𝐓𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐀𝐒 𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐒𝐊𝐘. Laurie and Nancy put their Chemistry books and notes away as they finished studying for the night. "I think we got this in the bag." Nancy says, looking over to the honey-colored hair girl, "Hell yeah, we do!" They high-fived each other while laughing.

"I should get going before it gets too bad." Nancy looks out her window with a sad expression. "I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind you staying over. It's too dangerous for you to go home right now." They both look out the window as a big strike of lightning appears in the sky. "Yea, I'm going to call my mom and ask yours. That doesn't look good."

Nancy smiles softly as Laurie walks out of her room. She walks downstairs and looks around for Karen but only finds Ted messing with the TV. "Uh, Mr. Wheeler." She says kindly as he looks at her. "Oh, I didn't know you were here, Laurie."

"Yea, do you know where Mrs. Wheeler is?"

"I think she's putting Holly down for the night." She nods and heads to Holly's room as Karen walks out of it. "Oh, Laurie, I was about to head upstairs and talk to you. Your mom called and asked you to stay the night since it's storming."

"Okay, good. I was actually about to come and ask you about that. Now, I don't have to worry." She laughs shyly before thanking Karen one more time. She heads downstairs to get some blankets and a pillow but stops when she sees three boys looking at her, surprised, and a young girl with a shaved head looking scared. All of them are soaked and dripping water.

"Dustin, Lucas! What the hell are you two doing here, and why are you all soaking wet?" She scolds walking down the stairs fully. "I could ask you the same thing, Laurie."

The older girl looks at her brother, "I was allowed to come here, remember? I was studying with Nancy, and mom talked to Karen. I'm staying the night since it's storming so bad right now. Now, what about you three?" She questions, looking them over.

"We went out to look for Will, but we found someone else," Lucas says, looking over at the girl. "Hey sweetheart, how are you?" She asks softly, looking at the girl. She bends to her eye level as the girl stares at her. Her heart breaks looking into the young girl's doe eyes; she's terrified.

The girl sits on the couch, looking terrified as Laurie looks at the boys. "Do you know anything?" They shake their heads no, making her sigh. Lucas reaches out for the girl, but Mike slaps his hand away, "Stop it! You're freaking her out!" He scolds.

"She's freaking me out!" Lucas argues back as Dustin comes up to the girl, "I bet she's deaf." He claps his hands before Laurie can stop him, and the girl flinches. "Dustin, seriously?!" He looks guilty, "All right, that's enough, all right? She's just scared and cold." Mike walks away to grab her some clothes as Laurie tries her best to calm the girl down when thunder rumbles.

"Here, these are clean. Okay?" The girl takes the clothes carefully. She removes her jacket, and it quickly clicks in Laurie's head. "Nope, no. Come with me; you need to change in the bathroom." She guides the young girl to the bathroom.

"Do you want this closed?"

"No." Laurie smiles softly when the girl speaks and closes it until there is a small crack. "This okay?" The girl nods, and Laurie walks away. The boys are talking amongst themselves, but that stops as they all get smack on the back of their heads. "What the hell were you three thinking?! This has to be one of the stupidest things you have done ever!"

"We were looking for Will." Dustin tries to defend them, but it's no use. "Look, you got yourselves into this mess. If I weren't so damn tired, I would help. Figure this out, and as long as you don't die, I am okay with it. Good night and don't get sick, Dustin, Lucas." She grabs some blankets and pillows and then heads upstairs to Nancy's room. She needs some damn sleep.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The following day, the Wheeler family and Laurie sit around the table eating breakfast. Mike is rushing to eat his food, which disgusts Nancy, and his mother looks amused. "Slow down, Mike. That's disgusting." Nancy complains, making Laurie laugh. "You did a lot of studying last night?" The two girls look at him offended, for different reasons but still offended.

"Yeah, actually, we did." Nancy defends herself and Laurie. "What was your test on, again? Human anatomy?" Nancy kicks his chair before shooting him a look, and Mike kicks back. "Hey, what's going on?" Karen asks, making the two siblings look over at her and, in unison, say, "Nothing."

Laurie holds back a laugh before going back to her breakfast.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Barbra, Nancy, and Laurie walk down the halls of Hawkins High as Barb quizzes them with the cue cards they have been studying. "When alpha particles go through the gold foil, they become...?"

"Unoccupied space." Nancy and Laurie say in unison. Then, as they make their way to the hallway intersection, Barb moves to the next card, "A molecule than can..." But, as Steve takes the cards from her hands, Barb doesn't get to finish her question.

