LACUNA | WILL BYERS ¹ ✔

The Monster - [Pt.1]

Now we were back in Mike's basement, once again, but only no Lucas this time.

I couldn't get my mind off of Will and Eleven, and what happened at the junkyard.

"I just... I can't believe she didn't come back." Mike said.

"She's gotta be close."

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us, she didn't betray us."

"Mike, clam dow," Dustin said.

"Mike's got a point though," I said. "If the Upside Down isn't safe, we're just attracting ourselves to it, which could kill us and we'd go missing too, which would only attract even more people, and they'd go missing too, and the same thing over and over until it basically conquers the world," I said.

"Exactly!" Mike said. "I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault." Dustin said.

"Yeah, it's Lucas'." He said, quickly pointing fingers.

"Oh, brother." I muttered.

"It wasn't his fault either," Dustin said.

"It wasn't his fault?" Mike said, clearly confused.

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line?"

"Totally, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven,"

"He's got a point," I said, crossing my arms.

"Oh, give me a brake!" Mike said.

"No, Mike, you give us a brake! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes, me and Kylie were the only reasonable ones! But the bottom line is... you pushed first And you know the rule. You draw first blood..."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand!"

"You're shaking his hand!"

"No, I'm not!"

"This isn't a discussion, this is the rule of law. Obey, or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?"

"No?"

"Good." Dustin concluded, heading for his backpack.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked.

"Where do you think? We're going to get Lucas. And then, we're gonna find Eleven."

-At Lucas' house-

We pulled up and knocked on the door, and Lucas opened the door, clearly not happy to see us.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Mike stayed quiet and Dustin smacked his chest.

Mike sighed. "I drew first blood, so..." He extended his arm.

Lucas just stared at him, then his arm, and then back at him.

-Inside-

Lucas was pacing, which then came to a stop. "Okay. I'll shake."

Dustin and I grinned and Mike extended his arm.

"...On one condition."

"Ah, of course," I sarcastically muttered.

"We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate."

"The the deal's off!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Mike shouted back.

"No, no, not fine!" Dustin shouted. "Guys, seriously? Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?" Everyone shook their heads. "We couldn't agree on which path to take, so we split up the party, and those trolls took us out one by one, and it all went to shit, and we were all disabled!" He said, shouted the last part, flailing his arms. "So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room."

"El is one of us now."

"Um, no, she's not. Not even close!"

"Guys, this is ridiculous! Just shake your damn hands already!" I said.

"Um, no, Kylie." I grunted. "Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor--"

"She was just trying to keep us safe!"

"He's right there!" I shouted. "The more people that get stuck in the Upside Down, the more people go looking after them, and then they get stuck too, until the Demogorgon takes everyone out one by one!" I shouted.

"Yeah, she didn't mean to hurt you, it was just an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not, admit it, it was a little awesome." Dustin said, innocently.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Which is exactly why we need her. She's a weapon! Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket?! That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader! We're no use to Will if we're dead."

"If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way! I'm going to the gate. I'm gonna find Will." He finished, pushing past us all.

I sighed a sigh of dismay.

"This is so damn ridiculous," I said.

"Yeah, no shit," Dustin mumbled.

-Later-

Lucas left, and so did we.

We were riding our bikes.

"This is weird without Lucas," Dustin stated.

"He should've shaken my hand."

"He's just jealous,"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind,"

I chuckled.

"He's your best friend, right?" He continued.

"Yeah... I mean, I don't know."

"It's fine I get it. I didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters."

There was a pause. "I didn't get here until last year, and didn't even get into the party until a few months back... Anyways, that's besides the point, continue."

He continued. "What matters is that he is your best friend. And then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement, all you ever wanna do is pay attention to her."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is, and you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other, like goblins with the intelligence scores of zero. Now everything's weird."

"He's not my best friend."

"Yeah, right."

"I mean, he is, but so are you and Kylie and Will."

"Can't have more than one best friend."

"Says who?"

"Says logic,"

"Well, I call bull on your logic, because you're my best friend too."

I smiled.

"Okay," Dustin grinned.

We all stopped by Bradley's Big Guy, and noticed that the doors were shattered.

"Whoa,"

"You don't think..." Dustin said.

"Uh... definitely,"

El.