Joey Hopper//Will Byers

The flea and the acrobat: Part 3

We're all sitting around a table, trying to think of how to ask Mr. Clark about the science behind the 'upside down.' At least, that's what I've been calling it.

"So you know how in cosmos, Carl Sagan talks about other dimensions?" Mike starts. "Like beyond our world?"

"Yeah, sure, theoretically." Mr. Clarke answers.

"Yeah, theoretically." Mike reassures him.

"So...theoretically, how do we travel there?" Lucas askes.

"Well-"Mr. Clarke starts with a look on his face like he's gonna brush us off.

"Theoretically." I say, cutting him off.

"Yes, yes, theoretically...You guys have been thinking about Hugh Everett's many-worlds interpretation, haven't you?"

I look around the table. 

"Ummm, yes?" I say, slightly confused.

In all honesty, I've never even heard of this 'other worlds' thing. But If it can help us find Will I'm more than willing to learn on the weekend.

"Well basically, there are parallel universes." Mr. Clarke says, "just like our world but just infinite variations of it. Which means there's a world out there where none of this tragic stuff ever happened."

"Yeah, that's not what we're talking about." Lucas states.

"Oh."

"We were thinking more an evil dimension, like the vale of shadows." Dustin announces confidently, obviously dropping this whole sad act we had going on.

"You know the value of shadows?" I ask, clarifying that our teacher plays D&D.

Mr. Clarke gives me a slightly bewildered face, "an echo of the material plane where necrotic and shadow magic-"

"Yeah exactly!" Mike exclaims with a grin, "if that did exist, a place like the vale of shadows, how would we travel there?"

"Theoretically," Lucas adds in.

Mr. Clarke grabs a pen from his pocket then picks up his white paper plate. "Picture...an acrobat, standing on a tightrope." He says as he draws a line with a little stick man on it, "now the tightrope is our dimension. And our dimension has rules. You can move forwards, or backwards."

"Okay," I say nodding my head.

"But what if right next to our acrobat, there is a flea?" Mr. Clarke continues drawing a little flea. "Now the flea can also travel back and forth, like the acrobat. Right?"

"Right." Mike agrees.

"Now here's where things get really interesting. The flea can also travel this way...along the side of the rope, he can also go-"

"Upside down." I say, connecting the pieces.

"Exactly," he says, nodding his head.

"But we're not the flea, we're the acrobat." Mike says with a faintly sad tone.

"In this metaphor, yes, we're the acrobat." Mr. Clarke agrees.

"So we cant go upside down?" Lucas questions.

"No."

"No?" I say, slightly shocked.

I mean, there has to be a way. Will's literally down there as we speak! And as far as I'm aware, he's just a normal acrobat, he doesn't have strange powers like Eleven or I. Wait, does that make me a flea? Gross.

"Well, is there anyway for the acrobat to get upside down?" Dustin asks, slightly frantic.

"Well...you'd have to create a massive amount of energy. More than humans are currently capable of creating, mind you. To open up some kind of tear in time and space. And then.." Mr. Clarke picks up the pen and pokes a whole in the plate, "you create a doorway."

Suddenly like a flash I remember the vision I had yesterday in the AV room...the memories. This is all my fault I opened the hole. Everyone's been blaming this on El but in the end it's been me the whole time. I created the missive amount of energy, I created the tear.

"But what if this doorway already existed?" I ask, meeting his eyes.

"Well if it did, I-I think we'd know." He says, "it would disrupt gravity, the magnetic field, our environment. Heck, it might even swallow us whole."

A look of terror fills my eyes.

"Science is neat. But I'm afraid it's not very forgiving," Mr. Clarke finishes.

.

.

.

As we walk out of the funeral room. I can barely look the party in the eyes. I literally could have doomed the world! Still, I know I have to tell them. It's the right thing to do, no more secrets.

"Hey guys." I say as we walk towards our bikes.

"Yeah, Joe?" Dustin asks as he props his bike up.

"I-I think I did this"

They all slowly turn towards me.

Everything's uncomfortably silent until Lucas pops up. "Joe, I know you've got these powers now but you're insane if you think you're the reason Will's in the upside down."

"Yeah, Joey. This isn't on you." Mike says, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I quickly brush him off, "you-you don't understand. I had this-this...vision a memory that I forgot years ago. I open the doorway to the upside down, I did it!" I shout as tears start to fill me eyes, "I'm sorry" I say in a small voice.

"Oh come on Joe, don't cry." Dustin says in a kind voice. "Even if you did open up the upside down, it was an accident. I mean, there's no way you could have known what was gonna happen."

"Yeah, and you said this happened years ago, right?" Mikes starts. "Then why would this all be happening now? You guys heard Mr. Clarke, we'd know right away if there was a hole in our dimension."

"But I saw myself-"

"Maybe you did make a rift," Lucas starts, "but maybe you didn't finish the job. You just made a little tear. Maybe something-someone else came back to it recently and finished the job."

I guess they did make a fair point. But if that's the case, I'm just immensely more confused. I mean, who else could have done this? It wasn't me, it wasn't El, then who?

"Why aren't you mad at me?" I ask as I wipe my tears. "I almost destroyed everything and none of you are even mad at me?"

"We're best friends," Mike starts, "and a party."

"Yeah, and the party doesn't split up just because one of us made a mistake." Dustin pops in with an un-toothy grin.

"Joe, you could literally kill someone and I'd help you hide the body!" Lucas exclaims.

Everyone stares at him for a few seconds until I start giggling like crazy. 

"Well, thanks, I guess?" I exclaim as we all start to laugh.

With that we hop onto our bikes and ride back towards Mike's house.

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EDITED