Alex was a girl of many secrets. From the 007 tattoo on her wrist, a high level of intelligence, and a deep passion for rock n' roll, to her friendship with Will Byers behind closed doors. But their friendship gets pulled out of the closet when Will...
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Episode 01: The Vanishing of Will Byers
WILL was missing. That was why he didn't answer Alex's persistent bell ringing the previous night and why she biked to school alone the next morning with the promise to Joyce and Jonathan that she wouldn't panic yet or tell anyone at school.
Who would she have told, anyway? Will Byers was her only friend, and she didn't even socialize with him at school. Alex couldn't stop herself from panicking, though, and her thoughts were swimming. Her head felt like a gigantic fish bowl perched on top of her shoulders, flooding with water until the glass making up her skull finally burst open. Will couldn't be missing, he just couldn't. He had gone to hang out at Mike's house, so maybe he just spent the night.
But Joyce had already called and talked to Mrs. Wheeler; Will wasn't there.
Alex was so wrapped up in her thoughts, already trying to come up with a list of other places Will could have gone if she didn't see him at school. She didn't even bother to listen to her tapes on the way. That horrendous feeling in her gut had returned, and suddenly Alex felt even more dreadful when she finally understood the cause. She had somehow just known that something awful was going to happen to her best friend, making her feel even more unsteady as she continued her ride to school, gripping her handlebars tighter to keep her balance.
She came to a screeching halt at the bike racks, making three other figures jump in surprise, although Alex paid them no mind. The bike she so desperately wanted to see, wasn't there. Alex felt her heart drop even deeper in the pits of her stomach and she swallowed the lump she could already feel forming in her throat with emotions. It couldn't be real. Surely this was all some elaborate prank, and Will's friends were in on it.
Alex spun around repeatedly in circles, looking around for a sign. Anything that would lead her to Will. Little did she know, Will's three other best friends beside her were also searching for him curiously. Their attention was now on Alex, however, because of her sporadic and strange behaviors and movements.
"Should we ask if she's okay?" Mike spoke up, turning to his friends.
Dustin's toothless mouth just hung agape for a moment before he shrugged. Lucas, on the other hand, shook his head 'no' vigorously. "She's probably just having a psychotic episode, or something," he scoffed cynically. "You've heard the rumors about her and her family!"
"Oh, come on, Lucas," Mike said. "You don't seriously believe those things, do you?"
"Yes!" Dustin and Lucas answered simultaneously before Lucas added, "And if you don't, then you're just as crazy as she is."
