Lyn was running around the school screaming Will's name with Dustin and Max behind her. "Dustin! Rosalyn!" Ms. Byers ran towards them.
"Ms. Byers?" The Henderson siblings look confused as to why she was there.
"What's going on? Where's Will?" She asks them. They look at each other, not knowing how to tell the mother that they didn't know where her son was.
Luckily for them, Lucas ran inside. "The field!" He yells at them before running back out. They follow him. In the field, they found Will standing there with his eyes almost closed.
Mike was standing next to him trying to wake him up. "I found him like this! I think he's having another episode!" He gave him a shake to show us that he wasn't responding.
"Will! Will! Will! Sweetie, wake up! It's Mom! Will! Will, wake up! Can you hear me? Will, please, wake up." His mother shook him gently as she begs. Lyn looks up at the sky and took a deep breath to stop herself from crying.
Will took a deep breath of his own as his eyes snap open. "Oh Will honey, are you okay?" Joyce hugs him.
"I'm fine." He said in an exhausted tone.
"Let's get you home." She guides him back into the school. His friends follow behind through the school to the parking lot. They stop on the steps and watch as Ms. Byers guides her son into the car.
"Okay, that totally freaked me out. Did that not freak you guys out?" Max looks them over. While she was frightened, they were concerned.
"Two episodes in two days," Lucas sighs.
"It's getting worse." Mike kept his eyes on the car.
"You think it's True Sight?" Lucas asked, making them all turn their sights on him. Lyn tense up at the thought. If it wasn't PTSD, if it was true sight, it would mean that the Upside Down was intertwining with their world more than they already were. That was a world Lyn wasn't sure if she was ready for, she wasn't sure if anyone was ready for it. Not even those scientists that thought they had it all under control.
"What's True Sight?" Max asks.
"It's nothing." Lucas shook his head. He looks back to the Byers car that was driving out of the parking lot.
"Come on, Max. I told your brother I would take you home." Lyn nod to the girl.
"Billy?" She looks surprised that the older teen was friends with him.
"You got another brother?" Lyn raises an eyebrow.
"No, just the step," She hummed. "You don't have to take me home, I can always skate." She shook the skateboard in her hand.
"I'll take you home. Half of these roads don't have sideways. Any of you boys want a ride home?" She told the girl before turning to the boys.
"No, we're going to Mike's house. We'll probably make a dungeons and dragons game for Will. Those always cheer him up." Lucas told her.
"Can you take home my ghost trap?" Dustin asks. He knew that he couldn't hide Dart under his hat all night.
"Sure." She nods. Dustin ran back inside to grab his prop from the AV room.
After a few minutes, he came back out and hand it to her gently. "Be careful, I took me a long time to make." He winks at her.
Lyn shook her head, wondering how he kept any secrets. "I'll see you, boys, later." She nods to them and walks to her car with Max following her. She put the ghost trap on the backseat and got into the driver's seat. Max got into the passengers.
"Where do you live?" Lyn asks the girl, so she would know which way to turn when she pulls out of the lot.
"Old Cherry Road," Max told her. Lyn nods as she pulls out of the parking spot and got on the road. "So, you're friends with Billy?" She asks, still finding it hard to believe. She didn't know the older girl well, but she didn't seem like the type to put up with her stepbrother's crap.
"I wouldn't say we're friends. He was parked next to me and his date was grumbling about waiting for you. So, I offered to drive you home. Figure you would rather ride with almost stranger than that jerk and ditz." Lyn smile when she got a laugh out of Max.
"It's pretty miserable listening to those girls kisses his ass. But, it's better when they're there." She said before she could stop herself.
"Does he hurt you?" Lyn grip tightens around the steering wheel.
"No, why would you ask that?" Max looks down at her lap as she pulls on her sleeves.
"He's so aggressive about everything. He seems quick to turn to violence." She looks at the road, not wanting to scare Max off by seem too emotional about the subject. She knew a lot of time victims will protect their abuser, especially when their family.
Max stay silence for a long time before she clears her throat. "He's all hot air." She weakly shrugs to try to make like she wasn't afraid of him.
"If it turns into anything more, let me know. I know the sheriff." Lyn turns on Old Cherry road. "Now, which house is yours?"
"The white house," She points to a cute house that had a bush with pink flowers on the side of the porch. Lyn parks in front of the house. "Thanks for the ride." She smiles at the driver.
