STICKS AND STONES ↝ S. HARRINGTON

[6]

"Hey," Anna said, knocking lightly on Dustin's door, which lay open just enough to reveal where the young boy still lay tightly tucked into bed, though by the looks of him, he hadn't slept much aside from where he'd fallen asleep on her on the couch the night before. "I'm about to head to school, but is there anything I can pick up for you on my way home? Pizza, a movie, some new trading cards, anything?"

Dustin shook his head, hugging his pillow a little tighter. "That's okay," he said. "Thanks."

Anna stepped hesitantly into the room, kneeling down by her brother's bedside and pressing a quick kiss to the top of his head. "Get some rest today, okay? I'll see you later."

Dustin nodded as she bid him goodbye, shutting the door behind her and grabbing her backpack. Though, from the second she set foot in the door of Hawkins High School, the atmosphere was gloomily abuzz with people gossiping about the body of the twelve year old boy found in Sattler's Quarry the night before. As she'd expected, Jonathan and Michelle were nowhere to be found that morning, likely at home with their mother Joyce, but everywhere Anna looked, the only name tumbling out of the mouths of her classmates was that of Will Byers.

"I heard he was pushed."

"Somebody said his body was so mangled they couldn't even tell it was him."

"Poor kid probably got lost and fell right off the edge."

"How's Dustin taking it?" Landon had asked as Anna shoved her backpack into her locker, the blonde boy standing next to Becca as both of them watched her with concerned expressions.

"About as well as you'd expect." Anna said with a slight shrug. "I've never seen him like that. The boys were riding their bikes last night when the emergency vehicles went out, and they followed the sound of the sirens. They watched the cops pull him out of the water, can you imagine?" She quickly shut her locker as tears pricked at the corners of her vision. "God, I just wish Dustin would have been anywhere else last night. He was an absolute wreck when he came home. Mom and I tried to calm him down, but what do you say to a kid who witnessed his best friend like that?"

"Poor kid," Becca said, shaking her head and nervously running a hand through her hair. "All of them, Dustin, Mike, Lucas. And Will, he was such a smart kid, how'd he get lost in the woods like that?"

"I don't know," Anna said, the bell overhead cutting them off with the reminder that they were running out of time to get to their first class of the day.

Even during the class periods, Will's name floated around the room, both from gossiping students as well as teachers offering support to anyone who may be affected, and giving a reminder that the social worker Ms. Kelley's office was always open to anyone in need. Anna had grown used to hearing these words at the beginning of each class, although she hadn't been quite prepared for those that followed at the beginning of her third period algebra class, once Mr. Mundy had finished going over the same introductory subject matter Mr. Kaminsky and Mr. Sanderson had both gone over during the past two class periods.

"Anna Henderson?" a voice rang out, and Anna's attention was quickly pulled to where Principal Murphy stood in the doorway, watching her expectantly. "If you'll come with me, please?"

Anna suddenly seemed to shrink in her seat as everyone's heads turned in her direction, each pair of eyes in the room trained intently on her, though for the life of her, she couldn't figure out what the principal wanted. She shared a quick look with Becca and Landon, who both narrowed their eyebrows at her in confusion, but she simply shrugged in response as she gathered her things, carrying them with her as she rose from her desk, following the principal out of the room.