November 6th 1983
Isabelle is awakened by the sound of her parents arguing in their room. She tries putting her pillow over her head, but it's no use. She can't drown them out, can't fall back asleep. She pulls the pillow from her face, laying on her back and staring at the ceiling. She has two options. She can lay here; listening and let it ruin her mood, or she can get up and leave.
She chooses to leave, but first she's got things to do to get ready for the day. First she turns on her vinyl player, looking through her records. She chooses Crimes of Passion by Pat Benatar, turning it up until hearing her parents isn't an option. She locks her door, then goes into her closet to pick out her clothes for the day. She grabs a pair of tights, a corduroy skirt with tie belt, and an oversized sweater.
She goes and showers, letting the hot water wash over her. She enjoys the shower until there's no longer any hot water. She gets out, blows dry her curls, and after dressing and brushing her teeth, applies her chapstick and pops a piece of bazooka into her mouth. She throws anything she might need for the day into her backpack, pulls on socks and boots, and then throws on her jacket. She shuts off her record player and exits her room, shutting her door quietly so as not to alert anyone of her leaving. She tiptoes down the stairs, quickly makes her way through the kitchen. She drinks a glass of orange juice and grabs a peach to eat. She is out the door before anyone knows the difference.
—-
Isabelle knocks on the door, knowing she's a little early but figured what would hurt if she showed up first. It only takes a minute for the door to open and Mike to be standing in front of her.
"Hey! You're like, an hour early. Everything ok?"
"Parents were home and fighting. Just didn't feel like listening to it, I hope that's alright," she says, walking past him and into the house. He nods his head, following her in. She greets the family, kneeling down to talk to Holly for a moment, and then they continue to the usual hang out spot. They've just entered the kitchen, when Mike grabs her backpack handle, stopping her from going down the stairs. He gestures for her to follow him, and they change direction and head for his room first.
"I tried to tell you about this last night, but your brother said you were already asleep," he says, entering his room and going to his dresser. He picks up what is clearly an album, and hands it to Isabelle. "I thought you would like this."
She looks at what's in her hands. An original copy of Patsy Cline's 'Walkin after Midnight'. She can't help but stare at it for a minute. She absolutely loves it. She looks up at Mike, whose cheeks are slightly red and he's looking anywhere but at her. She sets the record down beside her and stands up. She wraps her arms around Mike's waist, who takes a second, but reciprocates the action, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Thank you Mike." His face turns about 3 shades redder as the two pull away from each other. Neither knows what to say, so they just stand there for a minute. The awkwardness is broken as Mike clears his throat.
"Wanna go downstairs?"
She nods her head, grabbing the record, and following him out of the room. As both enter the basement, she drops onto the couch and takes her bag off her back. She places the record inside, and pulls out her book. Mike sits beside her and grabs the book.
"What's this one about?" She grabs the book back, not trusting his dirty boy hands, clutching it to her chest. She turns to him, and he can see the excitement on her face. He may not enjoy reading, but listening to her talk about books is a different matter. She makes them sound as exciting as their campaigns.
He sits and listens to the girl he's known most of his life, as she tells him the plot to the latest book his sister had given her. He can't help but notice her cheeks growing flush as she speaks with such excitement. She's bouncing around, telling him all about it when his mom comes to the top of the stairs. She's been talking for nearly 15 minutes.
"Isabelle, your brother is here." They share a confused look.
"Sorry for talking your ear off. I'm sure you weren't really interested," she says, pushing her dirty blonde hair out of her face.
Mike smiles, standing and pulling her up off the couch. "It was actually pretty interesting. You'll have to tell me more about what happens with that Inigo Montoya character."
"Yeah, okay," she says, walking to the stairs. "Race ya," and Isabelle is halfway up before he realizes what's going on. She runs through the kitchen, feeling Mike on her heels.
"Kids kids," Mrs. Wheeler says, jumping out of Mike's way. She laughs, watching as he catches up to his smaller counterpart. He grabs Isabelle around the waist, spinning her around and letting her land behind him, swinging the front door open. They're both laughing, until they see the look on her big brother's face. He does not look amused to see Mike with his arms around the girl. Mike quickly steps back, giving Steve a big smile. "Hey Steve! Here's Bells," he says, pushing the girl in front of him and stepping back. Isabelle steps onto the front porch, closing the door softly behind her
"Boy needs to keep his hands to himself." He says grumpily.
Isabelle rolls her eyes. "Oh stop it."
"Belly, that boy likes you. Neither one of you may realize it yet, but just remember this moment, so I can say I told you so when it comes out."
She burst out into loud laughter. "Steve, you're crazy. Mike is one of my best friends. We are only friends. He doesn't see me like that," she pauses, catching her breath. "What are you doing here anyways?"
He pulls her gloves from his pocket, and the scarf off his shoulders. "In your rush to leave the house you left these at home. It's supposed to be pretty chilly tonight. Didn't want you riding home freezing."
She smiles at her brother. He really is the best. "Thanks Stevie. I really appreciate that. You're always looking out for me."
"Yeah, well, someone has to. Have fun, ok," he says, walking back to his car.
"Will do. Love you!
"Love you," he shouts over his shoulder.
—
The party has been at the Wheeler household the entire day. Isabelle is sitting between Will and Dustin, waiting for whatever comes next. She's just looked down, going to scratch her leg, when Mike slams his hands down on the table. Isabelle jumps, looking back to the table.
"Wheeler!" The group spares her a quick laugh, before returning to the game. Isabelle can't help but giggle at how engrossed in the game they are. Don't get her wrong, she enjoys a good campaign, the stories always amaze her, but she definitely didn't plan on being at the table all day. They shout and argue, laughing and teasing each other. Then the die is rolled, flying off the table, and everyone is up and crawling on the ground.
"Better get to looking or this game may never end," she says under her breath, turning to look with her friends.
Mike is on his hands and knees by the stairs, when he hears his mom yelling his name. He looks around, seeing his friends searching for the tiny die. He leaves to try and convince his mom to let them finish the campaign before sending everyone home.
Will and her find it at the same time, him grabbing it and standing up.
"I got it," he says, holding it up.
Isabelle looks over his shoulder, "Does a seven count?"
"It was a seven? Did Mike see it," Lucas asks. Will and Isabelle look at each other, and shake their heads no.
"Then it doesn't count."
"Anyone want this?"
The group all shout no in unison and Dustin leaves the basement. Will and Lucas are getting their coats on and packing their belongings back into their bags. Isabelle busies herself with fixing the chairs and righting the room back to being Karen Wheeler approved. Looking around and satisfied with her job, Isabelle grabs her things and goes to join the boys in the driveway. Isabelle walks out the door to find the 4 boys standing around arguing about Nancy. As she joins them, Lucas is speaking.
"Yeah, it's because she's dating douchebag Steve."
Dustin sees Isabelle, and smiles. "Uh-oh! Lucas is going to be in trouble."
Isabelle glares at Lucas, who puts up his hands in surrender. "Be nice to my brother."
Mike laughs, "You're siblings. You're not supposed to get along."
"Just because you and Nancy can't stand each other, doesn't mean all siblings are like that," Isabelle says, sticking her tongue out at Mike. He returns the gesture as everyone prepares to ride off. She gets her jacket all zipped up and brings her hood up, causing her long hair to cover her face.
"Hey! It's Cousin It," Lucas jokes. Everyone laughs as he then grabs the strings, pulling them tightly around her face. She slaps his hands away, laughing at his antics, before loosening the strings and attempting to fix her hair. Mike brings his hands up, helping smooth down a few fly aways. An unfamiliar feeling enters her stomach, almost like a tummy ache, before he pulls his hands away.
Will pulls his bike up beside the two of them, "It was a 7."
"Huh," Mike says, pulling his gaze from Isabelle and looking at Will.
"The die, it was a 7. The demogorgon, it got me."
As Will says that sentence, Isabelle feels a weird chill race down her spine. Mike just looks at him, almost confused. The lights above the group flicker, causing Isabelle to jump. She grabs Mike's hand in hers, and wraps her other hand through his arm. Both look up at the light, then back at each other.
"Weird," he says under his breath. "Scaredy cat," looking down at her.
"I know, it's terrible," Isabelle says. "Night Wheeler," the girl says, going to pick up her bike. She jumps on, shouting for Will to wait up before riding off into the night. Mike watches them as they ride off, waiting until he can no longer see the girl's blonde hair flying behind to turn off the light and go inside.
—
The four kids goof off as they ride towards home. They take turns seeing who can go longer without any hands, Isabelle winning. Lucas and Dustin attempt to see how close they can get to each other before it gets dangerous, nearly sending Dustin into a ditch.
Lucas, the first one to drift off, "Goodnight Ladies."
"Kiss your mom 'night for me," Dustin says, causing Isabelle and Will to laugh.
"Night Lucas."
"Race to my place? Winner gets a comic," Dustin challenges.
"Any comic," Will asks excitedly.
"Yeah!"
Before the two can say anything, Will takes off like lightning.
The two shout, " Hey! Hey!"
"I didn't say go!"
Isabelle just laughs and speeds up.
