11
15th December, 1985 `I imagined there'd be more moose,' Dustin said thoughtfully, peering about him with a hand shadowing his eyes. Max leaned forward to look at him, eyebrows raised. `What? Just sayin'.'
Mike smiled; halfway to Maine. There'd been a few close calls with the police, the closest of which had been three police officers standing a foot away from where the band of kids hid in the bushes. Now, they stood in Toronto. Canada. And between them, over the course of a week, they had managed to scrape up five dollars in coins, and a five dollar was about to get her wish. How could they do it without alerting anyone they'd been there? Max was recognisable as the only girl, everyone would be on Red Alert for Holly. But Will, on the other hand, had a certain quietness about him.
`So, be as quick as possible,' Max said to Will, passing her coins over to him. `And if things get hairy just abandon the pancakes.'
`No, don't do that!' Holly chipped in quickly. Her dream of eating at an iHop was so close; specifically, just down the road. It was around five thirty in the evening.
`I'll be fine,' Will answered, rolling his eyes and clutching the money tightly. `Full stack,' he muttered under his breath as he walked away. Then caught sight of his reflection in a shop window. `Man, I look disgusting!' He touched the dirt on his face and ran a hand through his now-greasy bowl cut. Then Will walked into the busy iHop. No one looked up- good start.
`Welcome to iHop, what can I getcha,' said a young cashier, with short, bright pink hair. She was probably in her late teens.
`Full stack, please.' The girl held out her hand, and Will put the five dollar note and a dollar coin into it. She snapped her hand shut and dropped it into the till, pushed the change towards him, and then looked up. Will jumped.
`It'll be ready in a minute,' she said, staring straight at him.
`Th-thanks,' Will stammered, picking at his hangnail. He hid his face as discreetly as he could, and waited against the wall, looking at the TV. A news report popped up. `Six Hawkins kids still missing,' it read, and then photos of all of them. Will felt panic rising in his throat, and pulled up his hood. Then his mom's voice came out of the TV.
`All I want is for my son to come home,' she said. Will looked up, and immediately regretted it; Joyce's hair stood up, like she'd been combing her fingers through it constantly for the last week. There was a red tinge around her eyes. `Please, Will. If you're watching this, phone me or… or anything.' The news feed cut back to the newsreader going over last appearances.
Will was startled to find tears were trickling down his own cheeks. `Full stack pancakes to go,' the cashier said, handing them to him. Now she was chewing bubble gum. `Thanks,' Will said, quickly wiping his face under the pretence he was scratching an itch on his nose. `Have a nice day.' The cashier peered at him, then looked to the TV. Will braced himself.
She winked, then pushed him towards the door. The message couldn't have been clearer- get out before they see you. Will did.
`There was a news report about us,' Will panted when he reached his waiting friends. `Quickly, we need to go-'
`What?'
`You heard me, hurry up!' They pulled their rucksacks back on and did their usual panic routine; cut through back gardens and stick to dark alleyways. When Will removed the pancakes from the bag, they looked a little worse for wear. Holly sighed mournfully, and picked out the largest piece, before chewing on it calmly. The others followed in a similar fashion, counting the remaining chunks of ruined pancake, sharing them out and becoming rather sticky.
`I've got it in my hair,' exclaimed Max, lifting up several strands clumped together with syrup.
`Just suck it off,' advised Dustin cheerfully, licking his fingers. She shrugged, and did as he suggested. Mike looked at Will. He'd been pretty quiet the entire meal.
`You okay?' He asked, gently elbowing Will.
`No,' Will mumbled. He blinked quickly. `I saw my mom on the news. I'm a horrible person,' he burst out, voice breaking. `She wants me to come back! Dad left her and Jonathan went off to college and you know what I did? I left her as well!' Will picked up a stone and hurled it into a tree. It bounced off the bark, harmless. So Will grabbed the nearest branch and started hitting the tree with that instead, tears spilling down his face. They stared, frozen at the sudden outburst of fury from a usually supressed Will. Then he thumped down again and didn't look up for the rest of the evening.
