far too young to die ✰ m.w.

CHAPTER ONE

HAWKINS, INDIANA, USA

JUNE 28, 1985

It had been seven months since Eleven closed the gate and Will was freed from the mind flayer, and everything had gone back to normal. As normal as it could be, at least.

The entirety of the party had attended the Snow Ball, and since then, Max and Lucas had been in an on-and-off relationship, which surprised no one. This added up to two couples within the party, with Emily and Mike also together, which everyone now knew about instead of just suspecting.

Eleven had been welcomed back into the party with open arms, and she and Will had officially met. However, they didn't get to see each other often, since Eleven was very rarely allowed to leave the cabin in the woods she lived in with Hopper for her own safety, and it would likely remain this way until a year had passed since everything had gone down. This didn't stop her friends from coming and visiting her often, though, especially Emily and Mike, who she was the closest to.

The party (with the exception of Eleven for obvious reasons) had just recently graduated from middle school, and would be starting their freshman year of high school in the fall. Instead of lamenting about how they were growing up, the teenagers embraced this, and were enjoying their summer to the fullest. And just in time for summer vacation, there was a new mall in town, complete with a variety of stores, an ice cream parlor, and a movie theater, and the party would spend a lot of time there together. When they weren't hanging out as a whole group, Emily and Mike would usually be alone together, doing just what Emily had suggested six months earlier at the Snow Ball.

"God, again? Seriously?" Will exclaimed, making the mistake of entering his twin sister's bedroom unannounced when the door was closed and walking in on her passionately kissing his best friend, Mike. "Do you ever stop?"

Emily and Mike stopped kissing just for Emily to roll her eyes at her brother. "We might if you knocked before you barged in," she retorted.

"Your door was unlocked, I thought it'd be safe."

"My door was closed. That should've told you everything you needed to know."

Now it was Will's turn to roll his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I was just coming to remind you that we have plans to see Day of the Dead with Max and Lucas, and we're running late."

Mike glanced down at his watch and saw that Will was right; they should've left five minutes ago. "Shit!" he said, and he and Emily hurriedly climbed off of her bed. Mike grabbed both of their backpacks while Emily shut off her boombox, and then he handed her her backpack and the three of them practically ran out of the house.

"Have fun!" Joyce called after them, but did not receive a reply before the front door shut behind them.

They quickly got on their bikes and pedaled as fast as they could towards Starcourt Mall. Fifteen minutes later, they finally arrived, putting their bikes in the bike rack as Max and Lucas walked towards them, not looking very happy. As Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes were on Mike and Emily, since he knew from past experiences that their tardiness was not Will's fault.

"You're late," he said to them.

"Sorry!" Mike and Emily apologized.