Jane Hopper watched Mike and the others talk amongst themselves as she waited for the phone to stop ringing. It rang. And rang. And then once more.

Finally, Flo answered on the other side of the line. Her dad was working, or at least he should have been so Flo would have been the easiest link to him.

"Hawkin's Police Department," Flo answered lazily on the other end of the line. She sounded bored. She had every right to be, though. Most of the time there was never anything of consequence happening in Hawkins so Flo had to deal with phone calls about teenagers stealing garden gnomes. dogs getting into chicken coops, crank calls, and other trivial things that these small town people could think of to report.

"Hello, Flo. It's Jane," El said from the other end of the phone. Sure, her friends and her dad still called her El, as it was a hard habit to break, but to everyone else, she was just Jane. People had wondered why Mike and the others called her El and they'd claimed that her middle name was Ellen and she liked El better than Jane. It was a lie, as she liked being called El and Jane just as well, but it did its job.

Flo's tone changed once she learned who was on the other side of the line. Flo liked Hopper's daughter very much and she couldn't deny how much good adopting the girl had done for both the girl and her new father. "Hello, Jane. Your dad's not in the office right now, hun."

"That's fine," she answered, turning around to avoid how the school's secretary watched her as she occupied the line. "Could you just tell him I'm going with my friends after school and I'll probably be at Mike's house if I'm not home by 5:15?"

"I'll tell him as soon as I can," Flo assured the girl.

El thanked Flo and disconnected the call. She gave the secretary another passing glance before leaving the office and rejoining her friends. She arrived just as Max said, "Well it wouldn't hurt to ask her."

"Ask who what?" El asked, joining the circle and hefting her bag back up on her back.

Everyone went quiet and glanced at each other. Finally, Mike answered, sounding irritated. "They want to know if you'll find Nina with...you know."

Everyone looked down sheepishly. El hadn't used her powers to find or watch someone in a long time. She had no need anymore. She could see all of her friends in the real world if she wanted.

Plus, after how many times she'd tried to speak to someone in the black, empty place and never been able to get an answer back...well, it was all very depressing.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to," Will said when no one spoke up, probably sensing El's hesitance.

"Yeah, it was just an idea," Dustin added.

El looked at her friends, taking in their faces and considering their request before giving them a short nod. "I can do it. Not here, though."

"Hey, it's the honorary losers!"

They looked away from each other when they heard the familiar voice and El wrinkled her nose in displeasure when she saw the boy called Richie. He looked exactly like Mike...but he wasn't Mike. Not even close. She slipped her hand into Mike's and glared at her boyfriend's doppelganger.

He wasn't alone, though. The girl named Beverly was with him too and another boy who towered at least four inches over his companions.

"S-shut the f-fuck up, Richie," the tall boy ordered, tripping over his words as he spoke. This took El aback. She'd never met someone who seemed to trip over his words the way she might trip over a rocky path.

Richie opened his mouth to speak again, but Beverly beat him to it as they finally reached them. "Hey, again," she began. "I'm...surprised you guys stuck around." She gestured to the taller boy and said, "This is Bill Denbrough,"

"We just call him Stuttering Bill, though," Richie jived, elbowing Bill playfully. "Or Mush Mouth."

"Better a m-m-m-m-mush mouth than a t-trash mouth," Bill returned.

Despite how rude their words were there was always an element of jest and fun to them.

"You remember Richie," Bev stated her tone flat.

"H-h-holy smokes," Bill said as soon as his eyes fell upon Mike. "You weren't kidding, Bev."

Mike looked at his friends awkwardly and found El's gaze. She swallowed and her grip on his hand tightened.

"I'm Mike," he said, at last, offering his hand to Bill, who shook it. "This is Jane, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max."

Everyone waved so nodded when they were introduced.

"So...do you guys have bikes?" Dustin asked before Richie could say something. The way he was looking at El made him a bit nervous for her.

"We stashed them not far from here," Bev answered. "We think if Nina's hiding out she'll be in the woods just...don't know this place. We really appreciate your help though."

The others nodded or shrugged, as indicated that it was no big deal, though some felt imposed upon in a big way. It was too late to back out now, though. Dustin had already said they'd help and leaving these strangers in a lurch would be a dick move.

"Can we get going?" El asked, her voice soft compared to the others'. "I need to be back by 5:15."

"We'll not delay you any longer then, dear lady," Richie said, his voice mimicking a British accent. It was pretty good too, but the abrupt change in his voice surprised everyone...everyone, but Bill and Bev.

"Come along my fellows! The game is afoot and time is wasting!"

"Does he ever shut up?" Mike asked as he and the others followed after

Richie, who was already quite a few feet in front of them.

"S-sometimes," Bill answered.

With a smirk, Bev added, "Yeah. When he's sleeping maybe."