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epilogue how evergreen, our group of friends
Winter blows into Hawkins with a flurry of snow. Wreaths hang in the windows of the Wheeler's home, and Christmas lights are strung on the walls outside. A pine tree stands tall in the corner of the living room, adorned with ornaments and popcorn strands. The table is covered with an array of cookies and desserts. Christmas is just around the corner, and the air is buzzing with excitement.
Usually, around this time, Alex is cooped up inside with a mug of hot chocolate and nobody but her parents and Steve for company. Winters in Hawkins used to be barren and lonesome and cold. But now Alex has this; this rowdy group of misfits that are gathered with her around the rickety card table tucked away in the Wheeler's basement and a crackling fireplace that keeps the interior of the house warm.
It's been a month since Will has returned to the right side of the world. Alex keeps a close eye on him at school. He's been going to therapy and getting the help that he needs, but she knows that it's not easy coming back from the dead. The spotlight has been rather crudely shifted to Will, who has always preferred to fade into the background. For weeks after Will's recovery, newspaper articles are released with Will's face plastered across the front cover on all of them. The spotlight hasn't been particularly positive, either. Will is treated like a celebrity for a few days back at school, students fawn over him and welcome him back, but then Will starts getting mean notes in his locker. Students stare and whisper when he passes them. They plaster him with the name Zombie Boy.
Alex has taken to walking by his side at all times in the hallways, glaring at the students who whisper. She takes the notes out of his hands and crumples them before he can read them. This makes her angry. They have no sympathy for a boy who had disappeared in the middle of the night. They have no sympathy for the boy who has been through so much more than they will ever be able to comprehend. Alex threatens to fight them, but Will tells her to let it go.
The boys have accepted her into their ranks with warm, open arms. She spends her lunches with them in the AV Room as opposed to the bleachers in the gym. She meets Lucas and Dustin on her way to school now, and the bike ride is filled with raucous laughter. She goes home with them too, sometimes, and spends hours with the in Mike's basement. They had even had the movie night that Dustin had promised to her back on the school bus in the junkyard. She is one of them, now, despite what her initial trepidations had told her. She had been hesitant to approach them when she finally returned to school. They had Will back, what if she had only been a temporary placeholder for him? But they had waved her over to their small group, and she has been a part of them ever since.