"Get back here," Dustin threatens. "I'm gonna kill you."
"I'll take your x-men 134!"
Isabelle can hear Dustin slowing behind her, his turn coming up. "Son of a bitch."
"Night Dusty," she yells over her shoulder, attempting to catch Will, but also knowing he'll stop before taking his turn off. "Will slow down, wait for me!"
She finally catches him, since he's stopped and waiting at their separate ways point.
"Congratulations. You better make sure he holds up his end of the deal, you destroyed him," Isabelle says, pulling up beside Will.
"I'm totally going to. I'll see you in the morning, Bells."
"Night Will. Love you," she says riding off towards her house. Will returns the sentiment, his words floating over the wind.
—
Isabelle goes straight upstairs when she gets home. She knocks on Steve's door, waiting for him to answer. He swings the door open, leaning against the frame.
"Just wanted to let you know I was home," she says, turning to go to her room across the hall. When she looks back, she sees him standing there, watching her.
"What is it, silly face?"
"I just realized that you never said you didn't like him," he says, a small smirk on his face. "This morning, when I pointed out that the Wheeler kid liked you. You had a good argument for why he didn't like you like that, but not once did you say anything about you not liking him like that," He says, turning to walk back into his room. "Thanks for letting me know you were home. Night Belly."
Isabelle stands there, slightly slack jawed, before walking into her room, shutting the door and throwing her bag on the bed. What was he going on about? Did she like Mike? Did he like her? She chooses not to linger on it. She pulls out the album from Mike, taking it over and gently putting it with the rest of her collection. She then pulls out her walkie, placing it on the nightstand. Turning it on, Isabelle listened to the static for a second.
"Boys, anyone there? Over."
No one answers. Isabelle sits down at her desk and goes through her homework, making sure that she has finished everything and double checking her work. She then puts it all away, and prepares her clothes for the next day. She's just getting ready to crawl into bed, when she hears the comm crackling.
"Bells? Come in, Bells," she hears Lucas come over the Comm.
"Yeah Lucas?"
"Sorry for what I said about your brother. I hope you're not mad at me."
"No, not mad. I know how my brother tends to come off. Just try to keep the trash talking to a minimum around me."
"Got it. Night Bells."
"Night Lucas."
She lays there, listening for a few more minutes. Placing the comm back down, she rolls over, trying to fall asleep. Its been maybe 20 minutes when the comm goes off again.
"Bells? Are you awake? Over."
She rolls over, reaching for the comm again. "I'm here. Over."
"I can't sleep. Over."
"Why not, over." she asks, rubbing at her eyes.
"I don't know. Just restless I guess."
"Did you ask your mom for some warm milk? Or maybe she could read you a bedtime story," she teases.
Mike lays in his bed, the comm in his hand, and stares at the ceiling. "I'm a little too old for those things. Over."
"Sorry, I didn't realize turning 12 made us all adults. Over."
Mike groans, why does she have to be so difficult sometimes? "Not adults, but definitely not little kids anymore. Over."
Thinking about what he's saying, she sighs. "You're right, I suppose. I can't imagine doing some of the things now that I used to do 2-3 years ago. Over."
"Having my mom cut the crust off our sandwiches? Over."
"Or letting my mom still pick out my clothes," she jokes, knowing Mike won't like it one bit.
"Hey! It's easier to just have her do it then having to worry about it myself. Shut up."
"I'm just kidding Wheeler. So grumpy this evening. You must be really tired. Want me to read to you from my book I was talking about earlier? Over."
Mike could care less about the book, but he thinks that maybe the girl's voice could put him to sleep. It's definitely been known to sooth and calm the group down in other instances. "Would you?"
"Sure. I couldn't sleep anyway."
She settles back into bed, the book open in her lap and the comm in her hand. "I'll read for a little bit and then I'll see if you're still awake, sound good? Over."
Mike agrees. He gets settled in bed, his comm by his head. Isabelle starts to read, trying to keep her voice as calm and soothing as she can. It's 30 minutes later, before she finally stops.
"Wheeler? Are you asleep?" She waits a minute for a response and when she gets nothing, she replaces her bookmark and lays the book on the nightstand. "Goodnight Mike."
Chapter One
—
The Vanishing of Will Byers
Isabelle wakes up to her alarm at 7:00. She rolls over, stretches, then goes to take a shower. Today she dresses in jeans, a button up pink blouse, and a white sweater vest. She carefully folds her collar over the vest before pulling on socks and pink converse. She pulls a matching scrunchy out of her caboodle and puts it on her wrist, beside her watch. Once she gets downstairs, she finds her brother at the table, cereal and milk waiting. Steve is shoveling food in his mouth, milk dripping down his chin.
