DESOLATION
CHAPTER THREE
➝ ONE PHOTOGRAPH
COLLEEN WAS SITTING ON TOP OF HER BED IN ONE OF STEVE'S BLACK LONG SLEEVED SHIRTS THAT HE HAD LEFT OVER HER HOUSE FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE. The shirt went down to about her mid-thigh and she was wearing a matching pair of knee high socks. She was sketching in her note pad, while The Beatles were playing softly in the background on her record player, as she waited for Hopper to pick her up and drive her to school.
Last night, after her fight with Steve out front of Nancy's house — the two best friends ended up walking back to her house and making up. Colleen had finally forgiven him after the third "i'm sorry", and Steve had even stayed over. But he had left early in the morning to go home for school. But once he was gone, Colleen couldn't fall back asleep.
She looked over at her clock and decided that she should probably start getting ready for school, because Hopper needed to stop by the Byers' home before dropping her off at school. So Colleen quickly showered and got dressed for the day, before going downstairs and making a quick and simple breakfast for herself.
About ten minutes later, there was a small knock on the front door. Before she even could get up to answer it— it swung open, revealing Hopper on the other side. He walked into the kitchen where she was getting her things together and he gave her a smile, "Hey there, Col. I'm here."
She turned around, giving Hopper a wide grin in which he quickly returned. He noticed that she seemed to be in slightly better spirits today. The brunette picked up her school bag from the counter top and they headed out of the front door. They climbed into his police car and headed down the street towards the Byers' house.
Hopped parked out front of the house before looking over at Colleen, "I'll be right back. You can just wait in the car if you want to."
She watched from the passenger seat as he disappeared into the house to talk to Joyce Byers about her youngest son's disappearance. Colleen sat impatiently in the car, until about ten minutes passed by and he still never came out. The girl climbed out of the car, closing the door behind her and making her way down to the house.
She swallowed hard before slowly opening the front door and letting herself into the house. It was a small house. A lot smaller than her own, and a little beat up and worn down. But it was still a nice house. It felt... sentimental. She closed to door behind her and walked down the hall, "Hop?"
"Come on, how about a little trust here! What, you think I'm... I'm making this up?" Colleen heard Joyce yell from the living room so she quickly headed in the direction of where the voices were coming from. She walked into the living room to find that Hopper was standing by the house phone with Joyce and her son, Jonathan. She went to school with him, but the two had never crossed paths before. He was a quiet kid, a photographer. He liked to keep to himself. But he was in her art class, he was quite talented.
Hopper's eyes caught sight of Colleen walking into the room, she had both her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes were all puffy from the lack of sleep and all the crying she'd been doing. He knew how hard this had to be for both of them, the not knowing. The mystery. He looked back over to Joyce, "I'm not saying that you're making it up. All I'm saying is it's an emotional time for you."
Joyce fought back a few tears, "And you think I don't know my own son's breathing?" Colleen watched as Hopper's mouth dropped open a bit when he heard that, and that made Colleen bite down on her bottom lip. She swallowed hard, knowing everything that happened to Hopper's daughter... To Sarah. She knew about her last breath, and her last words. Joyce continued, "Wouldn't you know your own daughter's?"
Hopper turned away from them and took a few steps away, making Joyce bury her face in her hands. Colleen took a step forward, noticing the sudden change in his demeanor. She could tell that Joyce had hit a spot that never finished healing, and she knew that he was probably about to lash out. This was why Hopper and Chris worked well together. Because Chris knew when to stay level-headed when dealing with issues, whereas Hopper would usually be punch first, ask question later. Colleen cleared her throat as she moved closer to Hopper, wanting to check on him but that's when the Byers' took notice to the unfamiliar girl in their living room. She clenched her jaw, "Hopper."
Hopper turned around to look over at Joyce and there was something different in his eyes. A pissed off glint, "You hear from— uh, Lonnie yet?"
Joyce sniffled, "No."
"It's been long enough. I'm having him checked out," And without another word, he placed his hat back on his head and headed towards the front door. The brunette widened her eyes slightly as he walked by her, "Come on. Let's go, Colleen."
Hopper ignored all the shouts and pleas from Joyce as he stormed out of the house and made his way down the driveway to where he parked his truck. Colleen was trailing behind him, silently, but she heard footsteps coming behind them. She looked over her shoulder to find that Jonathan was running after them shooting, "Hopper! Hey, Hopper. Let me go... To Lonnie's."
