STICKS AND STONES ↝ S. HARRINGTON

[14]

As the weeks began to fly by in the town of Hawkins, rejoicing in the surprise return of Will Byers, the weather began to change as winter took its hold over the midwest, blanketing the town in a layer of snow. As the Byers family and their friends began to settle back into their new normal of a routine, Anna found herself slowly looking over her shoulder less and less, finally able to once again focus on her sophomore year rather than any monsters she feared might still be lurking in the shadows.

Once the schools had reopened following the events in the halls of Hawkins Middle School, days were spent studying with Becca and Landon for their upcoming final exams for the semester, however, countless nights were spent with Michelle at Lucy Lu's Cafe downtown, with empty cups of coffee piling up as the two girls scribbled down notes, trying to piece together every bit of a puzzle that was slowly coming together.

"How do we feel about the Thessalhydra?" Michelle asked one night as they sat in front of their second cup of coffee for the evening, a half-eaten blueberry muffin sitting in front of Anna's workspace, her history essay long forgotten in the pile of Dungeons and Dragons notes strewn over the tabletop. "Too predictable?"

"Nah," Anna said, shaking her head before finishing her drink and scribbling it onto the bottom of the page directly in front of her. "They'll never see it coming. I think it's a good way to end it."

Throwing herself into planning the campaign for the boys was just what Anna needed to finally get her mind off of everything concerning Hawkins Lab, as she traded the monsters lurking in the dark for the ones trapped within the page where they belonged. By the time she'd dropped Michelle off at home that night, they'd felt confident and excited about the campaign ahead of them, and could only hope the boys felt the same.

"Why won't you just tell me where we're going?" Dustin huffed as Anna grabbed him by the hand, pulling him along after her as the blindfold obscured his view, but he stopped short as he began to skid on a patch of ice, throwing his arms out to catch his balance before he fell. "Seriously, Anna, I'm going to die out here if you keep this up."

"Don't be so dramatic," she chided, pulling him to a stop as she knocked on the door, and finally pulled off the blindfold to reveal the Wheelers' house in front of them.

"We're at... Mike's house." Dustin deadpanned. "Anna, what the hell?"

The front door opened wide to reveal Mrs. Wheeler standing in front of them, a bright smile on her face as she gestured for them to come in. "Hi Anna, Dustin," she greeted. "Come on in. Everybody's waiting."

"Thanks, Mrs. Wheeler," the two of them chorused as Dustin followed Anna to where Will, Mike, and Lucas waited by the closed doorway to the basement, blocked by Michelle.

"There they are," Mike sighed. "Can we know what the surprise is now?"

"I think they're ready," Michelle said to Anna, who nodded in agreement. "Alright boys, head on down and take your seats."

Michelle moved aside from the door, opening it to allow the boys to see the table set up at the bottom of the stairs. As Mike followed them to the basement, his look of excitement changed to confusion as he saw four seats surrounding the DM screen, rather than the three that usually sat across from him.

"Four spots?" Mike asked. "I-I didn't prepare anything for today."

"Surprise!" Anna exclaimed, pulling out an extra chair to add behind the DM screen. "We decided to surprise you guys with a campaign. Mike, you'll get to be a player today."

"Really?" Mike asked, his eyes widening as he began to smile.

"This is awesome!" Dustin exclaimed, quickly taking his seat. "What are you guys waiting for? Let's go!"