strangers. mileven au.

three.

CHAPTER THREE:
FACETIME.

the weekend was uneventful, mostly full of will helping eleanor with her homework and her father being occupied with work. he had calmed down since their discussion about having the hawkins kids visit. he even seemed to have slightly warmed up to the idea, occasionally asking what they wanted to do when they came.

it was now sunday. eleanor and joyce had made their way to the local mall with plans to pick up a few extra gifts for will. their mall trip ended up being very successful, maybe a bit too successful considering they came home with more for themselves than for will.

however eleanor was happy with what she got him, a brand new polaroid camera and a new artistry set filled with very high quality paintbrushes and paints. will was always the creative one and for a few months now he had been talking about getting into painting rather than just drawing with pencils. she believed this would be the best addition in helping him start this aspect of his hobby.

joyce and eleanor did not get home until a little after dark, both of them giggling as they entered the small cottage. luckily they made it home just before her father, saving themselves from a very long lecture about spending too much money.

eleanor entered her room, throwing her bags on her bed before entering her connected bathroom to take a shower and get ready for bed. it was after all a school night.

after her long needed shower and finishing her everyday nightly routine, she settled back into her room to finish any last minute homework. peacefully, she worked quietly until she noticed one of her pages missing from her calculus papers.

she stood up and checked her book bag to make sure she didn't leave it in there. she panicked for a second before she remembered her and will were working on a specific page together in his room yesterday when she was having trouble. she exhaled, slightly relieved she didn't actually lose the paper and quietly walked out of her room to will's.

the house was usually dark and quiet. eleanor knew her father and joyce often would go to bed earlier than the norm, so she couldn't figure out why it sounded like there were people talking in will's room. she tapped quietly on his door and waited patiently for him to answer. a few beats passed before she took it upon herself to open the door slowly, just in case her parents were in fact speaking to him privately.

peaking her head around the door frame, she found her brother comfortably sitting on his bed, his face illuminated by the computer screen in front of him. he was smiling, completely unaware of his sibling staring right at him.

a teenage girl's giggle erupted from his computer, breaking the silence.

"oh come onnnn dustin. we all sat there while you tried calling her. she doesn't exist."

"she does exist!" a squeaky offended voice countered back.

"she exists in that head of yours." a much deeper voice replied.

eleanor quickly realized he was facetiming his friends from hawkins. she noticed how happy he was speaking to them and not wanting to interrupt, she tried to closing the door slowly and quietly, careful to go unnoticed by her occupied brother. unfortunately that was not what happened.

"oh uh... did you need something?" her brother's eyes tore away from the screen. he sat straight up waiting for her to answer.

"i- uh... not really. i just needed..." she made her way across his room and picked up the missing paper from his desk, "this. i just left this in here. sorry... i'll leave."

"is that el?" the girl's voice chirped again. "oh my god, can we please meet her??"

eleanor's eyes got wide upon hearing the girl's request. she definitely wasn't prepared to see or let alone speak to the people who will be entering her home in a few weeks. luckily will caught her on to her sudden nervousness.

"she just left guys... sorry." he responded convincingly, making eye contact with his frightened sister. she smiled at him and made her way out of the room, slowly shutting the door behind her. she was about to head back into her room until she overheard more of the groups conversation leaking from her brother's bedroom door. eleanor had never been one to ease drop, but considering they were talking about her, she simply couldn't help it.

"just call her back in dude. it's not that hard." it was the same squeaky voice from earlier, however this time his voice came across less high pitched. eleanor caught on that the boy who was speaking happened to be dustin.

"didn't you hear him? she left... meaning she doesn't wanna meet us, dumbass." again another voice she's heard before. the deeper one... maybe it's...

"lucas you're so negative. she probably just didn't wanna interrupt our conversation. she's polite... unlike you." the same female voice from earlier came across. the only person that could be was max. eleanor smiled, she figured max had to have an attitude considering she was the only girl in a group of teenage boys.

"maybe... she's just shy."

this time eleanor was not familiar with the voice that made its way underneath the her brother's bedroom door. the voice was soft... sweet even. well at least to her ears they were. eleanor thought back to will's stories, trying to remember the name to this unknown boy. a couple seconds passed before it clicked... mike.

mike was a boy will talked about often. apparently, from what she could recall, he was the first friend will ever made. he knew anything and everything about will. he was also the first person to know everything new that happened in will's life besides eleanor.

"definitely. she'll warm up to you guys when you all get here though." her brother informed them.

eleanor looked down at the paper she was holding, hoping that her brothers claims will be easy to accomplish when they do arrive. the thought of them not liking her made her nervous. she didn't want to be known as the annoying step sister to such important people.

she moved away from the door and into her room before she could hear anyone else's responses. she didn't want to keep adding to her nerves by hearing them speak about how excited they were to meet her. she collected her papers from her desk and put them back into her book bag. quickly, she turned off all her lights in her room and climbed into the cushions of her bed. laying there in silence, the small teenager hoped that her thoughts wouldn't consume her for too much of the night so she at least get a few hours of decent sleep.

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a/n: i hope y'all enjoyed and thanks for reading!!!