At first, Shannon Bishop was just the babysitter. It was convenient, living in the same neighborhood as the Hendersons, but it wasn't too much of a stretch to move to the Wheelers' house or even out where the Byers family lived to watch all the boys...
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Only Nancy Wheeler would call to talk to someone first thing in the morning, especially during the week. Larry was the one to answer the phone when it rang, nearly at the front door to leave for work with a coffee-to-go in hand. Shannon was still in her room, scrambling for the last of the things she needed for school after her third night of terrible sleep.
Something about the events of last week had sent her into a spiral, one that she'd been stuck in for most of the weekend. Considering he was working most of each day, Larry had missed most of those signs, but then again, he'd been missing the vast majority of them over the past few months. That morning, however, he finally seemed to take notice of the bags under her eyes when he tried to pass her the phone.
"Hold on, let me get her," he said into the receiver before getting Shannon's attention when she walked into the kitchen. "It's the Wheeler girl for you."
Shannon's face pinched in confusion, but she reached for the phone anyway. "Okay, thanks."
Her father didn't release the phone right away, though. His own face pinched in thought, he studied her closely before saying, "Are you doing okay, Shan?"
She nodded. "Just didn't sleep well, that's all."
He wavered, still unsure. "Take it easy today, kid, okay?"
"Yeah, dad," she told him. "I will. Have a good day."
"Love you, kid."
"Love you." She took the phone from him then when he released it, waiting only for Larry to step through the front door before bringing it up to her ear. "Nancy?"
"Oh, gosh, hi! I'm sorry to call first thing, but Barb's having car troubles. Any chance you have room for a passenger or two this morning?"
Shannon tugged the phone cord with her finger. "I don't have a car to take. Sorry."
"You don't? What about your– oh." Nancy went quiet very abruptly once she realized her mistake. "Oh, Shannon, I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Shannon said, but really, it wasn't okay. She used to share a car with her mother, but that was the one that had been totaled the night of the accident, the one that Shannon wouldn't have wanted to keep driving anyway after her mother's death. Any other time she would have been able to shake off the reminder, but after the weekend she'd had, her morning was now off to an incredibly poor start.
"You know what? Forget I even asked," Nancy was saying, rambling on the other end of the line. She didn't sound stressed yet, but Shannon knew her well enough to know her concerns about being late to school would kick in soon.
"What about Steve?"
"Ste- shh!" Nancy's voice immediately dropped a few octaves lower, and Shannon pictured the brunette cradling the phone more protectively against her ear to prevent anyone from her family from overhearing them. "I can't do that."
