Scoops Troop

"Did you run away?" Lucas asks the girl.

"Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"Is that blood?"

Lucas tries to reach for the girl, only for Mike's hand to slap it away.

"Stop it! You're freaking her out!" Mike yells at Lucas, causing the girl to flinch at the loud volume.

"She's freaking me out!" Lucas retorts, gesturing to the girl's presence in general.

"You're both freaking her out! Stop harassing her!" You snap at both of the boys, your Harrington side gleaming at the directness in your orders.

"I bet she's deaf." Dustin plainly says before clapping his hands, causing the girl to flinch again. "Not deaf."

"All right, that's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold." Mike looks at the girl. The girl has this confused expression on her face. Confusion mixed with something else. Fear, perhaps? Mike rummages around his basement before finally finding some clothes for the girl. "Here, these are clean. Okay?"

The girl cautiously accepts the clothing. She stands up and starts to pull off her yellow shirt she had gotten from Benny's before being stopped by you and the others.ucas was definitely traumatized and Dustin had a disgusted look on his face.

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God..." "No, no, no, no!" Both boys say at the same using their hands to cover their eyes.

"You guys are over reacting. Traumatized faces don't look good on you guys." You say, pushing off from the wall you were leaning against.

Mike seems to be the only one trying to help the girl. "See over there?" He points to a door in his basement. "That's the bathroom. Privacy. Get it?"

The girl doesn't say anything but moves towards the bathroom anyway. Once she is inside, Mike starts to close the door. But the girl stops him. "You don't want it closed?" Mike asks.

"No." The girl finally says something to give us a sign she is verbal.

Mike vocalized this thought for the group. "Oh, so you can speak. Okay, well ... um, how about we just keep the door just like this. Is that better?" He asks as he keeps a 3 inch gap between the frame and the door.

"Yes." The girl says. Two words. That has got to be some mind of record for her.

Mike walks away from the door with an uncomfortable expression. You decide to go see if the girl needs help. You actually saw her as a person rather than some kind of creature.

"Hi. I'm Jessica. Do you need any help?" You cautiously ask, making sure to keep you voice in the "Steve's in a terrible depressed state" tone.

"No." The one word was all she said at the moment. Meanwhile, the boys, particularly Dustin, were talking about how the girl almost flashed them.

"Sorry about the boys. The one who was defending you is Mike. The who thought you had cancer is Dustin. And the suspicious one is Lucas." You try to start some sort of conversation, in hope for more words from her but there's nothing. After a moment, she fully opens the door, wearing the clothes Mike gave her.

"Jessie, can you help us make a bed for her?" Dustin asks you as he starts searching for blankets.

"I think I'm just gonna watch her. You guys are definitely scaring her." You reply, earning an eye roll from Lucas. A couple of minutes later, the girl is situated into the makeshift bed area that was made for her.

You, Dustin, and Lucas climb halfway up the stairs before Dustin whispers, "You really think she's psycho?"

"Wouldn't want her in my house." Lucas replies before climbing up the rest of the stairs. You and Dustin glance back at Mike and the girl one last time before ascending the rest of the stairs. The rain had lightened by now so you and Dustin could stand out there without getting completely soaked through everything.

"Do you want me to walk you home? Oh shit- I mean ride my bike with you to your house to make sure you don't run into any other psychos?" The boy asked, cheeks flaring red once again at his words.

You notice Steve's car still parked in front of the house and make an executive decision to stay and wait for Steve. "Thanks for the offer, but my brother is doing god knows what with Mike's sister. I promised him I'd wait for him in the car."

"Oh. I mean, yeah! Cool! I'm just gonna... Im just gonna go home, I guess. See you tomorrow." He mount this bike and pedals a few feet before yelling back towards you, "Tomorrow we're all meeting at Mike's house to do something with the girl. Do you wanna come?"

"Yeah! I'd like that." You smile at him as he nods his head and rides off down the street. You let out a sigh and walk your bike to Steve's car, opening the trunk and putting it in. You then settle in the passenger seat, blasting the heat to dry you off from the rain. 10 minutes later, Steve opens the driver door and slides into the seat. He looked... in order. No messed up hair, his shirt was all buttoned up. This was definitely a first.

"What were you two doing in there?" You ask as Steve starts up the engine and pulls away from the house.

"Studying. We were studying. Then we briefly made out for approximately 1 minute before we went back to studying." His grip tightens on the wheel. This was clearly not how he wanted tonight to go with him and Nancy. He finally glances at you after a moment, and takes in your soaked state. "Why do you look like you were in the woods in the rain?"

