Stare. [Steve Harrington x Reader]

Chapter Four: The Funeral

Friday, November 11, 1983

Today was the day of the funeral, I got ready fast, putting on a plain black dress and some black heeled boots. As well as putting my hair back in a ponytail. I sighed as I made my way out of my room, I found both my parents waiting for me in the living room also wearing black attire.

Once we were all at the graveyard, we stood outside in the rain. The pastor was reading from the Bible in front of the grave, and I stood with both my parents behind Jonathan's family. After he spoke, everyone in attendance put white flowers on Will's grave as the gravediggers lowered it into the ground.

Everyone was now inside getting food after the service. Half of the people here, I'd never even met before. So as I stood, searching for a table to sit at, I saw Will's friends talking to one of the middle school teachers, Mr Clarke, at one of the round tables in the funeral home.

"Hey, guys." I said as I walked over to them. Mike, Dustin, and Lucas all looked over at me, a smile appearing on all of their faces.

"Hi, Y/n."

"Hey."

"Hi, Y/n." They all said.

"Hi, Mr Clarke." I waved, looking over at the teacher whom I knew from when I was in middle school.

"Hey, Y/n." He said with a small smile.

The three boys turned back to face Mr Clarke. "We were wondering if you had time to talk?"

"We have some questions."

"A lot of questions." The boys asked Mr Clarke.

I sat down with them because I didn't really have anyone else to sit with. Jonathan was outside with Nancy, and after yesterday it seemed like those two were far too busy with whatever they were up to, and Mom and Dad were having boring business talk with their colleagues somewhere.

I tuned back into their conversation.

"So, you know how in Cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions? Like beyond our world?"

"Yeah, sure. Theoretically." Mr Clarke said, his hands interlocked together on the table.

"Right, theoretically." Mike said, correcting himself.

"So, theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas asked him.

"You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's Many-Worlds interpretation, haven't you?" I didn't really know what they were talking about, but it took my mind off everything going on around me that I couldn't not listen, plus it was sort of interesting.

The three boys shared a look between them.

"Well, basically, there are parallel universes. Just like our world, but with just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happens." Mr Clarke said, his voice going softer towards the end with an empathic look on his face.

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about." Lucas interrupted with a flat tone as he shook his head. I turned my head to look over at them. They were acting weird...

"Oh."

"We were thinking of more of an evil dimension, like the Vale of Shadows. You know the Vale of Shadows." Dustin said with a smile. They seemed happier than what they should've been.

"An echo of the Material Plane, where necrotic and shadow magic-"

"Yeah, exactly. If that did exist, a place like the Vale of Shadows, how would we travel there?" Mike asked.