November 8th, 1983

The Byers Residence

"Alright guys, breakfast is ready." Jonathan said from his place in front of the stove, plating some scrambled eggs onto three plates.

Walking towards the table he placed them on the emptiest spots that he could find, though that proved to be difficult as the multiple missing posters that we had created last night took up most of the space on the dining table.

"What are you doing? No, be careful with the posters." Mom quickly stopped him, scared that the plates would somehow ruin the papers. "Mom, it's okay." I said, neatly stacking some of the posters, letting Jonathan put down the plates.

"No, it's not. I can't eat." Mom said with tears in her eyes, her voice barely audible as she pushed the plate away, replacing it with the stack of posters.

~Last night~

Biking up to my house I didn't notice that the living room lights were still on until I made it up the driveway. Sighing, I laid the bike underneath the porch to protect it from the rain and made my way towards the front door.

Shakily, I grabbed the handle and pushed the door open, only to be greeted by a stressed-looking Jonathan and our mother, who held a burnt phone to her ear, desperately whispering into it. I quietly shut the door behind me, pulling their attention away from the phone and onto me.

"Where have you been?" Mom asked, making her way towards me, pulling me into a hug. "I just couldn't be inside anymore, I had to keep looking." I whispered to her, hugging her back just as tight.

"No, you don't do that. Not now, not without leaving a note or something... we thought something happened to you too." She said, her voice growing louder as she pulled away from the hug to stare down at me.

"We're just glad you're okay, come on let's get you out of these wet clothes," Jonathan stated, quickly pulling Mom's hands off of me and leading me down the hall.

"Listen, I know you want to find him, but we need to do this together." I nodded, looking away from Jonathan. "It's just... I feel so guilty. This is my fault, Jonathan. This wouldn't be happening if I had just walked him home... I mean, I'm supposed to protect him and I let him down." I whispered, barely able to hear myself as I began to break down in tears.

"You can't blame yourself, this isn't your fault... We need to stay strong, okay? We are going to find him, together."

~~~

Sniffling, Mom grabbed onto Jonathan and I's hands, "Listen, the Xerox place opens in 30 minutes, I don't want you two going alone..."

"Mom, we got it." Jonathan reassured her, letting go of her hand. "No. So, I'm gonna have Karen take you, 'cause I should stay here..." Mom jumbled her words as she spoke at a rapid pace, while Jonathon tried to calm her.

"We need to make what 200... No, 300 copies? I mean how much is a copy now, ten cents? If we... I mean if they're-" "Mom, mom stop.." I whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You can't get like this, okay?" Jonathan added, placing his hand back in hers.

As Mom began to mumble an apology, a rapid knock sounded at the front door, which proceeded to be opened, revealing an exhausted and disheveled Chief Hopper. "We have been waiting six hours, Hop." He nodded, rolling his eyes slightly at my mother's frustration with him. "Yeah, I know. Came as soon as I could." He grumbled, closing the door behind him.

"Six. Hours." Mom repeated herself, now standing in front of Hopper. "A little bit of trust here, all right? We've been searching all night, all the way to Cartersville."

"And?" I asked, slowly growing hopeful that they could have found anything relating to Will and where he could be if they expanded that far. "Nothing." He mumbled with a look of pity on his face as Mom tried to stop herself from breaking down again.

Feeling my hands shake, I nodded and quickly made my way out of the living room and towards my bedroom. Desperate to escape the look on Jonathan's face while Mom began her endless rambles about the burnt phone and how confident she was that Will had called her.

After pacing around my room for a good minute, I finally calmed myself and regained control of my breathing. Figuring now was a better time than any to escape this nightmare, I grabbed my coat and book bag from my bed before hurrying down the hall, only I was quickly greeted by my mother's upset voice, "You think I don't know my own son's breathing? Wouldn't you know your own daughters?" She accused, throwing her hands up at Hopper.

Nodding, the Chief slowly made his way back towards the front door. "You hear from Lonnie yet?" Hopper asked after a moment of silence, acting like my mother's words didn't hurt him as much as they truly did. "No." She groaned out as Hopper turned back towards the door.

"I'm having him checked out." He stated and walked out of the house, soon followed by Jonathan. "Hey, Jonathan wait. What are you doing?" I asked, grabbing his arm to stop him from going after the obviously upset Police Chief.

"I just wanna talk to him. I wanna help, maybe I can go find Will at Dad's." He stated before pulling his arm away and walking out the door.

Mom sighed, rubbing her eyes before turning to me, "Please promise me that you will stay out of this. From here on out, leave this to the adults." She said quietly, holding onto my shoulders.

Nodding, I looked down at my hands. "I have to go, I'm gonna be late..." I said as she stared me down. "Promise me, Eleanor." She stated, not letting go. I nodded again, "Pinky promise..." I said holding up my finger.

