Author's note

Here's the second chapter! If anyone notices any inconsistencies or mistakes in my story, please don't hesitate to comment on the chapter to tell me. Hopz you enjoy!

Chapter 2

I swear my sister has packed her whole bedroom into suitcases. Here I am with a schoolbag and one small suitcase, and she is trailing along behind me with three. I mean, seriously, how many suitcases do you need? I would say it was a girl thing, but there is no way Max has packed as much as Nancy either. My sister is just uniquely materialistic, I guess.

"Mike, is Lucas here yet?" My mother calls out to me from the living room.

"Not yet Mum!" I yell back, leaving my suitcase next to the car before looking down the road. No sign of him. Today, everyone is leaving to go back to our boarding school, Hawkins High. There isn't a high school close enough to our town for us to stay at home while going to school, so every year after the summer holidays all of us kids get driven up to the boarding school. This year, my friend Lucas is carpooling with Nancy and I so his parents don't have to make the drive. My other friends, Will and Dustin, are leaving together too on the other side of town.

I go back into the house, running up the stairs and into my bedroom. Mum made us clean them before we packed, so now it looks creepily unlived-in. From my bed, I take my walkie-talkie and turn it on.

"Lucas, this is Mike, do you copy? Over." I say, walking over to my window and waiting for a reply. "Lucas, are you there? Over." He doesn't respond. Sighing, I throw the walkie-talkie back on my bed and lie down next to it. Outside, I hear Nancy yelling, and suitcases being put into the car. One thing I don't miss while I'm at school is Nancy yelling. Because we are in different year levels, I barely ever see her, so I don't have to put up with her constant moods.

"Mike! Lucas is here!" Mum calls out. I turn off my walkie-talkie and shake my head. No one uses these walkie-talkies no matter how much I tell them too, at least not when we are at home. When we are at school, we are all in range of each other and so they become way more useful, not always for good reasons mind you. I grab the handful of spare batteries off my bedside table and shove them into my bag before going back outside. Recently, the air is still hot enough that you know its summer, but it's cool enough that we've stopped going to the pool and you can get away with wearing a jacket. However today has chosen to be way hotter than necessary. I absolutely cannot wait for a long drive in sweltering hot weather. My dad is sitting in the shade with a book, but I'm pretty sure he's fallen asleep. Mum looks over at him and shakes her head.

"Ted!" she calls out, walking over to him when he doesn't answer. I look away. Lucas is standing by the car, his suitcase already loaded in and the trunk of the car closed.

"Hey, Lucas," I say, holding out my walkie-talkie. "I was trying to talk to you, you never answered."

"Dude," he replies, shaking his head, "I'm sorry that I'm not attached at the hip to mine. I was almost here anyway."

Three hours later, everyone is finally piled into the car and we are headed towards Hawkins High. Well, everyone except for Holly and my dad. He claimed that Holly needed a nap- much to her disapproval- but really, I think he just wants one. Nancy is pouting in the front seat looking out the window. Every now and then mum tries to talk to her but Nancy shrugs her off. I wish our car had air-conditioning.

We left later than intended due to a bunch of hold-ups, so when we finally get to the school its already dark. Mum insists on helping us get sorted with our rooms. We all head over to the main office, where we pick up our room keys. Turns out that I will share with Will this year, with Lucas and Dustin across the hall. After saying goodbye to Nancy and Mum, Lucas and I find our rooms.

I open the door to my room and am instantly greeted by a familiar face.

"Dude what took you so long!" Will says, beaming. "The rest of us arrived hours ago." I drag my suitcase into the room, tossing it up onto the spare bed across the room from Will. Already, he has hung up a few drawings and a JAWS poster. On his half of the large window, he has an array of figurines.

"Did you bring it?" he asks, hopping off his bed and walking to stand beside me.

"0f course I brought it!" I reply, throwing open my suitcase to reveal our dungeons and dragons set up. Will breaks into a huge grin.

"Will the wise returns!" he says the deepest voice he can muster, which isn't that deep because he already has a high-pitched voice. At that, I have to laugh. We've been playing dungeons and dragons for as long as I can remember. I'm our paladin, Will's our cleric, Dustin's our bard, Lucas is our ranger and Max is our zoomer. Although the party has been around forever, Max only joined last year and I still have objections to her being with us. She's Lucas's girlfriend and I think that's the only reason she sticks around. If it wasn't for that, I would probably kick her out.

I take the board and its accessories out carefully, laying them on my bed.

"I've organised our first campaign," I say, gesturing for Will to help me bring the stuff to my desk, "I was thinking we could start next weekend." I've spent a good deal of the last few weeks planning for our campaign, and I think it's my best one yet. Will is about to say something when there is a loud knock on the door, followed by someone flinging it open.

"Mike!" a cheery voice cries. I turn around to see Dustin, standing with his arms wide open.

"Hey Dustin," I reply, moving to the side so he can see our equipment, now strewed across my desk.

"Now we're talking!" he says, walking forward to get a better view. Lucas appears at the doorway, his arms filled with snacks.

"I know we missed dinner, but look what Dustin brought," Lucas lays out the chip packets and chocolate on the floor. My stomach chooses the perfect time to growl, and Will sits down cross-legged on the ground next to the snacks.

"Dig in," Dusting encourages, "I've got enough to last a while, you never know what situation you could find yourself in!"

We all sit around in a circle, trading stories of our day and quickly finishing Dustin's snacks. Dustin, Will and Will's older brother Jonathan all arrived a few hours ago. When Lucas asks if anyone has seen Max yet, everyone shakes their head.

"Mike, where's your walkie-talkie?" he asks as he stands up and heads to my bag. I get up quickly and follow him.

"Yeah, it's in my bag. But are you serious?" I say. He looks at me confused. "Can't you just leave your girlfriend be until the morning. We can just spend tonight together; no girls allowed."

After a short argument, Lucas goes back to his room and tries to use his. He doesn't get an answer, and after a few more minutes he gives up. I'm sure he'll see her tomorrow anyway.

Lights out is 10pm, so soon Lucas and Dustin go back to their room and I finish getting settled into mine. Under the covers of my bed, I flick the lamp switch off and watch the room fade into darkness.

"Goodnight, Mike," Will calls out as I'm drifting to sleep.

"Goodnight, Will," I'm so tired I don't know if I speak out loud or not.