Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

XXXIX: Lost

lost

adjective

denoting something that has been taken away or cannot be recovered.

The rumours were less horrible to face the next day, but Emilia had no one beside her to help her get through it. Jonathan and her were... Well she didn't know anymore what they were. There were rumours spreading that him and Nancy had disappeared somewhere, and Emilia simply tried to shut out all the rumours. As she walked to her locker, she felt someone's presence and didn't want to look.

"Hey," a soft female voice was not what Emilia expected.

Turning to see who it was, Emilia was surprised to see Jenny. Clad in all black and with dark make up around her eyes, she still gave off a friendly aura. This was something Emilia needed in that moment, and she had to stop herself from hugging her fellow student. Instead, she sighed, "Hi, Jenny."

"Don't listen to a word they're saying, doll," Jenny said as Emilia dropped her head.

"It's easier said than done, you know," Emilia replied, then fumbled with her locker.

"I do know, actually. I know you sort of lived under a rock the last two years, but there was a rumour spread about me being a Satanist who sacrificed lambs on Saturday nights. And full moons. Oh, and that I had some stillborn evil demon baby. Really not sure where any of these came from, but hey, sometimes you just have to laugh at the stupidity that arises from the brilliant high school minds that we surround ourselves with."

Emilia had to laugh, feeling her cheeks pull into a tight smile. "It's hard to laugh when it starts to make you feel lost."

Jenny put her hand on Emilia shoulder, then gave her a squeeze. "I don't know what happened, although I've been hearing what all the little birds have been saying, just know that you don't need a guy to make you feel 'found' or whatever. If you guys are on a break because of these little rumours, maybe, just maybe, the problem is elsewhere."

Her words were supposed to make her feel better, but they didn't. Emilia felt worse, but she had someone to talk to anyways. She wasn't about to give that up, and besides, she needed real friends. No matter whom she reached out to, she always seemed to lose them somewhere along the way. Jonathan had been the first to actually stick around long enough to get to know her, to care for her.

"Besides, I know you didn't sleep with that greaseball," Jenny winked. "He seems like the type to keep condoms in his back pocket and not understand why that is a bad thing."

Emilia laughed again, "Are you free for lunch?"

"I'm free all day if you want to skip," Jenny suggested quickly, clearly wanting to skip. Her big brown eyes looked like they could read right through anyone, with that eyeliner it was as if she could tell their deepest desire. No wonder people thought she was a Satanist, and yet Emilia found she was one of the nicest girls she'd come across in all of her high school life.

"I probably shouldn't," Emilia said sheepishly. "But, maybe after school?"

"I have to pick up my brother from soccer, want to act like total losers and hang out at the middle school?" Jenny countered.

"It's a date."

The end of the day came smoothly, surprisingly. Emilia was able to focus on school instead of Jonathan, knowing that pouting about it wouldn't resolve anything. That's not to say he didn't cross her mind, and she didn't glance out the classroom door hoping to see him beckoning for her to come talk to him. Of course she thought about him, but he didn't haunt her thoughts as badly.

Leaving the school with her bag draped over her shoulder, Emilia found Jenny at the front door that overlooked the bus lane and the parking lot. After a brief greeting, they headed towards their respective cars. After a quick stop at a café to grab a to-go coffee, they went to the middle school to wait for her brother to finish his soccer practice, and sat on the hood of Jenny's truck.

"How old is your brother?" Emilia asked.

"Thirteen," Jenny told her. "He's a pain in the ass, but I love him. After my dad left, he tried to take on the 'man of the house' role, and honestly, he's really matured."

"Sorry about your dad," Emilia thumbed the paper wrap around her cup.

She shrugged, "I say good riddance. Hey, how come we never hung out?"

Emilia glanced at her, "Aren't we now?"

"Yeah, I guess we are. But we were good friends back in elementary school, and then it was like we forgot the other existed. And in a town this small, I know it's not really possible. I could name every student we're going to graduate with." Jenny thought back on their younger years, when things were more black and white, and there wasn't so much grey.

"Well, look at us, we're not exactly two peas in a pod, at least in our appearance," Emilia replied, and then added, "But appearance isn't what matters, clearly. Whatever happened in the past that we stopped hanging out, we'll probably never pin point it, but I don't think it matters. We're here now, spending time together. And you know what, I need a friend more than anything else right now."

"I hear you," Jenny replied. "I act like I have a thick skin, but really... I can't wait to get the hell out of Hawkins."

"Same," Emilia took a sip of her coffee. "I was supposed to go to New York with Jonathan after school..."

"Go to New York anyways, Emilia. You make your own path, okay?"

"You're right," she nodded, agreeing, but not sure how she could do that. She still had El and Hopper to take care of.

Suddenly Jenny spotted something across the field, and she squinted then pointed. "Does that look weird to you? There's just some kid standing there like... like he's possessed or something."

Emilia joined Jenny in squinting, and that's when she saw it. A young boy, small in size, was standing stock still, his arms out to his side like he was being -as Jenny said- possessed. Though he was too far away, Emilia had a sinking feeling that she knew who it was. Leaving her bag and dropping her coffee to the ground, she sprinted across the field as fast as she could.

Please don't be Will.

Please don't be Will.

She made it across the field in record time, and warily approached who she now knew was definitely Will. Just as she was making it closer to him, she noticed that Joyce was making the same sprint that Emilia had. She slid into Emilia's path, standing before her son, shouting at him, begging for him to reply to her, to wake up from whatever hallucination he was suffering now. Emilia watched his eyelids flutter, his eyes darting around underneath like he was in R.E.M. sleep.

Will's friends joined the scene moments later, all of them with a look of terror in their eyes that Emilia was sure she bore as well.

Then suddenly, Will opened his eyes. 

Alright, I so I botched the timeline a bit, but it'll work. The party/Halloween must have been on a school night, because it was the day after that Jonathan and Nancy went to Radioshack, and I imagine the day after that was a Friday because she "stayed at a friends house", and Saturday would be the day Dustin started baiting Dart. I just threw in a few extra days from the party/Halloween to now. 

Question of the Day: Do you find it hard or easy to make new friends?