"Hey!" Nancy protests, looking at Steve, upset. "I don't know. I think you two have studied enough." Laurie rolls her eyes, "Yea, after you left." He smirks at her as Tommy and Carol laugh. "I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town for a conference, and my mom has gone with him, 'cause, you know, she doesn't trust him."

"Good call." Tommy quips, making Laurie cringe. "So you in?" Nancy looks at him confused, "In for what?" She questions, making his friends laugh. "No parents. Big house." Carol says, looking at her, waiting for it to click. "A party?" Laurie asks, making Carol smile, "Ding, ding, ding, ding! Good job, Henderson." The girl gives her an annoyed look as Nancy speaks up.

"It's Tuesday."

"It's Tuesday! Oh my god –" Tommy mocks Nancy, which makes Laurie and Steve annoyed. "Come on. It'll be low-key. It'll be just us. What do you think? Are you in, or are you out?" Nancy starts the think it over as Carol pipes up again. "Oh, God. Look." Everyone turns to look at whatever she sees, and Laurie's heart breaks.

"Oh, God. That's depressing." Steve comments as the group looks at Jonathan Byers putting up missing posters of Will. "Really, Harrington? His brother is missing, have some fucking sympathy."

"Should we say something?" Nancy looks over to Laurie, who shrugs. "I don't think he speaks." Carol jokes, making the Henderson girl upset. This isn't funny. An innocent boy is missing. "How much you wanna bet he killed him?" Tommy jokes, if you can even call it that, and Laurie clenches her books so hard her knuckles turn white.

Nancy quickly notices and tries to calm her down as she sends Tommy a glare, "Shut up." Steve says as Nancy walks over to Jonathan, and Laurie turns to the group.

"Are you okay in the head? Because it seems to me that you have no common decency. You may think he is a freak or whatever the hell you call people who seem to be beneath you, but that boy has lost his little brother. So either keep your mouth shut or offer an "I'm sorry, this must suck" and walk along. Quit being an asshole for once." Tommy and Carol look in shock as Steve seems proud.

Laurie walks away to Chemistry, not even caring about waiting for Barab or Nancy.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Laurie is lying on Nancy's bed as she reads The Color Purple. It's part of her plan to further her knowledge of people of different cultures and races before she graduates, so she isn't ignorant when she goes out into the world outside of Hawkins.

Music is playing softly through Nancy's radio as the Wheeler girl talks to Barb on the phone. "Because I don't want to go by myself." Laurie looks over as Nancy sits up, "Barb...Barb, it's not rocket science. You just tell your parents you'll stay at my place afterward. That's what Laurie is doing. No, tell them we're...studying." Laurie chuckles as she flips the page. "If she doesn't get valedictorian when she graduates, her parents will be suspicious." The two girls laugh as Karen calls them down for dinner.

"We're coming! Look, I have to go. We'll see you in an hour." Nancy hangs up the phone as she smiles at Laurie. "I am not involved with this. I am an innocent bystander." She says, smirking while putting her book down.

The table is full that night. Nancy, Laurie, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Karen, Ted, and Holly are all around the table. The conversation is null. Laurie notices that the boys seem lost in their thoughts. Karen sees Lucas's lack of interest and speaks up, "Something wrong with the meatloaf?" Dustin quickly shakes his head no, which catches Laurie's attention, "Ah, no, I had two bologna sandwiches for lunch...I don't know why."

"Me too." Lucas agrees with a fake smile, but Laurie isn't convinced. "It's delicious, mom." Nancy tries to score some brownie points, and her mother thanks her. "So there's this special assembly thing tonight for Will at the school field. Barb's driving." Karen looks at Nancy, confused, then over to Laurie, who smiles kindly.

"Why am I just hearing about this?"

"I thought you knew." Nancy defends as she takes a bite. Laurie stays quiet as she slowly eats her meal, "I told you, I don't want you out after dark until Will is found. I think Claudia feels the same about Laurie and Dustin."

"I know, I know, but it'd be super weird if I'm not there. I mean, everyone's going. Plus, everyone knows how much Laurie adores Will. So it would also be super weird for her not to be there as well." The mentioned girl looks up with a shy smile, "My mom already said it was okay."

Karen sighs as she looks at the two teenagers in front of her. "Just...be back by ten. Why don't you bring the boys, too." All six of the kids quickly yell out, "No!" Mike sips his milk as his mother looks over at him, "Don't you think you should be there? For Will?" As she's talking, the girl from last night appears behind Karen and is walking down the stairs.

