A/N: Hey! So I forgot to mention this last update, but my update schedule is Tuesday-Friday! I hope you enjoy this part!
*Emma's POV*
I didn't know what to make of what the crew told me, even a few days later, I was still in shock. Being at war with an alternate universe was not something that had ever been on any of my to do lists. I'd asked them all for a little bit of time to just process everything, and so far they'd been fairly understanding of me not wanting to jump straight into anything, although Steve had been a little more pushy about it than the rest of them.
As for college, my parents were breathing down my neck more than ever before, and it wasn't that I didn't like them pushing me it was just that I'd never experienced this sort of thing from them in my life. They'd always trusted in me and let me figure out my way around things, and this made me feel sort of like maybe they didn't trust me as much as they'd made me think after all.
My rock had really been Billy. There's not much to that, he was just always the person that made me feel better about anything that had me feeling down. I had to say, he'd really made a 180 from how he was when I'd first gotten there. Don't get me wrong, he was still kind of an arrogant asshat, but that was just Billy. Now however, he seemed more self aware and took how his actions affected others more into consideration than before, he wasn't as big of a jerk to any of the people that he'd previously been an ass to, and there was a part of me that wanted to think that it was because of something I did, but in reality I think most of it was just him growing up and maturing. Whatever it was, I was just thankful that he was there for me when I needed him.
About a week after the kids and Steve told me about the upside down, things had in fact been getting stranger and scarier, but I still had no idea what to do. I was still angry at them for not telling me before and then only telling me because they needed my help. It was a Friday morning, and I'd unfortunately woken up a little later than usual, which meant I had to have breakfast with my parents.
"Emma, good morning," my dad greeted me as I walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning," I said, faking a smile, taking a my usual seat at the table.
"How are your applications coming along?" my mom asked, "Early decision deadlines are coming up soon and I haven't gotten a single draft of you personal essay."
"It's almost done," I told her, "I don't need help, my english teacher's me with the editing."
"Emma, you can't just keep going about life with an 'I don't care' attitude. You're growing up, so act like it," my dad snapped. I stared at him in shock for a second. I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me.
"I don't think I've ever had an 'I don't care' attitude, dad," I snapped, "I'm trying really hard to figure everything out right now because I know it's important and I'm really stressed about it, and you and mom constantly making me feel like you don't trust me and that you guys don't think I can do this on my own isn't making things any easier for me. I don't think I've ever given you guys a reason not to trust me, so this random burst of distrust is seriously making me feel like shit about myself and the type of relationship I thought we had." I got up and took my backpack from the counter before exiting the house, not giving either one of my parents a chance to respond.
I walked out and made my way to school. The walk gave me some time to cool off and sort of put myself back together before having to deal with school. I walked in and found Billy standing by my locker. I smiled at him and made my way over.
"You're late," he said. I let out a giggle and rolled my eyes at him.
"School hasn't started yet, therefore I am not late," I replied.
"But you usually get here early and you didn't today," he frowned, "I was looking forward to our extra half an hour of hanging out."
"You're ridiculous. I overslept this morning," I laughed, "Plus, you act like we actually do fun stuff during those thirty to forty five minutes when really you just distract me while I fill out my applications."
"Um, yeah and that's pretty damn fun if you ask me," He said. I rolled my eyes at him again and shut my locker door as I began walking to my class, leaving him behind.
"You coming?" I asked, not turning around to check if he was coming because I knew he would. Not too long after, I felt his arm around my shoulder. We were about twenty feet from reaching the classroom when Mike and Will came running.
"Emma, we need to talk," Mike said in a frantic voice.
"Hey guys, I have class right now," I said, "and so do you."
"It's important. Meet us at the field after school," Will said. The two of them didn't give me a chance to answer before they basically ran away from Billy and I.
"Why are those kids so fond of you?" Billy asked as we walked into the classroom and took our seats. "It's so weird to me."
"I don't know," I giggled, "I think it's just because I'm around El and them all the time. They're all super sweet."
The rest of the school day was pretty relaxed, nothing too crazy happened. I was sort of nervous to talk to the kids because I knew it had something to do with the weird monster thing, and I just didn't feel like dealing with anything that day.
"So, you meeting the kids?" Billy questioned as we walked out of our last class.
"I think so," I sighed, "I'm curious as to what they need me for." He nodded.
"I'll be out by my car, don't take too long," he said, giving me no context. I gave him a confused look and he clarified. "I'll take you home and we can work on homework or whatever bullshit you do to keep your grades up," he said. I laughed a little and nodded. We split and I walked to the big field where the kids told me to meet them, and I was kind of shocked when Steve was the only person there.
"Hey," I said in a confused voice, "where's my kiddos?"
"I knew you were kind of upset at all of us for asking you about helping us constantly and you probably wouldn't meet me," he said, "But Em, we really need you. Whether you like it or not, you're in this and sticking with us will be your best chance of survival."
"Chance of survival?" I questioned.
"Yes, Emma, by knowing about all of this you have a little bit of a responsibility to help and keep your loved ones and everyone else in Hawkins safe," Steve said.
"A responsibility?" I repeated, at this point the anger was coming back, "Steve, I didn't sign up for this! I didn't ask you guys to tell me anything, I didn't ask for you guys to include me, I didn't ask for any of this. I have plenty of things to worry about on my own, and this whole fictional scenario is not something that falls into my priorities." He looked shocked at my outburst and I started feeling a little bit bad about it.
"You are not the type of person I thought you were," he said.
I scoffed and started walking away, the guilt leaving just as fast as it came. I was so angry and frustrated with how my relationships with some of the people that were very important to me were going that I started crying. I actually started crying. Billy rushed over to me as soon as he saw what was going on and he pulled me into a hug.
"Babe, what's wrong?" he asked, tightening his embrace around me.
"I just have so much going on right now, and the people around me that are supposed to help and be there for me are only stressing me out even more," I sobbed, "It's just not what I need right now."
"Hey, hey, hey," he said, "You've got me. I'll do whatever it takes to make you feel better. What do you need?" He asked.
"I need to get away, I can't do this right now," I cried. I looked up at him and he looked surprised. To be honest, I was too. I had never been the type of person to run away from their problems, but at that moment all I needed, or at least thought I did, was that. I needed time to just be myself.
"Are you sure?" he questioned. I nodded in response. "Okay," he said, "Let's go pack a bag and we'll get away, just you and me." I offered him a small smile and nodded.
And we did just that. We drove to his place and got his stuff. We went to my place and got my stuff and money as well as left my parents a note, and then we were on our way. We decided we'd go to Chicago and just spend a few days there. I couldn't believe we'd actually done it, but just leaving Hawkins made me feel free and like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders.