El

The mall near our house was like any suburban American mall. Of course, we'd had a mall in Hawkins, but that had ended badly, horrifically. As I tried to push the images of Hopper and Sophie out of my mind, I noticed a store which had a sign on it. It said 'Sale. 20% of selected items. Limited time only.' When Starcourt had opened up, I had learnt what a sale was and that shopping for, and buying clothes was awesome. Max had dragged me round the shops, trying on ridiculous outfits. It had no purpose at all, but it had been fun, and I had been happy. It felt good to be a normal teenage girl, well normal for me, for a while. And now I was starting school. I couldn't believe it. It had been a rough few years for me but now I hoped things would calm down, and so far they had.

I was jerked back into the present by Joyce's voice. She had sent Jonathan off with Will. Will had protested that he was nearly 15, but she was having none of it. Joyce was very protective, and to be honest she had a right to be, given what had happened in the past. So, whilst Will looked around for his school stuff, my mum was by my side trying to help me find mine. It felt good to have someone helping me around. I figured back in Hawkins, Max would have been the one helping me with this, and shopping with Joyce was not as fun as it was with Max. But I was happy doing it with Joyce, so I walked around with her from store to store, trying on outfits, grabbing stationary, books and most importantly a new bag.

Some of the outfits I tried on in Smithy's were great, but I eventually landed on a nice pair of jeans, a couple of skirts, two new tops, one white, one pink and a lovely light blue hoodie/cardigan. I gasped when I saw myself in the combo of my jeans, my pink top and my cardigan. Joyce said I looked amazing. I felt amazing and I loved it. Eventually, once we were done in Smithy's, which was kind of an all purpose store, selling things from clothes to skateboards, we went into the last store to grab myself a bag to carry all my new stationary, books and other equipment in. I looked at a couple of plain ones, a red one and a black one.

I walked past one that read 'Hello Kitty' on the front. I liked it a lot, but it looked like it was made for an 8-year-old, not a high school freshman. I painstakingly moved along from the pink and white cat and found a plain purple bag that I liked. I told Joyce and she agreed that it was a good choice. We paid for it and headed out to wait for Will and Jonathan. They weren't carrying nearly as much as us and we all headed home, exhausted from our successful shopping endeavour. When we got home, I went up to my room to read some more of Ender's Game. After a few pages, I heard a knock. It was Joyce.

'Can I come in?' she asked.

I nodded. She came in and sat on the end of my bed.

'It's a big day for you tomorrow. I know that it is for Will too, but he's started a new school before. You're starting school for the very first time and I was just checking in on you. It can be very daunting, and I know I was scared when I started high school, but I had my friends with me. Just stick close to Will until you're ready to branch off and make friends of your own. And that can take as long as you need to. Just go at your own pace and make it the best experience it can possibly be.'

'Thank you' I said and hugged her tightly. 'I'm just so nervous.'

'That's fine' she replied. 'Just try not to get into too much trouble. You know, I was caught smoking behind the school in my junior year and let's just say that didn't go well with the principle.'

I chuckled when she said this. 'I won't get into too much trouble' I said back.

'That means no trouble young lady' Joyce countered back, with mock severity.

'Yes ma'am' I replied and started laughing a little harder. After hearing that, I was a little less nervous. She got up and left me to get back to reading Ender's Game. After dinner, and once we had an epic pillow fight, I fell asleep. I was immediately sucked into a dream, but for the first time in a long time it was a happy one.

I'm in a house; one I have never been in before. The sunlight is streaming in, illuminating the room I'm in. It's lovely with paintings on the wall, and a honey yellow wallpaper, which reflects the sunlight so well. There's a sofa in the middle of the room, in front of a big TV. There's also a brown chair next to the sofa which has a closed book on it. The title reads 'Ender's Game.' The book has clearly been read a lot as it has creases down its spine and on the cover.

I look down. I'm still myself, but I have obviously grown. I'm taller, my hair is longer, and my other bodily features seem to have grown as well. I look at my clothing now, observing it. I am wearing a white flowery dress. I spot a mirror in the corner of the room and go to look in it. I still look like myself, as I have already established, but I look so pretty. The dress suits me so well and my hair just clips my shoulders where the dress hangs from its straps. I look like an ideal, older version of myself. I turn round to explore the house, but it's as if I instinctively know where everything is. I know where the kitchen is and what is in it without even moving from my position, still in front of the mirror.

Then I hear a voice, a voice I know so well, but one that sounds different. It is deeper than usual, but still carries that caring and delicate tone that I have grown to love over the years. 'Don't you just look beautiful' said the voice. I turn round and see Mike standing there in the doorway which appears to lead into a back garden of sorts. He looks older and is much taller. He has a dash of facial hair that looked like it had escaped a recent shave. That only adds to his handsomeness.

I blush when I realise what he had said

'Don't be embarrassed of the truth' he says, smiling and continuing to look at me.

'What are you looking at?' I mockingly ask him, trying to sound as severe and worried as I can.

'Just admiring the view' he replies and chuckles slightly before giving me a kiss.

I kiss him back, and he takes my hands into his. He leads me over to the sofa and sits me down not even once letting my hands leave his.

'How lucky am I?' he asks. 'To have ended up with such a beautiful wife.'

'I don't know' I say back to him. 'What did I ever do to end up with such a handsome, caring husband?'

'Touché' he says back to me. 'And I'm even luckier that she gave the greatest gift I could ever want, a beautiful daughter.'

As if on cue, a little girl comes in through the door where Mike had been standing. She is so beautiful. She has dark flowing chestnut hair, green eyes and a beaming smile directed straight at me.

'Come outside, mommy' she says, in a voice that melts my heart. 'I wanna show you what me and dad were working on.'

I start to get up, but she comes over anyway, takes me by the hand and leads me outside anyway. We have a decent size garden, with flowers around the side and green space in the middle with a washing line and a curious construction just below it. It is made of seashells and it spells out 'I love you mommy.' As if my heart couldn't warm anymore, it still manages to collect even more pride and warmth.

'Thank you so much' I say and pick up my daughter. 'And I love my precious little Daisy.'

'Mommy, can you tell me a story?' says Daisy, looking up at me with her big green eyes.

'Of course, sweetheart. But which story do you want?' I ask her.

'My favourite one' she says eagerly. 'The one with you and Dad, and Uncle Dusty and Uncle Lucas and Auntie Max.'

'Okay' I respond. 'I haven't told you this one in a while.'

We go into the living room again, and I sit down in the chair, the one reserved only for Daisy and me, and I prop her up on my lap. She leans her head into my shoulder, and I begin the story.

'Once upon a time, there were six friends…' I know the story I am about to tell. It is the one where we all went shopping and ended up spilling ice cream everywhere and we had a water fight. I would have thought that as an 8-year-old girl she would want to hear about princesses and castles, but her favourite stories are the ones I tell her of when we were kids. I finish the story with her fast asleep in my arms. As I look at her, I think to myself 'What a wonderful world.'

I woke up feeling happy, the happiest since leaving Hawkins and I was ready to start my new day at school. It was 7:30, perfect timing

I heard Will snoring, so I decided to go and wake him up. I tiptoed across the hallway and entered his and Jonathan's room. Jonathan's bed was messy, as if he had just gotten up. Then I heard the shower start up. I knew I had the all-clear, so I jumped on his bed and started to shake him. He woke with a start.

Will

I was just getting to the good part where I kiss him, when I was woken from my pleasant dreams by a strange figure above me, waking me up. It was El. She was smiling and laughing as I struggled to open my eyes in the light.

'El, what the hell?' I asked, half annoyed, half tired.

'First day of school silly' she replied.

'Yay' I said, as sarcastically as I could. 'How exciting'

'Oh come on' she said back to me. 'It's gonna be fine.'

'Yeah, sure' I said back. 'Anyway, leave me alone, I wanna go and get ready.'

'Jonathan's in the shower at the moment' El said back to me, and she turned to leave. As she turned her back, I grabbed my pillow and smacked it onto her head. She turned around, a smile on her face and with one swipe of her neck, a pillow hit me in the back of my head.

'Hey, no fair' I said back. 'No powers'

'Ugh fine' she said and grabbed a pillow and we started the battle.

It was a battle of epic proportions and eventually, we tired ourselves out. Jonathan came out of the shower just as we had finished, so I went to get myself some breakfast while El went and had a shower. I couldn't help but think about the dream I had last night. It was at the forefront of my mind and it posed some interesting questions. Is that what my future looked like? Was I really going to end up with him?

I hoped so inside myself as I ate my cornflakes. I really did.

El

I went and had a shower while Will went and at the breakfast he had been craving. While showering, I couldn't help but think about the dream I had last night. It was at the forefront of my mind and it posed some interesting questions. Is that what my future looked like? Was I really going to marry Mike and have kids? What if it didn't end up like that?

'No' I said aloud to myself. I wanted to comfort myself, not think about bad things again. I pushed the negative thoughts out of my head and tried to focus myself on starting my new school and who I would meet, and who I would make friends with. I finished showering and went to pick out what clothes I would wear for my first day at school. In the end, I decided to go for a mixture of new and old. My new jeans, with an old top and my new blue hoodie. Once I was dressed, I went to eat my breakfast while Will finished getting.

Joyce tried to persuade us to let her drive us to school every day for the first couple of weeks, but Will managed to bargain her down to only driving us on our first day. We loaded into the car, Will riding shotgun and me in the back. It took no more than five minutes to drive to the school and we pulled up in front of the archway that read 'Lafayette Jefferson High School.' Will and I looked at each other, then at the stream of kids entering the school. We got out of the car, grabbed our stuff, and gave Joyce a hug and a kiss. Once she got back in her car, me and Will looked at each other both of us ready for our first day of high school.