Mari went to Starcourt Mall the next afternoon. She needed more clothes since her old ones failed to arrive after she moved; half of her closet was missing.
She searched through Gap and found some nice jeans and shorts. There were also a few shirts that caught her eye so she bought them too. She was lucky they were mostly inexpensive because her aunt hadn't given her much money to use. But she had some left over after shopping so she went to Scoops Ahoy to get some ice cream.
Mari strolled in and the guy at the register welcomed her, "Welcome to Scoops Ahoy. I'm Steve. What can I get you?"
"One scoop of chocolate please."
She gave him the money and he handed her the ice cream. She turned around but stopped as she came face to face with Mike.
"Oh jeez!"
She jumped from the proximity and he chuckled, "Sorry."
She shrugged as he moved to get some ice cream. Max, Will, and Lucas were behind him. Lucas moved over to Mike while Max looped her arm in hers.
"Wanna hang out with us?" she asked.
Mari almost choked, "Me?"
"Who else?"
"I-I'm not really-"
"Great!"
Max untangled their arms and joined the other boys. Will came up next to Mari and smiled, "Nice meeting you again."
She forced a smiled at him and licked her ice cream as they all got their own. They said goodbyes to their apparent friend, Steve, and led her around the mall.
She felt awkward just standing there while they laughed with each other. She could tell Will felt the same way. She caught him forcing smiles and laughs just like her. The other three went into a shop but Will and Mari stayed outside on a bench.
They continued eating their ice cream silently until Will spoke, "So where are you from? Anyone who paints the walls and dresses like you is definitely not from here."
She smiled, "Chicago."
"Ah. Makes more sense."
They laughed lightly. Will looked over at a display for some kids in the center of the court. It looked like a person in a monster costume.
Will suddenly stopped smiling and froze. His face was frozen in fear as his eyes zoned out. Mari furrowed her eyebrows and scooted closer to him.
"Will?"
She waved her hand in front of his eyes but he didn't move. She called his name several times as his breathing became more erratic.
"Will!"
She pushed his shoulder and he snapped out of his daze. He looked at her wildly as if woken from a nightmare.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Will was still breathing hard as he shook his head. Before Mari could ask anymore questions, the others came out of the store.
"We're going to check out the movies. Wanna come?" Mike asked.
Mari sent one more worried glance at Will before checking her watch.
"I can't. I have to go."
She grabbed her bags and stood up.
"Our friend is coming back home tomorrow and you're welcome to join us." Mike offered.
"Uh," she looked back at Max's face, "Sure."
YOU ARE READING
Freak {Will Byers}
Fanfiction"If anyone's a freak, it's me." The new girl makes friends with the weird boy in town. Happily ever after? Not quite. Monsters and a girl who can move things with her mind? Sounds about right. "Happy Fourth of July, y'all!"
