ℕ𝕆𝕀𝕊𝔼

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• 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚒𝚍 - 𝙱𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚂𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑 •

When the boys woke up, Bea was still asleep on the couch. El was sitting across from her, playing with the walkie-talkie. Bea groggily woke up to the sound of her friends talking and the static coming from the walkie-talkie beside her.

Bea looked over at El and nodded with a smile saying 'good morning', receiving a soft smile in return. She then clutched her head. She had a headache from all the screaming and crying she did last night.

When the boys saw her awake, they first asked if she was okay. She responded with an "I'm fine." Even though she wasn't. She knew that now was not the time to worry about her when they needed to find Will.

She'd never admit this to anybody — especially the party — but she has begun to have a little crush on the missing boy. It's only little and it started during the summer before.

Bea and Will were at the community pool swimming around. They were waiting for the rest of the party, but it was so hot that they decided to wait for them in the water.

For the time being, they spent it showing off to each other. Who could dive the deepest? Who could make the biggest splash? Who could swim the fastest? Who could hold their breath the longest?

Bea was having such a great time with just Will, that when the rest of the boys were finally there, her smile dropped a little. It's not like she wasn't happy to see her friends — they're her best friends. But she wanted Will to be more.

Obviously the boy doesn't think the same way. I mean, they're just friends — best friends. They could be nothing more, nothing less.

When the trio stopped asking her questions, they told her about their plan they called 'Operation Mirkwood'.

"Did you get the supplies?" Mike asked Lucas. The latter and Dustin had left early in the morning to grab equipment from their houses.

"Yeah." He replied, "Binoculars... from 'Nam. Army knife... also from 'Nam. Hammer. Camouflage bandanna, and the wrist rocket." Lucas named off the things he brought.

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin remarks.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket. And second of all, the Demogorgon's not real. It's made up." Lucas states matter-of-factly.

"You're wrong." Bea argues as she gets up to stand along with them.

"No, I'm right. But if there is something out there, I'm gonna shoot it in the eye and blind it." He pulls the wrist rocket back, ready to shoot, making the others flinch back.

"Dustin, what did you get?" Mike turned to the boy, rolling his eyes at Lucas.

Dustin dumps his backpack onto the table as snacks fall out of it. He then names all the food he brought while Bea zones him out. She's tired. Even though she just woke up. Actually, she's more drained than anything. From fainting, to waking up screaming, to crying all night in her friends arms. She still can't wrap her mind around Barb. What happened last night? How does Bea know that she's dead? Why did Barb lie? She said she'd be safe and she wasn't. She's dead.

Barb's dead.

While thinking about this, her face visibly drops. El looks up from what she was doing and notices this. She opens her arms — as she saw the boys do this last night — and motions for Bea to come to her.