The Quiet One

Chapter 2

The next morning the girl wakes from another restless sleep Maggie gets ready to head to the Byers residence. She pedals down the road leading to the house passing the Police Chief's truck on the road. She soon makes her way to the front door and gives it three quick knocks.

"Hi Maggie I wasn't expecting you" a disheveled Mrs. Byers greets. "Yeah I had called Jonathan yesterday to see if you needed anything and I thought I would drop by today to see if I could help." The woman gives the girl a tense smile, "you should really be in school-"

"Look Mrs. Byers, I can't really focus on anything right now. All I can think of is Will. How he's always letting me pick the movie when I stayed over and how he would explain whatever sci-fi thing the boys were into so I could follow. I really want to be here for you and Jonathan so please let me help." Maggie's voice catches a little bit at the end of her speech. Joyce Byers gives the girl a watery smile before letting her through the door.

The woman sent her into town with Jonathan to put up fliers all around town. The girl trails a few steps behind her best friend. They make a quick stop at Hawkins High to place a few fliers on the bulletin boards around the campus. The words "That's depressing" pull the girl from her floaty state. The girl trails her gaze toward the noise seeing the last people she wanted to see today. King Steve and his henchmen with Nancy Wheeler. "How much you wanna bet they killed him? The girl looks like she knows how to hide a body" The already short girl attempts to shrink into the flannel she's wearing and tries to focus on anything but the chatter coming from the group.

"Hey," a familiar, sympathetic voice catches the pair's attention. "Oh hey," Jonathan replies. "I just," the tentative voice of Nancy Wheeler continues, "I wanted to say, you know." Nancy's eyes shift; she visibly stiffens when her gaze reaches Maggie's. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry, for everything" Jonathan turns to look at the small group watching the three intently. Maggie's attention catches Harrington's tense frame trying to look like he wasn't just glaring at Jonathan.

"Everyone's thinking about you" Nancy tries to comfort. I'm sure Maggie thinks to herself. "It sucks" the girl tries again. Jonathan gives another short answer not able to provide much conversation having been floating through the day not fully believing any of this is real.

"I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid" Nancy visibly relaxes as the bell rings after her statement. She gives Jonathan a quick goodbye before leaving the best friends alone in the hallway. Maggie looks back at Will's smiling face on the poster as her vision fuzzes around the edges.

"Willy the Wise" the teenage girl yells as she enters the Byers kitchen where the young boy has his art supplies covering the surface of the table. "Will the Wise" the younger boy emphasizes with an eye roll. The teen scoffs as she plops down next to Will as he continues coloring the picture in front of him. Maggie got to the Byers a little early for her movie night with Jonathan to watch Will for a little. Jonathan got called in to fill a shift and he had called her in a panic wanting to limit the amount of trouble he'd be in with his mother.

The girl peeks over his shoulder to get a good look at the drawing. "Oh, is this the party?" the girl asks, seeing the familiar characteristics of the figures in the drawing. "Yeah I hadn't drawn everyone in a while and Lucas just found this cool new ax and I wanted to draw it." The boy slides the page over so the girl can look closer.

It's then that Maggie sees an extra figure at the edge of the group. Slightly taller than the rest of the party dressed in black with long dark hair. "There's five on here, who's this?" the girl slides the drawing back over whilst pointing at the unknown figure.

"Oh" the young boy blushes slightly, "it's you." The teen feels a slight tugging at her heart at the boy's answer. "After the last campaign we all started talking about what class you would be, and Mike said rogue. So I thought I'd add you since you're always hanging out with us even when you don't have to. If you ever wanted to play with us we already filled out your character sheet." The boy rambles out quickly, his eyes lighting up as he talks about the game he's so passionate about.