The Quiet One

Chapter 1

Maggie is pulled from her restless sleep by her morning alarm. The teenager groans before slapping blindly on her nightstand. She turns over in her rumbled sheets to stare at her ceiling. Do I get up or do I finally drop out of school the girl contemplates before dragging herself out of bed.

The teen goes through the motions of getting ready but her mind hasn't fully returned to her. After Jonathan canceled at the last minute she stayed up scratching her annoyed feelings into her beat-up notebook, crafting a story of betrayal. She knew she was being melodramatic but she couldn't help but sit in her feelings for a bit. It always made for a good story.

"Morning sweetie" Maggie's mother greets her as she enters the kitchen to fix something to eat before school. "Aw, Maggie Moo what's wrong?" The brunette cringes at the nickname before her brother pipes in, "Jonathan~ canceled their date." "Oh my god! We're not dating, we're just friends!" the girl grumbled out before going to wait outside for her friend. Her younger brother teased her a bit more as he left to make his own way to school.

"Sweetheart, do you need a ride to school?" Claudia asks her daughter as she heads to her car to make her way to work. "No Jonathan should be here soon" the girl calls out. Her mother hesitates for a second before making her way from the home. The teenager sits on the front porch for a few more minutes before getting worried. Not having much more time to make it to school the girl wrangles her old bike out of the garage before quickly pedaling toward Hawkins High.

—

Out of breath and late, the girl ties up her bike on the rack outside of the school. "Hey Henderson" a douchey voice calls out. The girl turns to see King Harrington and his gang loitering outside the school's entrance. The girl turns to attempt to avoid them when the douche, Tommy H, continues to accost the girl. "What's wrong, the freak finally ditch you?" He steps in front of the girl's path. "Don't you remember Tommy? She doesn't speak." Carol Perkins taunts.

"Come on guys let's go" King Steve calls out to his followers. Maggie turns and accidentally makes eye contact with the boy. Wow my savior, the girl thinks to herself. The group follows the command of their leader shoving past her before heading to the parking lot where they'll probably spend the rest of the class period.

Steve "The Hair" Harrington was the perfect stereotype of the popular jock. Captain of the swim team, a star player on Hawkin's beloved basketball team, a new girl on his arm every week, and a big house where he would throw frequent parties. While Maggie's interactions with Harrington were limited she couldn't help but feel animosity toward the jock. He frequently picked on people like her, the wallflowers, the 'freaks', and geeks alike.

She did start paying more attention now that he started to show interest in the girl's ex-best friend. Nancy wasn't the typical girl Harrington would pursue; she was driven, and smart, and despite what she did to Maggie she was nice. Maybe dating Nancy had changed the boy, before her he'd probably laugh along with Tommy H as he harassed Maggie. However, Maggie would never want to actually acknowledge that Nancy Wheeler had helped her, even indirectly.

Maggie didn't see Jonathan in any of their morning classes, she was finally able to sneak away to the pay phone outside the school. The area was pretty empty besides a few students trying to get from building to building. The girl quickly punched in the Byers' phone number. The phone rang for a minute before the boy she was looking for answered, "Hello?"

"Hey what's going on? First you cancel on our movie night and then you don't show up to pick me up. I had to ride my old bike to school. It was awful." Jonathan is silent following the girl's mini-rant. "Jonathan?"

"Will didn't come home last night" The boy whispered. Maggie felt her anxiety settle in the tense muscles of her shoulders. "What" she said in disbelief she suddenly remembered the late hour her brother had arrived home. "Mom's at the police station right now filing a missing persons report" Maggie could feel the stress radiating from the phone "Okay I'll be there in a little bit-" "No it's fine just stay there" Jonathan sighed out, "I'll call you later okay?" Maggie hesitates for a minute wanting to argue before answering "Yeah okay.. Let me know if you need anything" Jonathan then says a quick goodbye before hanging up.

Even with all of the years of their friendship, and all the trust they built, it was still hard for Jonathan to let Maggie be there for him. Even though the younger wanted to be there to support her friend, to make sure he didn't spiral, she knew if she showed up uninvited it would cause more harm than good.

That evening Maggie stayed glued to the couch staring at the landline. Her mom had already retired to her room, but the teen stayed on her post waiting to make sure she would be there for the Byers if they called. The teenage girl let out a yawn and turned to zone out on whatever mindless TV was on at the moment.

The brunette sits up as she hears a commotion coming from inside the house. She quickly spots Mews, the usual corporate, perched on the back of her mom's chair. Startled, the girl made her way to the direction she heard the noise. She hears it again as she stops in front of her brother's room. He should be asleep right now. The girl thinks, "Dustin" she whispers, starting to turn the doorknob before the handle gets pulled from her hand.

Maggie flinches back but relaxes when she sees the familiar form of her brother. "Dustin what are you doing up?" the girl asks under her breath trying not to wake their mom. "Nothing" the boy whispers not as quietly. "Then why is your window open" the older accuses before fully stepping into the room. She makes she the door is closed before scolding her brother. "Where were you? I didn't even know you were and with everything going on" the girl grits out tensely.

The boy had enough sense as to look guilty before replying determinedly "We needed to go look for Will." "There is a search party looking for him, you didn't need to go do that" the girl states gently. If Maggie was this worried about the Byers boy, Lord knows how Dustin is feeling right now. Knowing the boys' bike paths by heart the girl knows that Dustin was probably the last person to see Will. Which is why she tries to handle this with the most care she can.

"Look, Dustin" the girl starts when she notices the heartbreaking look on her brother's face, "I know you and the rest of the party are worried about Will, but everyone is trying their best to find him. And it would be best for you all to stay where you're safe so we can effectively look for Will and not try and keep track of all of you on top of that." "But-" "Dustin please." the girl begs. She didn't want to lose anyone else that's important to her.

"Okay," the boy mumbles "are you going to tell mom?" The older sighs before deciding "No, I won't but-" she cuts off her brother's happy face "If I catch you sneaking out again I swear-"