𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 // 𝐌𝐀𝐗 𝐌𝐀𝐘𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄 : 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐃

"but if i crossed a million rivers and rode a million miles then i'd still be where i started."

★・・・・・・★

Everyone went back to Mike's except Amber. But she didn't want to go home. She just walked. She had a line on her neck from where Billy choked her and a cut on her eyebrow. She had a killer headache and her shoulder hurt.

She eventually went to the park and sat on a bench there. It became morning and she hadn't slept, her wounds hadn't been cleaned, and she overall felt exhausted. She figured that the party hadn't slept either. She decided to start walking. She then decided to go to Mike's.

-

She got to Mike's and El was in her void. She walked in quietly as Eleven said, "I found him."

"Where is he?" Max asked.

"Woods."

"Woods?"

"He's with... Will's mom."

"My- My mom?"

"What are they doing?" Amber asked. After she said that, everyone looked at her. They knew she didn't sleep, but they didn't know that she didn't go home. She was in the same clothes as yesterday. So was the party.

"Ill... annoy," El announced. "They're going to Ill-annoy."

Then there was knocking on the door, followed by Mrs. Wheeler's voice. "Mike! Breakfast!"

"Not now, Mom!" He yelled then he proceed to ask, "Illinois? Illinois, like the state?"

El shrugged her shoulders and said,
"Ill-annoy."

Then she and Max went into the bathroom to get her cleaned up. They offered to get Amber cleaned up but, she refused.

"Somethings not right. I can't get Hopper off my back all summer, and now all of a sudden, he's hiking with Will's mom to Illinois? And Dustin's MIA, too? I mean, this can't be a coincidence," Mike said.

Mike was pacing back and forth by the stairs, Will was sitting by the table where they played D&D, and Lucas and Amber were sitting on the couch, eating some cereal.

"What does it matter?" Lucas asked. "The bottom line is, they're not here. It's up to us."

"Up to us to do what exactly?" Amber asked.