"Morning twerp."
"Morning dingus," Isabelle says, pouring milk over her cheerios.
"You about ready," Steve asks a short while later, putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Yeah, I just need to grab my bag."
Both of them gather their things and make their way to the car. Steve drops Isabelle off with a have a great day and see you at home. She makes her way to the bike rack, waiting for the boys. She sees 3 of the 4 riding towards her. Once again, that weird chill crawls up her back.
Before they can even lock up their bikes, she's asking questions. "Will's not with you?"
"That's weird, I don't see him," Mike says looking around.
"I'm telling you, his mom's right. He probably just went to class early again."
"What do you mean, his mom?"
She falls into step behind Mike and Lucas, Dustin beside her. "Yeah, he's always paranoid Gursky's gonna give him another pop quiz."
Mike answers her question. "His mom called looking for him this morning. He was gone before they both woke up and neither one saw him last night." Mike shakes his head, "You didn't see him?"
They all turn to look at her. "How long have you been waiting?"
She grabs her backpack straps anxiously, "Steve dropped me off just before you got here."
"See. He's gonna be in the classroom when we walk in," Lucas says, walking off ahead of the three.
The remaining 3 share a look, and quicken their pace to join Lucas. They've just caught up to him when they hear someone talking behind them.
"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen. Step right up and get your tickets for the freak show. Who do you think would make more money in a freak show," Troy asks, slapping his friend on the chest.
He hits each boy, as he rattles off the horrible nicknames he's made for them. "Midnight, Frogface," he stops, looking Isabelle up and down, "Princess", before moving on to Dustin, "Or Toothless?"
Isabelle steps forward, pushing Troy away from her friends. "Troy just stop it."
He gives her a push back into line between Mike and Dustin. "Shut it Harrington."
The two boys both grab a belt loop, pulling her to stand behind them. Troy usually leaves her alone, but they always worry that he's gonna do something.
Dustin speaks up, "I told you a million times. My teeth are coming in. It's called cleidocranial dysplasia." James mimics him, causing Dustin to look at the ground.
Isabelle brings a hand up to his shoulder and gives him a gentle squeeze.
"Awe, princess has a soft spot for toothless. How cute. Hey, do the arm thing. Maybe it'll impress her," Troy says, no signs of him joking around anymore.
"Stop it, it hurts him," she says, trying to step forward again, Mike is quick to hold his arm up, moving her behind him, and using his hand on her lower back to push her in closer to him. She looks up at him over his shoulder, then looks back to Dustin.
"Do it, freak," James says. Dustin takes off his jacket and does his "trick". His bones pop and both boys react, acting grossed out. "These are the people you choose to spend your time with. I just don't get it Princess. You really could do so much better."
James and Troy shove their way through Dustin and Mike, pushing Isabelle away. She loses her footing, and starts to fall. Before she can hit the ground, Lucas grabs her arm, and rights her position.
"Thanks," she says, turning to watch the bullies wander off to class.
"Assholes," Lucas says angrily.
Mike watches Dustin pick up his stuff, "I think it's kinda cool. Like you've got superpowers or something."
"Yeah Dusty! Our own personal superhero, our own Mr. Fantastic," Isabelle says, matching Mike's enthusiasm, hoping to make Dustin feel better.
"Yeah, except I can't fight evil with it." Isabelle links arms with Dustin, and heads to class.
"Don't let them get to you Dusty. They're horrible and you are amazing. Now, come on, let's go find Will."
—
Walking into class, the 4 kids look around. Their gazes meet, worst fears confirmed. Will isn't here. Isabelle takes her seat next to Mike and in front of Lucas. She pays attention as best as she can, but she can't help but let her eyes wander to Will's empty seat every now and then. Lucas sees this and gives her shoulder a squeeze. She turns to look at him, a worried look on her face. Mike sees the exchange and is hit with a small wave of jealousy. He shakes it off and turns to continue listening to the teacher.
"I'm sure he's fine," Lucas mouths to her before gesturing for her to turn back around.
By lunch time, they've convinced themselves that Will is fine. As the bell rings and Mr. Clark finishes rattling off the night's homework, the four stay behind. Once the class is empty, he turns to the students.
"Did it come?"
"Sorry boys," Dustin clears his throat and nods his head towards Isabelle, "and girl. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but," pauses for dramatic effect, "it came."
The boys do a little cheer, and they all follow Mr. Clark to the AV room. "Yes!"
The boys clamor into the room and Isabelle calmly takes a seat next to Mike, watching their excitement. "The Heathkit ham shack," Mr. Clark states proudly. "Ain't she a beaut?"
