Hey, still own nothing. I want to know if you guys like it so far! Leave me a review. Anyway, I need everyone to truly understand that this is a slow burning romance. So get comfy.

November 8th, 1983

HAWKINS, INDIANA

Georgie woke up at 6am. She was somehow still tired. She must have really overslept last night. Her stomach was growling so loud it was surprising that hadn't woken her up earlier. Probably because she slept through dinner and no one woke her up for it. Claudia was probably worried about Will, and angry that her kids wanted to go help and she had to be the bad guy. Georgie pulled herself out of bed and immediately went to get breakfast. Her mom was in the kitchen making pancakes.

"Any news?" Georgie asked, taking a seat at the table.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I made breakfast." Claudia walked over and slid some pancakes onto the plate, and then filled up a glass with orange juice.

"Mom, any news about Will?"

Claudia paused. And set down the plate of food she was holding, and sat at the table as well. She shook her head. Georgie frowned, taking a small bite of pancake. Suddenly she didn't feel very hungry at all. The idea of Will being lost somewhere, and then having no news after a huge search party.

"I'm going to get Dustin, he's probably hungry." Georgie got out of her chair and walked down the hallway.

She knocked on his door, and heard a groan inside of his room. Georgie told him through the wood that there were chocolate chip pancakes waiting if he got up now. In less than a minute he opened the door and the pair walked back to the kitchen. Dustin didn't even bother asking, he knew that they would've already told him if Will had been found. Georgie was worried about all four of the boys, not just Will.

"Can I catch a ride with you again today? I'm tired and don't feel like biking," Dustin said, cramming his face full with food.

"Yeah, I'll probably leave in an hour so be ready or be left behind," George said, laughing. Dustin smacked her arm.

"Stop it you two," Claudia said. "I have to go to work early this morning. So I trust you two to clean up the table and be to school on time."

The two ate, cleared the table and got ready for school in about forty minutes. Then Georgie was reviewing a sheet of notes for her test today. If she got less than 100 per cent, she'll be angry. She's only been memorizing for a week now. And she always pays attention. Georgie sighed, and put the sheet into her bag. She needed to stop looking it over, the words stopped looking like words a minute ago. She walked outside to see Dustin sitting patiently in the passenger seat.

When Georgie got in, Dustin was dead silent. He didn't crack a joke, or tell her about the ham radio he got to play with yesterday. He had briefly mentioned his encounter with Hopper, but didn't really go into detail. Something was up.

Something was different.

"So, what's going on?"

"What? What makes you think there's something. There's nothing," Dustin panicked and looked out the window. "Nothing at all."

What a liar. But, she decided not to push it. He would tell her when he was ready. Dustin's never been able to keep something from her for long. In the past, Claudia had to get a babysitter for Dustin whenever she was buying a gift for Georgie, because he always gave it away. But Georgie would admit, she was seriously worried about him. One of his best friends was missing.

Dustin just said a quiet goodbye, and left when she stopped outside of the school. He almost forgot his bike.

All Georgie could think about on the rest of the way to school was how Dustin, Mike and Lucas must be feeling. And most of all how Will must be feeling. Wherever he is, he must be so scared. Will was a bright young man, and one of the nicest kids in town. Shit like this just didn't happen in Hawkins.

She parked her car and went straight into class. She didn't even care to drop her bag off, she just need to sit down. Nancy came in just after the bell rang.

"Hey," Nancy said, sliding into her seat. "Have you seen Barb today?"

"No, I didn't hang around in the hallways I just came straight here. Why? She sick or something?"

"I don't know," Nancy said, "she just kind of left Steve's last night and I haven't seen her since."

"Well I think given the Will circumstance you have to tell someone, I don't care if it hasn't been the right amount of time." Georgie looked worried. The last thing she needed to hear was that Barb was missing too.

"I'll call her mom right after school, okay?"

"Okay, please call me after? So I know?" Georgie asked. The teacher walked in and the class grew silent so Nancy just nodded in response.

Thinking about the topic just got Georgie even more fired up. For the first time this semester, Georgie wasn't super active in the lesson. Sure, she was listening. But she only answered questions when directly asked. Or if no one else raised their hand. As soon as the bell rang she was out of her seat and in the hallway. She basically ran down the hallway, clutching her books tight to her chest. She felt like she couldn't breath. She threw open the front doors to the school and put her books on top of the rail. They fell off the side and notes fell out but she didn't even care at the moment. She was having a panic attack. Thinking about her brother in danger made her panic. That was her best friend after all.

"You dropped your books," Jonathan said, walking up the stairs towards Georgie. He was holding them, all the notes tucked back safely inside. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she said, taking her books back. She smiled at him. "How are you? How's Joyce?"

"I'm doing fine, mom needs help and I don't know what to do." Jonathan scratched the back of his neck.

"I am so sorry, if you or Joyce need anything just call me okay? I'll come running," Georgie said. Jonathan smiled half heartily. Georgie set her books by her feet and wrapped him in a hug. She heard him sigh by her ear before he hugged her back.

"Thank Georgie, you're a good friend." The bell rang inside, and the two of them walked in together. "I'm not going to class, I'm just putting up some flyers. But I'll catch you later."