"Um... Well... I was bored. So bored that I got out of the car and started dancing in the rain while singing 'Singing in the Rain.' Sorry." You quickly lie. Steve would definitely not like the idea of you hanging out with the nerds.

Steve cocks a brow but doesn't look back at you. "Okay, I guess. But if you catch a cold, I'm not taking care of you." The two of you drive in silence the rest of the way home with the occasional glances at each other. All the lights are off when we pull up to our house. Figures, no one is home right now. "Dry off or something and then go to bed. If your sleep schedule gets ruined I'm the one who's gonna take dad's shit."

You roll are eyes but head upstairs after flipping him off. You grab a towel from the linen closet and dry your damp hair. It was crazy how you could go from looking like the so-called queen of middle school to a bum in only a few hours. Once you're dry, you slip on your pajamas and lie down in bed. You turn off your light and admire the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling. Something you never grow out of, I guess.

Lying there in bed, your mind raced with unanswered questions. Who was that girl? Is she okay? What is Mike going to do with her? Why is Lucas so pessimistic about everything? And then there was one question that hit one. Why do I feel weird every time I'm with Dustin? You pushed down those thoughts and allow your eyelids to flutter shut, finally entering a peaceful dream land...

You're running in the woods, yelling out the boys' names. "MIKE! LUCAS! DUSTIN! SOMEONE HELP!" You shouting but it's useless. What ever was chasing you was getting closer and closer. It grabs your shoulder and then yells at your face-

"Earth to Jessica! Wake up!" Steve's voice breaks you from your slumber, shaking you vigorously until your eyes were wide with panic. A dream. It was just a dream. A creepy dream where something was chasing you but still a dream. "Jess, what the hell?! You scared the fuck out of me! I thought you had died in your sleep."

"Sorry, sorry. Just was... dreaming."

"Sorry my ass. Get ready for school. I'm driving you today and I don't have time for dilly dallying." Steve leaves your room and you hastily get ready.

Once you're ready, you jog down the stairs and get into Steve's car where he was waiting for you. When he starts driving, you ask, "Can I hang out with some friends after school?"

Steve raises an eyebrow. "What friends?"

"Um, my new friends."

"New friends? You're current friends are fine. They all have great reputations."

"It's a yes or no question, Steve. Can I or can I not?"

"I'm not answering your question until you tell me who these kids are!"

"Why do you care so much?"

"Just tell me, Jess!"

"Fine! Lucas Sinclair, Mike Wheeler, and Dustin Henderson."

"...You've been hanging out with my girlfriend's nerd brother and his friends?"

"So she's officially your girlfriend now?"

"Answer my question, Jessica."

"You still haven't answered the initial question!"

Steve hesitates for a moment, thinking about his options. On one hand, he hated the idea of you hanging out with nerds and ruining his reputation (somehow). On the other, if Mike told Nancy that he couldn't hang out with his friend because of Steve, he would get dumped. "Fine, you can hang out with those dweebs. But, come home when it's dark. I still don't want you going missing. And I'm having my party tonight so stay out of the way."

"Deal" A beat. Then you add, "Thanks, Steve." He doesn't say anything, just nods his head, which is all you know you're gonna get. Steve drops you off at the school and you head to class.

Mr. Clarke's classroom is filled with early morning chatter. Class hasn't started yet, so you slip into a empty desk next to Lucas. "Hey! That's Mike's seat!" He exclaims, clearly surprised by your sudden appearance.

"I don't see him anywhere."

"Oh. This is weird. He's never this late." Dustin worries aloud.

"I'm telling you, his stupid plan failed." Lucas states, matter-of-factly.

"What exactly was the 'stupid plan' he had?" You ask with a raised eyebrow.

Lucas lets out a heavy sigh. "He was gonna make it look the girl came to the house on her own and would ask Mrs. Wheeler for help. Like I said, stupid plan."

"I thought you liked his plan." Dustin says.

"Yeah, but obviously it was stupid, or he's be here."

"If his mom found out a girl spent the night..."

"You guys need to relax. We'll go over after school and make sure Mike has everything handled if he's a no show."

"We? When did you become part of the group?" Lucas questions you with a scowl on his face.

"I invited her, dude. She's chill. Plus, it's not like she can unsee finding the girl in the woods in the middle of the night." The curly haired defends you with such confidence. It's kinda cute to see how he's willing to get in trouble with the group just to let you join.

"Fine, she can come. But remember: you can't tell anyone else about this."

"Aye aye, captain." You do a mock salute and that seems to satisfy Lucas for the moment.

Suddenly, Dustin lowers his voice and asks with much alert, "Hey! What if she slept naked?"

