"That's weird. I don't see him," Mike blurts out as we all put our bikes on the bike rack. "I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again." Lucas reassures, "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz," Dustin exclaims before Troy and James walk over to us. "Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show. Who do you think would make more money in a freak show? Midnight, Frog face, toothless, or..." Troy steps closer to me, "or little miss Harrington," he lightly taps my chest. I look up at him, rage in my eyes as I feel Mike grasp my hand. "I'd go with toothless," James mimicks Dustin. "I told you a million times, my teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia." Dustin sighs. "I told you a million times," James continues. "Do the arm thing," Troy demands, "Do it, freak!" James follows. Dustin takes off his jacket before sticking his arms out in front of him, making his bones crack. "God, it gets me every time," Troy groans as the two shove past us. "Assholes," Lucas exclaims. "Hey, y/n," Mike says. "What?" I ask. "You're okay right? He didn't touch you on your--your girl part?" he stammers, making me laugh. "I'm fine, Mike. Really," I laugh.

time skip

"Remember, finish chapter 12 and answer 12.3 on the difference between an experiment and other forms of science investigation. This will be on the test, which will cover chapters 10 through 12. It will be a multiple choice with an essay section." Mr. Clarke sighs as all the students, except Mike, Lucas, Dustin, and I clear out of the classroom.

"So, did it come?" mike asks as we walk to his desk. "Sorry, kids. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but... it came." Mr. Clarke exclaims. We walk to the AV room. "Yes." Mike squeals as he sits in the chair, "The Heathkit ham shack. Ain't she a beaut?" Mr. Clarke says proudly, "I bet you can talk to New York on this thing." Dustin gushed. "Think bigger," Mr. Clarke replies. "California?" I question. "Bigger," he responds. "Australia?" Mike asks in disbelief as Mr. Clarke nods. "When Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit," Lucas added. "Lucas." Mr. Clarke barked. "Sorry." Lucas muttered.

"Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins Middle AV Club," Mike speaks into the radio with an Australian accent, I take the headset off of his head and talk into it. "Hello, this is Y/n Harrington, the president's assistant. Question, do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?" I joke as Lucas takes the headset off my head. Just as Lucas was about to speak, the principle and chief of police knock on the already open door. "Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Michael, Y/n, Lucas, and Dustin?"

time skip

The sheriff asked us what road Will takes to get home, everyone was talking over one-another. "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, all right? You. You said he takes what?" The sheriff points to Mike. "Mirkwood," Mike replies. "Mirkwood?" the man questions. "Yeah," Mike nods. "Have you ever heard of Mirkwood?" the man asks the police officer sitting next to him. "I have not. That sounds made up to me," the other officer replies. "No, it's from Lord of the Rings." Lucas exclaims, "Well, The Hobbit," I correct. "It doesn't matter," Lucas retorts. "He asked!" I snap. "He asked!" Lucas mocks me. "Shut up, guys!" Mike exclaims.

"Hey, hey, hey. What'd I just say? One at a damn time. You." The sheriff named Hopper calls out to Mike. "Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerely meet." Mike explains. "Yeah, all right, I think I know that--" Hopper says to his friend. "-We can show you if you want," Mike suggests. "I said that I know it!" Hopper groans. "We can help look," Mike exclaims, "Yeah," Dustin follows. "No," Hopper replies simply, "No. After school, you are all to go home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."

"The Hobbit," I interrupt. "Shut up!" Lucas exclaims, leaning across Mike to slap me. I hit back, and soon enough we were hitting each other repeatedly. "Do I make myself clear? Do I make myself... clear?" Hopper asks intimidatingly as he walks over and hovers over us. "Yes, sir," we nod.

time skip

When I got home, I see Steve's car was home which was unusual for this time because of his after school activities. I shrug and put my bike in the garage before making my way inside. "Steve?" I call out. I heard footsteps upstairs so I follow them. They lead me to Steve's room. His door was open so I figured it was safe for me to walk in. When I walk in I see Steve spraying his area with perfume. "Steve, holy shit!" I shout as I quickly cover my eyes. "Y/n, get out!" he screams. "Why was the door open!" I yell as I sprint out of the room. I heard mumbling coming from inside my backpack. I unzip it and I realize it was Mike talking to me through the walky talky. "Y/n, do you copy? Can you come over now?" he asks. "Yeah. I can. Over and out," I reply, shutting off the device. A few seconds later, Steve awkwardly walks out of his room. "Can you drop me off at Mike's?" I ask. Steve nods and we walk to the car in silence. "I'll grab my bike just in case," I mutter before quickly grabbing my bike and placing it in the trunk. We both get in the car and Steve begins to drive. "I think we should have the talk since mom and dad won't do it," Steve blurts. My eyes widen, "No. No," I shake my head. "Look, boys do that when they want to impress a girl. Because sometimes-" Steve begins. "Steve, stop! I don't plan on doing anything for a long time. Relationships just distract me from important tasks like school and focusing on having a successful future," I sneer. "Jeez, okay Miss goody goody," he chuckles. I roll my eyes as I lean my head on the window. When we get to the Wheeler's, I quickly hop out of the car and grab my bike. "Don't bother picking me up, I'll just bike home," I shout. "No way. Not with Will dissapearing," he interjects. "It's fine. I'll just ride with Dustin," I explain. "Yeah, like that freak can protect you," Steve scoffs. "Hey! He's my friend. Watch your mouth," I scold. I enter Mike's basement and find Mike talking with Lucas over the walky. "Hey, we're gonna meet Lucas and Dustin at Mirkwood to go look for Will," Mike explained as he walked me to the back door. "Are you sure we should be doing this?" I mutter. "Yeah, we'll be fine," he reassures me. We walk out of the back and we both get on Mike's back. As we rode out, we hear thumping. I look to my right and see someone trying to climb the side of the house, they turn to face us, and I see steve. I scoff at his stupidity.

time skip

"Ah, man. This is it," Lucas exclaims as we pull up to a blocked off area. "Hey, guys. You feel that?" Dustin asks, "Yeah, I think maybe we should go back," I follow. "No. We're not going back. Just stay close to me. Come on," Mike orders. I roll my eyes as I follow the three boys. "Just stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid." He continues. We waited for Dustin before continuing our search.

mini time skip

"Will! Will!" Mike shouts, "Byers!" I continue. "I've got your X-Men 134! Guys, I really think we should turn back." Dustin suggests. "Seriously, Dustin? You wanna be a baby, then go home already!" Lucas exclaims, "I'm just being realistic, Lucas!" Dustin shouts. "No, you're just being a big sissy!" Lucas retorts. "Do you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?" I reason. "Y/n, shut up." Mike retort. "She's right, does that seem smart to you?" Dustin defends. "Shut up. Shut up. Did you guys hear that?" Mike exclaims. As soon as everyone got quiet, we heard rustling. Our flashlights land on a girl with an oversized shirt and a shaved head.

a/n - i swear to god i wanna deactivate my account. i hate it here