12 • Stranger Things

Chapter I - H E L L O

I squeeze my sweaty hands shut and take a deep breath. I walk through the gym door and find myself in the orderly chaos of the Snowball. I look to my left and see Mike's sister, Nancy, smiling over at that Byers guy who's taking pictures. I'm about to walk up to her to ask her, but stop mid-way. I can't tell her, she wouldn't understand. Will or Mike might know better, so I begin my search for them.

They're probably with Lucas and Dustin somewhere in a corner, they never were ones for being in the middle of things. I push my way through the large crowd of kids dancing all the way to the edge of the room and spot them just as the song changes to a slow dance. Great. I see Lucas dancing with the new kid. I take a breath and walk over to them.

"Hey, Zombie Boy. Do you want to dance?" I ask and he stares, surprised.

"Um... I don't," he looks to his friend and Mike elbows him. "I mean... I mean, yeah. Sure."

"Cool." I smile at him and we walk over to the 'dance floor', which is basically just the gym floor. He awkwardly places his hands on my hips and I put mine on his shoulders. I smile at him and he smiles back.

"So, uh... What's your name again?" He asks awkwardly and I chuckle.

"I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jess if you'd like," he nods. "You're Will, right?" I ask and he nods again. Just make small talk, before you ask him. "It's nice, isn't it?" I say, looking at the lights and decorations set up all around.

"Y-yeah. They really outdid themselves this year!" He replies and I grin, at least he's kind of loosened up.

"So, how are you? I mean, after everything that-" I say but stop when I see a girl I don't know walk through the door. She has short, curly, brown hair and walks over to Mike. "Who's that?" I ask, my brows furrowing in confusion. I know everyone who goes to this school, but I've never seen her.

"Er... That's my friend Elev- Elanor. I'm pretty sure she's Mike's cousin or something, she's visiting from... California." I raise an eyebrow, only half believing Will, but watch Elanor like a hawk. I'm not jealous or anything, I don't like like Mike, but I need to know who she is. Maybe she has something to do with this. I mean, who would come from California to this dump? I watch her and Mike smile at each other for a while and then start dancing. I watch their every move, not caring how weird and stalker-ish it seems. I continue to watch them, and watch them kiss.

"Those are some close cousins..." I say and Will's eyes widen. "Will, who is she?"

"I-I... I can't tell you." He says and looks down at his feet innocently. Great, now I feel like a weirdo who watches kids kiss and interrogates their dancing partner. I sigh and look back over to Mike and Elanor, if that's really her name.

"Will, I need to go talk to Mike," I state and Will frowns. "I'm sorry, I'll be right back." I say and smile. I walk over to the two of them.

"H-Hey. Can I talk to you, Mike?" I say, and they both turn around. Elanor glares at me, but Mike just looks confused.

"Sure, but what about Will?" he asks looking over my shoulder to see him, but I ignore his comment. I look back over to Elanor.

"Who are you?" I ask and she tenses up.

"What do you mean?" Mike says. "She's... she's my-"

"Your cousin? I'm not that gullible. Why are you guys lying to me?" I ask, almost too stern.

"She's j-just a friend! Why do you care?" Mike defends his 'friend.'

"I have my reasons." I snap back.

"What reasons?" Mike asks and I take take a deep breath.

"Important reasons, okay. Just tell me who she really is. Where she's really from!" I say desperately.