"No problem. I'll see you later kid." She waves at the younger teen as she got out of the car. Lyn waits until Max made her way into the house before she reaches back and grabs the ghost trap. Dart move around making the thing shake. Lyn was about to push the button to open it when there was a knock on the window, startling her.
She twirls around to see an older brown-haired man with a mustache smiling at her. Billy was standing behind him. Lyn rolls down her window and smiles politely at the man. "Hello, Mr. Hargrove, I assume."
"Smart as well as helpful and beautiful," He smiles back at the girl before turning around to growl at his son. "Billy, this is the type of girl you should be dating instead of those bimbo skanks you keep around."
"Sh-She was my d-date on Halloween." Billy blurted out. Lyn tilts her head, she never heard Billy stutter his words or look vulnerable before.
"Is it true?" Mr. Hargrove turns back to her.
"Yeah, he was the James Dean to my Marilyn Monroe." She lied for him. She might hate Billy, but she still felt pity for him. This was obviously the monster behind the monster.
"Oh, that's who you were I thought you were going as a fag." He looks back at his son laughing. His slur made Lyn's eye twitch. She took a deep breath to calm herself when he turns back to her. "You're okay with him dating all those other sluts?"
Lyn held back her snarl at him applying that she was a slut. "I understand that he wants to date around before settling down. I like that he honestly with me. Most guys would pretend to go steady and then cheat on me. Billy's different." She looks behind the older man to give Billy a smile to really sell it. The boy looked relieved.
"Well, I came out here to thank you for driving my daughter home." He pats the side of Darling.
"It's was no problem. I enjoy Max's company." She told the man the truth for the first time.
"We need to have you over for dinner one night." Lyn saw where Billy got the habit of demanding instead of asking.
"I would love too." Her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling for so long.
"I'll see you later then." He turns around to walk inside.
Billy walked over to her window. "I wish I knew you were into open relationship. I would have made you my main girl early." He smirks, leaning into her window.
"You play nice. I did you a favor despite you almost running over my brother." She grits her teeth at him.
"You knock out my best pal, Tommy and push me into the locker. What if something was sticking out of it and I got seriously hurt. I would say we're even." He said making Lyn roll her eyes.
"I would say you owe me." She cocks an eyebrow at him.
"How can I repay you?" He licks his lips.
"Stay away from my brother." She growls.
"Will do, not like I want to hang around a middle school kid anyways," He rolls his eyes at her request. He was hoping it would have been something hot. He wasn't stupid. He knew she was only using his body for a dance partner Halloween night. He wouldn't mind her using him again.
"Tell me is my dad watching?" She looks behind him to see Mr. Hargrove was watching from the screen in porch.
"He is. It's creepy." She told him. Billy grabs her face to force her into a kiss. While his technique was good, the taste of cigarettes wasn't so appealing now that she was sober.
He pulls away and winks at her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow." He swaggers his way back into his house.
She rolls her window up before opening the ghost trap. "Don't cause me any more trouble." Dart hops out of the trap and onto the comfy seat. "Here, you like the cold right." She turns the ac so it was right on him. He wiggles his tail in happiness.
She drove to the local pet shop. "Alright, you have to go back in." She points to the ghost trap. He let out a small hiss. "Then hide under the seat, you can't be seen." She groans. She was amazed when he jumps off the seat and crawl underneath it.
She got out of the car quickly, not wanting to give Dart a chance of running out. The bell above the door rang as she enters the pet shop. "Hey, Rosalyn, Dr. Myung sends you down for some supplies." Dahlia, the daughter's owner greeted her.
"It's for Dustin's new pet. Can you get me some crickets and two small mice?" She figures since Dart looked like he was going to be a big frog that would be his diet.
"Oh, you got him a snake." She walks over to the cricket's cage.
"A big frog," Lyn told her.
"Cool." She passes her the bag of crickets before going over to the mice cage. After she boxed up the mice, they walk over to the register. "10 dollars," She said. Lyn passed her the money and thanked her. She walks out of the door with the bag in one hand and the box in the other.
She got in the car and Dart was quick to come out and launch at the box. "Hey, you wait until we go home." He let out a little huff and crawls in her lap to curl up. "Aw," she pets him before starting up the car.
