Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

XXXVI: Schism

schism

noun

a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief.

Emilia waited all of lunch for Jonathan, but he never showed up.

Broken, and feeling a schism between them now, she began to gnaw at her fingernails, chewing away what was left of them until she was at the bone. The pain shot through the fingernail she bit into, and she noticed that blood dropped from her finger to the floor. Propped up on the table in the photography lab, the very one that last year she had daringly dragged her chair to sit next to Jonathan at, she felt defeated once again. Like last year, she had wanted to be nothing more than a fly on the wall, a wallflower, but last year she had nothing to lose.

This year she had everything to lose at the hand of the rumours.

She went to third period, dauntingly, with her eyes looking puffy and tears threatening to fall.

Fourth period she couldn't take any more of the staring and the whispers behind her back. She grabbed her bag in the middle of class and left the room, despite the teacher's half-hearted protests. Free in the vacant hallway, Emilia took a deep breath and calmed herself down.

You've face demagorgon's, you can handle high school.

Emilia went straight for her car, and made a mental note that Jonathan's wasn't in the parking lot. She wondered if he hadn't come to school, and instantly began to worry about something going on at home. If he hadn't come to school, it meant that he hadn't heard the rumours. Convincing herself of this, she reminded herself that things would smooth over, that this was not the end of the world. She spent this time of last period reading a book in her car, shivering because she was too cheap to let her car run to keep her warm, but hoped that maybe she would see Jonathan by the end of the day.

He never showed up, and by the end of the day she decided to head home.

For half an hour, she contemplated phoning the Byers.

The tenth time that she picked up the receiver to make the phone call, she heard the front door open. Turning to see Hopper, looking tired with black circles under his eyes, she released the flood of tears that she had been holding back. Suddenly feeling as though she had lost everything in the matter of twenty-four hours, the only thing she still had left was Hopper. The phone fell from her hand and she cried as Hopper quickly -albeit awkwardly- rushed to her side to figure out what was going on.

He had one "daughter" who seemed to hate him, he had rotting pumpkin patches, and he had another "daughter" who was falling apart.

He was falling apart too, but he couldn't show that to anyone.

"Hey, Emilia, what's wrong?" he asked warily.

"I-I" she stuttered, trying to stop her chest from heaving, the tears from falling. Once she managed to get herself to nothing more than a shake with some tears sliding down her reddened cheeks, she got herself to speak. "I r-really messed up, and I don't... don't know how to fix it."

"Alright, talk to me, I'm sure it can be figured out. Just breathe, kiddo," Hopper was always able to say the right things, with the right tone of voice, to make Emilia realize things were going to be okay. Back when had found the false body of Will in the quarry, he had kept his own emotions in check and made sure Emilia had been safe at the time.

Emilia leaned forward and put her head in her hands, staring at her feet planted firmly on the floor. Feeling the stress of losing Jonathan all the way up her spine and into her neck, the dull throb of a headache presented itself. And although it remained, there, she told Hopper everything. From the night of the party, to Steve kissing her, to the rumours that began to spread the next day.

Hopper didn't seem entirely fazed by any of it, but he did sigh when Emilia finished her story. "Well first of all, if I ever see this Billy Hargrove kid..."

Emilia chuckled.

"I think you should go to the Byers', go talk to Jonathan," he said. "Nothing good ever came out of not talking in a relationship, alright, I know that first hand."

Emilia reached over and hugged Hopper, the only way she knew how to thank him for everything he had done for her over the last year. She wondered where she would be if it weren't for him; probably living at Jonathan's by now. Parting from him, she took a deep breath and forcefully wiped away the tears on her cheeks, then stood up. She grabbed her purse and keys and left with a hearty goodbye, stating that she might not be coming home that night.

Hopper tried to ignore that comment.

Emilia pulled into the Byers' driveway twenty minutes later, her heart hammering in her chest as she shut off the engine. Jonathan's car wasn't there, which made her fast-moving heart sink into her stomach. But Joyce's vehicle was there, and so Emilia decided that she could talk to her. At least that would smooth the air around them, and maybe Joyce knew where Jonathan was.

Knocking on the door, Emilia didn't get a reply, so she opened it while announcing her arrival and intrusion.

Joyce came out from the kitchen, "Emilia, I didn't hear you knocking! Not that you need to knock, come on in, hun."

"Thanks," Emilia shut the door behind her and walked towards the kitchen, where she could smell something cooking, a casserole she thought.

"What brings you here? Is Jonathan with you?" Joyce asked as she peered into the oven, then shut the door and fumbled with the timer.

Emilia shook her head, "I was hoping he was here, I really need to talk to him. He, uhm... I didn't see him at school today."

"He was feeling fine this morning, I know he went to school," Joyce looked curiously at Emilia. "You're sure he wasn't there?"

Emilia shrugged, "There is a lot going on right now, and I just... I really need to talk to him about some things being said about... about me."

Joyce cast a sympathetic glance at Emilia, then walked over to her and placed her warm hands on Emilia's shoulders. Her wavy brown hair was wild, a few strands over her wide eyes. She had such a motherly approach about her that others could so easily overlook, so many people saw Joyce as a little bit off her rocker, but she was the most devoted mother Emilia had ever seen, and envied her ability to use her determination to fix any sort of situation.

"You can talk to me about it, you know that right?" Joyce asked.

Emilia nodded, and right when she opened her mouth to speak, Jonathan came in through the front door. He walked right into the kitchen, following the voices that he heard, and wasn't surprised to see Emilia, for he had seen her car in the driveway. He glanced uneasily at her, then saw the look in his mother's eyes and he knew that he had to talk to Emilia privately.

"Outside?" Emilia asked, as if reading his mind.

Jonathan nodded.

This could be good! This could be bad! Only Monday's chapter will tell! I'm actually enjoying writing this more than my other story right now, I'm really excited now that I'm mingling with episodes of the show. 

Question of the Day: Would you rather see Emilia go with Nancy and Jonathan, or hang back with Steve and the kids?