"I bet you can talk to New York on this thing," Dustin states.
"Think bigger," Mr. Clark replies.
"California," Lucas guesses.
"Bigger."
"Australia," both Mike and Isabelle say at the same time.
Mr Clarke shakes his head yes, and the boys continue in their excitement. Mike has the headphones on and the other two are pressing buttons.
"When Will sees this, he's totally gonna blow his shit," Lucas says. Both Isabelle and Mr. Clarke clear their throats. Lucas apologizes, and goes back to what he was doing. Lucas mentioning Will reminds her that they still have no idea what happened to the boy, where he has been all day.
Isabelle watches as Mike starts talking into the radio in a silly Australian accent. "Hello! This is Mike Wheeler and Isabelle Harrington, president and vice-president of Hawkins Middle AV Club." Isabelle giggles, his accent being absolutely ridiculous.
Dustin takes the headphones off of Mike and puts them on himself. In an equally silly accent, "Hello this is Dustin, the treasurer of Hawkins Middle AV Club. Do you eat kangaroos for breakfast?"
She can't help but laugh through the worry. Lucas goes to grab the headphones, but before he can get them on, there is a knock at the door. Everyone swings their head to the door, seeing the principal and the police. This can't be good.
"Sorry to interrupt, but may I borrow Isabelle, Michael, Lucas, and Dustin?"
Their smiles are wiped away from their faces, and they all share a look. They follow the police to the office, the four of them taking a seat on the couch. Isabelle is squished in between Lucas and Mike. All four immediately start talking over each other.
Police Chief Hopper quickly tires of it, speaking up and causing Isabelle to jump. "Okay, okay, okay. One at a time. You," he says, pointing to Isabelle and causing her to squeak out her response.
"Me," she asks, pointing at herself.
"Yeah, maybe you can give me some answers."
She wrings her hands anxiously, looking from Mike to Lucas, and back to the Chief.
"Well, we all spent the day at the Wheeler's house yesterday. We all left around 8, and rode our bikes home. Will and I were the last two, and we separated and went our separate ways. I was in my house by 9:00, you can ask my brother."
"And you," he said, pointing to Mike. "You said he takes Mirkwood?"
"Mirkwood, yeah."
"Have you ever heard of Mirkwood," the Chief asks, turning to his deputy.
"I have not. That sounds fake to me."
"That's because it is," Isabelle says, looking at Mike and rolling her eyes. Now is not the time to be using the inside jokes of the party.
"No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas says.
"Well, the Hobbit," Dustin and Isabelle correct.
"It doesn't matter," Lucas says, giving them both a look.
"He asked!"
"He asked," Lucas mocked.
"Shut up, guys," Mike states, tired of their arguing.
"Hey, hey, hey!" The Chief shouts, which still doesn't quiet them up.
Isabelle shouts, "Stop!"
At this, everyone in the room goes quiet and looks at the small girl. She gives the three boys what they call her mom look. They all look down at their hands and mutter a quiet sorry.
The Chief looks to the girl, and realizes that she's in charge, whether they all realize it or not.
"What did I just say? One at a damn time. Now, you," he says, looking at Mike and waiting for him to continue.
"Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up."
Isabelle interjects, knowing the Chief is getting aggravated with this. "It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet."
The Chief sits back, talking to his deputy. "Yeah, all right. I think I know that —"
He is cut off by Isabelle speaking again. "We can show you, if you want."
"I said that I know it," the chief state's back to Isabelle, slightly harsher than before.
The boys are all quick to come to her defense. They all start speaking at once, but it's Dustin that speaks the loudest. "Hey, she's just trying to help. You don't have to speak to her like that."
The Chief runs his hand down his face, extremely annoyed with these children. "We can help look."
"Yeah," the other 3 pipe in. The boys clamor over each other, trying to convince the chief that they could be useful.
"No, after school you are all going home. Immediately. That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense. This isn't some Lord of the Rings book."
Dustin just can't keep quiet. "The Hobbit," he states matter of factly.
"Shut up," Lucas says, leaning over Mike and Isabelle to slap Dustin. Mike tries to stop them, as Dustin hits Isabelle in the shoulder. "Hey," she says, leaning behind Mike to hit Dustin. Mike quickly grabs her arm and brings it in front of him, holding it still.
"Stop," he says, giving her a stern look. She feels her cheeks heat up, embarrassed she'd let herself slip into their disagreement. Dustin and Lucas continue to bicker, until Chief speaks up again.
He stands up, putting his hat back on his head. All 4 of them stop and look up at him. "Do I make myself clear?"
