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Prologue

Warning!!! If you have not read Neighbors, the first book of this series, please read that first. Because this prologue contains massive spoilers to the other book.

Thank you enjoy the book!!

It has been almost a year since the town of Hawkins has last heard of El Hopper. After finding her body in the quarry, townsfolk thought it was accidental. That she just... fell off, plummeting to her death. But a group of people that knew her, knows that's not the case. They knew someone did this to her, and they knew exactly who that someone was.

The group has still been grieving since that dreadful day, all of them in their own way.

Holly never really understood what had happened to the girl next door. All she knew was that one day she was gone and has yet to return. She also knew that when she left, people had gotten sadder. The world had gotten one shade darker.

Karen tries to help the people hurting around her, but ends up just getting pushed away. She never told Holly about what had happened. She knows Holly won't be able to bare it. But even not telling her, she notices her daughter being a little sadder too.

Nancy thinks about all the things that had happened before and after she left. The way things changed. Nancy talked with Jonathan about her. It brought them closer. Eventually, they started to see each other. They went to the movies together, different restaurants, fun places, to just be happy, even if it was for a little bit.

Jonathan keeps himself busy with school work, and keeps himself away from the town as much as possible. Which is hard, considering he visits his family who lives there. He was happy that he got into his dream college, NYU, but he was even happier to have a reason to leave Hawkins. Nancy didn't blame him, she visits him every chance she gets.

Joyce thinks about her everyday. She thinks about the things she never got to do with El. She thinks about how she never got to have mother-daughter weekend with her, going shopping, doing each other's nails. She thinks about how she never fulfilled her promise to herself saying that they would be just like family. She thinks about how she never got to be the mother El never had. She adopted El before she moved to Hawkins but they never really seemed like family. That's what she regrets most, that they never had that relationship she knew El longed for.

Hopper has been trying to track down Brenner ever since he saw her body coming out of that horrible lake. No matter how much he tries. How much he looks. How much he investigates. He is still no closer to finding him as he was at that lake. He tells himself not to give up on it though. He tells himself that this is the only way El can Rest In Peace . If he can hunt down Brenner and give him what he deserves, he will feel at rest. He will feel like he did something to help his daughter, and other kids who were hurt at the hands of Brenner.

Dustin doesn't make as many jokes as he did before. He is still his happy self, it's just like he is still trying to get through it with his head held high. He still tries to make others around him laugh, especially when they are quiet. He knows what silence means in the party now. He knows they are thinking about what they would be doing right now if things ended differently. If El was still alive. He thinks about it too, just not when he is with his friends.

Lucas gets angrier at the people at school who talk about them. He started to stand up to them, especially when nasty rumors started floating around school about El's sudden death. He protects his friends more, not wanting to lose them too. He makes sure to protect them just like El did the first time she stood up to Troy, just less violent. He protects them because they don't have her anymore to protect them. But as he says, he learned from the best protector.

Max is a little more closed off than before. She doesn't talk to any girls her age, and even if she did, she would try everything possible to get out of the conversation. She knows the girls won't be like El, and she doesn't want anyone taking her place as her best friend. Even after her death Max considers her as her best friend. She also a little more short tempered, and her fights with her brother has only been getting worse. She just wants her best friend back.

Will draws more than he did. He draws the party. Happy images that are burned into his mind, he draws it down on paper for others to see and relive the memories. Most of them contain El in them, like he drew the time Max broke into his house just to take El shopping. Or the time she stood up to Troy in the hallway. Or when they first met at their parents wedding. He likes to look at them, it brings him back to when they had happy changes in their life. He tries to keep his head up. He keeps these memories in his mind everyday, so it somewhat feels like she still there beside him. He never really knew how much he needed a sister until she came into his life, but she was taken away too fast for his liking.

Mike had a hard time realizing she was dead. He was in denial for weeks. He couldn't believe it. He expected it to be a horrible, horrible nightmare. That he was going to wake up and El will be there in her window with her walkie, ready to talk hours on end just about the most random things. But a few weeks flew by... he never woke up. It slowly started to sink in that El, the girl he really liked, the girl he was supposed to go to on a date with, the girl he had his first kiss with... is dead. He was never going to wake up from the nightmare, this was reality. This was hell, a living hell of dread, grief, sorrow, guilt. His head was always full of what if's. What if we didn't confront her? What if we hid her better? What if we didn't fight?

The fight. The fight that made El run off into the woods, never to be seen alive again. His mind is cursed by hearing the last thing she had ever said to him. Goodbye Mike. That's all he hears in his head now.

Goodbye Mike.

Authors note

Welcome to the sequel! Yay!

This book isn't going to have the first three chapters published right way because it's a sequel! So if you want more to read you can go check out another book of mine Letters to El. (Shameless self promo)

It's kinda funny 😆, I wrote this prologue before I even finished neighbors. I knew how the book would end and so I took a break from writing chapter 16 to come over and write this.

If you felt depressed reading this, you are not alone. I felt depressed writing it.

Fair warning this book might get a little depressing at times. Exhibit A: everything above the authors note.

Alright, imma go finish chapter 16 now. Talk to ya later. 👋🏻