"Oh. My. God. She didn't!"

"You think very lowly of the female gender, Henderson."

The boy ignores his friends' remarks. "Oh, if Mrs. Wheeler tell my parents...'

"No way. Mike would never rat us out."

"I don't know..."

"Dustin, relax. Mike seems like a good friend. He's already protecting this girl from whatever is out looking for her. He'd definitely protect you guys."

"Yeah. And besides, all the matters is, after school, the freak will be back in the loony bin and we can focus on what really matters. Finding Will." A beat. Then Lucas adds, "And I guess you can help us, Jessica." You nod your head at the boys and with that, Mr. Clarke starts class.

At lunch, you make a beeline to Dustin and Lucas, but your path is thrown off by someone pulling your arm in the opposite direction. 

"Jessica, why are you going that way? We sit over here!" Your friend, Diana, asks you as she leads you to your usual table. Diana was one of the girls Steve had forced you to hang out with. Everyone loved her. Well, everyone except you and the boys. 

"I was going to sit with some other friends." You reply as she basically forces you to sit on the table's bench.

"Other friends? I thought we were your friends. I mean, I'm your best friend, after all. You don't want to make the other girls mad, do you?" Diana gestures to the other 3 girls at the table.

"What's going on?" One of the girls, Jenny asks.

"Jessica was going to abandon us to sit with other friends of hers."

"We're your only friends. Everyone else is weird." Another girl, Stephanie states like it's the only thing that's true.

"And you were headed in the nerd direction. That's where those weirdo nerds sit." The final girl, Nicole says.

"Come on guys. If we start this whole social pyramid in middle school, people like them will have their lives destroyed by high-school."

"Jessie, you can't seriously be feeling bad for nerdy Dustin Henderson and Lucas Sinclair. I know you're talking about them. I saw you talking to them yesterday morning and before class this morning." Diana is glaring at you like you just committed a war crime. It was like she was personally offended you had found a random girl in the woods with these guys and now they were your friends.

"Will you guys just drop it? I honestly don't get why my brother would force me to hang out with fake people like you bitches. I'm going to sit with people who have human decency and won't say horrible things about people just because they like Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons." You abruptly sit up, grabbing your lunch tray, and walk over to Lucas and Dustin. You sit down next to Dustin and groan into your hands.

"Whoa, uh, hey. You good? You kinda look like you fought some kind of war." Dustin asks you, awkwardly patting your back like that would somehow help you right now.

"You didn't see that? Dude, she just dissed her friends in front of their faces for being assholes to us. That was epic shit!" Lucas exclaims and put's his pudding cup on your tray as a thanks.

"I've wanted to do that for so long. Steve is gonna absolutely murder me though. Well, if I die, tell my story as a brave person who fought against social injustice." You dramatically say as you eat the pudding cup Lucas gifted you. You and boys talked for the rest of lunch about the girl, Mike, Will, and then some questions that made you realize you had a lot more in common with these kids then you did with the group of girls. Eventually, school comes to an end and the three of you head to the Wheeler house. You get on Dustin's bike because you left yours in Steve's car. We let ourselves into the house and up the stairs into Mike's room. As soon as we're in, we close the door and turn to stare at the girl, will there, sitting cross-legged in Mike's bed.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Lucas yells at Mike.

"Just listen to me-"

"You are out of your mind."

"She knows about Will!" Mike says as his first defense.

Everyone goes silent until Dustin said, "What do you mean she knows about Will?"

"Yeah, like did she run into him wherever she was before all this?" 

Mike walks over to a bookshelf and picks up a picture of all the boys at a science fair. "I don't know, but she pointed at him, at this picture." He holds up the frame for everyone to see. "She knew he was missing. I could tell."

"You could tell?" Lucas skeptically asks. He clearly thought this was all bullshit and just wanted to get rid of the girl.

"Just think about it. Do you really think it was a coincidence that we found her on Mirkwood, the same place where Will disappeared?"

That is weird." Dustin says to you and Lucas, clearly taking Mike's side in this argument.

"Then why doesn't she tell us?" Lucas walks over to the girl on the bed and asks her, "Do you know where he is?" When she doesn't answer, he grabs her shoulders. "DO YOU KNOW WHERE WILL IS?"

"Stop it, you're scaring her!"

"What the hell, Lucas! We just had a whole discussion about injustice and now you treat her like this?"

He ignores you and Mike and continues talking to the girl. "If you know where he is, tell us!" The girl starts to cry and you rush over to her in an attempt to comfort her. "This is nuts! We have to take her to your mom."

