Still own nothing.

November 9th, 1983

HAWKINS, INDIANA

Georgie woke up feeling awful. And it was no mystery why. Dustin had stayed in her room last night. A feat they hadn't done in years. The last time was when Dustin was nine and watched a movie that gave him nightmares, but he didn't want their mom to think that she was right, so he crawled into Georgie's bed instead. Now, Dustin was still sleeping away, and Georgie didn't feel the need to wake him up. Quietly, she collected her books, backpack, and some clothes for the day.

She tip toed out of the room and closed the door behind her. The only sound she seemed to make was the sound of the door clicking behind her. She stopped tip toeing, but still walked gently. Claudia was in the kitchen, making some food.

"I took the day off of work, I don't think Dustin will be going to school today." Claudia didn't look away from the stove.

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

Georgie walked over and hugged her mom, her tears falling onto the penguin pyjamas that Claudia wore all the time. She let go of her mom, and walked past the table and down the hallway. She got ready in the bathroom. Doing nothing more than changing, then brushing her hair and teeth. She walked back out the the kitchen, her bag slung over her shoulder.

"Are you not going to eat?" Claudia asked, while Georgie made her way over to the door. Georgie put on her shoes.

"I'm not very hungry, mom." Georgie stopped before leaving the house. "I love you, I'm just not hungry." And how could she be? Will Byers was dead. She'd known him since the day after she moved here. He was a sweet kid.

She slid into her car, and just sat there, gripping the steering wheel. It wasn't fair. Life wasn't fair. She felt like the world was crumbling around her. Her chest, again, was tight and burning. She pulled her shirt down to try and cool her skin but it didn't work. She scratched at the skin but only left herself more irritated. It was like a monster. A monster was pounding her chest and wouldn't stop until it was full of her. And boy was it hungry. She shook the idea from her head.

Monsters aren't real.

Georgie started up her car, and drove to the school. Everyday was the same. Maybe that was the problem. Everyday for two years Georgie had stuck to the exact same routine. Studying and soccer practice. And then suddenly, her days are thrown into a different pattern. A bad pattern. A pattern so bad you can barely even find the trend that makes it a pattern. It's kind of like she's so used to dealing with such small problems, that now the problem is a fire. But she only has small solutions. And this. This was a very big fire.

She parked her car and then continued to sit there. What was the point of coming to school early? For what? Soccer practice? She didn't really see the point of it anymore. And she loved soccer.

But she made commitments, and she told the team that she would help bring their team to victory this year. Their captain, Vicky, has put a lot of faith on Georgie and how she plays. The last thing she needed was more pressure.

Soccer practice was a welcome distraction from the events of the week. For an hour and a half Georgie thought about nothing but soccer, and the drills that they practised the whole time. It was nice. Until it was over. The girls were all walking to the change room together, to shower and change before classes started in thirty minutes. All the girls liked to rush so they could primp and prime and look beautiful for the boys. If Georgie wanted to look beautiful she would do it for herself, and she wished more of the other girls felt the same.

Georgie walked slowly to the locker room, and was eventually left behind by the pack. They had a change room to demolish. Georgie just wanted a quick shower and to get to class. She didn't care if she looked like she'd just been working out. She just wanted to not smell like it.

"There she is! Our star player," Steve Harrington said, shocking Georgie out of her trance. He looked smug as always, and he was putting on this act even completely alone. Was it for himself?

"What do you want, Steve?"

Ignoring her question he asked his own: "Where's your boyfriend?"

"I don't have a boyfriend, what are you talking about?"

"Jonathan Byers? Your true love, your one and only? Did even the freak realize that you're so dull he had to leave? God, that just makes you lower than him, and that is low." Steve grinned at her. She just stared back.

"I don't have time for this, goodbye." Georgie walked passed him. He said something else but she decided not to hear him. It was easier to just ignore him and walk away. She didn't need or want Harrington to get on her nerves right now. He was so talented at just crawling under her skin and staying there, making her annoyed every twenty seconds. He was beginning to feel like a plague, and even though she wasn't thinking the nicest thoughts about him – she was still thinking about him, all the time.

Last year, she had a crush on him. She never told anyone, so it was her own little secret. A dirty one, at that. She had churned and completely pulverized that crush until only annoyance and resentment was left in it's place. Now, she was free from his hold on her. And now that Nancy and him had become an item she no longer had to worry about those feeling reigniting. Because she couldn't ever see herself talking to a friend's ex. Especially Steve.

After a hot shower and a change of clothes, Georgie thought she would feel better. But all she felt was tired, and a little stinging in her eye. She thought maybe that had been from crying last night. Today had turned into a complete nightmare. And everyone around her was carrying on as if nothing was wrong. When everything was clearly wrong. A child had died, and people just kept gossiping, and talking like it didn't happen. But it did happen, and the ache of lose was clinging to her every muscle, her every thought. She didn't understand.

