile, probably reminiscing of his childhood.
"This is Mike Wheeler, president of the Hawkins Middle AV Club-" Grace interrupted his fake Australian impression by grabbing the headphones. Mike, surprised by her actions, started laughing, "what are you doing?"
"Hello everybody, this is Grace Knightwood, co-vice president of the Hawkins Middle AV Club-" Dustin interrupted this time, once again grabbing the headphones and moving closer to the mic. "This is Dustin, and this is the secretary and treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" The group burst out laughing at his goofy Australian accent. Lucas went to go for his turn. Just as he began to address any possible listeners, Principal Coleman stepped into the AV room.
"Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Grace, Lucas and Dustin?"
The walk to the principal's office confused about what could happen. Panicking thoughts started rushing through her mind. What if this was about Will? Was he ok? Policemen were following behind them, what if he was in trouble with the law? What if he was missing.
Grace shuddered at the thought.
They were directed to a small couch as the policeman and the man Grace identified as Sheriff Hopper sat across from them.
"I'm afraid to inform you, but as of this morning Will Byers has been missing." Grace froze. She literally couldn't speak. She was stuck staring at the ground. The boys were shocked and confused.
"Do you have any idea of his possible whereabouts?" The younger officer said, adjusting himself in his chair. The boys broke out into a squabble about how they'd last seen him the night before, about how he takes Mirkwood, but Grace was frozen.
"Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, alright? You." Hopper was referring to Mike, who nodded back at him. "You said he takes what?" "Mirkwood," Mike replied
"Mirkwood?" "Yeah." The older man turned to his colleague. "You ever heard of Mirkwood?" Who in turn said, "I have not, that sounds made up to me." Lucas answered, "no, it's from Lord of The Rings-" "The Hobbit," Dustin interjected. Lucas grew agitated, "it doesn't matter!" Mike was shaking his head, annoyed with his friends bickering. Grace still couldn't speak
"He asked!"
"He asked!" The dark skinned boy imitated. "Shut up guys!" Mike tried to stop the argument. "Hey, hey,hey! One at a damn time!" Grace finally spoke up. "Mirkwood. It's a real road, it's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet." She was practically emotionless. She had just found out her best friend was missing for Christ sakes!
"Yeah, all right, I think I know that-", Mike interrupted, "we can show you, if you want-", "I said that I know it!"
"But we can help look." "No." Grace had completely zoned out yet again. She just wanted to sleep. Hopper instructed the kids to go straight home after school. She didn't care, all she wanted was Will to be safe. The Sheriff made a reference to LoTR which he was corrected by Dustin saying it was The Hobbit. A fight broke out between Lucas and Dustin again where Grace and Mike were awkwardly stuck in the middle. She was frozen, he was contemplating.
She didn't snap out until Hopper stood up and loomed down at them. He was a large man and could be quite intimidating when he wanted to be.
"Do I make myself clear?"
All four kids nodded in agreement, with the boys actually replying with answers.
After that they went on with their day. But Grace barely talked. She was stuck thinking about how she could've helped him if she cycled home with him that night. She could've made sure he got home safely. Ironic how Dustin and Will had waited for her to make sure she was alright but she couldn't even cycled a few streets down to make sure he was the same. Her day passed and the group cycled home together.
As soon as she went in she ran up the stairs and immediately went to her bed. Not sleeping, just staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that had happened today.
Shortly after, she heard a knock at the door. "Come in." She stated. Her dad peeked through the door, "Joyce phoned about Will, I'm sorry Grace." He moved over and sat beside her on the bed. "They'll find him. Joyce is a strong woman, I've known her for years, she won't stop until she's got her son back." Her father comforted, as he stroked her head. Grace couldn't help but feel bad. She barely saw her dad and finally now on his day off he has to deal with her like this.
"How's about I get mom to make your favourite for dinner? To help cheer you up?" Her face lit up.
Sitting up now, she nodded.
Her father kissed her forehead and left the room. After dinner, she laid there for a while, reminiscing on all of the fun times that she and Will had shared. Her train of thought was interrupted however, by her radio emitting Mike's voice.
"Lucas, Grace? Do you copy? It's Mike. Guys?"
Lucas and Grace lived closest to Mike, so usually they had conversations with him over radio more than Will and Dustin due to the strong frequency.
She giggled softly and spoke back, "We know it's you Mike. It's Grace."
"Hey, it's Lucas." A third voice emitted from the handheld radio.
"I know it's you. And say over when your done talking so I know when you're done. Over."
Lucas snarkily replied, "I'm done. Over."
"I'm worried about Will, over." Mike expressed.
"Yeah, this is crazy, over." Lucas rolled over onto his stomach.
"I keep thinking like there's something I could've done to help him, over." Grace admitted while twirling her hair between her fingers.
"I was thinking Will could've cast Protection last night, but he didn't.
He cast Fireball, over." Mike brought up.
"What's your point? Over."
Grace understood exactly what he was referring to, sitting up fully now she replied, "I think I get what you mean, over."
Mike explained to Lucas, "My point is he could've played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party, over." Lucas started to pick up on what he was saying now.
"Meet me in ten, over and out."
Grace started packing a small backpack that carried her radio and some snacks. She didn't know how long they'd be looking for their lost friend for, so she came prepared. The girl put on a black waterproof jacket on top of her dress and cardigan and met up with Lucas, Mike and eventually Dustin.
They cycled down to Mirkwood together, stopping at the crossroad. "Awh man, this is it." There was red and white police tape blocking off a section of the forest. "Hey guys," Dustin started, "do you feel that?" He looked up as a droplet of rain splashed on his face. "I think we should go back.' Their bike lights illuminated the darkness with Mike responding, "no. We're not going back, just stay close." He looked at Grace, who was staring into the woods in front of her.
"C'mon, just stay on channel six and don't do anything stupid." One by one they passed through the police tape, with Dustin lingering behind. Grace turned around to him, "you alright?" He nodded shakily in return and went through a little bit after her. 'Hey guys wait up!"
"Wait up!" He shouted after them, trying to catch up to the others. They ventured deeper through the trees as the rain started getting heavier and heavier. "Will! Will! Byers! I've got your X-Men 134!"
"Guys, I seriously think we should turn back."
"Seriously Dustin? If you wanna be a baby then go home already!"
"I'm just being realistic, Lucas!"
"No, you're just being a big sissy!" Grace rolled her eyes, they really didn't need this right now. Mike was starting to sense something.
"Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? - And we have no weapons or anything?"
"Dustin, shut up," Grace realised Mike had stopped and was staring beside him, trying to locate what he was looking for.
"All I'm saying is, does that seem smart to you?" "Shut up." Mike stopped them in their tracks.
"Did you guys hear that?" They heard a crunching noise coming from one direction so the group simultaneously turned around and found nothing. But they heard it again and when they turned around they were shocked to find something peculiar.
A girl.
A girl with a crew cut, only wearing what seemed to be a yellow top. She was drenched from the rain. The whole group were frozen, staring at her as the rain torrentially poured down.
A/N:
YAY! They met Eleven!!
This is the first 'chapter' done, so the next chap will have a arrow new to the name and will be based off of the 2nd episode.
I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it, I really wanted to display Grace's shock at the disappearance of Will.
I tried to add hints of the Grace x Mike romance that will develop, but this chapter was mainly based on fleshing out her friendship with Will. I was a bit worried I made it seem as if she loves Will but I only meant it in a close friendship way.
Thank you so much for reading! Vote for this chapter if you enjoyed, add to library for updates and give me feedback or suggestions through comments - it really helps me out! :)