"No! Eleven said telling any adult would put us in danger." Mike says with panic in his eyes. At least the girl has a name now.

"What kind of danger?" Dustin acts with a hint of anxiousness in his voice.

Lucas, not listening anymore, mockingly says, "He name is Eleven?"

"El for short." She also had a nickname now too.

You, still comforting Eleven, ask her, "Are you okay, El?" She nods her head even though you know she isn't.

Dustin asks again, "Mike, what kind of danger?"

"DANGER danger."

"The hell does that mean?" You ask, burrowing your brows. Mike forms a finger gun with his hand and point it between Dustin's eyes, your eyes, and then Lucas's eyes. Lucas quickly swats Mike's and away.

"No, no, no! We're going back to Plan A. We're telling your mom." Lucas moves to the door but it is slammed shut. When he tries to open it, it's slammed again. Then, it locks. 

The 4 four of you turn your head and look at El, who had blood trickling down her nose. "No."

Two or three hours later, Mrs. Wheeler, Mr. Wheeler, Holly Nancy, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and you are all sitting at the dinner table, eating meatloaf.

"Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Mrs. Wheeler asks with concern lacing her voice.

"Uh,, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch. I don't know why." Dustin says. You shoot him a look that says that excuse sucks.

"Me too." Lucas agrees with Dustin. Since they're both giving terrible excuses you might as well had your two cents.

"So did I, Mrs. Wheeler. But your meatloaf is much better than my mother's ever was." You say with a smile.

"Remind me, who are your parents, Jessica?" Mrs. Wheeler asks you. You should have expected a question like this but it kind of threw you off guard.

"Danny and Linda Harrington. I wouldn't be surprised if you had never properly met them, though. My mom always goes with my dad on business trips." You say with a type of politeness you've been taught to have.

"Harrington... why does that name sound familiar... Oh, I know! You're Nancy's boyfriend's little sister, aren't you." As soon as Mrs. Wheeler makes that connection, Nancy chokes on her meatloaf and actually looks at you, realizing you and Steve do look very similar.

"Yeah, that would add up." You say with a tight smile. Yay. Another comparison to Steve.

"Well, is everyone else enjoying the meatloaf?"

"It's delicious, Mommy." Nancy says in a sweet voice that someone her age shouldn't be using.

"Thank you, sweetie."

Nancy doesn't take long to make a move. "So there's this special assembly thing tonight for Will at the school field. Barb's driving."

"Why am I just hearing about this?"

"I thought you knew."

"I told you, 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 going. I mean, everyone's going."

Mrs. Wheeler lets out a sigh. "Just be back by ten. Why don't you take the kid's with you?"

All at the same time, the boys shout, "No!" Mike nonchalantly takes a sip of his drink to seem casual.

"Michael, don't you think you should be there? For Will?" At that moment, El appears from upstairs and Mike spits out his drink. Mrs. Wheeler turns her head to see who's there but Dustin pounds on the table twice. Mrs. Wheeler quickly turns back to the table.

"Sorry. Spasm." The boy replies. Mike's little sister, Holly, is spooked by the loud commotion and looks as if she's about to start crying.

"It's okay, Holly. It's just a loud noise." Mrs. Wheeler is quick to comfort her youngest daughter.

"Nice." Nancy says with a scolding tone towards the boys.

"Sorry for the topic change, but is it okay if I get a ride home? I left my bike in my brother's car." You ask as you notice how it keeps getting darker and darker outside.

"Of course, honey. Nancy, can Barb make a quick stop before driving to the field?" Mrs. Wheeler asks Nancy."

"I mean, yeah. She probably can. But-" Nancy starts but is cut off by Mrs. Wheeler.

"Great! Then it's settled. You and Barb will drop Jessica off at home."

After dinner, Lucas rushes over to you and whispers, "Where the hell are you going?"

"Home. The terms and conditions of this gathering today was I needed to be home before dark and it's dark." You reply.

Dustin, now also hovering nearby responds with a thumbs up. but Lucas clearly isn't happy. " We can't deal with her alone! We need your help!"

"I'll help tomorrow, okay? Just don't lose your temper on her."

"Jessica, are you coming or what?" Nancy asks you from the door, ready to go. I wave goodbye to the boys and follow Nancy to her friend's car. "Barb, this is Jessica. She's Steve's little sister."

"Does she know we're already going to his house?"

"Yeah, I do know that." You respond nonchalantly.

"How did you know that?" 

"If Steve is having a party, he's going to invite his current girlfriend. That's usually how it works."

"He called me his girlfriend?" Nancy asks, cheeks flaring red.

