Thursday, January 9, 1986
"It's been two months, freaks, you might as well just give up on frog face. He's probably dead." Troy said, walking past the Party, who were sitting on the sidewalk outside the school. It was lunch, and this was their usual spot.
"Yeah, I bet they cut him up and threw him in random places." James said, grinning.
"They probably buried him alive-" Troy couldn't finish his sentence, because he mysteriously tripped and fell face first into the pavement. El wiped her nose with her sleeve as discreetly as possible while Dustin held in a laugh. "I think my nose is broken!" Troy yelled in horror as he and James ran inside the school.
"Can you believe them? They have no heart." Will said, shaking his head. Lucas bit his lip. They were silent for a few minutes, El hugging her knees to her chest.
"Honestly guys? I don't think it's worth it anymore." Lucas said quietly. Everyone looked at him.
"What do you mean?" El asked.
"What if... What if they're right about Mike being dead?"
"Oh come on, Lucas, they don't know what they're talking about!" Dustin exclaimed, standing up, and the others followed suit.
"Like he said, it's been two months, Dustin. Two months." Lucas said. "We can't just sit here and wait for Mike to just magically appear out of no where, perfectly fine. I'm tired of making myself believe he's actually out there, alive."
"He's not dead, El would know if he was-" Max started but Lucas interrupted her.
"Just like that connection bullshit? If that was true, why hasn't she talked to him? Why haven't we found him yet? She's probably lying about that too." The next thing he knew, Lucas was slapped hard across the face by a fuming El.
"Go to hell." She spat at him, walking past him, roughly bumping his shoulder as she did so. Will followed her and Max and Dustin just stared at him with shocked faces.
"Mike is your best friend." Dustin hissed, jabbing a finger in his chest. "Your best fucking friend and you have no hope."
"I want closure, Dustin." Lucas hissed back. "I want to know if he's dead so I can have closure. I want to know if he's alive so I can apologize for not trying to save him." Dustin scoffed.
"If he was to show up right fucking now, you'd probably start a fight with him for being gone so long. Go fuck yourself, asshole." He walked off in the opposite direction. Lucas looked at Max.
"That was wrong, Lucas." She said.
"So you're mad at me too then?"
"No, just disappointed." She said quietly. Then the bell rang, "I'll see you later." She walked off as well. He groaned loudly and kicked a rock before making his way back inside.
"I-I can't believe he'd say something like that!" El cried into Hopper's shoulder. After she slapped Lucas at lunch, she went to the office and called him to come pick her up, and now they were back at the cabin, where she cried for at least an hour before explaining what happened.
"Lucas didn't mean it, El." Hopper said, rubbing her arm comfortingly. "He was just upset with Trey and Jamie."
"Troy and James." She mumbled.
"I honestly don't care, they're just little assholes who's opinions don't matter."
"And he did mean it. He's given up on him." She wiped her eyes. "You could see it in his eyes. He meant everything he said." He sighed.
"Well, when we find Mike he's gonna regret it." He told her and she nodded. "Do you want to stay here tonight while we search the lab or do you want to go to the Wheeler's?" He asked, already knowing the answer. The search had been postponed again and they're finally going tonight.
"Wheeler's." She mumbled. He nodded.
"You want some Eggos?" She nodded and she sat at the table while he made her Eggos.
"Be careful, Hop." Joyce told him, releasing him from the long hug.
"I will. I promise." He told her. He looked at El, who bit her lip as she looked down. He crouched in front of her. "Hey, look, we're going to search the entire building, okay? And you have to have hope that he's there. I'm not going to promise he's there, but I'm going to hope he is, okay?" She nodded and hugged him. After that, he left in his truck. El was literally vibrating in her seat, biting her lip nervously.
"Hey," Nancy put a hand on her shoulder. "We're gonna find Mike, okay? We're going to find him, one way or another." El nodded and hugged her.
"You're positive the boy is out of it?" Evans asked, crossing his arms. Kali nodded.
"I worked him harder today so he would sleep through it." She replied.
"Good, now, In approximately fifteen minutes, the search party will be here and enter the building. You need to make everyone and everything disappear."
"How long will it take?"
"Depends on how many people they've got. Prepare yourself, if you fail, you, Experiment 0011 and 012 will die. I'll make sure of it." She glared at him and he walked out. She drank plenty of water and snacked on the food they gave her, and 15 minutes later, she sat on her bed, eyes closed and every ounce of evidence that Mike was here is gone.