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It's been almost a year since Ethan went missing.
Most think he's dead, but his mom can't wrap her head around it. She hasn't cleaned out his room. She takes care of his bedsheets and reorganizes the books all the time, like he's still here. She's not believing that bullshit that he's dead, he's out there somewhere. Maybe even in that fucking lab, again. She refuses to believe it until she sees it.
Every time Joyce brings Nicole along for Will's appointments at the lab, she gets an eerie, gut-like feeling that Ethan is around. She can sense her boy. That's why she's been snooping around recently, she's sure he's there. The boys told her that the Demogorgon took him while she, Joyce, and Hopper went to save Will. And during that, they wouldn't have found Will yet. So by the time Ethan got his head smashed up against the wall, they hadn't found Will just yet. There was still time, sliver room, she knew it.
Will told Nicole that he tried helping Ethan, as he found him near the Upside Down lab, and leaned him up against a tree nearby before the Demogorgon got him. Then, the adults found Will stuck to that snake thing, unconscious, in the library after it hunted him and he fell from a tree. They missed her own fucking kid, he was probably right in front of them too. Or maybe he is dead, a Demogorgon took him again, or he escaped into the lab before they could see him.
All she knows is he isn't dead.
He's out there. Her boy needs her.
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The remaining party felt incredibly stupid as they approached school. It was Halloween and they were the only ones dressed up, and they went as the Ghostbusters, which made the nerd-calling even worse. Thank God it was just a day and not the rest of their lives, even though it really felt like it. The boys walk inside the festively decorated school, going to their lockers to put their backpacks and any extra things in before class. Dustin and Lucas get distracted by Max, as they wanted to ask if she wanted to join them for trick or treating, while Mike and Will left their lockers like normal people, heading to class. Dustin and Lucas would ask after class.
And finally after first period, Lucas and Dustin approached the redhead skater at her locker, trying to ask her to go trick or treating with them. They tried making it seem like they were doing her a favor, protecting her from bullies, but Max doesn't give a straight answer as she slams her locker closed, walking away.
"I'm gonna pretend she said no," Dustin says, walking toward third period.
"Yep, same" Lucas agrees, following him.
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After school, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas were riding their bikes back home, the wooded area made some sort of peace around them. Poor Will was trapped riding home with his mom again, making the road big enough for the three boys to be in one small line on the right side of the road. The boys were talking about people not wearing costumes to school, and how it made them embarrassed and how they got called nerds all day.
