her⁕mileven

2

Chapter 2: I can hear him

Eleven
Mike.
He was all I could think about, I needed to get back to him. But I couldn't, I just couldn't. I had grown too weak. The upside down is a dark and scary place, but above all that, it's extremely lonely. I hated it.

When I got here I spent days calling his name, hoping that he would somehow hear me, although deep down I knew he couldn't hear me. Since being here, I had found Mike's house, well...this messed up world's version of Mike's house. It wasn't the same, it was cold, dark and lonely. The worst thing was Mike wasn't here. My little fort that Mike had built me was here, and that's where I slept.

Since I had been here so long, my hair had started to grow, it was down to around my jawline now. I run my hands through it. The dress that had long ago belonged to Nancy was ruined. There were rips in the skirt, it had lost its shape and it was filthy, but there isn't exactly a shop to go and buy one here. I spent my days crying, curled up in this strange version of Mike's basement, I missed him, I missed Dustin, I even missed Lucas. He probably didn't miss me though. There was absolutely nothing I wouldn't do to be back with them. Especially Mike.

I could hear him faintly all the time. But it wasn't what I wanted to hear. He was always sad, was it because of me? I sometimes heard him whisper my name, and I tried to talk back, but it was hopeless. He couldn't hear me, and it made me feel awful. I'm there, I can hear him, I miss him, I need him. Sometimes I would try and bang on the walls, or flicker the lights. He must have noticed, but thought nothing of it. What if he thought I didn't care about him anymore?

I couldn't stop thinking about that last moment that we shared together. What did it mean? I knew I felt something different towards Mike, but I didn't understand what it was. But it was definitely something different compared to what I felt towards the other boys. Whenever I thought of him it was different. A smile appeared on my lips and I couldn't control it, I got all warm and fuzzy inside. It was a nice feeling, he made me happy. Even being stuck down here, I could still be happy by closing my eyes and imagining being with him, it would last a few minutes. But once those minutes  were up, it was back to reality. Back to this awful place. I needed to let him know I was alive somehow, just give him some sort of sign. It would be hard, but I just had to do it. I had to, for Mike.

I was still sat thinking of how I could give him a sign after about 20 minutes. There has to be a way. Then I had an idea, maybe i could create a really loud noise, maybe it would go through to where he was if I was loud enough. I used the last of my energy picking up the table where the boys would sit and play D&D and smashed it into the wall. That was a loud noise, surely he could have heard it. I hoped and hoped he had. I waited for a response for what felt like forever...