"Yeah. Unless there's another Nancy Wheeler I don't know about." For the rest of the drive, Nancy would ask questions about Steve to you in attempt to understand him better. You and Barb were sick of it. 

A couple of blocks from the house, Nancy says, "Barbara, pull over."

"What?"

"Pull over!" Barb does so.

"You know my house is another 3 blocks down, right?"

"We can't park in the driveway. he neighbors might see." Nancy says like that makes the most sense.

"I quit. I'm going inside so Steve doesn't get even madder. See you in 5 minutes." You say as you get  out of the car and walk the 3 blocks to the house. You quietly open the door, but Steve is in the kitchen with Carol and Tommy, his friends, and sees you immediately.

"Jess, where the hell were you? It's been dark for an hour!"

"Mrs. Wheeler insisted I ate dinner there and I can't say no to an adult."

"Oh my God. You were at the Wheeler house? Is Nancy coming?"

"Relax, Romeo. She's the one who gave me a ride." You shrug your shoulders and walk into the kitchen to grab some snacks.

"Ew, Steve. Why is your little sister here?" Tommy wrinkles his nose when he looks at you. 

"Because I live here, dumb ass." I flip him off and Carol starts to cackle. You never really liked Steve's friends and the feeling was almost mutual. Tommy despised you with enough hatred for the whole group. But Carol seemed more intrigued by how different the Harrington siblings were.

"Relax, guys. We'll stay outside. She'll stay inside unless she's dying" Steve casually says. He's clearly thought this out and besides, this wasn't the first time something like this has happened. He leads his friends outside and you sit on the couch. You turn on the TV to an older episode of Family Ties that was rerunning that night and decide to keep it on, eating your snack.

Two minutes later, the door rings and Steve runs from outside to get it. "How do I look?" He asks you before opening the door.

"You look fine, Steve. Remember, it's on the inside that counts." You say without looking away from whatever Michael J. Fox was doing on the screen.

"You know nothing..." Steve mutters under his breath before throwing on a smile and swinging open the double doors of your house. "Hello, ladies." Steve leads Nancy and Barb to the back. You stay on the couch and keep your eyes locked on the TV, not really interested in whatever the teens were doing. Occasionally, you hear some chanting and the smell of smoke drifts into the house but it's normal behavior so you don't think much of it.

About an hour in, Barb walks by towards the bathroom. You get up off the couch and see if she's okay, considering she looks extremely uncomfortable. "Hi. Are you okay?"

Barb jumps a little when you speak, your presence scaring her for a second before she slumps her shoulders. "Yeah. I'll be okay. Just a cut."

"Want me to yell some sense into my brother for you?" You ask, half serious about doing so.

"No, no. It's fine. Nancy would just get mad at me anyone." She says as she washes her finger.

"Well, it's time someone finally told Steve what was good for him. I'll harass him anyway for you."

"Thank you. I'll just stay hear and find a bandage."

You walk out to the backyard right as Tommy was pushing Carol into the pool. She screams and Tommy his quick to follow after her, splashing the deck.

"What the hell is going on here?" You ask, crossing your arms.

"Jesus Christ, Jess. You look like dad right now. We're just having some fun." Steve casually shrugs and pushes Nancy into the pool. He then picks you up and drops you in too, despite your kicking and protesting. He is quick to jump in as well.

Eventually, you all get out of the pool, wrapped in towels found in a closet.

"I'm freezing." Carol complains, shivering in her towel.

"Well, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace." Tommy replies in a suggestive tone to his girlfriend.

"Are you kidding me?" Steve says to them as they make their way up the stairs, definitely ignoring the party host. "Okay, well, you know you are cleaning the sheets!" He yells to them.

"Ew. I am not sleeping in the room next to where that is happening. I'll be on the couch." You declare to no one in particular as you go to your room to change out of your soaking clothes. Leave it to Steve to throw you into the pool in November. Once you've changed into some soft, warm pajamas, you grab your pillow and blanket and go back downstairs to the couch. While you pass Steve's room, you definitely hear making out and run down the stairs to stop your gagging. "Everyone in this house is disgusting..." You mutter as you make a makeshift bed for yourself.

You follow the voice down the hall and stop at the bathroom. Someone was inside, clearly not happy about something. You kick the door open and stop dead in your tracks when you see the source. Steve.

Steve was screaming like a girl, in the bathroom, at barely 6:30 AM.

"This better be life threatening, Steve, or I swear to God, I'm going to kill you." Your voice comes out in an unamused tone with a hint of grogginess. You were clearly still shaking off your slumber.

"My... My Farah Fawcett... She's gone." Steve stares at the ground, eyes wide with panic.

