Not Just Another Number

Trying to Reach Will

Sarah's POV

I walk over to the bathroom, remembering the blood on my face. I turn on the light and recoil at my reflection. There's so much blood. It's almost impossible to tell where it came from. I didn't know I could bleed that much. I seriously look like shit. My face is covered in blood, my eyes are bloodshot, and my hair is sticking out in random places.

I sigh and turn on the faucet. I cup my hands underneath the water, letting the cold water cool down my warm hands. After I've collected enough water, I bring it up to my face and start scrubbing. Every so often, I empty my hands and refill them. Every time, the water is a disgusting pink.

Finally, after five rinses, the water is back to it's original color. I turn off the faucet and reach over to the towel rack. I grab a small hand towel and dry my face. "You okay?" I hear someone say from the doorway. I pull the towel away from my face and look at the person in the mirror. It was Steve.

"I'm fine." I say as I put the towel away. I see him cross his arms in the corner of my eye, "That's a lie." I shake my head. How can he see through me so easily? I turn around to face him, and lean against the sink. "It may be a lie, but nobody needs to know how I'm really feeling."

"Sarah, please just tell me the truth," He pleads. Already too tired, I give up and sigh, shoving my hands into my pockets. "Fine, I'm not fine. I'm tired and I almost died. How do you think I'm doing?" I sass. He puts his hands up in defense and it makes me realize how much I've been snapping at people recently. I feel guilty. I swallow around the lump in my throat and try to apologize. "Sorry Steve, I didn't mean to snap, it's just....I just feel numb. I found my family, which is great and all, but now I have a whole bunch of baggage along with it. It's just so much to take in, in one day."

He nods and puts his hands down. He walks up to me and wraps his arms around me. "It's going to be okay. I'll help you through it. We all will." He reassures me. I hug him back, holding the back of his jacket tightly in my hands.

Sadly, the hug ends shortly, and he lets go of me. "C'mon, we need to set up the shed." He says as he takes my hand. He leads me out of the bathroom and out of the house to where everyone else is. I look down at where our hands are connected and I'm greeted by a confusing sight. His hand is bright red. It looks like mine when I use my fire powers.

"Steve, what happened to your hand?" I ask, pulling his hand closer to me so I could see it easier. He looks back at me, confused at first, but it slowly melts into remembrance. "Oh yeah. When you were going through that stuff back in the house, you accidentally burned my hands, that's why I dropped you."

"I burned you?!"

"Yeah, but it wasn't even that hot. It just surprised me, that's all." He tries to reassure me, but I still feel horrible. I burned him. I burned my best friend. I'm such a piece of shit. I let go of his hand and grab his wrist instead. I raise up my other hand and conjure water. I pour a little on his hand. "It's not much, but it can cool down the burn. I'm so sorry Steve." I apologize. He watches the water in wonder.

I stop the water and let go of his wrist, embarrassed. Suddenly, a loud crashing sound makes us jump. We look over at the shed to see Hopper clearing it out. I take a step back, blushing. "I'll um, I'll go help the kids find some stuff to cover the shed." I mutter as I walk away.

I see him nod. "I'll go cover the inside of the shed then." He mutters back, walking over to the shed. I quickly walk over to Dustin and Lucas, seeing them crouched near our trash cans. "Need any help guys?" I ask. They nod. We all grab a trash can and throw them on the ground, making the insides pour out.

We all begin to dig, looking for any newspapers or any kind of paper. I scrunch my nose at the smell. I grab a bit of old newspaper and put them in a pile behind me. "Hey," Dustin says, making Lucas and I turn to him. "I'm....I'm sorry about Dart and all. I guess I just thought that he was my friend. I was wrong." He sighs. His voice is thick, like he's about to cry.