He looks down on all of them, stopping on Isabelle a little bit longer than the others. "Ms. Harrington, do I make myself clear? Can you keep these boys in line?"
Mike immediately gets a disgusted look on his face. He looks from Chief Hopper to Isabelle, confusion evident on his face. "She's not in charge," he says, under his breath.
She looks at each one of her friends before swallowing and looking back to the Chief.
"Yes sir," she replied.
"Do I make myself clear boys?"
All 3 agree, watching as the police leave. The 4 look at each other, and are quickly excused back to class.
As they're walking back, Lucas and Dustin hurry off in front of them. Mike has his hands in his pockets and seems upset. Isabelle grabs his arm, pulling him to a stop.
"Wheeler, what's wrong?"
Mike looks at the girl. He thinks about expressing his worry about Will, but doesn't think now is the time and place. If he tells her he's worried, she'll get worried, and it'll just end up causing her to be upset and he really doesn't like to see her upset.
He quickly smiles, before starting to walk again. "Did you hear how Hopper was talking to you? Like you're the leader of the group? What's that all about?"
Isabelle laughs, "Yeah, me in charge? That's just crazy."
They share a look, before both laughing even more.
—-
The school day finally ends and everyone meets up at the bike rack.
"Guess I'll see you guys tomorrow," Isabelle says, starting to walk down the hill towards the high school. Maybe she can catch her brother before he goes wherever he planned to go today. They all share a look before riding to catch up with her.
"Where are you going," Dustin asks.
"Home, you heard what Chief said."
"But there's no one at your house," Lucas says.
"And you know Steve won't be home until late," Mike adds. "Hop on, you can come to my house and go home later."
She thinks about arguing but she really doesn't want to be in the house all by herself. She shakes her head and climbs onto the back of Mike's bike. She wraps her arms around him and holds onto his backpack straps.
"Ready," Mike asks, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Ready."
They ride home in silence, each one veering off to go to their own house. When they reach the Wheelers, Isabelle jumps off and follows Mike inside. They're immediately greeted by Mrs. Wheeler.
"Isabelle, is your brother going to be late tonight," she asks, a sympathetic tone to her voice.
"Yes, ma'am. Is it ok if I stay here until someone will be home?"
"Of course sweetheart. You're always welcome, you know that. Don't even have to ask. Why don't you two go get set up at the table and get started on your homework. I'll bring in a snack shortly."
She smiles and follows Mike to the dining room. They both set out their night's homework, and take a seat next to each other. The only noise being from the pencils on the paper and Holly playing with her dolls in the living room. They help each other when needed, him helping with science and her helping with history.
Mrs. Wheeler comes in after a while, setting a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk on the table. "Take a break. You've both had a long day," she says, rubbing the top of both their heads. Both close their books, and grab a cookie. They eat in silence, neither knowing what to say.
"Where do you think he is," Mike asks, breaking his cookie in his hand.
She pauses to think. "I honestly have no idea. I just hope he's ok."
"He is. He has to be. It's Will."
Isabelle can feel herself starting to panic, and can feel the tears starting to build up in her eyes. Mike can see it too. "What if– What if somethings wrong? What if he's not–," she can't even finish the sentence before the first tear falls.
He scoots his chair closer, wrapping an arm around her. "Hey, no, it's ok. He's gonna be fine. I promise Isabelle, we're going to find Will and everything is going to be ok."
She buries her face in his shirt, while he rubs his hand down her arm. This isn't the first time Mike has seen her cry. Many times after her parents fought, she'd shown up at the Wheelers, upset and unable to stop herself from breaking down. The first time, he'd been almost scared, unsure of what to do. But after a while, he just knew what to do. He no longer felt like he needed to rush and get his mom to fix things. After a few minutes, she pulls back, wiping at her face.
"Sorry about your shirt," she says, picking up her pencil.
Mike laughs, doing the same. "It's ok, I hate this shirt anyways."
They both laugh, "Thanks Wheeler."
He gives a small smile, turning to pull his history book back out. "Don't mention it, really. Just help me with this last question and we'll call it even."
They've finished all their homework, watched some tv, and it's now dinner time. Mrs. Wheeler gets everyone served and they're all sitting around the table. Isabelle is between Mike and Nancy, and the topic of Will comes up.
"We should be out there right now. We should be helping look for him," Mike nearly yells at his parents.
Mrs. Wheeler responds, feeding Holly as she does. "We've been over this, Mike. The Chief says–."
Isabelle is so tired of hearing the same thing, and can't help her outburst. "I don't care what the Chief said."
Everyone stops and looks at her. "Isabelle Renee." Hearing her first and middle name, Isabelle looks down at your hands.
"Sorry," she says quietly.
