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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When Shannon came down from Nancy's room a little while later, she was nearly run over by the boys as they poured into the hallway from the basement.
"Hey, Shannon!" Mike's greeting was the loudest, but Will's smile was the brightest. Based on their last interaction, she wasn't surprised to see that Dustin was avoiding her eyes and not saying anything at all.
"Hey, boys. How's the campaign going?"
Lucas grimaced. "Could be better."
"I lost big time," Will supplied. "The demogorgon got me."
It was a reflex, the way her hand shot out to scoot the Byers boy closer to her so that she could ruffle his hair. She used to do that a lot, to all of them, really, but Will was always the slowest to push her away.
This instance was no different. He was a minute of ruffling too late to push her away, but eventually he did knock her hand off his head with a startled laugh. "Hey!"
"Cheer up, squirt," she teased kindly. "You'll do better next time."
"If we'd had more time tonight, we totally could have tried something else," Mike muttered.
Karen Wheeler materialized out of nowhere as if her son's quiet protests had summoned her. "And you boys know the rule. It's a school night, so that means until-"
"-a quarter after nine, yeah, yeah," Mike finished, although far from enthusiastically. "We know, mom."
"That's right." She glanced around the hallway and took notice of Shannon standing in the gaggle of boys. "Oh, hi, Shannon."
"Hi, Mrs. Wheeler," she replied with a polite wave, already stepping back toward the door. With her hand on the doorknob she paused, watching the boys scramble to get the last of their things in order before they left the Wheeler household. "Anybody want a ride home?"
The offer stood for any of the three boys who were about to bike home in the dark, but she was hoping that Dustin would agree, even if reluctantly. They lived on the same street, so it made the most sense, but more than that, she just wanted a few minutes to talk to him, to try to clear the air that had been so difficult to get through ever since she started coming around again.
"I'm good, thanks Shannon!" Lucas said, already rushing past her and out to the driveway, where the boys had all abandoned their bikes. He was already straddling the seat by the time Dustin filed out after him, conveniently not acknowledging Shannon's offer. Given he only lived a few streets over, she wasn't worried about him making it home.
"I'm okay with my bike," Will told her, still with a smile on his face.
Shannon's forehead creased as she followed them out to the driveway. "Are you sure? You've got the longest ride of anyone, and you've got to take– oh, what do you guys call that street?"
