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Chapter 2

One Year Anniversary

Mike sat at his bed, he hated this. He hated that today marks the one year anniversary of finding El's body in the lake. He hated how much he thought about it and how it could have gone differently.

"It wasn't your fault, Mike." Everyone tells him. He knows it is though, and he knows everyone just fails to admit it.

"Mike, please stop saying it was your fault. It's not." El's voice rang in his head. After he came to terms with her death, he had her voice in his head since. He knows it's not healthy, but he can't help it. It makes him feels just a little bit better. Like, she's still with him.

A soft knock came from his door.

"Come in." His voice cracked from not speaking for so long.

The door opened with Nancy walking in the room, giving him a small smile. Nancy decided not to go to college this year so she could help her mom with Mike and Holly. She wanted to help Mike through this and she was the only person Mike would open up to.

"Hey." She spoke in the soft voice she would use when she talked to him. She sat beside him and brought him into a side hug, just to let him know she was there for him. Cause, sometimes he would forget that she lost someone important to her too that night. Nancy was just better at staying strong than him.

"Hi." He said blankly leaning into her embrace. The two did this often. They both just wanted someone to talk to and they helped each other by doing so. The first month after finding El, Mike was given permission from Hopper to tell her about El. The real El. And he did just that.

He talked for hours, all about what had really happened to El and the events leading up to it. Nancy sat there soaking up the information like a sponge. She couldn't believe how much she didn't know about someone she thought she knew very well.

"Mom said you don't have to go to school today." Nancy said rubbing her hand up and down his back to comfort him.

"No, it's okay." He said looking at the floor in kind of a daze. "Going to school is better than staying here and thinking about it."

"Okay." Nancy sighed and got up from the bed. "If you want to come home during the day, call the house. I'll come pick you up."

Mike nodded keeping his gaze fixed on the floor. Nancy left the room, closing the door behind her. She rested her back on the door and let a single tear slip out of her eye.

She wiped the tear away as she heard a door near her open and close. She looked to her right to see her little sister standing outside her bedroom, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Hey, Holly." Nancy smiled at her sister, hoping she wouldn't notice the red in her eyes.

"Hi." Holly said walking over to Nancy with her arms out. Nancy squatted down to pick up Holly, letting her put her head in the crook of her neck.

"How did you sleep?" She asked quietly letting the little girl wake up in her arms.

"Good." She said still rubbing her eyes.

"Holly?" She asked wanting to get the attention of the little girl. She hummed in response. "I want you to not bother Mike today, okay?"

"Why?" Holly questioned completely oblivious of the events of last year. No one told her about El. They were scared about how she would react, because they knew she was very close to the girl. She was too young to go through something like this.

"He's not feeling well." Nancy lied.

"Okay." Holly responded sounding a little more awake.

"Okay." Nancy said kissing the top of her head. The events from last year taught her never to take anyone she loved and cared for for granted. Ever since that day, she took care and loved her siblings like it's their last day on earth, because you never know when it is. "Let's go get you breakfast."

She carried Holly down the stairs, to the table. Karen was just setting down some full plates on the table as Nancy set Holly down in her seat.

"How's Mike doing?" Karen asked being careful of her word choice in front of her youngest daughter.

"He's going to school to day." Nancy stated simply trying not to give away too much.

Karen nodded her head and let out a shaky breath. She hated not being able to talk to her son about these things. Every time she tries to talk to him about it, he only pushes her away. Leaving her to feel more helpless than before.

"Have you talked to Jonathan yet?" Karen asked.

Nancy shook her head. "No, I'm gonna call him later though."

Yes, she and Jonathan were officially dating for about 9 months now. Turns out El was right about Steve. He was only standing in the way of Jonathan. And now Steve just seems like a little part of her past. A small memory at most.

She and Jonathan were doing a long distance relationship. And it turns out, it wasn't as bad as they expected it would be. They call each other everyday to talk about everything that has happened over the past 24 hours of their lives.

To be honest, they thanked El for the relationship they had. Karen invited the Byers over for dinner a week after finding El, Nancy and Jonathan talked about her for a little bit. Then their conversation turned to talking about themselves and soon they started to hang out just to clear their heads. They wouldn't have started talking if it weren't for El.

This is going to be a hard day for everyone. Nancy thought.

Authors note

These first few chapters are going to be a little slower than others because I'm trying to catch you guys up from the last book, and all that has changed in their lives.

This has been edited. I'm so proud of myself for not being lazy.

Thanks for reading!!

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