El

I woke up the next morning feeling slightly drained. After discovering that my powers worked again, it had been hard to get back to sleep as I had been experimenting. I had managed to get light objects to lift up like, but when I had tried to get my new bed to lift up, it was less successful. It had creaked which was a good sign but hadn't actually left the ground. As I was waking myself up, my mind briefly flashed back to when I was able to move a railway cart with Kali. I smiled to myself and thought, 'it would be a long time before I got back to that level of power.'

After going downstairs to get my breakfast, I noticed no one else was up. I heard snoring coming from Jonathan and Will's room, so I went back into mine to read the book Mike had given me as a going away present. It was called Ender's Game. Before we left, he said 'I've read it a couple of times and I liked it. I hope you do too.' As I read through it, I felt the familiar tingle I felt whenever I came into anything associated with Mike. I was up to the part where he goes into space to start training when I heard a knock on my door. It was Joyce. 'Enjoying the book?' she asked.

'Yeah, it's great' I replied. 'It's amazing how much someone can create just by writing a few words on paper. Authors have a gift.'

'That they do' she returned. 'Well, I'll leave you to it' and she left the room.

A few pages later, I heard Will get up. He stopped by my room as well. 'Oh cool, Ender's Game' he said when he saw what I was reading. 'Where are you up to?'

'He just arrived at space training' I said back to him.

'It's a great book' he replied. 'Mike lent me it a couple of months ago. I enjoyed it a lot. Let me know when you finish it, I might wanna read it again.'

'I will' I said, smiling. He left just as Jonathan walked past and they hit into each other. We all started laughing. A small part of me felt guilty for laughing without them, but they were gone as quick as it came. I went to take a shower once we finished dying of laughter. While I was in there, I heard the phone ring. I finished and went to get dressed.

Joyce called us all down a few minutes later because she said she had a 'family announcement' to make. She turned to Will and me.

'I just got off the phone with the principal of Jefferson High School. He said that there was an opening for both of you. The good thing is that you're both starting high school in freshman year, so you won't have missed much. You start on Monday.'

'But that's only two days away' said Will, complaining.

'Exactly, the quicker you get in, the less you'll have to catch up on. We're going shopping tomorrow in Tippecanoe Mall, which is just down the road, to get all your supplies' said Joyce. She then turned to Jonathan before Will or I could complain.

'You're gonna try and find a job with a local newspaper yeah sweetie?' she asked him. '

'Yeah, mum, I will. And don't call me sweetie' he said. 'I'm not a kid anymore.'

'You might be 18 now, but you're still my little baby' and she went to smother him. This annoyed him greatly and we started laughing. Only once that was over did I realise just how different my whole situation was. I was living in a different town, going to a different school, I was going to have different friends. And I didn't even have the one person I wanted to have next to me right now to support me. Although, if Mike were here, he would probably be more awkward than me at starting a new school. I laughed at this thought, as my mind drifted out to what my first day would be like, and more importantly, what new faces would I meet?

Mike

After my nightmare I slept better, but to be honest when I woke up, I felt extremely tired. But when I wake up, I can never fall asleep again. So, I forced myself up. I checked my watch. It was only 8:30. I could hear other voices whispering, which was a good sign. I checked on Lucas, he was still asleep so I got up as quietly as I could and opened the tent flap. It wasn't cold but it wasn't warm either. I saw Steve and Robin whispering to each other with Dustin laughing quietly to himself. It looked like they were sitting down on the grass. They saw me and beckoned me over.

'What are you guys laughing about?' I asked, the nightmare still fresh in my mind. I hoped I would have something to laugh about to get rid of those thoughts.

'We heard someone from your tent scream last night. I was still awake. I couldn't get to sleep. To be honest, I think the whole of Hawkins heard that scream' said Steve. 'So Dustin jerks awake and says 'Jesus Christ what the fuck was that.' It was hilarious. I was laughing for a solid 10 minutes. Who screamed anyway? I figured it was too high pitched for Lucas, so I guessed it was you.'

I nodded.

'Damn, what nightmare were you having that made you scream that loud?' Steve asked.

'I don't really wanna talk about it' I said, my face dropping.

'Oh jeez, was it really that bad?' he asked.

I nodded again.

'Well, maybe telling us would help' said Steve, starting to press me to tell it.

'Maybe later' I said.

Then Robin piped in. 'Maybe letting it out now instead of keeping it inside will-'

As she spoke, something exploded inside me. It was like an angry dragon had been released and it wanted revenge upon those who imprisoned it. And then it manifested itself. 'I DON'T WANNA TALK ABOUT IT!' I shouted at the top of my voice. I was sure the others would wake up now because of it, but I didn't care. I just wanted them to drop the subject and they didn't. The surprised expressions on their faces said it all.

'Sorry, I just thought-' Robin began.

