CHAPTER 2
THE WEIRDO ON MAPLE STREET

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   They were talking about Will again. Every time they did, Laurel's stomach would twist and her head would feel heavy. She hated thinking of her little brother being lost.

After putting on high waisted jeans and a yellow blouse, Laurel entered the kitchen. They stopped talking immediately the second she walked in the room.

Before they could ask her anything, there was a soft knock on the front door. Laurel took this occurrence to get out of talking about the situation at hand. Sadly, she wouldn't get a break anytime soon, as she opened the door to see a policeman; he looked like the Sheriff.

"We've been waiting six hours," her mother stated behind her as Laurel recalled the fact that they called the police after last night's occurrence.

"I know, I came as soon as I could," The Sheriff assured, "we've been searching all night, went all the way to Cartersville."

"And?" Laurel asked.

The policeman glanced towards her. "Nothing." Laurel gulped down her worries, hoping that he was somewhere safe. Laurel's mother placed her hand on her mouth, shaken at the thought of her son possibly dead.

"Flo says you got a phone call?" He added on. Laurel's breath hitched in her throat at the memory of that call.

"Yeah..." Laurel mumbled while leading the man to their phone. The yellow electronic sat on the wall as the Sheriff investigated it. After picking it up, he examined the burnt areas on it.

"Storm barbecued this pretty good," he mumbled.

"The storm?" Laurel questioned, knowing that it couldn't simply be that.

"What else?" He asked in confusion.

"You-you don't think that that's weird?" she asked again.

"No, it's weird," he assured. Laurel sighed in relief that she wasn't overreacting.

"Can we like...trace who made the call? Contact the-"

"No, it doesn't work like that," the Sheriff interjected. The young girl's eyes shut in worry. She had to force back the tears, she already cried enough last night.

"Now uh...you sure it was Will? Because Flo said you just heard some breathing," He asked while turning to Laurel. The girl went wide eyed, nodding and shaking her head at the same time.

"No, I-I know it had to be him. And...he was scared, and then-"

"It was probably just a prank call. It was somebody trying to scare you." He interrupted once again. Laurel took a deep breath in annoyance.

"Who would do that?" Her brother asked.

"Well, this thing's been on TV. Brings out all the crazies, ya know? False leads, prank calls, uh..."

"Mr. Sheriff, no. I know it was him. I've grown up with him, and I would know my own brother's voice anywhere," Lauren interrupted. The Sheriff seemed taken back by this, but still had a look of denial.

"Wouldn't you know your own sibling or kid's voice anywhere?" That seemed to hit him. The Sheriff strode around their home, looking like he was pondering something.

"You hear from Lonnie yet?" He asked her mother. Laurel's fist clenched at the name.

"No," her mother answered between sniffles.

"It's been long enough, I'm having him checked out," he declared while starting to leave the house.

"Oh, come on! You're wasting your time!" Her mother stated as he left the building, her brother running after. She knew what he wanted to do, he wanted to visit their father. But Laurel hadn't spoken to him since the divorce and never wanted to.

This was going to be a long day.

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A loud staple sound filled her ears, but it wasn't loud enough under the sounds of the teenagers walking the halls.

Laurel decided to attend school, even with her mother pleading for her not to. She decided that it was the best for her. At the moment, she was stapling Will's "lost boy" posters, hoping that every glance would make a subtle difference. Maybe somebody knew where he was, so Laurel knew she had to keep up with it.

"Hey," Laurel suddenly heard, her head turning to the right to see the one person that could make her heart skip a beat. It was Nancy. Today she had her hair beautifully tied in a half ponytail, a light purple blouse, and a tiny gold necklace. Laurel's face turned white, lost for words; she had no idea why Nancy was talking to her.

"H-hey," Laurel stammered out, almost dropping the posters on the floor before catching them subtly.

"I just, I wanted to say, you know, um..." Nancy began. Laurel wanted so badly for that sentence to end with you're gorgeous and I wanna go on a date with you, but she knew that that would not be the case. "I'm sorry about everything."

