Home (Jim Hopper)

Chapter 5

Another month went by since that day and Amelia and Jim hadn't talked. Amelia made sure to stay out of his way. She was mad and upset but most of all he betrayed her. He made up this idea that his life was perfect when it fact it wasn't. She spoke to Joyce about the situation, who told her to speak to Jim about everything, give him a chance to tell her the truth but Amelia did not want to dwell on the matter too much. If he wanted to fix the situation, he'd come to talk to her.

This meant that her Monday mornings and Thursday nights opened up and were replaced by spending more time with her father, that was the main reason she came back to Hawkins. Each morning they would get breakfast at Laceys and Thursday nights she would go with her father to bingo, where she was able to see all of her pops old friends. They were all very kind and she had a laugh with them but if she was really honest with herself, she did miss spending it with Jim.

The house phone ringing woke Amelia up that day. She sat up quickly, her hair wild and her eyes half-open, and she groaned when she saw the time, 6:00. She laid back down and grabbed the pillow onto her head, she didn't have to be up for another half an hour.

"Are you going to get that?" She heard her father ask from the other room.

"Yeah, I guess.." she mumbled back before forcing herself out of her warm bed. She dragged herself to the living room and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Amelia speaking." Her speech was barely understandable as she slurred her words.

"AMELIA!" The sudden shout of Joyce's voice woke her up. "Is Will with you?"

"Will?" She tried to force her eyes open more as she scanned the living room. "No, why?" Amelia heard Joyce sigh deeply. "Joyce, why?" Amelia asked again, her voice was suddenly sterner, she could hear her friend trying to fight back tears.

"I-I woke up this morning and h-he wasn't here," Joyce tried replying, but her hands were shaking. She was terrified. "You were my last option, he isn't at the Wheelers or any of his friends-"

"Okay listen to me Joyce, go see Jim at the station. I'll head to work and talk to the other boys, okay?" Amelia stayed calm as she spoke. "I'll come by after work."

"Okay, okay, thank you."

" Will is a smart kid. Everything is going to be okay," Amelia finished. She heard Joyce mumble something before putting the phone down. This is not what she expected when she woke up that morning.

"Everything okay?" Her father asked walking into the living room. Amelia held a sad look, everything was not okay but she was sure Will was fine. She told her father what Joyce had said before getting dressed for work. The drive there was slow, her mind racing. Where could Will possibly be? Hiding? Did something happen with the other boys? Her brain was racking ideas but none of them seemed terrible, she was sure that it wasn't anything serious. As she arrived at the school she saw Lucas, Dustin and Mike.

"Good Morning boys," she said with a large smile.

"Good morning Miss Collins," they all replied, though her enthusiasm was not mirrored.

"No Will today?"

They all gave each other a glance before Mike spoke up, "Eh, no we haven't seen him yet. We think he came into school early."

"Okay, well I'll see you boys, later. Something arrived last night that I'll think you'll like!" Amelia walked off, hearing the boys discuss the heathkit ham shack excited, she tried to keep her calm as she walked to her class. Was she possibly overthinking it all now? She was calm on the way there but not seeing Will with the others put a horrible feeling in her stomach. What if something bad did happen? Her thoughts were taken away when her class starting entering the room. This was a matter she needed to deal with after school.

"Have a good evening and don't forget your homework is due tomorrow!" Amelia called out as her last class of the day started leaving the room. She sat down on her chair and rested her head into her hands, her elbows propped up on the desk. Despite spending the whole day teaching, her mind was constantly thinking about Will. She was stressed, to say the least, and she couldn't imagine how Joyce was feeling.

"We're ready!" A yell entered her room causing her to jump, but then sigh a laugh realising who it was; Dustin, Mike and Lucas. She knew exactly why they were there.

"Come on then." She picked up her bag and neatened up her desk before walking to the 'AV Club'. She placed her hand on the door handle and turned to face them. "Are you sure you're ready?" They nodded their heads quickly and with a smirk, she opened the door and turned on the light. "Heathkit ham shack, isn't it beautiful?" The boys quickly ran to the large radio that sat on the desk, all of them with big smiles as they discussed and played around with it. She didn't pay full attention to their conversation but did hear them continuously laughing which brought a small smile to her face. 

Amelia had grown to care for the kids, just like she did all the ones she taught, but these four boys in particular. Because of Joyce she saw them outside of school as well as in and they would always try to bring her in on their games, sometimes she even joined them for a laugh. She had hundreds of comics herself, many limited edition ones that came out before the boys were born, so some nights when Joyce went to Amelia's the kids would join too and they'd spend hours going through what she'd have and quizzing her on everything she knew.

As she watched the boys she searched her brain for a way to ask about Will without hinting to the fact that he was missing. She didn't want to worry them but her thoughts were cut short as the Head Principal entered with someone right behind him.

"Chief..."

Amelia stood outside the Principals office, the blinds were down so she couldn't see what was happening but she sure as hell could hear if she tried hard enough. Jim was questioning, well more like interrogating Dustin, Mike, and Lucas about Will Byers. Amelia was happy to know that Joyce did go to Jim and happy to see that he's actually doing something about it. She found herself chuckling at times when the boys were trying to explain what Mirkwood was, she knew Jim would not understand and he was getting frustrated at them but she admired them, all they wanted to do was to help. It became silent for a moment and Amelia peeked through the blinds. She saw Jim standing, towering over the three kids who sat and stared up at him, all looking a little scared. Jim said something she didn't hear, but all the boys nodded quickly. Not a moment later they got up and left.

"Go straight home, boys," she told them as they went past her. They simply nodded and left. She gave a sigh as Jim walked out after, she could feel the tension immediately, and she hated it. "You know," she started, her eyes still staring down the hall the boys went down, "you could have been a little less harsh on them." She looked up to him. "You can be very intimidating when you want to be."

Jim sighed and leaned on the glass with her, head rested back as he replied, "so you know?"

She scoffed a laugh. "Who do you think told her to go to you?"

"I'm surprised considering you think I can't do my job."

Amelia's eyes widened and she pushed herself off the glass. "I never said that, and you know I didn't." She was scarily calm as she spoke and silence between them followed, the tension growing. He had no answer for her but he kept his eyes locked with hers, he wasn't backing down. Finally, she spoke again. "You can feel sorry for yourself all you want Chief but remember, you brought this upon yourself." With that, she walked off down the corridor into her car. She placed her head on the steering wheel for a moment as she took deep breaths. She was feeling far too many emotions at once and she didn't know how to manage them. She was trying to be civil with him but he just threw it back in her face and with Will missing, she didn't know what to do. She lit a cigarette before making her way to Joyce's place.