She drove home and parks her car in the driveway. "Alright bud, you got to get back inside the trap, so my mom doesn't see you." She opens the ghost trap. He climbs in and she shut it. She put the cricket bag and mice box into her backpack. She walks into her house.
"Hey, honey. How was school? Where's Dustin?" Her mom smiles at her from her recline, where she was cuddling with Meows.
"Hey mom, school was good. Dustin is at Mikes." She answers her questions while making her way to Dustin's room. She put Dart in the tank and open the cricket bag a little to let out a few crickets. She put the cover back on the tank and tied up the bag. She kept her eyes on the floor as she walks out of the room. She wanted Dart to eat food that's natural for him, but she didn't want to watch him. She walks into the kitchen to wet a dishrag and put it in the freezer. She went into the garage to grab her old hamster's cage.
She went back into Dustin's room and carefully put the crickets into the cage. She grabs the mice box and wonders where she could put them. A thud from the tank made her look up to see Dart had his front paws on the glass as he seems to be staring at the mice box. Lyn found it strange since he didn't have any eyes. "Alright, if you're still hungry," She drops the two mice in. She put the cover on and looks away, but she could still hear the growling, the mice cries, and the loud chewing.
When the noise died down, she looks back to see him lying on his side. From his breathing, she assumes he was sleeping. She got up and took the crickets into her room. She put it into the sewing cabinet. She lay down on her bed to take a quick nap since she had a late shift.
Her alarm wakes her. She got up to turn it off and get ready for work. She put on her scrubs, brushes her hair and put it in a high ponytail.
She went into the kitchen and pull out the frozen dishrag. She went to Dustin's room, to see him hold Dart. "Dustin if you're going to hold him locks the door." She scolds him as she shut and locks the door.
"I figure he would like this." She put the frozen towel on Dart. He purred in appreciation. "He's kind of cute. He's ugly cute, but cute nonetheless." She looks down at the frog slug.
"I think he's cute too." Dustin gave her a big smile.
"I'll see you two after work. I love you." She ruffles Dustin's hair and gave Dart a pet.
She walks out of the room and closes the door behind her. She went into the living room to say bye and I love you to her mom and Meows before going out to her car. Since the night at the school with the Demogorgon, she had been telling Dustin and her mom I love you every day. It was something she did subconsciously that only Dustin noticed. He didn't say anything, it was a harmless habit.
She parks her car in the vet's parking lot and went inside the building. She put her purse in her locker in the back. "Hey Lyn, I heard from Dahlia that Dustin got a new frog. You should bring him in." Dr. Myung came in the break room when she heard Lyn.
"I would have to convince Dustin first. He's convinced that Dart is an undiscovered frog. He's paranoid that someone going to steal him." She laughs in nervousness.
"Put in a good word for me." The doctor laughs along with her. She thought Dustin's spunky attitude for science was adorable.
"I'll try my best, but he wouldn't even show his favorite teacher." She warns before going in the back to start tending to the animals.
Lyn was waiting outside of the boy's locker room for Steve. All-day she had been running interference, so he wouldn't find out about the rumors of Nancy and Jonathan. After Steve and Nancy unofficially broke up yesterday, she and Jonathan disappear. They weren't here today either. Everyone was talking about them having an affair behind Steve's back.
Lyn knew she was only preventing the inevitable since he had basketball practice with Billy and Tommy. There was no way they wouldn't find a way to rub it in his face.
Lyn was getting tired of waiting, especially when the others guys were walking out talking about how Billy would be taking Steve's captain spot this year. If she wasn't scared of seeing something that would haunt her for the rest of her life, she would have marched in there already to tell Steve to hurry up.
Lyn perk up when she saw Steve emerge from the door, but he wasn't alone. Tommy and Billy were behind him. "Seriously Henderson don't sweat it. The girl was into some creepy stuff, that's not your fault." Tommy heckled him. Billy laughs made Tommy beam with pride.
"Tommy, can you act like less of a scorned ex-girlfriend?" Lyn rolls her eyes as she made herself known to the group. Tommy, who still had a black eye, glared at the girl but kept his mouth shut.
"Hey, baby. First, you drop my step-sister off, then you meet my dad, and now you're waiting for me after practice. I think you want to get serious." Billy wraps his arms around her waist and gave her an obnoxious peck on the lips that made a loud smacking sound.
"I only did the first two things, big guy." She put her hands on his chest to push him off her. "I came to check on Steve." She looks her friend over.