Mike is quick to continue though. "Don't apologize, you're right. We don't care what the Chief said."
Mrs. Wheeler spares a glance between the two, a sigh escaping her lips. "Michael Theodore."
"We have to do something. Will could be in danger."
"All the more reason to stay put."
"Mom" "Mrs. Wheeler," Mike and her try at the same time.
"End of discussion," Mrs. Wheeler says, looking around at the whole table. No one dares say another word, not even Mr. Wheeler, who just sips his tea.
After a short bit of silence, Nancy speaks up.
"So, Barbara and I are gonna study at her house tonight. That's cool, right?"
Mrs. Wheeler looks at her plate before looking at her daughter. "No, not cool."
"What? Why not?"
"Why do you think? Am I speaking Chinese in this house? Until we know Will is okay, no one leaves."
"This is such bullshit," Nancy says, quickly reprimanded by her dad.
At the same time, Mike pipes up. "Does that mean Bells' gonna live here now?" The two share a smile, before being told to knock off the smartass antics.
"So we're under house arrest? Just because their friend got lost on the way home from.."
Mike is immediately angry. "Wait, this is Will's fault?"
Isabelle can't believe what Nancy just implied. She's never felt this much anger towards the girl before. She glares at her, wanting to say something but also not wanting to be reprimanded again.
Mrs. Wheeler shakes her head, "Nancy, take that back. Mike, Isabelle, calm down."
"No," Nancy says, sitting back in her chair.
"You're just pissed off 'cause you wanna hang out with Steve," Isabelle spits out before she can stop herself. Nancy gives her a warning look, then gives the same look to her brother.
"Steve," Mr. Wheeler asks.
"Steve? Like Isabelle's brother Steve," Mrs. Wheeler questions.
"Yeah, and her new boyfriend," Mike says, trying to take some of the heat off Isabelle.
"You two are such little assholes," Nancy seethes. "I'd expect this from Mike, but not you Isabelle."
"Language," Mr. Wheeler interjects for only the second time the whole dinner.
All 3 kids let out a groan, Mike with a bit of a smirk. Isabelle feels bad as Nancy gets up and leaves the table, ignoring her mom as she tells her to come back.
When it becomes clear that Nancy is not coming back, Mrs. Wheeler goes back to tending to Holly.
Mr. Wheeler starts up a conversation with the two remaining kids at the table. "You see Michael, Isabelle. You see what happens?"
Mike, still frustrated from his sister's accusations, shouts, "What happens when what? We're the only ones acting normal here," he says, throwing his arms around, "We're the only ones that care about Will."
"That is really unfair, son," Mr. Wheeler says, never changing his tone. "We care," he says, before stuffing more food in his face.
Mike stares at his dad for a second, before slamming his hands on the table and getting up to leave. Isabelle jumps at the noise, but stays in her seat. Mike's determined to storm out, but then remembers Isabelle is still at the table with his parents. He grabs her hand and pulls her behind him. She throws an apologetic look over your shoulder, but follows Mike still.
"Mike. Isabelle. Come back please," Mrs. Wheeler asks.
"No, let them go."
Mike doesn't let go until they've reached his room and he's forcefully slammed his door. She can see he's extremely upset, she's not sure who with more though. Mike goes to stand by his window, looking out through the blinds. Neither says anything, but after a few minutes of standing in silence, she hears a small sniffle come from Mike. He's crying. She doesn't think twice, just walks up behind him, wraps her arms around his waist, and lays her head against his back.
"It's going to be ok," she says. "You promised, remember."
She can feel him shake his head, placing one hand on top of where hers rest, using his other hand to wipe his face. "Yeah, I know. Just hearing her talk like that. It made me so mad. Why would she say that?"
"Mike. It's ok. She was just upset, like you said. She wasn't thinking. I'm sure she doesn't really feel that way."
Mike squeezes her hands, before removing them from his chest. She moves to sit on the bed and watches him start to pace, back and forth back and forth. Without a word, Mike motions to follow him. Both go downstairs, avoiding conversation with the two adults. They take a seat around the D&D table, and Mike grabs his comm.
"Lucas? It's Mike and Bells, do you copy?"
Within seconds, Lucas responds. "Hey, it's Lucas."
Mike rolls his eyes. "I know it's you. And say "over" when you're done talking so I know when you're done. Over."
"I'm done. Over." Isabelle giggles, but quickly stops when Mike glares at her.
"Sorry," she whispers.
"We're worried about Will. Over."
Both hear Lucas sigh, "Yeah. This is crazy. Over."
"I was thinking. Will could've cast Protection last night, but he didn't."
Isabelle spoke up, "He cast Fireball. So what?"
