ACE OF HEARTS
CHAPTER TEN: SHOULD I STAY
OR SHOULD I GO
KNOCKING ON THE WHEELER'S front door, Cassie Harrington stood—rocking back and forth in her beat-up black converse. After a moment, the door opened, revealing Mrs.Wheeler with baby Holly supported on her side. Silently scoffing, the mother spoke, "Can I help you, Cassandra?"
"I was wondering if I could speak to Mike," Cassie spoke, almost so quietly that she couldn't even her her own words.
Looking the girl up and down, Mrs.Wheeler replied, "I don't think that would be the best idea. Mike is in a tough mental state right now and I don't want you making it any worse."
"If you could just tell him I'm here..." Cassie trailed off, looking down at her scraped-up knees. "I just need to see him."
Mrs.Wheeler hesitated, slightly bouncing Holly as she turned around, shouting, "Mike, come upstairs! Someone is here to see you!"
There was a loud groan followed by a series of footsteps coming from the basement door, "Mom, I said I didn't want to see any—"
Mike paused, gazing over at the girl standing in his doorway—dressed in jean shorts and a red sweater. Gulping, Mike turned, "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk to you," muttered Cassie, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear.
"Wanna come downstairs?" asked Mike, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Sure," said Cassie, glancing once more at Mrs.Wheeler before passing the two and making her way down to the basement.
Once the two kids were downstairs, Mike turned to Cassie, "Seriously, why did you come here?"
Not being able to think clearly, Cassie stepped towards Mike, pulling him into a hug. Hesitating, Mike wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Despite the heaviness in his stomach, it went away with the feeling of her body against his.
Sinking into his warmth, Cassie realized that she had missed out on so much by refusing to be cared for. Breathing in the scent of cinnamon, Cassie relaxed.
"I thought you hated being touched," Mike whispered in her ear.
"Yeah, me too," Cassie replied, sighing and releasing herself from his grip, looking up at him.
"How have you been doing?"
"Not good," Cassie spoke, turning to face Eleven, who sat in the fort, playing with Mike's walkie-talkie. "El, what are you doing?"
"Don't bother with her," said Mike, anger taking over. "She hurt us. She lied."
"Mike," spoke Cassie, glancing from Eleven to him. "What if she truly knows something that we don't?"
"Are you really siding with her?" asked Mike. "After all she did to us?"
"I'm not siding with anyone," said Cassie, running a hand through her hair. "I'm just saying...what if we're missing something? Like Barbara—she went missing too. She was taken by...a thing. A monster. I saw it."
"No..." Mike trailed off. "You thought you saw what took her. Monsters aren't real, Cassie."
Cassie sighed, "Do we really know that?"
"Yes, its all in your head," explained Mike, the static sound from the walkie-talkie growing louder and louder. "Cut it out!" bursted Mike, turning to Eleven.
"Lucas was right about you," Mike spat, shaking his head. "All along."
Cassie had felt bad for Eleven—she was only trying to help. But that false hope that Will Byers was still alive sent Cassie over the edge, only to find out that Will had been dead the whole time.
Cassie's thoughts were cut off by a static sound, then singing, "So come on let me know...should I stay or should I go,"
Shooting her head up to the sound, Cassie exchanged gazed with Mike—the two running quickly to the girl. Her nose bled, releasing the information that she had used her powers.
"Is that..?" asked Mike, his breath increasing.
Eleven gazed at the two, her lips parting as she whispered, "Will."
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Sitting in a circle, the five friends listened to a series of static whimpers through the radio. Biting her lip, Cassie glanced at an unconvinced Lucas who shook his head, "All I hear is a baby."
"What?"
"Mike, you obviously tapped into a baby monitor," spoke Lucas. "It's probably the Blackburns' next door."
"Uh, did that sound like a baby to you?" spat Mike defensively. "That was Will! Cassie heard it too, she can tell you!"
The group shifted their gaze towards the girl who leaned back on the wall coolly, "Mike isn't making this up, dipshits."
"See?" said, Mike.
"Are you sure you're on the right channel?" asked Dustin, clasping his hands together.
"I don't think it's about that," muttered Mike, glancing over at Eleven who was tampering with the walkie-talkie. "I think, somehow, she's channeling him."
Lucas furrowed his eyebrows as Dustin's eyes widened, "Like...Professor X!"
"Professor who now?" asked Cassie.
"He is the leader who created the X Men," explained Dustin, and when he saw Cassie's continued look of confusion, he added, "One of the most powerful telepaths in the world? Come on, Cass."
Mike smiled, "Yeah,"
Looking between Mike and Dustin in disbelief, Lucas spat, "Are you actually believing this crap?"
"I don't know..." Dustin trailed off as he was put on spot. "I mean, do you remember when Will fell off his bike and broke his finger? He sounded a lot like that."
Lucas stared at the two as if they were going crazy. Shaking his head, Lucas snapped, "Did you guys not see what I saw? They pulled Will's body out of the water. He's dead!"
The group went silent, nobody daring to say a word at the mention of Will's death. Shaking her head, Cassie spoke, "You're wrong, Lucas. Now, I may not have known Will for long, but that did sound a hell of a lot like him."
"Well," Dustin started. "Maybe it's his ghost. Maybe he's haunting us.
"It's not his ghost," assured Mike, sighing.
"So how do you know that?" challenged Lucas.
"I just do!"
"Then what was in the water?"
