Joey Hopper//Will Byers -Book two-

Trick or Treat, Freak: Part one

 I run into the kitchen where my dads making breakfast.

"Dad, I can't find my costume." I complain.

He hands me a grilled cheese sandwich. "What? Didn't you make that thing last night?"

"Yes," I say as I take a bite of my sandwich.

"Did you check your dresser?"

"Yeah."

"Under your bed?"

"Yep."

"In your closet?"

"I'm not an idiot, Dad!" I say, rolling my eyes.

"I never said- Oh, Jesus!" My dad shouts, turning to face me.

I jump and see that right behind me El is standing wearing my ghost costume.

"Ghost." She says.

My dad gets over his initial shock, "yeah. I see that."

I smile. "So that's where it went."

"Halloween." She says.

"Sure is." My dad exclaims as I run to the bathroom.

I grab my hair brush and look myself over in the mirror. I'm wearing a bright orange long sleeve shirt with a pair of baggy jeans. My dad insisted on buying them a size up so I can grow into them. I walk back into the living room and sit down on the couch, starting to brush through my knotty hair.

"Right now it's breakfast, okay? Come on let's eat." My dad says, handing El a grilled cheese.

El ignores the sandwich and continues talking. "They wouldn't see me."

"Who wouldn't see you?" My dad asks.

"The bad men." She states.

You see, ever since El started living with us my dad never lets her out. He lets me stick to my normal routine. He's worried about me but I guess he thinks it would be more suspicious if I just disappeared off of the face of the earth.

"What are you talking about?" My dad questions.

I scoff, "Dad you know exactly what she's talking about."

"Trick or treat." Eleven says.

My dad just stares up at her. "You want to go trick or treating?" He's silent for a moment before saying, "you know the rules."

"Yes but-"

"Yeah, so you know the answer."

"Come on, Dad!" I say, standing next to El.

"They wouldn't see me." She adds.

"I don't care."

"But they wouldn't see me-"

He knees down to her, "I don't care, alright? You go out there it's a risk."

I walk over to him. "But Dad no one would know if she wore that. I could say she was my friend."

"All of your friends are going trick or treating with you." He says.

"Then I'll say she's my new neighbor, I already told them I moved!"

He turns to me, "then they'll want to come over Joey. We don't take risks, all right? There stupid and?"

Me and El both turn to each other before angrily saying, "we're not stupid."

"Exactly...Now you take that off, sit down and eat. Your food's getting cold."

We all sit at the table and begin to eat in silence. I just can't believe him. He lets me go out and do all the fun stuff while he just locks El up at home all day. It's not fair at all. And how he makes me keep her a secret. It's killing me not being able to tell anyone. Mike especially. It's like El always says, friends don't lie. How good of a friend am I if all I'm ever doing is lying. On top of all of that I'm keeping the biggest secret of them all from my dad. I just- how am I supposed to tell him that Sarah was murdered? I can't even fully comprehend it myself. And dad's doing so much better as of recently. What if I tell him and he just falls down the slope again?