Georgie understood none of it.

When Dustin came home that night, something was different. Georgie knew it before Dustin said anything.

"I have to show you something. And you have to promise not to freak out – you just have to help us," Dustin said, grabbing her hand. She nodded. They went to the car straight away, and Dustin told her to drive to Mike's house.

"Just a little warning, she doesn't trust adults. But I think you're short enough that we'll be able to keep her calm enough to listen to you at the very least. So, you have to convince her that you'll keep her a secret and you won't hurt her."

"Her who?"

But Dustin just told Georgie to wait and see. Georgie was very confused, but she went along with it. She didn't know if it would help or hurt Dustin, but could only hope that it would be a good thing. If she got worried, she would tell their mom or something.

When they got to Mike's, they had to sneak downstairs. They didn't want to talk to the Wheeler's all night, they were busy.

"Remember what you promised," Dustin said, stepping off the staircase to the basement. Sitting around were Mike, Lucas and a girl that Georgie didn't know – obviously the she that was so secret. "So, Will's alive."

Bad.

This was clearly the wrong choice, she shouldn't have promised him anything because now she'll have to break it because he's not coping well.

"Dustin! We were going to ease her into it." Lucas rolled his eyes. Dustin never did listen well.

Georgie walked over to the girl, who immediately sat up from lying down. She stared at Georgie with an intensity that only proved that this girl lacked trust. Georgie sat cross legged on the floor, making no moves that would startle the girl. "What's your name?" she asked, a simple question. Georgie doubted the girl would even tell the truth, but that's not the point. She just stared.

"Eleven," Dustin said. Georgie looked over her shoulder at her brother. "But we call her El."

"Okay, El it is. So does someone want to tell me what's going on?" Georgie looked at the girl. She was wearing a pink dress, and her hair was nicely combed. Georgie didn't see any obvious signs of trauma, so they were either hidden, healed or emotional.

Mike told the story.

"We went looking for clues about Will when we weren't supposed to and instead of that, we found her. We brought her back here and she told us about Will. But we never said anything to her about him, she knew on her own. I don't know how. She told us that he was alive when they found the body and we didn't believe her but she was able to channel him through the ham radio at the school and we heard him talking to Joyce – we think, he said the monster was coming. We think that he's on the other side and hiding at his house. But we can't get to him because however he got through is hard to find or gone. El says he's in the upside down." Mike looked at Georgie. "We need your help and no one else's family is cool enough to help."

"Okay," Georgie said, "and how did El know all this?"

"She has powers," he said. "But she can't prove it now, she used all her energy to talk to Will today."

"But she can prove it tomorrow," Dustin said.

Monsters aren't real.

Monsters aren't real

She shouldn't have fed into them like this. Maybe this was their way of grieving but they couldn't go around thinking that Will is stuck in some fake Hawkins. But at the same time, Georgie could tell that these boys were being sincere. Which just made her more concerned about how tired and weak Eleven looked. El had gone back to lying down, clearly exhausted. Georgie stood up, and again tried to approach her. This time she didn't move. Georgie slowly moved her hand to put it on El's forehead, although clearly hesitant, El let her. She felt cold to Georgie.

"We can figure this out tomorrow," Georgie said, moving away. "She needs to get some sleep – she looks worn out." Georgie grabbed a pen and a piece of scrap paper lying on a bookshelf nearby. She scribbled her phone number down. "This is my phone number," she said, making sure El watched where she set it down. "If something happens and you need help and you still don't want to talk to Mrs. Wheeler then you can call me, okay? After school, you can reach me at this number."

"Three fifteen?" she asked. It was the first time that Georgie had heard the girl speak, and she sounded even more timid than she acted.

"Yes," Mike answered for her. Georgie didn't question it.

"Dustin, come on, let's go home. Lucas, do you want a ride?" Georgie asked, he shook his head.

"I'm okay, thanks." Lucas had to sneak back into his house and Georgie's car would be a dead giveaway that he was out of the house when he wasn't supposed to be.

"Let someone know when you're home alright?" she said, walking with Dustin upstairs.

The night sky usually made Georgie happy. It was always nice to look up at the beautiful stars, and try to find the constellations. Now, it just brought darkness which felt like nothing more than danger. Georgie had never been afraid of the dark before, but now the idea of being alone in the dark was terrifying.

"If this, upside down is real – maybe that's where Barb is." Georgie didn't look away from the road as she spoke. She didn't want to feed into the kids, but she couldn't help but feel like they weren't lying. She slammed on the breaks, shocking Dustin. She bit her thumb for a minute, thinking.

"Why'd you stop?" Dustin asked, looking over at his sister. She looked lost in her thoughts. "Georgie?"

"No bullshit, you heard Will?"

"No bullshit."

She didn't know why, but she believed him.