Hopper dug into his shirt pocket for his pack of cigarettes and lit one up as Jonathan explained his case. "You know, if Will's there, it means he ran away. And if he sees the cops, he'll think he's in trouble. And he'll— He'll hide." Jonathan stammered, "You know, he's good at hiding."
Hopper took a step forward and grabbed his arms, making Jonathan look up at him. While Colleen stood back and watched by the car. "Well, cops are good at finding. Okay? Stay here with your mom." Hopper lightly punched Jonathan's shoulder before taking a step away from him, "She needs you."
The radio buzzed over the intercom, "Chief Hopper. We need you down at the Station."
Hopper turned around to look at his truck when Colleen licked her lips, "I can just walk to school, Hop. It sounds pretty urgent."
Hopper let out a deep sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, before nodding his head. He knew that Colleen was capable of getting to school on her own, and she was more than capable of handling herself but he still worried about her. And he worried even more since her dad was missing. He felt responsible for her, mainly because he knew that Chris would kick his ass if anything bad happened to his daughter. He turned around and pointed in her direction as he stepped closer to her. "Be safe. Okay? I love you, kiddo."
She smiled, "I love you too."
Colleen watched as Hopper climbed into his police truck and drove off down the street towards the station. She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets and started to walk down the driveway but Jonathan called out for her, "Hey, um. Do you, uh— did you want me to drop you off at school?"
Colleen turned around, "Don't you need to stay here? With your mom?"
Jonathan shrugged his shoulders, taking a few more steps closer to the girl. He gave her a shy smile, "By the time Hopper would get down to my dad's house, Will could already be gone. But I know that he won't run from me. My mom, she uh, she can take care of herself."
He pulled out his car keys from his pant's front pocket and nodded his head over to where his car was parked. So Colleen gave him a devious grin. She chuckled as they made their way over towards the car, "Wow, who would have thought that Jonathan Byers was actually a badass?"
"I'm not a badass," Jonathan replied.
She opened the passenger seat door but didn't get in, she only stared back at him. His eyes were staring at the ground and she chewed on the inside of her cheek, "You're wrong. This is exactly what badasses do. They do whatever they need to, to save who their loved ones."
Jonathan looked over at the brunette, the sun was shining brightly in her face and her nose was all scrunched up from squinting. He let out a deep breath, "I'm sorry about your dad."
"Hopper will find him, and he'll find Will too."
The two of them climbed into his car and she pulled the seatbelt across her chest before Jonathan took off down the road towards the school. They sat there in complete silence for a few minutes, not really knowing what to talk about. But Colleen noticed his camera sitting down on the floor of the front seat, so she picked it up. A wide grin appeared on her lips as she looked around through the lens, before she snapped a picture of Jonathan when he glanced over at her. And a bright red blush creeped up onto his cheeks, almost immediately. She let out a small laugh as she looked at his rosy cheeks, "Aw, is the photographer a bit camera shy?"
Jonathan looked away from her, trying to hide the blush that was growing on his face. He shook his head, his dark brown eyes glancing over towards her for a moment before looking back at the road. "No, it's just, that I— I think that every picture has a meaning. I take my time with the pictures. Wait. Watch. I make sure to take it at the right moment... to capture the right moment."
Colleen leaned her head back against the headrest and gave him a wide smile, trying to stifle a laugh. "Oh, I see. So you're one of those photographer guys. Every picture has a story." Jazzed fingers.
Jonathan snapped his eyes over to her, "Do I seem like one of those guys to you?"
She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear before giving him an endearing smirk, "I haven't quite placed my finger on you yet."
"So you seem close to Hopper. You act like he's part of the family." He pointed out nonchalantly, pulling to a stop at the red light around the corner from the school. Colleen stared out her window, still squinting her eyes from the sunlight. And Jonathan cleared his throat as he continued, "He seems like he really cares about you."
Colleen smiled softly, "Hopper is my family. I've known him my entire life. Every memory that I have, he was there. He's practically my uncle. He was my dad's partner before he became the chief, they graduated from academy together."
He pulled up outside of the school and parked the car on the sidewalk and Colleen looked over at him, "Thanks for the ride, Byers."
