MADELINE, dustin henderson

|007

We walk down the hallways, shouting Will's name. Me, Dustin, and Max run into Will's mom.

"Dustin! Where... What's going on, where is Will?" she asks. Suddenly, one of the doors opens, Lucas storming in.

"The field," Lucas says, running out again with us following him. We run into the field, seeing Will looking at the sky with Mike beside him, holding his shoulder.

"Will! I just found him like this. I think he's having another episode!" Mike yells as we reach the two boys.

"Will, Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's mom!" Will's mom grabs his shoulders.

"Will, wake up! Can you hear me?" she asks the boy and I grab onto the closest hand next to me. I look at our hands, seeing I'm holding onto Dustin.

"Will, please! Wake up, wake up!" she shouts and with that, Will opens his eyes.

"Oh my God, Will!" I say and hug him.

"W-What..." he trails off.

-

Joyce and her son walk towards their car with me, Mike, Dustin, Max, and Lucas following them. We stop by the stairs.

"Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?" Max asks and I nod.

"Two episodes in two days," Lucas says.

"It's getting worse," Mike states and I raise an eyebrow.

"You think it's true sight?" Lucas asks the Wheeler boy next to him.

"What?" I ask back, not knowing what it means.

"Yeah, what's true sight?" Max says. The three boys exchange looks, then Lucas sighs.

"It's nothing," he states. We see the Byers driving away.

-

The next day, I'm in my room, trying to get ready for school. Suddenly, the phone in my bedroom starts ringing. I pick it up.

"Hello?" I ask into it.

"Hey, Maddie! I was thinking we could go to school together? You know, if you'd want to." I hear Dustin on the other side.

"Uh... yeah, sure. I'll meet you at yours?" I ask.

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Maddie," Dustin says and I smile to myself.

"Bye, Dustin," I say and hang up the phone. I grab my backpack and head to the front door.

"Where are you going so early?" I hear Billy's voice behind me. I turn around.

"The library, I need to catch up on math," I respond, smiling a bit to make it more believable.

"Fine," he states and I head out the door and ride towards Dustin's house on my skateboard.
When I get there, I grab my skateboard and knock on the door. It opens, revealing a woman.

"Hello, Mrs. Henderson. I'm Maddie and Dustin and I are going to school together." I smile at her and she smiles back.

"Well, come in, Maddie. He's in his room," she says, motioning towards one of the doors in the hallway.

"Thank you," I say and walk to the door. I knock on it and wait for a response.

"Not now, mom!" I hear from the inside.

"Dustin, it's me!" I chuckle and the door opens.

"Oh! Sorry, Maddie. Hi," he says and I walk inside as he closes the door behind me. I see Dart in the terrarium.

"Do the others know?" I ask, motioning to Dart. Dustin sighs.

"No," he replies, walking towards the terrarium.

"We gotta go to school, but I'll be back soon. Sounds good?" Dustin says to the creature and it screeches with happiness. I just chuckle as Dustin pulls a cover over the terrarium.
We head to school.

"Where are they?" I ask when I see the boys' bikes in the bike racks.

"I don't know," Dustin responds and suddenly, we hear Mike's voice beside the building.

"I think I know now," I mutter and we walk towards where the talking is coming from.

"This is so disgusting, is this really necessary?" Max asks as we reach the group.

"What the hell's going on?" Dustin asks.

"What do you think? We're looking for Dart," Mike responds and I share a look with Dustin. Suddenly, a few garbage bags come flying out of the trash bin.

"Jesus!" Dustin backs up and I do the same.

"Ew, this is gross," I say and furrow my eyebrows. Lucas jumps out of the trash bin.

"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show up! After I drew the short straw. Real convenient!" Lucas states, changing looks between me and Dustin.

"Shut up, Lucas. We were in the library, trying to find more information about Dart," I say, looking believable.

"Did you find anything?" Mike asks and Dustin shakes his head.

"No, there's literally nothing even close to what Dart is," I respond and Mike sighs.

"You stink," Max mutters to Lucas, walking to stand next to me.

"Hi, Max." I smile and she smiles back.

"Hey," she says.

"Where's Will?" Dustin asks in concern.

"He'll be here," Mike replies.

"Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna help?" Lucas asks, throwing at me and Dustin a stick. I sigh and we all start poking the sticks into the garbage bags.

-

In class, I look at the edge of the desk again, not listening to Mr. Clarke. I notice Mike glancing at Will's empty seat a couple of times. I rip a small piece of paper from my textbook and write on it.

'Are you okay? I'm sure Will is going to show up soon. Maddie'

Mike might've been a dick to me and my sister, but I'm no dick. I crumble the paper and wait until Mr. Clarke turns to look at the board. When he does, I throw the small paper ball next to Mike's desk. He spots the paper and grabs it, reading what's written on it. He turns to look at me and gives me a sad smile. I smile back at him.

-

We sit on the stairs as Mike tries to call the Byers. He comes running to us.

"Anything?" Lucas asks.

"We need to talk. AV room, right now!" he calls out and me and Max stand up. Mike turns to us.

"Party members only," he adds and I furrow my eyebrows.

"Come on, Mike," Dustin mutters, but I shake my head.

"Forget it, Dustin," I say and sit back down on the stairs.

"This is non-negotiable," Mike states and he walks inside of the school again.

"Sorry Max, Maddie," Dustin says.

"Sorry," Lucas adds and they head after Mike.

"They are such assholes," Max mutters and I sigh. "I guess you were right," Max states, looking at the ground.

"What?"I ask.

"You were right, we are just nothing to their Party," Max says and sits next to me.

"They're treating us like garbage," I mutter and my sister nods.

"Yeah, they are. They're a group of assholes," Max exclaims and I shortly laugh.