"MATERIAL GIRL" // Will Byers x Reader

They're Conspiring // CHAPTER ELEVEN

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO

'Y/N, Y/N,' I wake up to Will shaking me. Slowly, I blink open my eyes. Everyone else is standing over me, concerned expressions on their faces. 

El, whom I last remember struggling to breathe against Billy's chokehold is fine, leaning heavily against Mike. The areas around her neck are bruised, but otherwise there's no apparent lasting damage. 

'Oh thank god,' Max breathes out a sigh of relief, resting her hands on her knees. 

'How are you feeling?' Mike asks. 

I cough. 'Like I just got hit with a truck,' I mutter, glancing around. 'Where's Billy?' 

There's a gaping hole in the brick wall in front of me, and a low hanging cloud of dust where some unlucky bricks were smashed to smithereens. 

'Gone,' El whispers, her hands by her throat. 'He ran away.' 

'Great,' I say, wiping the blood off my nose. 'Now what?' 

_

'I found him,' El says, her eyes covered with a blindfold. Her nose is bleeding slightly. 

I wanted to help her, but Will insisted I had to rest. 

Which led onto an argument with Mike about the fact that El should be able to rest to. 

Which ended in Max saying that someone had to find Hopper so there was no point in arguing further than that. 

'Where is he?'

'Woods,' El frowns. 

'Woods?' I repeat. 

'He's with... Will's mom.' El adds. 

'My... My mom?' Will looks at her in confusion. 

'What are they doing?' Max asks. 

'Ill... annoy,' El says slowly. 'They're going to Ill-annoy.'

'Mike! Y/N! Breakfast!' Karen yells from upstairs. 

'Not now, Mom!' Mike hollers back. 'Illinois? Illinois, like the state?' He frowns. 'The state of Illinois?' 

'No Mike, they're at Hogwarts,' I say sarcastically. 'What do you think Illinois means?' 

Mike rolls his eyes at me. 

'Ill-annoy,' El shrugs. 

She rubs her throat unconsciously. 'I'm going to go to the bathroom. Max?' 

'I'll come with you,' Max looks at me. 

'Yep, coming.' 

'Why do all three of you have to go at the same time?' Lucas raises his eyebrows. 

None of us answer. 

'Does it still hurt?' Max asks, grabbing a washcloth to dab the blood away from El's nose. 

'Only when I talk,' El says softly. 

'Well, it's a good thing you're not Mike, then,' I scoff. 

'"Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And you'd be in constant pain,' Max laughs. 'Listen, they're talking about us.' 

'-maybe El could.' 

'What are they still doing in there?' 

'I don't know. Girls just like hanging out in bathrooms.' 

'Why?' 

'Oh my god, they can be such morons sometimes,' Max says, rolling her eyes. 

'Shh, I can't hear-' 

'I mean, I don't know.' 

'They're conspiring against me.' 

'That's what you're concerned about now?' 

'It's not my main concern. It's just a sub-concern.' 

El giggles. 

'I thought it was already over.' 

'It's not over, okay? We're just taking a break.' 

'She said she dumped your ass. That doesn't sound like a break.' 

I laugh as Max yells back. 

'It wasn't!' 

'You guys do realize we can still hear everything you're saying, right?' I say. 

'Conspiring. I told you, they're conspiring.' 

'Conspiring,' I say, mimicking Mike. 'I repeat everything I say to make it sound important. I repeat-' 

Max snorts, covering her mouth with her hand. 

'He does do that, doesn't he.' 

There's a loud knock at the basement door. 

'Not now, Mom!' Mike shouts. 

'Mike, open the door.' 

Nancy. 

What's Nancy doing here?