"...Steve. Did you seriously wake me up at 6:30 in the morning with your girly scream just to announce your girlfriend was gone?"

"GIRLFRIEND?? Jess, that's my hairspray! The one with Farah Fawcett on it! You psycho!" His voice gets higher with each sentence, cheeks burning red at your comment.

"Someone got all panicky at the word girlfriend. Are you developing feelings for your current victim? Nancy whats her face?" You cock an eyebrow. At this point you were just trying to see how red you could make him. Because deep down? Seeing him get this embarrassed about a girl is depressing.

"S-Shut up. Why do you gotta be such a smart ass in the morning? It's insufferable."

"It's a coping mechanism for being awoken this early. By the way, I'm totally telling dad about this when he wakes up."

"Good luck with that. Mom and Dad left at like, 4 AM for their flight. Unless you want to trail after them and stop the plane just to tattle."

You glare at him but don't bother responding, knowing at this point he just seeks a reaction out of you. You dig through a cabinet in the bathroom and toss him a can of your hairspray. "If you use it all up, my kind gesture will become an awful one."

Steve flips you off as you leave the small room but is secretly grateful for your help. Once you're back in your room, you plop down onto your head and fall asleep for approximately 5 minutes before your alarm blares. You slam your hand on it to shut it up and reluctantly get out of bed again, heading towards your wardrobe for a decent outfit. A pair of jeans with a striped sweater.

After getting dressed, you head downstairs and grab a banana from the fruit bowl. Nutritious and gives you the energy you need to survive the morning. Steve comes down the stairs wearing a polo shirt, jeans, and his stupidly perfect hair.

"Are you seriously just gonna eat that for breakfast? You're gonna be hungry by 9 AM."

"I can eat whatever I want, Steven. And the reason your hair looks like that is my hairspray so you owe me."

"Watch it, you little shit, or you'll say something you regret." Steve snarls at you. He was clearly in a pissy mood this morning.

"You're the worst! I'm riding my bike to school. Don't wait for me after school ends." You snap back, already grabbing your backpack and slinging it over your shoulder. When you step outside, the cool November air hits you hard. The neighbors still have their Halloween pumpkins out which causes you to gag as you smell the rot.

You do your best to ignore the stench and grab your bike from the backyard, hoping on it and riding toward hell- I mean school.

As you arrive at school and park your bike, you over hear a conversation between 3 boys. you'd seen them around before. Just never really talked to them.

"I don't see him. Weird." Says the first boy who had brown hair and pale skin.

"I'm telling you. His mom's right. He just went to class early again." The next boy said. He had dark skin.

"Yeah, he's just paranoid Gursky's gonna give him a pop quiz." The final boy says. He has curly hair that is hidden under his hat. He's kind of cute but you would never say that out loud.

"Hey, uh, don't mean to butt in, but who are you guys talking about?" All three guys eyes widen as they see you talking to them. As said before, you hung out with the popular kids so it was a rare occasion someone like you spoke to them.

"Well, uh-" The dark haired kid starts but is cut off by an unpleasant voice.

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show! Troy, the school bully, had appeared from behind you all and was doing his job, being a bully. "Who do you think would make more money at a freak show: 'Frogface,' 'Midnight,' or 'Toothless?' Or maybe even mini Steve Harrington?

"More like wanna be Steve Harrington. She's nothing like him." Troy's crony, James says. You're about to tell them to fuck off or flip them the bird when James continues, "But, I'd go with toothless."

"When will you mother fuckers learn to fuck off? No one gives a shit about your opinions but each other, which is rather sad." Yoy shoot back. You were a pretty foul mouthed kid,especially after being in the same house as Steve and only a wall away from him when he had his... "friends" over.

"We aren't talking to you anymore, wanna be Harrington." Troy says to you with an eye roll before turning back to the curly haired boy. "Do the shoulder thing."

You can see the boy hesitate for a second. You don't know what this shoulder thing is but apparently it's a spectacle. "Do it, freak." James adds in and the curly haired boy bends his arms all the way across his bodies.

"Gets me every time! Every time!" Troy laughs, wiping a fake tear from his eye and pushes past us.

"Numbskulls." The dark skinned boy says.

"Hey, do you have no collar bones or something? My cousin can do that too can she doesn't have any." You ask the curly haired boy, trying to lighten the mood.

"Uh, yeah. Didn't realize you knew someone who could do that too..." His cheeks flare red, similar to the way Steve's did this morning.

"I'm Jessie." You say, offering a small smile.