"I don't know!" said Mike finally, cupping his hands on his knees. "All I know is that Will is alive! He's out there somewhere. All we have to do is find him!"
Continuing to play with the walkie-talkie, Eleven desperately tried to channel the boy again. Standing up from her seated position, Cassie walked over to the girl and sat beside her, "This isn't going to work."
"You're right, Cass," Mike agreed, standing up. "We need to get El to a stronger radio."
Dustin beamed, an idea popping into his head. Smiling, Dustin spoke, "Mr.Clarke's Heathkit hamshack."
Lucas shook his head, "The Heathkit's at school! There's no way we're gonna get the weirdo in there without anyone noticing."
Cassie smirked, "What if she didn't look like that?"
The boys flashed her a look of confusion, causing her to rub her hands together maniacally. Smiling, Cassie turned to Eleven, "El, were going to give you a makeover."
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After twenty minutes of shuffling through Nancy's makeup and deciding between the blonde wig or the red-haired wig, Cassie had successfully transformed Eleven into a normal girl. Walking out of the room, the three boys turned, eyes widening as they glanced at Eleven.
Dustin folded his arms together as he examined her work, "Cassie, you really made her look...normal."
"Why do you all seem so surprised?" asked Cassie, resting her hands on her hips as she raised one eyebrow.
"It's just...you don't dress like that," said Lucas.
"Shut up, guys," defended Mike, turning to face Cassie. "You did a good job, Cass."
Cassie smiled proudly, "Thank you, Mike."
Looking into the mirror, Eleven's eyes widened at her reflection. Standing behind her, Cassie placed both hands on El's shoulders and leaned down to rest her head beside hers, "You look beautiful, El."
"Beautiful," Eleven breathed, a smile forming on her glossy lips.
After a moment of taking everything in, Mike brought the group downstairs, everyone grabbing their backpacks and making their way towards the garage to get their bikes.
"Okay, so what is the plan? We can't just walk into school in the middle of the day. Someone will see us and tell our parents," said Lucas.
"Who said anything about being seen?" asked Cassie, a smirk forming on her lips. "You need to be stealthy. And who better than a Rouge will help you do so?"
The group looked to one another and smirked, hopping onto their bikes. As Eleven wrapped her arms around Cassie, she kicked off of the ground and took of towards the school.
Arriving at the building, the atmosphere was awfully quiet for this time of day. As the group parked their bikes on the bike rack, they followed Cassie to the back of the school, where the closest door to the AV Club room was placed.
"How are we going to get the doors open?" questioned Mike.
Smirking, Cassie held up a bobby-pin with her thumb and pointer finger. Mike Wheeler gawked at the girl while she twisted the piece of wire into the lock. Within ten seconds, the door clicked open.
"Cassie Harrington," spoke Dustin, his eyes wide in delight. "Let me just say that it is an honor to have you in our party."
Smiling over her shoulder, Cassie glanced up at the boy, "It's what I do."
Ducking in motion, the five friends successfully snuck into the school unnoticed. Mike reminded, "Okay, remember, if anyone sees us, look sad."
Nodding, the group shuffled through the hallway and walked towards the door. Sounding throughout the school, the principal announced, "Attention students, there will be an assembly to honor Will Byers in the gymnasium now. Do not go to fourth period."
Making it to the door, Mike pushed his hand onto the handle and tried to open it. In false attempt, the door wouldn't budge. Looking towards Cassie, she nodded and got down on her knees. As she pulled out the wire, a voice popped up from around the corner.
"Kids?" asked Mr.Clarke, his face flashing worry.
Cassie Harrington stood in a flash at the sight of Mr.Clarke, hiding the wire in her jean pocket.
"The assembly's about to start," spoke Mr.Clarke, shifting his gaze to each of the kids.
"We know..." Mike trailed off, looking at the white-tiled floor. "We're just, you know..."
"Upset," Lucas finished, plastering a fake smile.
"Yeah, defiantly upset," Dustin added.
"Miserable, even," Cassie spoke, hugging her chest in attempt to make herself look the part.
Mr.Clarke sighed, his sympathetic gaze falling in the group, "I get it. I know how hard this is, but let's just be there for Will, huh?
The group sadly nodded, trying their best to pretend to act like they had really lost their friend. Smiling softly, Mr.Clarke pulled the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Mike, "And then, the Heathkit is all yours for the rest of the day."
Beaming, the group smiled with delight. Shifting his gaze over to Eleven, Mr.Clarke asked, "I don't believe we've met, what's your name?"
El paused, looking around to the group before answering, "Elev—"
"Elenor!" Mike shouted before she could finish. "She's my...uh..."
"Cousin!" Lucas shouted.
"Second cousin!" Dustin corrected.
"She's here for Will's funeral," said Cassie, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders. "She's my best friend, and I couldn't get through this without her."
Eleven smiled up at Cassie, who gave her a wink.
Mr.Clarke sighed, "Ah, well, welcome to Hawkins Middle, Elenor. I wish you were here under better circumstances."
El muttered, "Thank you,"
"Shall we?" said Mr.Clarke, causing the five to nod. Leading the group to the gymnasium, which was currently packed full with the entire school.
Glancing over to Eleven, Cassie noticed that she was nervous. Smiling reassuringly, Cassie leaned close, whispering, "Hey, I meant what I said earlier. We couldn't get through this without you, El."
Slamming through the gymnasium doors, the group appeared in front of the entire school. Grabbing onto Cassie's hand, Eleven shuffled into the gymnasium with a slight smile appearing on her face.