Hope || Will Byers

•4•

The Weirdo on Maple Street; Part 2

Everything was covered in thick, blue slime. As Y/n studied her surroundings for the first time, she remembered she had to get out of the depressing lab to find her friend.

First, she would check Will's house, and if he wasn't there, she would try Mike's house. Then Hawkins Middle, and then the last place she would check, the library.

|<<–>>|

Mike watched the girl, Eleven, intently. His eyes kept wandering to the mark, or tattoo, that was on her arm.

Every-time Eleven saw Mike's eyes on the mark, she pulled down the sleeve and glared at him. Mike eventually stopped staring.

"So..." Mike started, fidgeting with his fingers. "Can I call you El? Short for Eleven?" He asked.

Eleven looked at Mike, confusion written all over her face. Mike sighed.

"A nickname. Basically just another name for somebody. So you can be El, short for Eleven. Just like I'm Mike, short for Michael." He said, and Eleven slowly nodded.

"Want to go see some stuff?"

Eleven nodded again, and Mike took her hand, practically dragging her up the stairs. He took her to the second stairwell, and brought her up to his room.

She looked around the room, and made her way over to where a bunch of pictures were. She lifted her finger and pointed to a picture of Y/n.

"Pretty..." she whispered. Mike walked up to her and nodded.

"Guess so." He replied.

Eleven then went to a picture of the whole group: Dustin, Lucas, Will, Y/n, and Mike. They were sitting down on the grass, smiling at the camera. She noticed that Lucas was playing with Dustin's hair, and Dustin was trying to shake Lucas' hand off of his head.

She also saw that Mike was laughing at Dustin and Lucas' encounter. But on the right side of the photo, Eleven noticed Will and Y/n. They were holding hands. Eleven smiled as she observed the photo.

Mike walked up to Eleven, seeing what she was looking at.

"They're not very good at hiding it, are they?" He said, chuckling lightly. Eleven nodded.

"No." She replied softly.

"They're too obvious, it's as if they aren't even trying to hide it. What else do you want to do up here?"

Eleven shrugged, sitting down on Mike's bed.

"Ooh, I know! We could play with my action figures!"

Mike went over to where his Star Wars toys were, and he picked up his Yoda figurine.

"This is Yoda, he has cool powers. It's called The Force. He can move stuff with his mind!" Mike said excitedly.

Eleven looked nervous as soon as the words sunk in. Mike dropped the action figure as he saw El's worried expression.

"You good?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Eleven slowly nodded.

"Yes."

|<<–>>|

Y/n had already checked the Byers' house, the Wheeler's house, and Hawkins Middle. The only place left on her list was the library, and she doubted Will would be hiding there.

But were there any other options? No, or at least, none that Y/n could think of. Where he was hiding would have to be a place really dear to him, a place that had an emotional hold on Will.