Jonathan smiled back, "No problem."
She got out of the car and gave him a small wave as he drove away to park, but before she could even head towards the school, she heard people shouting her name. She looked over to find Steve and Lizzie walking over towards her, followed by his two friends. Tommy H was hooting into the air, his arm wrapped lazily around Carol's shoulders. Steve gave her a confused look, "What were you doing with the Byers' Freak?"
Colleen rolled her eyes at Tommy when he started laughing obnoxiously at the name calling, "He has a name, and it's Jonathan. God, could you be any more of a cliche dick?"
Carol popped the bubble of her gum and gave her a side-eyed glance, "Ooh, Jonathan."
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Back off, Carol."
Tommy H stepped forward, putting his arm around Colleen's shoulder and pulling her into him. "Don't you worry, Colly. We'll make sure not to hurt the little homo's feelings."
Colleen ripped his arm off from around her and stormed away from the group, grabbing Lizzie's arm and pulling her along behind her. But Steve ran after them to catch up with her, "Colleen! Col, come on. I was only joking. All right? I'm sure... I'm sure he's not a total freak."
"Do you even hear yourself right now?"
Steve raised his eyebrows, "What?"
Colleen shook her head letting out an annoyed huff, digging into her school bag for her pack of cigarettes before lighting one up. She blew out the smoke and looked back over at Steve, "He was just being nice. Hopper had to stop over at the Byers' house this morning since his little brother is missing too. But Hop got called into the station, so that freak offered me a ride."
"I could have gave you a ride."
As if on cue, Tommy walked back over and he crossed his arms over her chest, and leaned to the side as a smirk was lighting up his face. "So you want to give Colly a ride, I don't think her cousin would be too cool with that. Huh, Stevie?"
Steve glanced over his shoulder towards his friend and gave him an eye roll before turning back around to Colleen. "Listen, I'm sorry for offending him, which somehow offended you."
"Nice apology, jackass."
Colleen chuckled at Lizzie's comment and the blonde shook her head. Colleen took a small step forward, "You still don't get it."
She turned back around to start walking away again until he grabbed her arm to stop her. She reluctantly turned back around to look at him with narrowed eyes, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "I'm sorry. I'm a jackass, like Lizzie said. If you want to be friends with the kid, that's cool. Okay? I'll stop being a dick."
Tommy walked up behind Steve and snapped his jacket against Steve's ass, making him turn around and Steve sent him a glare. He made a whipping noise, making all three of the friends roll their eyes. "Loosen the reigns there, princess."
"There are no reigns," Colleen and Steve both snapped back at Tommy in unison. They both had their hands on their hips, with matching scowls. Colleen looked over at her best friend, "He just knows how to listen to his friend when she's telling him to stop being a total dick."
He cracked his imaginary whip again, and Lizzie lunged forward but Colleen put her hand out, stopping her. Steve stepped forward and shook his head, "Walk away, Tommy. We'll see you tonight for the party, all right?"
Tommy nodded his head, putting his hands up in defense before turning around and catching up with Carol and her friend. His arm going back around his girlfriend's shoulders as they walked away. They made their way over to the school and Colleen arched an eyebrow, "So a party, huh?"
Steve grinned widely, "Parents left town for the night, so you know what that means."
Lizzie started dancing obnoxiously, grabbing both of Colleen's hands and forcing her to dance alongside her, "Partaaaaay."
___
Lizzie accompanied Colleen as she went to her locker, "So any news about your dad?"
Colleen shook her head as she pulled out the textbooks that she was going to need for her first few periods and shutting her locker. She hadn't heard a thing. And now with Will Byers missing, she was starting to get scared that something happened to him too. She let out a low sigh, pulling the books to her chest and shaking her head, "Nope. Nothing. Hopper keeps sending out search parties, but he hasn't found anything. What if-"
"No what ifs," Lizzie scolded her friend as they started to walk down the hallway. She looked over her shoulder to find Colleen chewing on the inside of her cheek nervously. So she turned around in the middle of the hallway and grabbed ahold of her arms. "You really think your dad would want you freaking out like this? You need to stay positive. You can't be thinking that the worst is gonna happen. It's Hawkins, nothing bad happens here."
