"I can't believe Steve would say something like that after he ditched you." Madison says quietly to me. Our math teacher, Mr. Stonewall, is busy explaining how to find different kinds of angles...not that I really care enough to pay attention to exactly what he's talking about.
"I'm not surprised. He's always been self centered...even when we were little." I reply, causing her to sigh and nod. "Honestly, I don't give a shit about what he said to me. But to be a dick to Eddie like that for no reason is like jumping over several lines. Eddie has tried many times since then to make me feel better, but I'm still just unbelievably infuriated."
"You have every right to be. Eddie is your best friend, and I wouldn't have expected you to react in any other way. Not after you grabbed the back of Jason Carver's neck and slammed his face into his desk during our freshman year because he was making fun of Eddie for hanging out with us instead of other people in his own grade." She points out. I glance over at Jason, growling as I remember that day. He has worked hard at avoiding me since then.
"Eddie hates confrontation...andI don't need him to take my place in a fight. I can hold my own, and he knows that. But it's just nice to know that he's there to make sure I'm okay afterwards." I say as I look down at our desk. "Sure, he'll call me stupid or whatever for getting in a fight, but he means well. He's never really mad at me for it, so I'm pretty sure he thinks I have a good reason every time I get in a fight."
"Please, he gets really irritated when me or Wenny get in fights. Mostly Wenny since she likes to instigate it for no reason." Madison replies, causing me to laugh.
"Ms. Harrington, Ms. Riggs...would you two like to tell the class what you find so funny?" Mr. Stonewall asks. I stand up and gesture to Jason.
"Sorry, Sir, but Jason was making faces at us." I lie. Jason stutters, having not been ready for me to blame him.
"Mr. Carver, stop distracting your classmates. If this continues duringthe rest of class, I'll have to give you detention." Mr. Stonewall warns him before going back to the lesson. I smirk and sit back down as Jason glares at me over his shoulder. Madison grins at me as I wave at Jason. Wren looks back at us with a huge smile, clearly proud of me for casting the problem off on the douchebag who tried to ruin our friend group during freshman year.
"You know, he hates you. But, like every other male specimen in this shithole, aside from Steve obviously, he thinks you're totally hot." Madison tells me.
"Ew...I'm okay with anyone but Jason thinking I'm hot. How our dear Chrissy Cunningham can deal with his cliché ass is beyond me." I huff.
"And Eddie?" Madison asks, causing me to look at her in confusion.
"What about Eddie?" I question her. She snickers and shakes her head at me.
"Come on, Eddie may be dense, but he isn't blind. If anything, he's the one with the best vision out of this damn school. I mean, have you seen Tommy H. and Carol? Like, what the hell do they see ineach other except a mirror image of their ownhideous souls?" Madison huffs. I roll my eyes and shake my head at her.
"Yes, Eddie passed his last eye exam with twenty-twenty vision. What the hell does that have to do with 'every male specimen' thinking I'm hot?" I ask. But before Madison can respond, the bell rings to let us out for lunch. We get up, pulling our book bags off of the back of our seats before moving to leave the classroom.
"This isn't over! We'll talk about it more later when Wenny isn't there to gag or throw up from the mention of her brother." Madison tells me before running ahead to catch up to Wren.
"Talk more aboutwhat?" I ask, although she definitely can't hear me anymore. I groan and hurry after my friends. But before I can reach them, I overhear a couple of girls talking about Jonathan.
"I feel kind of bad...I would be really sad if my little sister went missing." One girl says. The other scoffs.
"Don't feel bad for that freak. Who knows, Byers could have killed his brother and dumped his body somewhere for all we know." She tells her friend.
"Shan!" Robin calls, taking my attention off of the two girls next to me. "Are you coming?"
"I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria in a bit! I need to do something, it won't take long." I reply before hurrying off to find Jonathan. I look around frantically for my friend. What happened to Will? Did something really happen? Or were those girls making it up?
"Hey, Shanny!" Carol calls from where she's standing with Tommy H., Steve, Nancy, and Barbara. God I hate when people use Eddie's nickname for me. But I ignore her for once and start to move past them to get to Jonathan, but my brother goes to grab my arm to stop me.
"Don't touch me!" I yell at him, causing him to back away. "Don't even fucking talk to me, Steve. You're supposed to be my big brother, but you only show up when it's convenient for you. I'm not going to cancel plans with Eddie for your stupid ass water polo or basketball games anymore. Becauseyoufucked up worse than ever."
"What did you do, Steve?" Nancy asks him as I start to walk towards Jonathan again.