~~~

"When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become-" "Unoccupied space." Nancy stated quickly, cutting Barb off before she could finish the question. "You are gonna kick this test's ass." I grinned next to Nancy as the three of us made our way to her locker.

"A molecule that can-" Barb was cut off yet again but this time by a hand pulling the flashcards out of her grasp.

Harrington continued to walk down the hall reading the cards, while Tommy H. poked Barb's glasses and Carol bumped her shoulder against mine, "I think you've studied enough, Nance. I mean, seriously I'm telling you, you got this." Steve said with a grin on his face but something else sparked behind his eyes as he held the cards away from Nancy's reaching hand.

"Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on conference and my Mom's gone with him, 'cause you know she doesn't trust him." Steve continued, never really getting to the point. "Good call." Tommy H. grinned at his friend, smacking his gum obnoxiously. Rolling my eyes I waited for Steve to finish so that the girls and I could finally depart from the group. "So, are you in?" Steve asked staring down at Nancy who looked lost in the situation.

"For what?" She asked, not understanding what Steve was getting at. "No parents? Big house?" Carol talked slowly like Nancy was a confused child. "A party, Nance." I mumbled, causing her to shake her head. "It's Tuesday." She stated pointedly.

"It's Tuesday." Tommy H. mocked Nancy's comment, holding in his laugh, while Carol groaned in disgust. "It'll be low-key, come on. It'll just be us." Steve said gesturing to all of us as a group.

Rolling my eyes I looked away from the popular kids and caught a glimpse of Jonathan walking through the school entrance, posters in hand.

"So are you in? Or are you out?" Steve asked looking from Nancy, then slowly I could feel his gaze on me as I quietly departed from the suffocatingly annoying group, making my way towards my brother who pinned one of the missing posters onto the school's billboard. "Oh, God. Look." Carol said in disgust, as I walked away.

"Hey, you came to school?" I asked, surprised that he had decided to show. "Not for long. I'm just trying to get these everywhere." He said lowly, looking over at the group behind me. "New friends?" He asked jokingly. "Totally, couldn't find any better."

Just as Jonathan placed the last pin to the poster, Nancy walked up beside us. "Hey." She greeted Jonathan with a kind smile.

"Oh, hey." Jonathan replied back awkwardly, messing with the strap on his book bag. "Look I... I wanted to say, you know... I'm sorry about everything." She looked between the two of us sympathetically.

Jonathan looked past her and towards the group of teens behind us. Steve looked like he was losing his patience and Tommy H. awkwardly waved in our direction as he held in a laugh at something Carol had whispered to him.

"Everyone's thinking about you." She continued, not really knowing where to go from there. "It sucks." She finished awkwardly, Jonathan shrugged in agreement before looking back down at the posters in his hand.

The bell rang above us, allowing Nancy to finally escape the awkward situation. "I gotta go, Chemistry test. Good luck." She said before walking away with Steve and his group.

"Where to now?" I asked turning back to Jonathan who watched Nancy walk away. "Dads. See if Will might have run off there." I nodded, pulling the strap of my bookbag tighter.

"For the first time, I actually hope he's with him," I mumbled and looked down the now deserted hallway. "I gotta get to class, see you at home." I stated before quickly retreating down the opposite hallway.

~~~

Nancy's junk pop music played in the background as I awkwardly pushed the clothes apart in her closet. "No. Please, Barb I don't want to go alone. Eleanor said she wouldn't go just to be a third wheel." Nancy spoke into her baby blue phone with Barb, laying on her bed.

"Barb, it's not rocket science. You just say that you're gonna stay at my place afterward."

Rolling my eyes I pulled out a pink and white striped sweater and held it towards her. She nodded in approval before responding back to Barb, "Just tell them we're... studying." She said, finally getting Barb to agree.

"Girls dinner!" Mrs. Wheeler called from the kitchen. "Hey, I gotta go, see you in an hour." Nancy said and quickly hung up the phone. "That took longer than expected." I joked laying the sweater on the bed. "What are you going to wear?" She asked, looking into her closet.

Motioning towards the clothes I already had on, Nancy rolled her eyes in disapproval. "You are not going to a Steve Harrington party in a flannel, I can't allow it." She stated and went through her closet before pulling out a plain, thin, white dress.

Raising my eyebrows I grabbed the material from her hands. "Nancy, it's November. I'll die in this." I stated, holding it back out to her. "Well, it's totally worth it. Loosen up a bit, it'll be good for you." I nodded and placed the dress next to her sweater. "You've lost your mind, Nancy Wheeler."

~~~

A thick silence lingered in the air of the Wheeler's dining room, the table was crammed more than usual with the inclusion of Dustin, Lucas, and I that night. The sound of forks and knives hitting our plates was all that could be heard but no one made a move to eat the meatloaf that lingered on our plates.