Colleen shifted uncomfortably, "That sounds like one of those cliche lines that they say in horror movies before something bad happens."
Lizzie rolled her eyes, "Well this isn't a horror movie, Cartwell. This is real life, where the worst thing that has happened was..."
But she was cut off by Colleen, reciting what Hopper had told her a million times over the past three days. "Was when an owl attacked Eleanor Gillespie's head because it thought her hair was a nest. Believe me, I know that this town is usually a dry spot. That nothing ever happens. Good or bad. But something did happen. Twice. And my dad is one of them." She explained.
Lizzie let out a sigh, she had no idea how to help Colleen. Nor what to say. She was terrible at sympathy. And she was sure that sympathy was probably the last thing that Colleen wanted from anyone right now. She just wanted to find her dad. And move the hell on.
They turned the hallway corner to find their friends standing with Nancy and her friend, Barb. Steve waved when he saw them and they made their way over to them. Lizzie hugged Barb, "Hey. Sorry I had to cancel last night. My dad needed some help at the shop, he got called into something important. I'll make it up to you, I promise."
Barb shrugged it off with a smile, and Colleen smiled over at her best friend. One thing that no one knew about Lizzie was that she prefers girls over guys. She had never dated a guy and she never showed interest in them, and they always assumed it was because she was just "a stuck up bitch". But in reality, she has had a crush on Barb Holland for years. Ever since Lizzie moved to town three years ago. They were partnered together in science class, and Barb's hair happened to catch on fire. But it was a start of a beautiful friendship, and the budding of a little romance.
Steve wrapped his arm around Colleen's shoulders as he explained to Nancy about his parents going away for the night. "My dad left town on a conference. And my mom's gone with him because, you know— she doesn't trust him."
Tommy laughed, "Good call."
Steve joined in on the laughter before turning back to his girlfriend, "So are you in? Barb is invited too. It'll be low key. It'll just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?"
Nancy let out a hum when Carol caught sight of someone standing behind them. She scrunched up her nose in disgust, "Oh, God. Look."
The entire group of them turned around to find Jonathan Byers standing by the bulletin board, hanging up a poster about his missing brother. Colleen noticed that it was just beside where she hung up the one for her father. Steve had his hands on his hips, "That's depressing."
"Should we say something?" Nancy questioned, turning around to look up at Steve. But Carol countered back, "I don't think he speaks."
Tommy H had his hand leaning up against the wall beside Carol and a wicked grin appeared on his freckled face as a thought came to mind, "How much you want to bet that he killed him?"
Lizzie snapped her head towards him with raised eyebrows, "How much you want to bet that I'll kill you, if you say another word?"
"Come on, dude. Shut up," Steve pushed his shoulder but Colleen could tell that Steve was only saying that because she was standing there. She rolled her eyes and started to walk away from them and over to Jonathan. But Steve called out behind her, "Colleen! Hey, where are you going?"
She made her way over to Jonathan and he turned towards her when he saw her standing next to him. He gave her a shy smile, "Oh, hi."
"Hey," She smiled back as her eyes moved over to the poster that he was hanging up. There were two pictures of Will and she let out a chuckle, stepping forward and pressing her finger against the piece of paper. She turned back around to see that he was watching her carefully, "Did you take these?"
He nodded his head, "Yeah."
She let out a breath as she stepped back, and Jonathan's eyes wandered over to all of her friends who were watching them. Tommy and Carol giving dirty looks. And Steve had his hands on his hips, his eyebrows raised. He looked back over to Colleen and she let out a sigh, "Listen, I'm sorry... about everything. Everyone's thinking about you."
He shook his head, "Everyone?"
"It sucks, I know." She shook her head and ran her hand through her hair, "But I'm here if you ever want to talk to someone. Okay?"
The school bell rang and she turned around to find that everyone was still waiting for her to come back. She looked over at Jonathan one last time and smiled, "I've got to go, I have a Chemistry Test. But I'm sure Will's fine. He's a smart kid. And Hop, he's a good cop. Well, um, good luck."
She started to walk away back towards her friends, but didn't turn away from him, and another smile appeared on Jonathan's face. And he let out a light hum as he nodded his head, "Thanks."
| authors note
Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story so far! Please tell me what you guys think, and don't forget to vote, follow, and comment! I love reading your reviews!