Laurel glanced to the floor, avoiding eye contact with her crush; it was a tough task. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nancy glance behind her, so Laurel looked up to see what she was looking at. There stood Nancy's friends, or as Laurel liked to call it, Steve Harrington's entourage. Besides Barb, Barb was pretty nice. She gave her homework answers once, so she was on Laurel's good people list.

"Everyone's...thinking about you," Nancy continued, knowing she was talking about how she felt sorry for her. Of course, the only thing Nancy would ever feel for her was pity. Nothing else, nothing more.

"It sucks," she continued. Laurel nodded in agreement with a weak smile.

The two shared a long look before Nancy continued. "I'm sure he's fine, he's a smart kid." That much was true.

Before Nancy could say anything more, the school bell rang, Laurel letting out a small sigh of relief.

"I have to go, Chemistry test," she finished, Laurel nodding in agreement.

"Yeah," was all she could muster.

"Good luck," Nancy concluded as she began walking away.

"Thanks," Laurel mumbled as she let out a breath she never knew she was holding. Nancy left her gaze, and Laurel replayed the situation in her mind, over and over again. She couldn't believe it, Nancy Wheeler actually willingly had a chat with her!

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"I can't believe you made me come out here," Laurel said to her twin as she analyzed each step she took on the uneven forest floor. Something about forests at night creeped her out, even if it was one of the best places to come for photography.

Jonathan gave a hurt look, and Laurel sighed. They weren't just out here for the photos. "Look, I didn't mean-I wanna find Will, you know I do!" Laurel's voice cracked at the end, something that happened when she got emotional about something; she hated being over emotional. "But...we could've done it in the day, not at night when-"

Both teens stopped in their tracks at the sound of a high pitched scream. They shared a worried glance before Laurel had to chase after her curious brother who seemed to be following the noise. Laurel called after him, over and over, knowing how dangerous this situation could be. But he probably thought that this had to do with Will, so Laurel reluctantly continued running.

They came to a clearing, but still hid behind the trees. Not because they were scared, but they found their answer. It was just a house party. Specifically, Steve Harrington's house party, which Nancy was sadly at. Laurel's heart dropped with each breath she took, having to stare at the girl she loved being happy without her. Of course, they barely spent time together anyway, but Laurel always felt disappointed when Nancy was happy.

Of course Laurel wanted her to be happy, but the fact that Nancy didn't need Laurel to be happy made her feel like a nobody again, like she wasn't good enough.

Laurel would never be good enough for Nancy.

Laurel could feel her brother's eyes on her.

"You wanna leave?" He asked, knowing how much it hurt her.

Laurel took a moment to think, but eventually shook her head. "I'm fine."

To take her mind off things, Laurel brought up her camera and took photos of the small, but exciting, house party. Kids were jumping into pools, drinking beer, just being teenagers. It was something Laurel envied, but still found meaningful. So there she was, taking photos of the party she wasn't invited to.

Somehow most of her photos centered around Nancy, which she never noticed.

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Things seemed to be quiet between the two once the party died down. The twins talked about everything, everything except Will, which was their intention. The more she talked about it, the more her anxiety grew.

Jonathan seemed to be on the topic of teachers he hated, but Laurel couldn't pay attention anymore once she noticed movement in one of Steve's windows. Bringing her camera up to her eye, her breath caught in her throat watching the situation unfold. Slowly bringing it down, it got to her attention, and her brother's, that Steve was kissing Nancy. Of course it wasn't unnatural for a couple to kiss, but something about the fact that it was Nancy made Laurel's heart sink even more.

The more it hurt, the more photos she took.

"Maybe we should go..." Jonathan mumbled, watching his teary eyed sister attempt at taking photos of the couple in the window.

Laurel turned to Jonathan, trying to speak, but no words seemed to escape her throat. She didn't know how to explain herself, or if she wanted to go at all.

A loud screech echoed through the dark, making both of their heads turn back to the backyard. It sounded like a dying animal, like a call of a wolf.

But nothing was there.

"Let's go," Laurel mumbled, trying not to think too much about the mysterious noise.

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guess who finished season 2? guess who has a bunch of plot ideas for it??? mE