Word Count: 1600
~~~
Mom steps back and looks back at the school, like something in there might help. But as soon as she does, Will's eyes open again. I go to say his name but when I do, the hardest tug I've ever felt on the string makes me pause. Just as he lashes out. Will shoves me away with more strength than I knew he had and I land hard on my ass.
"Will!" Mom is in front of him again in seconds, her hands on his face as Will slowly realizes where he is. "Will, are you okay?"
I can only stare. But Max snaps me out of it by grabbing my hand and helping me stand back up. I barely glance at her though. Still so startled by Will. Mom is hugging him close to her now and she's already leading him back towards the school by the time Max gets my attention.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."
~~~
The next morning, I'm the first to wake up. After I shower and get dressed, I listen to mom on the phone with the police department trying to get a hold of Hopper. "Mom?" I grab my bag and look at her, but she doesn't look up from what she's doing. "I'm biking to school, mom."
She doesn't answer when I walk out the door. In the time it takes me to get to school, I feel dizzy. I don't let it stop me though as I spot the party, minus Dustin, at the side of the building. I jog over just in time to hear Mike suggest the trash diving.
"Ew, count me out."
"Frankie?" They all turn to me and Max grins.
"Where's Will?" Mike asks and I rub the back of my neck as I step closer.
"Mom had Will stay home."
"Well, what about you?" Max asks.
"What about me?" I raise my brows and Mike leads us back to the school dumpsters.
Thankfully, I don't draw the short straw. Lucas ends up losing, and Mike has to egg him on to get him to actually do it.
"This is so gross." I mutter and lean on my stick across from Max and Mike.
"What the hell's going on?" Dustin asks as he suddenly rounds the corner and stands next to me.
"What do you think?" Mike asks, "We're looking for Dart."
Lucas throws two bags of garbage out, nearly hitting Dustin before he jumps out. "Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up. After I drew the short straw. Real convenient."
"You stink!" Max mutters before walking over to stand between me and Dustin.
"Hi, Max." Dustin smiles and I roll my eyes.
"Hi." Max glances at me after Dustin looks away and I shrug.
"Where's Will?"
"He stayed home." I answer and Dustin looks a little disappointed but nods.
"Are you just gonna stand there?" Lucas cuts in and tosses Dustin a stick. "Or you gonna help?" We all start poking through the trash.
~~~
"All living things, from complex mammals to single-celled organisms, instinctively respond to danger." Mr. Clarke explains as he looks from one student to the next. "Expose a bacterium to a toxic chemical, and it will flee. Or deploy some other defense mechanism. We're very much the same. When we encounter danger, our hearts start pounding. Our palms start to sweat. These re the signs of the physical and emotional state we call... fear."
~~~
"Anything?" Lucas asks as Mike runs back over from the phone, where he had just been trying to call my house.
"We need to talk. AV room. Right now." As soon as he's up the steps and we all stand, he turns to look at Max. "Party members only."
"Come on, Mike." I shake my head at the boy and glance at Max.
"No! This is non-negotiable." He gives me a harsh look and I frown but the boys follow after him, muttering apologizes.
"I'm sorry, Max." I sign, looking at the red head and she just shakes her head and sits back on the step. I pause a little but squeeze her shoulder as I rush up the steps past her and after the boys.
"Will didn't want me to tell anyone, but on Halloween night he saw a sort of shadow in the sky." Mike explains, all of us spread out around the AV room.
"He told you about the shadow?" I ask and cross my arms as I look at Mike.
"What kind of shadow?" Lucas asks over me.
"I don't know. But it scared him. And if Will really has True Sight... I mean, I mean if he can really see into the Upside Down, maybe he saw that shadow again yesterday." Mike cuts in.
"He did." I state, and the boys all look at me, making me roll my eyes. "It's not like we don't talk when you guys aren't around."
"So that's why he was frozen like that?" Dustin asks, staring at me before looking at Mike.
"Can it hurt him?" Lucas asks, looking from the boys to me. "I mean, if this shadow thing isn't from our world..."
"I don't know." I shake my head.
"Dustin?" Mike looks at the boy.
"Well, if you're in another plane, you can't interact with the material plane, so theoretically, no, the shadow can't hurt them."
"Yeah, if that's even what's happening." I snap and rub the back of my neck as a freezing shiver shoots up my spine. "This isn't Dungeons and Dragons, guys. This is real life."
"So what do we do?" Lucas asks softly.
"We acquire more knowledge." Mike says before he continues. "I'll go to Frankie and Will's house after school. See what's going on. You guys stay here and find Dart."
"Dart? What's he got to do with this?" Dustin jumps in, his voice rising just a little bit.
"Will heard him in the Upside Down. I don't know how yet, but he's gotta be connected to all of this. He's gotta be. If we find Dart, maybe we can solve this thing. Maybe we can help Will."
After the bell, I grab Mikes arm and stop him from leaving with Dustin and Lucas.
"What?"
"You need to stop being an ass, Mike." I say simply as I let his arm go to cross mine over my chest.
"What?" He glares at me as soon as I finish the sentence.
"Look, I get you miss Eleven, so do I but-"
"No!" Mike snaps and steps closer to me, "You don't get it, Francis."
"Just because you miss her doesn't mean you get to be an asshole to everyone, especially not Max. She hasn't done anything wrong, Michael."
We stare at one another for a long moment before the second bell stops the argument from continuing. "I'll meet you after school."
~~~
"Hey, Max," I don't even get to finish the sentence before she's slamming her locker and walking away. "What the hell?"
I jog after her as she pushes out the front doors. "Max, hey! What's your problem?"
"What's my problem?" She snaps but she doesn't stop walking. "What's your problem, Francis?"
"I don't understand." I catch Max's hand and as soon as I do she whips around.
"No!" She snaps, taking several steps towards me and forcing me to step back. "I don't understand.. You guys act like you want me to be your friend but then you just treat me like garbage!"
"That's not true!" I step forward again.
"Yes, it is!" She cuts me off, not backing down as she finishes her sentence. "You go and hide in the AV Club, keeping secrets like we're in second grade or something. I thought you guys wanted me in your party."
"We do, Max, I do." I quickly promise and the other girl just stares at me as I continue. "But it's... There, there are just things. Things we can't tell you, all right? For your own safety."
"My own safety?"
"Yes!"
"If it's because I'm a girl, you can tell those boys-"
"Max, I'm a girl too. It's not that, I swear."
"Did you keep secrets from El?"
As soon as the name leaves Max's lips, I freeze. "How do you know about El?"
"Did you, Frankie?"
"That was different. Trust me. Okay? That was just, just different."
"Okay. You know what? Forget it, okay?"
"No, Max-"
"I don't wanna be in your stupid party anyway. I'm out." She turns away and as she starts walking again, I catch her hand, "Frankie-!"
"Just meet me at the arcade, Maxine."
Max stares at me with her brows staunched up in confusion and I ask her again. "Okay? I'll explain if you come, okay?"
"Fine."
"Fine."
We both stare at one another for a moment before I let her hand go and Max nods and walks away. I watch her for a few seconds before I see her older brother, Billy, glaring at me. This time, I don't freeze when our eyes meet. Instead, I turn and walk away.
When I get to the bike rack, Mike is waiting for me. "I can't go home yet, can you just tell them I'm studying or something? And tell Will I'm sorry?"
"Why can't you come?"
"Because there's something I have to do, Mike." I snap and pull my bike off the rack before settling onto it. "Now, are you going to cover for me or not?"
"Fine."
"Thank you." I push off and start biking towards the arcade, hoping Max shows.