Soooooooooo, *clears throat* I have been inactive on this site for about 2 and a half years now... I have two stories that have been abandoned...I'M REALLY SORRY AND WILL BE BACK FOR ONE OF THOSE STORIES SOON! *hid in closet do so any hit men that try to come after me can't find me* Anyway So I "recently" watched stranger things and completely fell in love with it! (is say "recently" because I have actually watched it like a 3 weeks ago and have officially rewatched it like 9 times... literally). So I decided it was time that I wrote a story since I have read all the fanfics that I could find and am waiting for other authors to update on their stories. so enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any made up characters that I may or may not come up with.
School, the last place that I want to go right now. "Mike! Breakfast is ready!" I groaned not even dressed yet. Sleep was hard to come by anymore for me. Anytime I closed my eyes I would replay that moment in the school once we realized we where found. Every second after that haunts me every night unless I sleep in the basement. I have no clue why, maybe it's because that the place El lived for that week she was here or maybe the basement is just comforting. Either way that where I slept for most of winter break. Mom started to get worried though and since talking to her about what is going on is a VERY bad idea, I decided I would only sleep down there on especially bad nights, which come around less and less, but when they do its bad. My sleep deprivation, however, never got any better no matter what I did.
School is so much easier when you are living off little to no sleep (sarcasm and lots of it). "Michael! get down here so you can eat before school!" Mom yelled irritation dripping from her words. "OKAY!" I yelled back and got up to get dressed. I slipped on my socks and shoes then ran down the stairs and sat next to my sister at the table and scarfed down the food as quick as I could. There was always this awkward atmosphere around the table every time the family got together to eat. Something that my dad was always oblivious to see. this morning was no different. mom was eating and tending to Holly anytime she needed but would give dad deathly side glances that scared me every time she did it but he would just sit there drinking his coffee and reading the paper while eating. Then there's Nancy that would eat like always but only it was like she was in a sleepy daze. I'm pretty sure she doesn't sleep anymore than I do and for similar reasons.
In terms of my parents though, I have no clue what's going on there. I want to ask sometimes because even someone as oblivious (as said by Dustin) as me could see it, then something was very wrong. And believe me this has actually been going on for a while but it seemed to have gotten worse since that whole thing happened a few months ago. Mom became extremely protective of both me and Nancy and dad seemed to somehow become even more tuned out and oblivious (guess that where I got it from). Not to mention they fight more often than not, and even though they try to keep it hushed so they Nancy and I couldn't hear it, we always could. Its why I would have the guys come over as much as possible. Whether it's one of them, two of them, or all of them. It kept my parents in check until they at least left.
I finished eating and got up as fast as possible and grabbed my bag and coat and ran out the door saying my goodbyes in passing. Mom hated it and I would usually get reprimanded for it but it's the best way I knew how to leave without having to deal with the looks and the awkward silence that usually followed. I climbed onto my bike and road off meeting up with Will, Lucas, and Dustin in our usual meeting spot. I kept riding by them yelling "race you!" and then pedaled harder and laughed a little. Behind me I heard "you son of a-!" and started laughing harder as they all tried to catch up to me. I wish this part of my day would never end.
No awkward silences, no stupid mouthbreathers that push us around, no nightmares that keep you up all night, and no sorrow and depression that comes after the nightmare. Just laughing and having fun. Eventually we made it to the Bike racks at the school and started to lock our bike up. "Winner!" I said triumphantly throwing my hands up in the air trying to catch my breath. Lucas and Dustin rolled their eyes "yeah, cause you cheated" Lucas said, finishing locking up his bike. "your just a sore loser cause you couldn't catch you to me" I said still grinning. Lucas shook his head "whatever man" he said. Will had just finished locking up his bike since he was last to get here and stood up. "Is everyone ready for the arcade after school today?" he asked so the argument couldn't go any farther.
