Any Time At All

Chapter Fifteen

You all look at him with fearful expressions. You hadn't done anything wrong, so why would the chief want to see you? They take you all into the principals office. The boys plop down on the couch and you sit on the arm of it next to Dustin. They all start talking together, saying their own things. You just sit there quietly. The chief sits in a chair in front of them and gets impatient very quickly.

"Okay, okay, okay," he huffs. "One at a time, all right? You," He motions to Mike. The boys are all quiet now. "You said he takes what?"

"Mirkwood," Mike responds. The chief repeats him but shows no sign of knowing where that is. He asks the officer next to him if he's ever heard of Mirkwood. The officer says it sounds made up.

"No, it's from Lord of The Rings," Lucas states.

"Well, the Hobbit," Dustin adds and Lucas looks at him questionably.

"It doesn't matter," he says.

"He asked!" Dustin shouts back.

"He asked," Lucas mimics him in a childish way with a nasal voice. They start to bicker and Mike tells them to shut up while Hopper leans over in his chair towards the boys.

"Hey, hey, hey! What'd I just say? One at a damn time. You," He goes back to Mike who seems to be the only one willing to cooperate.

"Mirkwood," he states again. "It's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."

The chief says he thinks he might know it. Mike perks up and says he can show them but the chief quickly opposes and tells them to stay at home. He looks over to you.

"You were with him that night," he looks to you. Your heart leaps out of your chest and your breathing hitches. "Did Will seem different at all?"

"No, he was like his regular self. I hope you find him, Chief."

All of you get up and leave the office. The boys took their bike to school and so they're riding home in those. You would offer them a ride if they didn't. From the school, you go straight home and change for work. Usually, you expect to see the boys there but after Hopper told them not to go anywhere, you plan for an uneventful evening at the arcade. You can't believe that Will is gone. He is such a sweet kid. What could have possibly happened to him? You try not to think of the worst case scenarios and continue home.

You get out of work and it's dark outside. It's chilly tonight and so you jog to your car and turn on the heat, hoping to warm up. The November air is crisp and nips at your nose and ears. Suddenly, you remember something. Something that happened to slip your mind while learning about Will's disappearance. Steve and Nancy. It feels like something is pulling at your heart. You feel like you're going to lose, yet again, another best friend at the hand of Steve Harrington. You take in a few breaths and drive away to your empty house. You prefer it to be that way, though. Without your father there, you don't have to tiptoe around his feelings or his wrath, for that matter.

On the ride home, you did some thinking. Maybe if you talk to Nancy now, then you won't lose her. You get inside of your house and drop everything. You walk to the phone, thinking through everything that you want to say. Putting in Nancy's number, you wait patiently while it rings.

"Hello?" Nancy asks with a chuckle.

"Hey, Nance, it's (Y/N)."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something real-" You get cut off by a male voice talking into the phone. You hear Nancy say to give the phone back.

"Yeah, whoever this is, get a life and leave us alone!" There's loud static noises from the other side

"Oh, (Y/N), I'm sorry. That was Steve. He's being an idiot," she apologizes. She's with Steve. The man's voice was Steve's. How could you not have recognized it. Steve on the other side is extremely embarrassed. He had no idea that that was you. "(Y/N)? Are you still there?"