Friday, May 18, 1992
Hawkins, Indiana

It's a quiet, sunny day, as it usually is in the small town. Everything seemed peaceful, but for a brother and sister, it isn't.

"Did you seriously have to get in a fight on the last day of school, Holly?" Mike demanded, glancing at his twelve year old sister. She just grumbled to herself. "Cat got your tongue? You're only twelve, Holly, what the hell are you doing getting in fights?"

"Like you've never got in a fight at school before!"

"Yeah, one time, and that was in high school! You're lucky that it's the last day of school, and the school called me instead of mom or dad." She just huffed and crossed her arms, and looked out the window. He sighed and shook his head. It was quiet for a few minutes and she asked quietly,

"Do you hate me now?" He looked at her, a surprised look on his face.

"Hate you? No, no, I don't hate you, Holly. I would never hate you for getting in a fight. I could never hate my baby sister, at all. I'm just worried is all." He said, ruffling her blonde hair. "I'm not mad, either, I'm disappointed. You threw the first punch, and what have I taught you?" She mumbled something. "What? I can't hear you."

"You said to never throw the first punch. To wait for someone else too."

"That's right. That'll make it self defense and you won't get in as much trouble." She giggled.

"You're a police officer and telling me this." She said. He chuckled and nodded.

"Don't tell Hop, he'll kill me." She giggled again and nodded.

"Hey, Wheeler, are you there? Over." Hopper's voice came on over the radio. He pressed the button and answered,

"Yeah, I'm here, Hop. Over."

"Can you go out in the woods near Dustin's house and see if you can find his mom's cat? She won't stop calling up here and it's driving Flo crazy. I don't know why she can't go out and look for it herself. Over." Mike rolled his eyes. That woman was too much of a cat lady and it's ridiculous. Holly laughed quietly.

"Yes sir, I'll be right on it. Over and out." He looked at Holly and the two started laughing. "Well, you want to go cat hunting with me? Then we'll go get ice cream." She nodded excitedly. He took a left and headed towards Dustin's.

"Wait, why can't Dustin go out and look?" She asked.

"He won't be home until tomorrow." He responded. "His flight was delayed or something. Same with Lucas and Will."

"Oh." The rest of the ride was fairly quiet, other than the music playing. When they arrived, Mike let Dustin's mom know they were there and are going to go out looking for the cat.

"What's its name?" Holly asked.

"I have no idea. Just like, yell kitty or something I guess." He said. She rolled her eyes and nodded. They each had a toy to try and lure it to them if they found it. They walked around together for a few minutes, looking around, until Mike said, "You go kind of over that way to look, but stay where you can see me, okay?" She nodded and went to the right.

They walked around, Holly eventually losing sight of him, but he could sort of see her, so he thought it would be fine. She heard a twig snap, and looked around. She saw someone standing behind a tree, holding a red balloon out. He stuck his head out, a creepy grin on his face. She stayed a good couple of feet away from him. He was dressed as a clown, and she hated them.

"Hiya there, Holly! Do you want a balloon?"

"Uh, no thanks. I don't take anything from people I don't know."

"Oh come on now! Not even a balloon?" She shook her head.

"How do you know my name?"

"I've heard many great things about you." The grin on his face was beginning to be even creepier, if that was possible.

"Holly!" She heard Mike yell. She heard his footsteps coming towards her and she walked backwards to meet him. "Who the fuck are you?" He put an arm around Holly and kind of put her behind him. He just stared at the two, the grin never leaving his face. He had slobber dripping down his chin. "Go the fuck away, you creep. Leave my sister alone. Come on." As they were about to walk around, the cat came running up to them, and Mike heard a quiet, but clear,

"Beep beep, Richie." When they looked back to where the clown was, he was gone, and the balloon popped. Mike's heard someone say that before, beep beep Richie, but he couldn't remember who. He picked the cat up and gave it to Holly, and put an arm around her, keeping a hand on his gun as they walked back towards Dustin's house. They quickly gave the cat to Dustin's mom and left, giving her an excuse as to why they had to leave so fast.

"Did he try and touch you or anything?" Mike asked as they drove down the road. She shook her head.

"No. He tried to give me a balloon. He knew my name."

"You didn't tell him?" She shook her head again. "What the hell?"

"I don't know but it creeped me out."

"Yeah, me too. Just make sure you're with someone from now on, okay? And if you see him again, let me know and I'll arrest the nasty fu-" He stopped himself, hating cursing in front of her. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You said it twice to the...thing."

"I'm sorry about that too."

"Again, it's okay. You're an adult, you're allowed to say stuff like that. It's nothing compared to Dustin though." He chuckled and ruffled her hair.

"Since when did you get so smart?" She giggled and shrugged.

"For a couple years now, I guess." He laughed at that and pulled into the ice cream shop. They went inside, Mike keeping an eye on just about everything going on around them. She got plain chocolate ice cream and he got vanilla with a bunch of chocolate toppings. "That makes no sense, Mike. Why don't you just get chocolate like me?" He made a face at her.

"This is completely different." He argued.

"How?"

"Because these are toppings, and I love the toppings. M&M's, chocolate chips, chocolate shavings, all that is amazing. Chocolate ice cream is just... plain ice cream." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You are such a weirdo."

"But I'm your favorite weirdo, right?" She rolled her eyes but grinned and nodded. When he pulled up in the driveway of his old house, she asked,

"Can I spend the night with you and El this weekend?"

"If mom says you can, yeah." She grinned excitedly and hopped out, leaving her book bag. He shook his head and grabbed it, getting out of the car and following her inside.

"Hey mom!" Mike called.

"Michael! Long time no see, Mister." She put her hands on her hips, giving him a look. He rolled his eyes playfully.

"It's only been a week since I last saw you mom. And I've called you like three times this week."

"I still have to get used to you not being here all the time." She said, holding her arms out to hug him. He chuckled and hugged her. He's about a foot taller than her now.

"I've been moved out for six months mom." He said.

"I know. Anyways, do you want some cookies to take to El and Jim?" She asked. He mocked being hurt.

"What about me?" She rolled her eyes and sighed, pretending to think about it.

"I guess you can have some too." He grinned and plucked one off the table.

"Can I stay with him and El this weekend?" Holly asked, coming from the living room.

"As long as it's okay with them, I don't mind." She grinned excitedly and nodded, running up the stairs to go and get her stuff together. She sat at the table with Mike, who was on his third cookie already. "You're gonna get fat."

"Apparently I need to anyway, I'm too skinny according to El." He said with a mouthful. She chuckled. She grabbed the plate after he grabbed a fourth one and took it to the counter, laughing as he pouted. She put them in a container and put the lid on it, putting it back in front of him. When he finished the cookie, he made sure that Holly wasn't coming down the stairs and told Karen,

"Hey, uh, if you see this creepy ass guy in a clown suit, anywhere, call me, okay?"

"What, why?" He explained to her what happened in the woods.

"He knew her name? Are you sure she didn't tell him?"

"I doubt she would have told him. She said that's the first thing he said to her. And he was so creepy."

"Hm, well, I'll keep a lookout around here and anywhere I go. I'm not to fond of clowns either, let alone some pedophile dressed up as one." She said. He nodded in agreement.

"He said something else before he just...disappeared. I don't know what it meant."

"What was it?" She asked.

"Beep beep Richie." He shrugged. "I don't know. It was weird." She nodded. He didn't notice the look in her eyes, that went away as quickly as it came.

"Yeah, no kidding."

"Okay, I'm ready!" Holly exclaimed, almost falling down the stairs. Mike snorted and nodded. The two hugged Karen goodbye and left to go to the police station.