Mike and Laurie seem to notice her at the same time. Mike chokes on his milk while Laurie chokes on the meatloaf she was mid-bite on. Karen sees that the kids are looking behind her, so she turns but Dustin pounds on the table, which makes a huge noise.

"Sorry. Spasm." Dustin says innocently as Nancy helps Laurie get over her choking episode. "Are you okay? What happened?" Her voice is very concerned; her brown eyes are full of concern as Laurie finally stops choking. "Went down the wrong pipe." She takes a few big gulps of water to clear her throat more.

She looks over and notices that Holly looks spooked, "Oh, Hol. It's okay. I'm fine, and it was just a loud noise."

"Nice," Nancy says, simply scolding the boys for making the toddler scared.

After dinner, Nancy heads upstairs to get ready, and Laurie goes downstairs to be with the boys. "Does she have a name yet?" Mike nods, "El. She has an eleven tattooed on her arm, so we call her El for short." She nods as Nancy calls out her name. "Don't be stupid." She warns before she heads upstairs, "Same to you, buttercup!" Dustin calls out, and his response is the basement door slamming.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Later that night, Laurie is singing softly along to the radio as Nancy gets ready. "Barbara, pull over." Barb and Laurie look at her, confused, "What?"

"Pull over!" Barb pulls over, putting the car in park. "What are we doing here? His house is three blocks away." Nancy sighs, looking over at her best friends. "We can't park in the driveway."

"Are you serious?" Barb asks, looking at her annoyed, "Yeah, the neighbors might see." Laurie groans, just thinking about the walk. "Nancy, no! My feet are gonna kill me!" She slides down the backseat. "This is so stupid. I'm just going to drop you off." Barb goes to start the car, but Nancy stops her quickly.

"Calm down, Barb, come on! You promised you'd go. You're both coming. We're going to have a great time."

"You're gonna get laid while Barb and I are the stupid outsiders freezing, so we don't hear the sounds of teenage hormones!" Laurie whines, lying across the backseat. "Nance. Seriously. He invited you to his house. His parents aren't home. Come on; you are not this stupid." Barb says agreeing with Laurie, but her response is more mature compared to Laurie's childlike one.

Nancy starts taking off her sweater, which makes Laurie roll her eyes. "Tommy H and Carol are gonna be there." It's Barb's turn to roll her eyes, "Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, the seventh grade. So it'll probably be just, like, a big orgy."

"Gross."

"I'm gonna throw up." Nancy and Laurie say in unison, making Barb laugh a little, "I'm serious!" Nancy looks at both girls with a small smile, "All right, well, you two can be like my guardians. All tight? Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid."

"I think we both need to be that for Laurie," Barb says as she and Nancy look at the Henderson girl, who is almost on the floor with how much she has slumped since the car has parked. She smiles at her friends brightly and then throws up a peace sign.

Nancy, Barb, and Laurie walk up to the front door. Music is blaring from the end of the driveway, and Nancy rings the doorbell. "My feet hurt, and I wore my comfy shoes too," Laurie says, pouting as Barb starts to get nervous. "Barb, chill." Nancy says calmly, "I'm chill." Barba says, straightening up a bit. "I'm cold." Laurie comments as the double doors swing open, Raise A Little Hell by Trooper plays as Steve leans on the doorway. "Hello, ladies."

Steve welcomes each girl in as they walk through the doors, showing them to the backyard where Tommy and Carol are. "The party has finally started!" Carol cheers, clearly a little drunk already.

Music is playing, and the backyard is massive. There's a large in-ground swimming pool surrounded by lawn chairs on the deck, along with other patio furniture. Laurie watches as Tommy tries to throw Carol into the pool with a slight smile on her face. Barb sits away from the action while Nancy sits between Laurie and Steve.

Laurie's attention is caught as Steve grabs a can of beer from the cooler. He uses a knife to punch a hole in the can before shotgunning it—Nancy watches, amused, while Laurie looks confused as the boy flops back down on his lawn chair.

"That supposed to impress me?" Nancy asks with a slight smirk, "You're not?" Wheeler laughs at his comment, "You are a cliché, you do realize that?" She questions, looking at the boy dead on. "You are a cliché. What, with your grades and band practice."

"I'm so not in band." Nancy laughs, "Okay, party girl." Steve hands her the knife, which makes Laurie concerned as she moves to sit upside down in the chair with her head hanging off the bottom. "Why don't you just show us how it's down, then?"

