Turn me Upside Down

Chapter 7: Possibly Dead Friend

"Mija, are you sure you want to go to school today?" your mom asked, sympathetically running her hand through your hair to calm you down.

"Yeah. It's fine ma, it would seem weird if I just didn't show up. Im not a direct source of pain right now. Mike and the others are hurting far worse than me so it's the least I can do," you assured, pushing lightly on her chest to get her away but also making sure that she knew that you appreciated her actions. Fluffing your hair back into place and making sure that tears werent present on your face, you made your way to the front of the house to leave. You stopped right before the door and ran back to your mother to squeeze one more hug out of her. "Te amo ma, please remember that."

"Yo tambien, mija. Take care of yourself please. Come home if it gets to be too much for you, okay?" Nodding in affirmation, you made your way out of the house, gripping onto your backpack straps as you made your way down the street. Sure, going to school was an option right now - the correct option, but you had secretly made plans with the infamous Eddie Munson to give you a ride over to the Byer's. He didn't seem to mind your late night phone call but grew concerned at the sounds of your tears.

Walking faster down the street to reach the meet up location faster, you failed to notice the van parked in the corner. Eddie fervently slammed his hands on the passenger window to gain your attention, causing you to jump in fright and get ready to run before you noticed who it was.

"Would it kill you to get my attention like a normal person! I thought you were some sort of kidnapper!" you screamed at him, not raising your voice but rather whispering in an angered tone.

"Yo, yo! Calm down. You were passing by so quickly so I thought fast," he apologized, waving his hands wildly as he waited for you to buckle yourself in. "I heard the news. You okay?" Giving him a deadpan look, he got the gist that you werent okay and instead started blasting rock music to fill in the void of silence.

Bouncing your head slightly to the beat of the song, you stared out at the passing street, focusing in on the greenery flying by at the speed Eddie went. You didn't have to give him directions to the house of the Byer's, after all a small town meant that almost everyone knew where the other lived. Instead, you reminisced on the night before, most of which you spent crying and screaming incoherently at the surrounding things. Your mom had managed to get you to calm down after a few hours of consoling, hugging you tightly and making sure to refill a mug with tea every once in a while if you needed it. Life was fast passing, but death was never something you had fully experienced until now.

The slowing of the vehicle notified you of your arrival in the location you were anxiously thinking of all morning. Despite the recent events, Jonathan would need help right now, and considering how close you felt to Will it only felt right to offer your help if he needed it. However, it looked as if grief had struck the family far earlier than you were able to reach them since the car was gone from their driveway and the house looked empty. Pushing yourself into the van seat, you calmed your stressed body as Eddie awkwardly stared at you, unsure as to what to do.

Just as he was outreaching his arm to pat on your shoulder you turned to him, "Can you just take me to school instead? It's almost starting and Nancy is probably waiting for me there."

He nodded along with your demands, and took the van out of park to make his way to the new location. Normally he would fill the silence with his chatter but considering the situation and your current mood, he didn't want to risk pissing you off. Eddie wasn't the first person you thought of when you were in your dramatics last night, but Nancy was probably stressed with her own things and Steve was a person you didn't want to be alone with. Not that he was a creep or weird like that. It's just that being alone with your friend's boyfriend was too much stress to handle on your own. Besides, he didn't seem to be the biggest Jonathan fan.