Next morning, I was walking with Nancy and Barb in the hallways at school.
"When alpha particles go through gold foil, they become..." Barb was quizzing Nancy on chemistry.
"Unoccupied space."
"A molecule that can-" Steve stops Barb from finishing the question by taking the flashcards from her hand.
"Hey!" Nancy says.
"I don't know, I think you've studied enough Nance." Steve looks at Nancy.
"Mmmhmm says the guy that failed chem." I joke.
"Steve-" Nancy whines.
"I'm telling you, you know, you got this. Don't worry. Now, on to more important matters. My dad has left town on a conference, and my mom's gone with him, 'cause you know, she doesn't trust him."
"Good call." Tommy butts in, obnoxiously as normal.
"So are you in?" Steve finishes.
"In for what?" Nancy asks.
"No parents? Big house?" Carol says with a smirk on her face. I always hated Carol and Tommy they were such air-headed, naive, douchebags.
"A party?" Nancy figures out.
"Ding, ding, ding!" Carol and Tommy laugh.
"It's Tuesday." Nancy states.
"It's Tuesday, oh my god" Tommy mocks Nancy.
"Oh for the love of god Tommy don't you have something better to do, you narcissistic asshole?" I snap at him.
"Alright, y/n chill out. Come on. It'll be low key, just be us. What do you say? Are you in or are you out?" Steve asks.
"Um..." Nancy looks down.
"Oh, god. Look." Carol looks over at Jonathan hanging missing posters on the bulletin board by the entrance.
"Oh, god, that's depressing." Steve annoyingly makes clear.
"Should we say something?" Nancy asks, concerned. At least she cares.
"I don't think he speaks" Carol says, fueling my desire to slap her across the face.
"How much you want to bet he killed him?" Tommy interjects.
"Tommy, that's not funny!" He ignores me, per usual.
"Shut up." Steve hits Tommy's arm and scoffs. Nancy walked over to talk to Jonathan as I stayed with the group, trying to keep them from making anymore stupid remarks. As the bell rings and we start walking to class, the principle announces over the PA: "Attention, faculty and students. At 8:00 p.m. tonight, there will be an assembly on the football field in support of Will Byers and his family. All are encouraged to attend. Volunteer sign-ups for search parties are still available in the office."
I couldn't sit still at my desk the entire day. My mind just going on and on about my vision of the girl in the woods, with the 011 on her arm. I knew she was from the lab, meaning I've seen her before, but there was something else about her that I just couldn't shake off.
"Y/n? Y/n!" Mrs. Click snapped at me.
"Hmm, sorry?"
"Are you paying attention?"
"Yeah, sorry, the answer is -1 and 2."
"Correct. Focus y/n" I hate math, there's always a right or wrong answer, which isn't how life always is. Besides, when are we going to even use this is the real world anyways? I've managed to survive years on my own without ever finding the common factor. All of a sudden, it came to me. 011 was the girl that went off with the blond haired man back in the lab. Somehow, she's connected to Will, though I'm not quite sure how yet.