"Oh, we know. Not in a creepy way! Just, we know of you. You know, we've never been formally introduced and stuff so-" The dark hair boy starts but is cut off by the dark skinned boy.

"I'm Lucas. The rambling idiot is Mike and the tomato it Dustin." Dustin's cheeks flare are deeper shade of red and he pushes his hat down over his forehead to hide is blush. Mike rolls his eyes at Lucas's comment but gives you a small wave.

The bell blares a loud ring, signaling for you all to head inside. Mr. Clarke's class passes fairly quickly. It finally ends with the blare of the bell. "Remember: Finish Chapter Twelve, and answer twelve-point-three on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation." Mr. Clarke reminds the class as the students bleed out into the hall. The group from earlier stays, talking to the teacher about something but you have other things to do than wait for them.

You don't really see the group for the rest of the day. At lunch, you sit with the group you're supposed to be associated with but don't really listen to the conversation. When school finally ends, you unlock your bike and start to ride home. But, since Steve doesn't listen to you, he was waiting for you and stopped your bike from leaving the school parking lot.

"Get in the car. Now."

"I can go home by myself-"

"I said now!" You flinch at his voice but move anyone, putting your bike in the trunk of his BMW. You both sit in silence in the car. You're trying to figure out why he's still in a mood but don't dare ask. "...There's a missing kid in town, alright? I don't want you out alone until that kid is found. Do you understand, Jess?"

There it was. The reason he snapped at you. He's just worried about his little sister. "Yeah, Steve, I understand. I won't go out." He nods his head once but keep his eyes locked on the road.

Once you and Steve reach the Harrington house, you rush out of the car and into the house.You head to the familiar space of your room and try to focus on Mr. Clarke's homework but Steve's words haunt you. There's a missing kid in town, alright? I don't want you out alone until that kid is found.

You never imagined your brother as the type to actually care about you well being. You'd done plenty of risky things like pretend to go to school just to come back home and watch television or try sneaking out once (and failed) to go to a slumber party at a friend's house. He didn't care then so why was he suddenly so worried now?

You finish you homework and go downstairs to rejoin Steve who was putting toast in the toaster.

"Please tell me that's not what were eating for dinner." You plead beside him as he places the bread into the toaster.

"You love bread products. Why the sudden disgustion towards toast?" Steve asks back, cocking an eyebrow.

"You always burn it and then smear on too much butter. You have to have the perfect crisp to butter ratio."

"Ratios? This isn't your math class, Jess. Just let me make the goddamn toast!" The toaster pops up with 2 burnt pieces of bread appearing before us like evidence in a crime. "...Okay, maybe I don't know how to make toast. We're going to a dinner. I gotta run some errands anyway."

Your expression goes from annoyed to excited in 0.2 seconds. "Really? You're gonna pay for my food for once?"

"Yeah yeah. Just get your ass in the car." Steve says with an eyeroll as he opens the front door for you to head outside. You settle in shot gun and remember you had left your bike in the trunk. You make a mental note to grab that later.

Steve hops into the driver's seat and starts up the engine, driving to a a local diner in town. A comfortable silence falls in the car. Not too pressuring where it feels as if a conversation needs to be started. Instead, it's like the silence is doing the talking for you both.

The meal at the diner passes fairly quick. It's pretty empty for a Monday evening so you get your food, a burger, in about 10 minutes. You and Steve exit the diner about 45 minutes later and return to his car.

"Hey. Steve. This isn't the way home." You comment as he turns down the wrong side street.

"I told you I gotta run some errands. I'll be done in 30 minutes. And hour tops." Steve responds.

"That's a pretty large time gap. And I'm expected to wait in the car for that long period of time with no entertainment?"

"Oh, grow up, Jessie. I have plenty of unpaid tickets. Calculate how much I owe or something." There's clearly no winning this argument. Steve pulls up in front of a decent looking house. Large. Obliviously a family lives there. He gives you one last look before exiting the car and heading toward the side of the house. The great Steve Harrington was about to parkour is way into a girl's house.

You laughed to yourself as you watched him struggle to lift himself until you just stop. You watch a boy walk his bike out of the driveway, giving your brother a look of disgust. Mike. That's when it hit you. Steve was trying to see Nancy. His new not girlfriend. You hopped out of the car and called out to Mike.

"Mike! Where are you going?" The boy jumps at the sound of your voice, early not expecting anyone.

"Jessie, why are you at my house at 9pm?"

"Romeo wanted to see Juliet, as you've seen."

Realization Dawn's upon the boys face as he takes in the current situation. He looks at you fir another moment before finally speaking. "Me, Lucas, and Dustin are searching for Will. I'm not sure if you heaes but he went missing last night. Do you wanna-"

His question his cut short as he watches you grab your bike out of Steve's car. "Yeah. Lead the way."