Well, the same couldn't be said for Mrs. Wheeler who eyed us suspiciously. "Something wrong with the meatloaf?" She questioned with a quirked brow as her eyes darted between the five of us.

Dustin was the first to speak up after a bout of silence, offering her a wide grin, showing off his missing teeth. "Oh, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch... I don't know why." He added on, Lucas quickly interjecting a "Me too." As Mrs. Wheeler's gaze landed on Nancy and me.

"I'm suddenly vegetarian..." I mumbled awkwardly, as I took a bite of my green beans. Mrs. Wheeler shot me a sad smile, seeming to understand what I meant while Nancy quickly spotted the opportunity to add, "It's delicious, Mommy." "Thank you, sweetie." Mrs. Wheeler sighed as she went back to her plate.

Nancy looked at me with wide eyes, as if asking if now was the time to make our move. Shrugging in response, I nodded for her to ask.

"So, there's this... special assembly thing tonight... for Will at the school field." Nancy's words caused my throat to tighten and dry, while beside me, Mike narrowed his eyes at his sister's lie. "Barb's driving us." She ended, turning to me with a sad smile while I stared at her in distaste. Of all the excuses, she was using my missing little brother?

"Why am I just hearing about this?" Mrs. Wheeler questioned, understandably doubting her daughter's words. "I thought you knew..." Nancy started awkwardly. "And Eleanor asked me not to talk too much about it." The reminder of me sitting at the table caused Mrs. Wheeler to drop her doubt, before sadly informing us, "I don't want you out after dark until Will is found."

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there. I want to be there for Eleanor. And I mean, everyone's going." Mrs. Wheeler took in a deep breath at her daughter's words before nodding slowly. "Just be back by 10:00." She answered finally before nodding her head at the three quiet boys. "Why don't you take the boys too?"

"No!" Mike yelled as he reached for his glass of milk, catching all of us off guard while the other two boys hummed in agreement with him. "Don't you think you should be there? For Will?" Mrs. Wheeler questioned while I squinted my eyes questioningly at the boys, all three of them nodded their heads towards the stairs that lingered behind Mrs. Wheeler.

Turning my head, I spotted the young girl from last night walking down the stairs, now clad in Mike's clothing while she looked around the house in confusion.

Mike spit the milk he was drinking back into his cup, while Dustin slammed his hands against the table. I was quick to pull the adult's attention away from the stairs as I quickly stood from my seat, looking out the window behind me. "Did you guys see that?" I questioned loudly, earning a confused glance from the Wheelers and Nancy.

"It was a shooting star! Make a wish!" Lucas yelled out suddenly pulling the attention away from me as I quickly took my seat.

"What was--" Mrs. Wheeler was cut off by Holly, the youngest of the Wheelers, as she began to cry in her highchair. " Oh... It's okay, Holly. It's just a loud noise." She cooed as Holly sunk into her seat.

"Nice." Nancy mumbled to me as she went back to her meal, causing my distaste to bubble once again.

~~~

An hour later, Nancy and I were riding with Barb in her Volkswagen heading to Harrington's. "Barbara, pull over." Nancy stated as she pulled out her sweater and the white dress from her bag. "What?" Barb asked confused, as she slowed the car.

"Pull over!" Nancy repeated and threw the dress at me. "Watch it!" I joked and held the dress in my hand. "What are we doing? His house is three blocks away." Barb asked, her tone showing that she was obviously growing annoyed with Nancy's behavior as she pulled over.

"We can't park in the driveway." Nancy stated with a roll of her eyes. "Are you serious?" Barb questioned with a grin on her lips. "The neighbors might see." Nancy added, this time applying cherry chapstick to her lips in the rearview mirror.

"This is so stupid. I'm just gonna drop you guys off." Barb grabbed the stick but was stopped by Nancy. "No! You promised that you'd go." "You're coming." Nancy and I stated at the same time.

"He just wants to get in your pants." Barb said, dropping the truth on Nancy. I awkwardly leaned back into my seat. "No, he doesn't." Nancy laughed it off.

"Nance seriously. He invited you to his house? His parents aren't home? Come on, you are not this stupid." Barb continued to point the facts out to Nancy who seemed to ignore each one.

"Tommy H. and Carol are gonna be there. Plus Eleanor and you will be there, you'll be like my guardians." Nancy commented and started pulling off her shirt. "Making sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid."

Rolling my eyes at the comment, I pulled my flannel and tank top off. "You don't have to be drunk to do something stupid, Nancy." I commented, pulling the dress on over my head.

"Is that a new bra?" Barb asked with a grin as she looked over at Nancy, "And is that a dress you're putting on, Nell?" She stared at me through the review mirror. "No." Nancy and I both said quickly.