Mike gives her a look again. "Over."
"What's your point? Over."
"My point is, he could've played it safe, but he didn't. He put himself in danger to help the party. Over."
The comm goes quiet for a few minutes, and they both wonder if they lost signal. Finally Lucas speaks.
"Meet me in ten. Over and out."
Mike immediately gets up, throwing stuff in his backpack, while Isabelle sits and watches.
"Mike, what are we doing?" He hands her a flashlight, throwing another in his bag. "We're not supposed to be going out. Even on a normal night, it's definitely later than your mom would let us go."
"She's never going to know. Now, come on."
They quietly exit the basement, and hop on Mike's bike. She secures herself with a grip on his backpack straps and he takes off down the drive.
As they reach the end of the drive, Mike stops, causing her to put her feet on the ground. Following his line of sight, she sees her brother climbing the side of the Wheeler house. Isabelle raises her arms in a gesture of what the hell. He puts his finger over his mouth, a shush gesture, then gestures for them to continue along. As they ride off, they hear a whispered yell of be careful. Isabelle quickly throws a thumbs up over her shoulder and grabs on again.
They meet up with Lucas at the end of the block. He's got a flashlight strapped to his bike and gestures for them to follow. After another few blocks, Dustin joins as well.
"Ah, man. This is it."
Isabelle looks around, it's pitch black out and definitely going to rain.
Mike and the boys slow down, and everyone gets off their bikes. The area is blocked off, like it's a crime scene. Isabelle feels that all too familiar chill race down her spine, then feels a water drop hit her forehead.
"Are we sure this is a good idea," Isabelle asks, pulling the hood of her jacket up over her head.
"Hey, guys. You feel that," Dustin asks, looking to the sky. Thunder rumbles, "I think maybe we should go back."
"No!" Mike and Lucas both say. "We're not going back," Mike insists, turning on his flashlight. "Just stay close," Mike says, laying his bike down. "Come on. Just stay on channel six."
Isabelle goes under the blockade. "Don't do anything stupid." She stops, waiting for the 3 boys to join. Dustin is last, not liking this idea at all. Mike and Lucas start to walk off, but she waits, looking up as it thunders loudly again. She holds her hand out, waiting for Dustin to come over and take it. "Come on, we'll stick together. We can protect each other."
He takes her hand and they follow the other two into the deep woods. "Hey guys, wait up," Dustin says, pulling her along to catch up with their friends. They stop and wait and when they reach them, she takes Lucas' hand as well. Mike tries not to be disappointed that she doesn't take his hand.
"We stick together, ok? Wheeler, lead the way."
The four walk for what feels like forever. Lucas has now wandered off a bit, but Dustin is still right by Isabelle's side, her hand squeezing his every time there's a crack of thunder.
Everyone is shouting Will's name, as the rain starts to come down harder. Isabelle has let go of Dustin, using both her hands to pull the strings of her hood and her jacket tighter. She can hear the boys yells of Will and Byers, but no one responds. It's starting to look like this may have been a pointless adventure.
"I've got your x-men 134," Dustin shouts. They all regroup, Isabelle at the front, with a little bit of distance between her and the other boys. "Guys, I really think we should turn back."
He's probably right. The rain is coming down in buckets, she can barely see what's in front of her. She keeps looking though, hoping for a sign.
"Seriously, Dustin? You wanna be a baby, then go home already! If Bells is out here doing this, then you can be too."
"Thanks a lot," she says, pissed to be called out.
"I'm just being realistic, Lucas."
"No, you're just being a big sissy," Lucas yells, throwing his arms out.
Dustin raises a question. "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"
She had thought of that, only about a hundred times since they'd got here. What if they were just putting themselves in the same danger Will had gotten into? What if something was out there, watching the four of them, ready to pounce? Isabelle kept quiet, continuing to look for anything. That's when she started to hear noises.
"Dustin, shut up," she said harshly. She's not one to tell the boys to shut up, yet alone be rude about it.
"Ouch. I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?"
"Shut up! Shut up," she shouted, moving closer to the noises. She feels the three of them come up behind her, and she puts her arms up, keeping them back. "Did you guys hear that?"
The rustling grows louder and starts to come from a different direction. They all jump, turning towards the sound. Lucas and Mike both push Isabelle behind them, trying to keep her out of harm's way.
They all turn their flashlights towards the sound, then the sound moves and comes from a different direction again. With a final turn, Isabelle is back in front and Dustin has an arm around her, thinking if something grabs her, at least they'll have to take him too. As they bring their flashlights up, they all gasp.
Standing in front of them, is a soaking wet girl they've never seen before.