Hi guys, I was super please with the feedback of this! This is my first piece of writing I've ever published. The first chapter was super long, but this one is shorter. I'm teasing a plot in this chapter so let me know what you think of it. Don't forget to review! Thanks!

Waking up for the second day of school is definitely worse than waking up the first. Even then, Mike Wheeler trudged out of bed with a smile on his face. He would get to see Jane again today! The thought gave him butterflies. He skipped down the stairs where his mother was scrambling some eggs for him while Holly watched cartoons in the living room.

"Good morning Michael," Mrs. Wheeler said to him.

"Morning Mom," he replied.

"You're in a good mood this morning," his mother noted.

"Well, yeah I guess," Mike shrugged.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with the Chief's daughter, would it?" she teased knowingly.

"Ugh Mom stop," Mike said with a legendary eye roll. His mother smiled at him. She knew they had spent practically the entire summer together and Nancy told her they danced together at the Snowball. But Karen Wheeler miraculously still had not connected the dots that Jane Hopper was the girl who lived in her basement for a week. Karen did, however, know that her son was completely head over heels for this girl. She handed Mike his plate and poured him some orange juice before he spoke up.

"Um, Mom?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Do you think it's be alright if Jane and her dad came over for dinner tomorrow?" Karen paused. She was not expecting that.

"Of course, I'd love that!" she told him.

"I figured you'd, well, you would want to get to really know my-uh, my girlfriend," he mumbled, not looking at her.

The puzzle pieces finally clicked. She grinned at her son. "I see, well I'm happy for you Michael… I'm glad you're telling me things now. I like hearing about your life," she said softly.

"I know. Thanks Mom," Mike finished, meeting her gaze before going back upstairs to get dressed.

Karen couldn't keep from grinning. She missed being close with her children and she was glad they were growing closer to her recently. She'd have to work on Ted though, the kids still basically ignored him. Karen made Nancy's plate as her daughter flew down the stairs.

"Hi Mom!" Nancy said, grabbing her toast and heading out the door, "Bye Mom!" She was out the door before her mother could say a word. Karen rolled her eyes. At least I'm making progress with one.

Mike was putting his bike on the rack when he saw the Chief's car pull up. He ran over before he drove away.

"Hi Chief!" Mike started.

"Uh hi Kid."

"Do you and Jane want to come to my place for dinner tomorrow?" Mike said with hopeful eyes.

Jane looked at Hopper excitedly. Goddamn, I just can't say no to that face.

"Alright, sure. See ya then, Kid."

"Bye Dad!" Jane called as she closed the car door. The chief pulled away, but not before seeing his daughter grab the Wheeler boy's hand as they walked into the school. She could do worse, he thought to himself, smiling.

Jane decided that the second day was much less fun than the first day. Her English class was reading 'Romeo and Juliet' which made her want to fall asleep, her Biology class was fun, but she couldn't pay attention because she kept looking at Mike as he wrote his notes. It was a welcome distraction. Math was okay, mostly because Mike had helped her last night… Speaking of Mike, he was standing at her locker before lunch, just like yesterday. She grinned.

"How was it?" he asked on the way to their table.

"Not bad," she said, her lips turning up at the sides.

When they reached their table, they found Lucas and Dustin in a heated debate (as usual) and Will interjecting here and there trying to diffuse their argument. Max just sat there and laughed at them both. A pretty normal day.

Jane began on her bologna sandwich when someone walked up to her where she sat at the edge of the table.

"Hi there," Carter Tims said. Next to her, Jane could feel Mike fuming.

"Hi," she said, not even looking up from her sandwich.

"I know you're new and all, so if you're bored over here, there's an empty spot at my table if you want it," Carter said with arrogance. Any normal girl would kill to sit at his table. But Jane was not normal.

"No," she said distractedly. At this point, people around the cafeteria were eavesdropping on their conversation and there were a couple audible gasps at her decline. Carter looked around a little hesitantly.

"Well I hope you change your mind," he said with a coldness that she didn't like. She remembered what Hopper had told her before school had started, but she didn't care. She knew she wouldn't get caught. She glared at Carter as he walked away, and suddenly he 'slipped' and fell right on his ass. She smiled, wiped her nose, and went back to her sandwich as the whole cafeteria erupted in laughter.

Her friends at the table looked at her with open-mouthed shock. She met their eyes and shrugged, "He's a mouthbreather."

In art, Mike and Jane sat at the same work table and they were drawing a still-life vase when Mike spoke up.

"So about lunch today…" he began.

"What about it?"

"That was kind of cool. You know, telling him no like that," Mike stumbled on his words. Jane looked up at him.

"I'd rather sit with you." Mike's cheeks got hot again.

"Thanks," he mumbled as they went back to their drawings.

After school, they all went to Will's again to do their homework. Mike helped Jane, but this time they finished around the same time as everyone else. They all hung around talking and joking until Joyce got home. Shortly after, all the kids started heading home. Mike gave Jane a big hug.

"I can't wait for you to come over tomorrow!" he exclaimed.

"Me either, Mike," she said simply.

Soon it was just Jane, Will and Joyce. They were sitting at the kitchen table, Will was drawing and Jane was going over her reading for English, nervous that she would fall behind if she didn't.

"I had a nightmare last night," Will stated. Joyce's Mom-mode was instantly turned on.

"What-what happened? Was it that…that thing?" She asked frantically.

"No," Jane answered cryptically. "He's gone." They Byers looked at each other and decided to take her word on it.

"It was just a normal nightmare. There were those dogs and… and I was in the upside down again. I think it was just a dream though," Will said, but there was a slight chill in his voice.

"Are you sure?" Joyce wondered.

"Yeah, it's not a big deal. We'll tell Dr. Owens at our appointment on Friday," Will resolved. Joyce seemed to accept that, but still held a worried look on her face as the kids went back to their work.

Hopper clocked out of the station and was on the way to Joyce's right at 7 o'clock. He smiled to himself, wondering how her second day went. When he pulled up the Byer's house, he couldn't help feeling a little something stirring in his stomach. It seemed to be a trend whenever he was around Joyce, but he chose to ignore it, figuring that the feeling was not mutual.

On the way home from the Byer's, Jane was pretty quiet.

"You okay," Hopper asked her.

"Yeah," she said quietly. He decided not to push her. Jane had a lot on her mind, especially with Will's nightmare. It was not possible that the Mind Flayer could still reach him. She made sure of it. But still. Something made her stomach uneasy when she thought about it.

The next day at school was different. Will looked tired. He had barely slept, he kept waking up after the same dream. He was in the upside down and he heard the demo dogs approaching, so he could hide. Then he would wake up. It went on like that all night, a constant loop. He hoped no one at school noticed, but he knew someone would.

Jane looked Will in the eyes and seemed to look right through him, like he was transparent. Dream? Will heard Jane say in his head. He nodded at her as she wiped her nose. She didn't say anything, which Will was grateful for, but he knew they couldn't keep this a secret for long. The gate may be closed, but the upside down was still there. An echo of our world. Empty.