"Okay." Nancy takes the knife as Laurie's brows knit together in more confusion. She knows there is a simpler way to do a shotgun but forgot how. She misses the whole shotgun process with Nancy as an answer finally comes to her mind. "Can't you use a car key instead?" She asks loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"What?" Carol asks with a laugh, "A car key, well, any key, really. Safer than potentially cutting yourself with a knife."

Tommy throws her a beer which she fumbles with to catch. "Show us then, Henderson." She gets off her chair with a sigh and stands up, "Anyone has a key?" Steve tosses his, and she quickly pokes a hole and throws it back to him. "Now, you just shotgun it like usual, and no one has a cut hand or chopped-off finger."

"Chug it." Steve says with a smirk, and her cheeks heat up immediately, "What?" She looks at him with wide eyes. "Chug it; you seem to know so much for someone who's never been to a party." He challenges. "I haven't been to a party, plus movies are life, so...stop it."

"You don't have to do it, Laur." Nancy tries to reassure her, but she doesn't say another word as she lifts the tab and shotguns it badly, but still does it. She coughs loudly as beer runs down her mouth and her eyes water.

"Laurie!" Nancy runs over as the girl throws the can on the ground coughing up a storm. "I told you that you didn't have to." She rubs her back comfortingly, as Laurie had done many times for her. "Gotta make the most of life, right?" She jokes breathless before another fit of coughs comes up. She looks around, seeing that Steve is also concerned, while Tommy and Carol hold back a laugh, "Where's Barb?"

"Inside, she cut her hand trying to shotgun. Unfortunately, your solution came just a little too late." Laurie pouts as she waits for her breathing to stabilize. "Do you need to go inside? Take a minute." Steve asks, and he genuinely sounds concerned. "I'm okay, Harrington. As I said, movies are life. I got 90% of my street smarts from movies, but that was on the bucket list, so thanks." She jokes, and He laughs with a small smile.

Carol chuckles as she turns to the pool, and Tommy takes it as his opportunity to push her in. "Oh shit!" Laurie says, laughing, then laughs more as Tommy jumps in the pool. Steve takes his chance since Nancy and Laurie are distracted, pushing them into the pool. The girls scream as they grab hands before falling into the pool. Steve jumps in right after them, and everyone plays in the pool.

A few minutes later, everyone is in the house wrapped in towels and dripping wet. "I'm freezing," Carol complains, "Well, I hear his mom's room has a fireplace." Tommy suggests making his girlfriend smile as Steve scoffs, "Are you kidding me?" The two ignore him as they head upstairs. "Okay, well, you know you are cleaning the sheets."

He walks over to Nancy and Laurie, who are having some small talk. "You two all right?" He questions, looking at them. "Yeah." They both say. "Yeah? Come on, let's get you to tow some dry clothes." Laurie shakes her head, "I'm okay, but you go, Nancy." Her friend pauses, but when she sees that she is genuine, she follows Steve upstairs. Barb comes out of the bathroom, and Nancy stops halfway up. "Nance. Nancy? Where are you going?" Laurie comes around the corner with a small smile.

"Nowhere. Just...upstairs. To change. I...fell in the pool." Nancy chuckles as Laurie laughs along. Barb notice that Laurie is in the same state and shakes her head. "Why don't you two go ahead and go home. I'll just...I'll get a ride or something." Barb looks at her, shocked, "Nance?" Laurie can tell her friend is super angry but understands because Nancy is going into uncharted territory.

She sneaks away to her purse, pulls out a small bag she has kept since she turned sixteen, pulls out a foil square, and then sighs. She quickly returns as Barb says, "This isn't you."

"I'm fine. Just...go ahead and go home, okay?" Nancy turns to go upstairs, but Laurie calls out her name. "Be safe, and I am not ready to be an aunt." She hands the square to her friend, who blushes while her other looks at her, shocked. Nancy quickly heads upstairs, and Barb scoffs at her.

Laurie looks down and walks over to the living room. Barb is more than likely not going to drive her home now, so she finds a blanket and pillow. She gets comfortable on the couch, puts her headphones on then plays her walkman to drown out any potential noise.

She's about half asleep when she hears a loud scream. Jumping up, she looks outside the window but sees nothing, and the house is silent. She walks back to the couch, gets back in her comfortable spot, then falls asleep listening to her mixtape, unaware that Barb is now long gone.