A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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It was quiet outside for the most part, just a few people walking around here and there, the sun shining again like there wasn't something horrible happening to the people in the town of Hawkins. Ryan sat outside of Hawkins High at one of the picnic tables with a book in her hand, trying to clear her head. She had almost made it through the entire school day, on her third to last class of the day when she'd been dismissed for her lack of emotional stability.
She had been sitting at her desk, trying to focus on the notes she was taking for physics when she overheard some of the guys in the back of the class talking about Will, most specifically the Byers family as a whole. She had turned around, snapping some not so nice words at a not so low volume, Mr. Barrow demanding to see her in the hallway immediately after the fact.
Luckily, Mr. Barrow was an understanding man. Instead of lecturing her, he had told her to take the rest of the day off, to clear her head. It was obvious that she wasn't focused on school anyway.
She would've gone home, but she knew the minute she walked in the door, Aaron would be there asking if she was okay, why she was home early, if she needed to talk about everything. Neither him nor Peter wanted her to go to school today, not after everything with Will and what she saw the day before, but sitting at home doing nothing was driving her crazy.
So here she was, doodling in the margins of her copy of The Great Gatsby in the November breeze. She probably would've enjoyed it more if it hadn't been the worst week of her life.
Ryan was just about to flip the page of the book, when a shadow fell over her. She turned around, surprised to see none other than Nancy Wheeler standing in front of her, clutching the straps of her bag like her life depended on it. She'd never seen Nancy so... so scared in her entire life. Neither one of them said anything at first, just staring at each other in silence; Ryan in bewilderment, Nancy in uncertain fear.
"Why don't you sit down?" Ryan offered, moving over on the bench she was sitting on. Nancy placed her bag on the table, taking the spot Ryan offered, still not saying a word.
Ryan wasn't exactly sure what to do in situations like this. She never really had any close girl friends before, so she was at a total loss at what the protocols were. Did she hug her? What was she supposed to do here?
Nancy was so silent, she was actually starting to get worried about what she would say when she eventually started talking. There were multiple things she just was not prepared to deal with, not now.
"I'm worried that something may have happened to my friend Barb." Nancy said finally, breaking the silence. "You haven't seen her, have you? I remember her saying you guys had gym together third period."
"I haven't seen her, no." Ryan responded, closing her book entirely to focus on the girl next to her. "Not since last night." Nancy looked at her in confusion which made her regret saying anything at all. She really should've just kept her mouth shut. "When I closed my curtains last night, I saw her outside by Steve's pool."
