the other woman! - 𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗿

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐭

DISCLAIMER: VERY LONG CHAPTER. im so sorry 😭😭

Funerals were something Monica rarely experienced in her lifetime. The only funeral she had been to was for her late cat Pepper right before elementary school ended. Her breed consists of a dark brown Burmese with the most gorgeous golden eyes. Although Pepper was the only cat Monica ever had, she was extremely loyal and frisky. Monica's whole fifth-grade year was ruined the day Pepper got run over by a moving Chevrolet Camaro. At that moment, her whole life was ruined by the time that cat was six feet under. Until this past week.

When reuniting with Nancy back in her pastel pink room, Monica told her mostly everything that happened to her. They sat on her bed, side by side once again. She recounts the traumatic experience of randomly being placed in the Upside Down, hearing Will telling her to run and running away from the Demogorgon. She even grabs the picture of Barb that Jonathan took and shows it to her.

"Right there. That's the monster." Monica points to the edge of the photograph where the Demogorgon stood, regardless of how blurry the photo was. Nancy squinted her eyes, leaning closer to the picture before she was able to see it with her own eyes.

"I've seen that before."

"Where?"

"Back in Steve's backyard. I was trying to see if there was anything that maybe could lead me to find you and Barb. And I saw it when walking through the forest." Nancy took a pause while recounting that day. "I thought I saw a bear or something... but if you're right, then we need to save Barb. And Will."

Monica sighed when hearing the name Barb. The only thing that she decided to leave out was that Barb was no longer alive. If Barb was alive, she must be the Messiah or escape death which was impossible. It wasn't like Monica saw her literally eaten alive by the Demogorgon and left her to die. The last thing Monica wanted is to lose Nancy like she thought she had.

"We need to be prepared." Monica told Nancy while holding her hand. "I already told Jonathan so we need to meet up. When is Will's funeral?"

"Tomorrow."

"Perfect."

—

"'I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'" The priest delivered his sermon.

It was the day of Will's funeral and, like in most funerals, people you'd never least expect it showed up. There were people from the Byers' extended family, of course, but also there were people at the funeral who was never there before the disappearance. As if they felt guilty for not spending good enough time with Will.

Jonathan never talked about his dad to Monica. They were more interested in photography than beating around a dead horse. But she knew that his father had to be a heartbreaker at least, given the fact that this was the first time she ever saw him. At Will's funeral, he sat right next to Joyce and Jonathan. Another tell was in Jonathan's annoyed face as if he couldn't stand being within his presence.

Linda forced Monica to look more "presentable" when she chose her first outfit. It consists of her usual black long-sleeve shirt, her brown, worn-out flared jeans with her bomber jacket and the old dress shoes she had since elementary. Her mother had bought shoes ten sizes too big so Monica would grow into them.