Dustin grinned "hell yeah!" he said as Lucas and I smiled in agreement. "I have been saving up for this trip for a while now" Lucas said pulling out a green, army patterned bag that seemed to be full of change. "Holy shit! how much do you have?" Dustin asked reaching out to the bag. Lucas slapped his hand away and gave him a dirty look "back off man, I made about thirty bucks mowing lawns during my free time over the summer just for an arcade trip."
"you do realize we went to the arcade like twenty times over the summer right?" Dustin asked giving him an annoyed face. Lucas rolled his eyes, he does that a lot "I know, but I was saving up, so over the summer I would borrow money from my mom anytime I went with you guys and save up what I had made mowing." Dustin blinked at him "that sounds kind of dumb" he said bluntly. Will and I sighed, well here goes another fight between these two and the day had just barely started. Though the fight was short lived when the bag that Lucas was still holding was snatched out of his hand. "Hey!" Lucas yelled not even realizing who it was that took it. When he realized though, he started glaring at him like he was going to punch his lights out as soon as he was given the opportunity. "Give that back Troy" he said in a voice that was dangerous and threatening.
Troy, however, didn't seem to notice this and just started to laugh "whoa look at bad ass over here, make me midnight" he said getting in Lucas's face. "Just give it back to him Troy" I said hoping to get him to back away from Lucas before he did something that would not be good for anyone. although, admittedly, I would love to see Lucas kick Troy's ass. Troy looked at me with that stupid shit eating grin and then opened the bag. "okay fine, here have it" he said holding the bag out to Lucas then turning it over and dumping all the money onto the dirt. "oops" he said dropping the bag and walking away laughing, his sidekick bending down and grabbing a handful of the quarters and then followed close behind his friend laughing with him.
Lucas took a deep breath to calm down and then started to pick up the rest of his money and putting back into the bag. Will and I immediately start to help him. "what assholes" Dustin said glaring at their backs until they disappeared around the corner then started to help as well. "I wish that they still believed that Eleven was still around and would kill them if they messed with us" Lucas said them immediately winced, realizing that he had said that out loud instead of in his head like he had intended.
The subject of Eleven was an extremely sensitive one. Dustin would just get really sad but was usually the one that perked up first and tried to cheer the rest of us up. Lucas would get this guilty expression on his face and would get really angry at the same time. I think that was because he felt guilty for the way he treated El most of time she was with us. Will would also get a guilty look on his face but it was mixed with sadness as well as fear. He had only heard El once when he was in the upside down, and since it was like the group wasn't allowed to have both El and him around, he felt like it was his fault that she was gone. Though, it always seemed like it would hit me the worse. Maybe I was being bias since I didn't feel what they were feeling and only saw it, but the wave of emotions that hit me every time she was brought up was nauseating.
Sorrow, depression, fuming anger, guilt, and worst of all, the realization of just how much I missed her would just hit me at once and the room would just to spin. That didn't even include the physical pain I felt. The heart ache, the nausea, and the pounding head ache. Why does this happen to me by just hearing her name, and forget about talking about her. I would either get choked up or so pissed that I would punch and kick the nearest thing. Which lead to me almost breaking my hand when I punched a brick wall that was close to the comic book store once. I shook my head not letting myself think about it anymore since I started to feel the anger boil up in me and everyone had gone silent. "we need to get to class guys" that came out shakier and lower than I intended. Is that a tear running down my face? Damn it!
I wiped my face not looking at the looks that I knew I was getting and started for the front doors of the school hoping that my friends would just follow without asking any questions. I'm pretty sure that I caught a glimpse of Dustin hitting Lucas's shoulder and giving him the "good going you made him cry" look. Just get to class, stop thinking about her and get to class. The last thought I had of El was just one question that I keep asking myself every time she is brought up. Where are you El?
So, yeah let me know what you think. I personally feel that I am explaining everything way too much especially since this is decently long chapter and all that happened was mike woke, ate breakfast and then got bullied before school started. More will happen in the next chapter! maybe... :p