"Hey!" I chirp, trying my best to be more cheerful towards Jonathan. He looks at me with wide eyes as he finishes pinning up a missing poster of Will.
"Oh! Hey...what's up, Shan?" He asks.
"I, uh, heard about Will. I just wanted to see how you were doing...and to, uh, ask if Joyce is doing okay. I know how she gets when Will just scrapes his knee, so I can't imagine how freaked out she is right now." I reply. He nods and shoves his hands into his pockets.
"It's not been great. We don't even have a lead on if someone took him or if he just up and ran away. Mom is on the edge, you know? But, uh, I'm trying to hold down the fort." Jonathan tells me. I nod and cross my arms as I glance at the picture of will on the poster.
"He's a smart kid, Jonathan. I'm sure he's okay...wherever he is. Just, if you ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask me. Unlike most of the assholes in this school, I actually care." I say, which he gives me a small smile. But it goes away as he glances over at Steve and his friends.
"You can talk to me too, you know? Eddie actually came to class for once...he told methat Steve ditched you at school last night.What happened?" He asks.
"It's nothing. Eddie came back and got me, so it's not like I slept here. It wouldn't have been so bad if he apologized this morning and offered to make up for it. But he acted like I was the one who was out of line. Then he started talking shit about Eddie and-" I begin, but I stop myself from telling Jonathan that my own brother said I was a whore. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Steve can be as much of an asshole as he wants, it's not my problem. You and Will can be my new brothers! So, seriously, if you needanythingat all, just let me know."
"I appreciate it, Shan. I'll call you later and give you an update on what's going on, if anything happens anyway." He replies before moving to put another missing poster up. I nod and wave at him before turning to go to the cafeteria.
"We're having a party at your house tonight. You should hang out with us like a normal person!" Tommy H. tells me as I go to pass by.
"Oh fuck off with that shit! 'Like a normal person'. I'm not associating myself with you assholes." I snap at him before looking at Barbara. "Barb, don't go. As much as Nance wants you to, just don't. Trust me. These idiots don't know their asses from their mouths."
"Steve, are you going to just let her talk about us like that?" Carol asks. Steve looks back and forth between us, clearly not sure how to deal with the situation.
"And, Carol? Your hair makes you look like a fat pumpkin that got left out for two seasons! Just like your dull ass personality!" I shout at her before storming off. A bunch of students still in the hallways move out of the way to avoid getting shoved by me.
"Oh God...she looks like she committed murder." I hear Robin say.
"That would be cool, but I doubt it. Worst she'd do is break someone's spine." Wren replies as she stands up to wave me over to their table.
"That's still really bad, Wenny!" Robin exclaims.
"No...I could come up with worse things." Madison tells her as I finally reach the table. Eddie looks at me worriedly, patting the empty seat beside him.
"What happened this time?" He asks.
"Carol and her goons, being Tommy H. and my brother, decided to harass me about a so-called 'party' they're having at my house tonight. I kind of lost my shit and started making fun of Carol's hair." I tell him. Eddie bursts out laughing along with his sister and Madison.
"What did she say?" Robin asks.
"I don't know, I thought I was going to kill someone, so I left." I reply. They all start to laugh and joke about it, but I stay quiet as I eat some of the food Eddie must have gotten for me. Wren typically goes for grilled cheese and tomato soup when she's picking food for me. So, considering the fact that this tray hasa bowl of grapesand a slice of pepperoni pizza, it was definitely Eddie.
"I was thinking we could all go to the VHS place and rent Grease. We can watch it at my place, my parents are out of town for two days." Robin says.
"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Madison and Wren exclaim.
"Eddie? You in?" Robin asks.
"If Shanny wants to, then yeah." Eddie replies before looking down at me. I sigh and shrug, not really sure if I'm in the mood for a gathering tonight.
"We can rent something else if you don't want to watch Grease." Madison offers.
"Yeah, like Psycho or Alien." Wren suggests.
"I, uh...I don't really feel like a movie night. I'm sorry. With the whole Steve thing and finding out that Will Byers is missing...I just am not really in the mood to sit and watch a movie. Too much time to get stuck in my thoughts." I tell them.
"Is there something else you'd want to do?" Robin asks.
"I don't know." I reply, causing Eddie to jump in before the girls can continue trying to push a group activity.
"You three can watch your movie. I'll stick with Shanny and figure something out for us to do." He tells them. They look at me worriedly, but let it go. I feel bad for not wanting to watch a movie...but I just don't feel like I can sit there staring at a screen with nothing to truly keep my mind busy. The more I think about my brother, the more I'll convince myself that I'm guilty of something. I just don't want to deal with it...