Home (Jim Hopper)

Chapter 8

"Dustin. Lucas." Amelia stopped the two boys before they could leave the classroom. She saw them mumble something to each other before making their way over to her desk. "Where is he?"

"Where is who, Miss?" Lucas tried to play dumb. Amelia was unamused and stayed silent, waiting for them to crack under her stare.

"Mike wasn't feeling well this morning," Dustin finally blurted out. She tilted her head at him. She knew he was lying. His stutter, wide eyes and over-enthusiasm were making that very obvious to her.

"Okay," she simply answered, "you can go." Both of the boys gave each other a confused glance.

"Is that all?" Lucas questioned.

"You said he was ill, what more is there to ask?" She leaned forward on the desk, both of them tensing up. "Unless there is something you're not telling me?" Both of their eyes widened and they shook their heads quickly.

"Nope, nothing else," Dustin said with a large smile before walking off. He grabbed Lucas' bag and dragged him off as well, both giving awkward chuckles. When they made it out, Amelia heard their arguments echo through the halls of the school.

She scoffed a laugh. "There is definitely something else going on." Amelia didn't have time to dwell on any other thought as her next class started to enter, all the kids giving her strange looks.

"Yes I look horrible, take a good look," she gave a quick twirl for them all, "now books out and focus. No questions about," she used her arms to gesture to herself, "this."

Amelia kept herself preoccupied with teaching, never letting there be any downtime between each point she was making. She was worried she was throwing too much information at them at once but she knew if she stopped speaking and let her mind wander, even for a moment, that figure would enter her thoughts again.

The lesson came to an end and normally the kids enjoyed her lessons but today, they wanted to get out as soon as possible. Amelia wouldn't stop talking and their brains felt like they were pulsing against their skulls. She smiled at them as they left the room. When the last kid left the room, her smile dropped and she quickly made her way to the staff room. She entered, many strange looks directed to her but she ignored them and made her way to the phone.

"You know we have a shower?" She heard one of the teachers say but Amelia focused on the rings that started on the phone. She coiled the wire on her fingers as she waited. Two rings later and the phone got picked up on the other side. She waited for a moment but no voice came through.

"Hello? Mrs Wheeler?"

"Yes, hello," came a high pitched voice, "it's Miss Wheeler." Amelia held down a laugh, it was obviously not Mrs Wheeler but she played along.

"Hello it's Miss Collins from Hawkins Middle School, I was just phoning to see if Mike is okay, I realised he wasn't in today."

"Eh, yes, yes," the voice stuttered, "he had a terrible fever today, he tried to come in but I said no." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Well, just let Mike know Lucas and Dustin told me everything,"

"WHAT!" Mike yelped through the phone in his normal voice. He quickly cleared his throat and spoke again, his high-pitched voice back, "I mean, I have no idea what you're talking about. There is nothing strange going on. My son is very, very sick. Now good day to you Miss Collins."

He hung up the phone before she could say anything else and she stared at the phone in disbelieve. He just hung up on her. Now she was sure they were hiding something. Amelia made her way back home. There was too much happening for her brain to relax. She needed to talk to her father, but first, she needed a shower.