"I'm fine. I don't care." He shrugs, but he wasn't convincing anyone.
"Damn Harrington, you are pathetic. What are you going to do to cheer him up? Hope it's not something I wouldn't approve of, babe." He wraps an arm around her shoulders. She was beginning to regret helping him.
"Don't you have a date to get ready for?" Tina was in her science class. She was babbling loudly about her hot date with Billy tonight.
"You jealous?" He smiles smugly down at her.
"No, just wondering if I'll mono from kissing you with all the other saliva you got in your mouth." She moves out of his arms and hooks her arm with Steve's.
"Watch yourself, Harrington. Don't let me hear about your hands going anywhere inappropriate!" Billy yells at their backs with Tommy crackling.
"What is he going on about?" Steve asked when we were out of hearing distance.
"I drop his step sister off at his house yesterday. His dad is a bigger jackass than him. I somehow end up playing Billy's girlfriend that allows him to date other girls." She sighs. She used their hooks arms to make them take a turn that would lead them to the parking lot.
"How did that happen?" Steve looked disgusted.
"Didn't you hear, his dad a bigger jackass than him? Like, seriously I felt bad for Billy. I can't imagine living with your bully." She shudders, remembering how his dad seems to enjoy terrorizing his son.
"I still think he's an asshole." He shrugs, refusing to feel sorry for the guy that doesn't know him but goes out of his way to make his life hell.
"Two things can be true. Billy can be an asshole and I can feel bad for him." She put two fingers up. She wiggles one and then the other.
"Seem like we are both having relationship problems." He laughs at the predicament his friend found herself in.
"I plan to never run into Mr. Hargrove again." Lyn felt like it would easy to avoid the man. She didn't run into him until she went to his house. If she ever had to drop Max off again, she would drive off right away. "How are you going to solve your problem?" She stopped when they got to Darling and throws her bag in the passenger seat.
"Flowers, chocolates, and an apology always work, right?" He leans against his BMW.
"What are you going to apologize for?" She tilts her head. She wasn't even sure what he could apologize for.
"For everything," His voice went a pitch higher as he shrugs.
"Something tells me she's going to want specifics." She giggles at how clueless he was sometimes.
Steve took a long time thinking, before jumping up with hands in the air and a big smile on his face. "I'll sorry for putting her on the spot and not letting her explain."
"I guess." She shrugs.
"What's wrong with that?" He crosses his arms over his chest. He felt like he had a really good idea.
"Maybe I'm biased because I'm closer to you then Nancy. I just don't feel like you should be the one apologizing. But, I get it, in a relationship sometimes that's what you got to do." She shrugs as she kicks the gravel. She felt bad for Steve. He was walking miles for someone who wasn't even willing to take a step for him. Then she felt like shit when she realized, she did the same thing to Steve for three years. "I'm sorry." She blurted out.
"What?" He pushes his eyebrows together in confusion.
"I got to think about how much effort you put into making a relationship work. It got me thinking about how I turn you down for almost three years. You got so sweet and creative with asking. I was cruel about it sometime. I'm sorry." She looks back up at him with tears forming in her eyes. She wonders how many times she made him feel like shit. She didn't feel any guilt for it until now.
"I should be the one saying I'm sorry. I ask you out every day for two and a half school years and every time I saw you during the summer. I was harassing you." He shook his head. He was ashamed when he thought of the person he used to be.
"Remember the time you filled my locker with white and purple balloons because they're my favorite colors. Attach to one was a note asking me out." Lyn smile remembers the time she was tempting to say yes to him.
"You think I should do that for Nancy?" He said bring her smile to a frown.
It made her chest clench up to think of Steve doing for another girl what he did for her. She shook her head, "I think Nancy saw that. You can't recycle an idea you had for another girl on her. You should stick to the chocolate, flowers, and apologize. It's a classic triple threat." Lyn had no idea if Nancy saw that, but she would be damned if Nancy was going to get special treatment. Especially, when she was in the wrong since Steve shouldn't even be apologizing to her, she can get a lame overdone apologize.
"I better go before the flower shop closes. Thanks for listening to me." He kissed her on the cheek and got into his BMW.
Lyn got into her car as he drove off. She couldn't wait to get home and take a break from this stressful high school drama she found herself in. But, Lyn would beg for high school drama when she found out what was waiting for her at home.