Not Just Another Number

Just like Her

Sarah's POV

"....we need to make 200, 300 copies?" I hear mom say as I walk into the living room. I woke up late today. After last night's events, I desperately needed the sleep. First, my brother went missing. Next, the boys and I found a random girl in the woods. Finally, said girl, is from the same place where I escaped years ago. That's a lot to process in just one night.

"Mom, mom, calm down." I hear Jonathan say. Mom continues to ramble on about making missing signs for Will. She's really broken up about this. Suddenly, someone knocks on the door. "I'll get it, Mom." I say as I walk to the door. Behind the door was Hopper. "Hey Chief." I say, letting him inside. Mom walks up to him and they start to talk.

"We went all the way to Cartersville." Hopper says, looking down. "And?" I ask, walking forward. He sighs as he looks at me. "Nothing."

I let out a sigh as Mom cries. Where could he be? Mom, trying to calm down, leads Hopper to our phone. I now notice that the phone looks burnt. What happened while I was gone? "Storm barbecued this pretty good." Hopper calmly states.

"The storm? You don't think that's weird?" Mom scoffs. "Can we trace who made the call? Contact the--" Jonathan starts, but Hopper interrupts him. "It doesn't work like that. You're sure it was Will? Flo said you only heard some breathing." Hopper says, trying to help. "No, it was him. It was Will. He was scared." Mom says, rambling on even more.

"It was probably just a prank call."

"Who would do that?" I ask, almost suprised he would take that into consideration.

"Well, this thing's been on TV. Brings out all the crazies." Hopper replies. Mom continues to argue with him. I look at my watch and see that if I don't leave soon, I'll be late for school.

"You think I wouldn't know my own son's breathing. Wouldn't you know your daughter's?" Mom yells, crossing the line. Hopper stays quiet. "Mom!" I whisper-shout. Hopper walks away and continues. "You hear from Lonnie yet?" He asks, making my body stiffen. Mom shakes her head 'no'.

Hopper goes to leave, saying he'll check on Lonnie. "Oh come on, you're wasting your time!" Mom yells. Jonathan goes after him, leaving Mom and I alone in the house."Do you think it was Will?" She ask, looking at me with desperation in her eyes. I shrug. "I don't know. I hope it was, but I just don't know." I mumble. I shuffle around, not really knowing what to do.

"Hey. I'm gonna head to school, do you want me to go anywhere beforehand?" I ask as I awkwardly grab my keys. She shakes her head and just waves me off. Before I leave, I look at her once more. "We'll find him, I promise." She smiles in thanks.

I walk outside to see Jonathan talking with Hopper. "Stay with your mom." I hear Hopper say. I sigh as Hopper climbs into his car. "See you later at the precinct!" I yell as I wave to him. He waves back as he drives away. "Hey, Jonathan, you need a ride to school?" I ask as I get into my car.

"No, I'll just stay with mom for a little longer. You go ahead." He waves me off. I start the engine and look back at him. "Fine, just....tell me if anything changes." I sigh. He nods and waves goodbye as I do the same. I pull onto the road and drive off. As I make my way to school, I can't help but wonder if Eleven appearing wasn't just a coincidence. What if she has something to do with Will's disappearance?

Time Skip

I slam my locker shut after I take out my chem book. I turn to leave, but I see Barb and Nancy heading my way. "Barb! Nancy! Hey!" I yell. I haven't really talked to Barb in a while. We used to be really close, but we drifted apart once we got into highschool. She started to hang out with Nancy more and I started working. They look my way and wave. "Hey, what's that?" I ask, pointing at the papers in Barb's hands.