'Well, you thought wrong' I retorted, still angry. 'It's my business and you have no right to question me about it.'

'Dude, calm down' said Steve, placing a hand on my shoulder. I pushed it off.

Steve

'Dude, calm down' I said, and I put my hand on his shoulder. He pushed it off, with enough force to let me know he was still angry.

'I am calm' growled Mike, clearly not being calm.

'Bro, what's up with you?' I asked, taking a more serious tone. 'You're acting kinda weird.'

'I'm acting weird?' said Mike, starting to laugh. 'Who are you to call me weird? You're like 18, you basically have no job, you're career as the high school king got you nowhere in life and you were dumped by my sister. To top it all off, you have no friends your own age so you hang out with kids to prove to yourself that, not only do you actually have friends, but they're young enough so that you can control them and feel that dominance that you had as the King of Hawkins fucking High School. Weird enough for you, Stevie Wonder?'

I was taken aback by the words that came out of his mouth. It took me a minute to check myself before I said anything I'd regret later on. But in the end, I didn't need to say anything. Robin was the first to speak.

'Mike, you know as well as I do that what you just said isn't true. He cares about you more than you know. How many times has he risked his life for you, kept you safe? You've owed Steve your life on more than one occasion. So, take back what you said and go and take some time to cool down. I don't know why you're so angry, but I'll bet it's to do with your nightmare. So, go away, calm down, and come back to tell us what happened in your dream. Trust me, you won't regret it.'

While Robin spoke her speech, the rest of the gang came out to witness the drama. Also, while Robin was speaking, Mike seemed to have calmed down a lot. But he didn't respond. He just nodded at her, turned around and trudged off into the woods, muttering to himself.

Once he had disappeared out of sight, the rest of them came over to us.

'What happened?' asked Lucas, rubbing his eyes.

'I don't really know' said Dustin. 'I think Steve could probably explain it.'

Their eyes turned to me. By now I was calmer than I was. So I started to explain from what happened last night to right up until Mike walked away. When I finished, Lucas spoke. 'Yeah, Mike was sweating. I asked him if he had a nightmare and he just said back to me 'the worst' before going back to sleep. It was weird.'

'I wander what's up with him' said Max.

'I don't even think he knows at this point' said Robin. 'But whatever it is, I hope it gets sorted out soon. I've got a birthday coming up and I don't want no cranky teenager showing up and ruining it.'

This seemed to release some of the tension, and I even heard one or two chuckles. Robin's birthday was coming up and I knew exactly what I was going to get her. I just hoped it was going to be enough, as I had something incredibly special planned for that day. I hoped, the same as her, that no cranky teenager would ruin it for her.

Mike

I trudged off into the woods, knowing Robin was right, even if I didn't want her to be. I walked around for a few minutes to compose myself when I heard some leaves rustle behind me. I turned around and saw a figure hidden by the shadows of the trees. She was wearing blue jeans, red Converse, and a pink t-shirt and a blue hoodie.

'Who's there?' I asked.

The figure said nothing.

'Who's there?' I asked again, more forcefully. Again, the figure said nothing but began to walk towards me, staying in the shadows. I started to back away, faster than it was coming at me. It reached the sunlight and I saw strands of blonde hair. I recognised the face before she even took her hood off. It was Sophie. She was standing right in front of me, as clear as day.

'Sophie?' I gasped. 'I-. Is tha-. Is that you?

'Hi Mike' she said. 'It's me.'

I was stuck in astonishment. I wanted to move but I couldn't. Eventually, once my limbs recovered from their initial shock, I ran over to her. I pulled her into the biggest hug I could, all my anger dissipating in that one moment.

'What are you doing here? How did you-' I started to ask. She cut me off.

'I'll explain everything to you soon. But first, what are you doing in the woods by yourself?' she asked me.

'Well, it's a long story. You see me and the guys were camping near here and-' I was cut off again.

'Are they all here? I wanna go see them. Take me' she said, all at once.

'Yeah, it's this way' I said and started to walk back towards our camp.

I had so many questions for her, but I held them back because Sophie seemed so eager to see everyone. It didn't take long for us to get back.

'We're nearly there, it's just up this hill' I said to her.

She stopped walking.

'What's wrong?' I asked.

'Nothing' she said. 'I'm just a little nervous about seeing everyone again, you know.'

'Don't be' I said, trying to reassure her.

'Thanks Mike' she said, squeezing my hand. 'Okay, let's do this.'

Max

I saw Mike coming over the hill.

'I hope you've come to-' I stopped mid-sentence when I saw the figure that followed him. I froze. And from the look of things, so did everyone else.

'Sophie?' The word barely escaped my mouth as tears began to roll down my cheeks. 'Is that you?

Brenner

'Good' I said, as I watched their young faces in the distance turn from astonishment to sadness to happiness all in one go. The plan was finally coming together…