"Bye," she said, walking away, gripping her books tightly against her chest again.

Georgie had to rush to get to her class on time. Not tardy, ever. It wasn't her style.

The rest of the went by uneventfully for Georgie. She went to her classes. She sat by her locker at lunch an studied, away from everyone. Away from Nancy and Steve. Something about those two together just gave Georgie the shivers. It wasn't ... right. Something about it just didn't sit right with Georgie. And now on top of worrying about Will, Dustin, Lucas and Mike – she was worried about Barb as well. She was losing control, and fast. She had to gain it back.

After school, she was rushing towards her car. She needed to get away from the school, it was as if she was having a breakdown. She felt like her chest was constricting itself, but also like something was trying to claw it's way out. She couldn't breathe. And that's when she stumbled on Jonathan, on all fours looking at his camera. She was confused to say the least, but maybe he was getting a cool shot or something. But as she got closer she could hear his sniffles.

Georgie rushed over to him, crouching close in front of him and put her hand on his back. He didn't look up, or pretend like he wasn't crying like a lot of people would do.

"C'mon, get up. Let's sit in my car. The last thing these animals need is to see you cry, lord only knows what they'd do then." Georgie put her hands under his arms, and helped him collect himself off the ground. She picked up his camera for him and looked at the broken lens. "What did they do? Who did this?"

"Harrington, and his friends. And Nancy." Jonathan wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. "I can't sit, I have to go. Mom goes a little crazy when I'm not back on time."

"Okay, call me if you need to."

Jonathan nodded, heading off. He left her with the broken camera.

Georgie was livid walking through the halls of the school. She knew he'd still be here. There was a home game tonight and it was pretty much the only thing to do. Jonathan is going through absolute hell and Steve thinks he can just be a dick and get away with it. No. Georgie had enough with big tough guys acting like king shit all the time. He wasn't anything special. He was just a popular guy in a highschool.

And she didn't give a shit about him. Or his title.

She found him sitting by his locker. Tommy and Carol sitting across from his laughing at something. When she got closer she realized they were teasing him about getting ditched by Nancy.

"You are such a punk," Georgie said, standing in front of Steve with her arms crossed. "You don't think he's been through enough, and now you have to play some macho guy routine to what? Impress Nancy? Worked pretty well, where is she now?" Tommy and Carol laughed at her words, but she ignored them.

"Shut up, what do you know?" Steve asked, standing up. He crossed his arms and glared, as if that would have any affect.

"Listen here, shit-stain. You have no reason to be a prick. Who does that help? How does it help you? It doesn't. All it does is make you look like a huge asshole. So just, knock it off. Before someone gets fed up and knocks you."

"Oh, and who's gunna do that? Jonathan?"

"Maybe, you don't know. Keep pretending like your a tough guy and eventually someone's gunna throw a fist or two, and pretending doesn't actually make you tough, it just gets you knocked out. So cut the shit, and leave Jonathan alone." Georgie spun on her heels and started walking away.

"Or what?" he called after her.

But she wasn't too confrontational. She didn't feel the need to get the last word in. But she did flip him off over her shoulder. And the giggles coming from Tommy and Carol made her believe he saw it. She knew that if he would just stop bullying people they would too. Because they're sheep. God damn mutton.

Jonathan's car was out of the parking lot by now. He probably left the second he said he was going to. She saw a piece of paper flying around, and when the wind relaxed, she grabbed it. It was a picture of trees, with the edge of something white by the edge. The picture was ripped, so she was missing some. But as she looked closer she could almost swear that she saw something looming by the treeline.

Control. She was losing it again. Her fears made her lose control. Did Barb and Will both encounter the same thing? Georgie took the piece of a picture with her. She just felt like she needed to. She didn't know what she needed to do other than regain some control. She got into her car and got home as fast as she could. She never broke the speed limit, but today she just had to be in her own house. In the safety of home. Where was Dustin? Coming home late. He was with his friends. How late was late? They should've set a time.

She ran from her car to her room and ripped out every textbook she had. She started from the beginning of the chemistry textbook and just started working through every single practice exercise. In a brand new notebook she filled it with all the answers. She got halfway through the entire thing before anyone came home. She barely noticed time was passing. She felt in control. The only thoughts going through her mind her science. Chemistry. She liked chemistry. She snapped out of her trance when the front door closed, and Dustin burst into her room shortly after.

He was crying.

Georgie already knew what was going on. She jumped up, throwing her textbook onto the floor and wrapped her arms around her little brother. She knew what was happening before he even said anything. They must have found Will. In a bad way. She had her arms tightly around Dustin as he cried. His whimpers breaking Georgie's heart every second.

Georgie didn't know what to think, or do. Should she call Jonathan? What would that help? Would it be worse? How should she make Dustin feel better? This kind of thing didn't happen around here. And she refused to believed that he got lost and died on his own. Will took that some route everyday for years, and he is such a smart kid. And he was so good at hiding.

Dustin cried until he seemed to be unable. Georgie held him the whole time, and even afterwards. When their mom came home, she said nothing when she peeked into Georgie's room. All she did was watch her kids. Georgie had dried tears on her cheeks. None of this was right.

Something was wrong.

How could Will be dead?