You and Mike pedal to Mirkwood road, where Dustin and Lucas are waiting. Dustin's cheeks flare red when he notices you're here again.

"Why is she here?" Lucas asked with a hin the of confusion in his voice.

"She was in front of my house and wanted to join along."

"Does she even know what happened to Will?"

"She can hear you both just fine." I say in a sharp tone, crossing my arms.

"They didn't mean it like that! Lucas just gets confused and then asks intimidating questions. That's all." Dustin apologetically says. He seems genuinely sorry for his friends actions. Rain drops start to fall on our head before any further arguments could start. Dustin notices the wetness in the air. "Maybe we should head back."

Mike, not listening to Dustin's concerns says, "No splitting up or anything stupid like that, but stay on channel six. Just in case. Jessie stick close to Dustin." You give a mock salute, clearly regretting going on this journey.

After a couple of minutes, everyone is soaked. Thunder booms off in the distance. The only light was the one accumulating from the electricity.

"Will? WILL???"

"BYERS?!"

"I've got your "X-Men!" One-thirty-four!" Dustin's remark make you snort out a laugh. You wipe your hand over your forehead, clearing your wet, flat hair from your eyes. "Guys, I really think we should turn back..." Worry leaks from the curly haired boy's voice.

"Seriously, Dustin, if you want to be a baby, just go home already."

"I'm just being realistic, Lucas."

"No, you're being a sissy."

"You ever think Will went missing because, you know, he ran into someone bad? And now we're going to the place where he was last seen, and we don't even have weapons or anything!"

"Dustin shut up!"

"I'm just sayin', does that seem smart to you?!"

"Will you all shut up? I'm 99% sure I heard something." You finally say, ending your silence.

The boys go silence and all swing their flash lights around frantically. Mike slowly moves his towards a bush where you had definitely heard something. He moves the light closer...closer...closer... and there she is. A girl will a shaved head wearing a yellow Benny's diner t-shirt that was more like a dress on her.

"Why do I have to babysit her? She's old enough to handle herself. Right, Jessica?" God, you hate being called that. Even when you say it, the name sounds like something an old woman would be called.

"Well, Steven, I am 12, and I disagree with that statement. Strongly." Yes, he hates being called that, but revenge is revenge. Since this is a stupid, silent argument between you two, your father continues.

"It's a few days. You two can survive. Your mother and I will leave later this week. And son, if you even think about inviting people over, you're dead. Got it?" His tone is low and threatening, as if daring you to argue, to see what'll happen. He doesn't glance up from the meatloaf he's cutting until Steve nods in resignation. "Atta boy. Now clear the table."

Welcome to a normal evening in the Harrington household. Dad announces a sudden departure, Steve argues, you argue back, Dad gets mad, Steve feels defeated. It's been this way ever since you were 8. After dinner, you retreat to your room. Trophies line the walls from spelling bees and science fairs. Let's face it—you were a nerd. But your brother, in 11th grade, couldn't let his friends know that his 7th-grade sister was smarter than him. So he forced you to hang out with the popular mean girls in your grade. You just wanted to be yourself, but your douchebag older brother with his perfect hair says otherwise.

You flop onto your bed and grab a book from your nightstand. The Outsiders. A book about social classes that kept kids from interacting. Okay, not a fair representation of the book, considering people die and Ponyboy definitely has trauma after everything—but you still felt like you were being pulled by your brother on an invisible rope. If you tried to talk to one of "the freaks," you'd be frowned upon by your so-called friends and brother. So, yeah. Maybe you are just a Soc longing to be a Greaser.

Your life reflection is cut short when Steve walks into your room without knocking. He sits in your desk chair and just starts talking. "I don't care if you tell Mom and Dad, but I am inviting my friends over, and you're not stopping me. If you even try to stop me, I'll make you finally join whatever cheer squad your school has."

You can't even fight him about it because he's already leaving your room and closing the door with much more force than necessary. Of course, he was going to threaten you with the one thing you've been avoiding. It's bad enough he has you hanging out with the bitches, but you can't even imagine dancing or cheering or whatever the hell they do during middle school sporting events.

You return the book to its spot where it was sitting before you disturbed it, without even cracking it open. You change into pajamas and tuck yourself into bed. There's no good night from your dad or your mother. In this household, you need to fend for yourself.

"Good night, Jessie," you mutter to yourself as you switch your lamp off and drift off to sleep, clueless to what will happen over the next few days in Hawkins, Indiana...