like i can \/ nancy wheeler

xxvvvi. piano man

"sing us a song, you're the piano man..."
ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

"HI," SAID DUSTIN Henderson, a little middle school boy that Colby had seen a lot of. Dustin was often biking around town at the same time that Colby was grocery shopping. Colby was on his way out of his house, and he wasn't sure where the hell Dustin Henderson had come from.

Dustin always wore hats. That was one thing Colby had been able to observe about him. He was missing his front teeth, and according to some high schoolers, he was a little bit of a freak. Colby didn't really think so.

"Hello?" Colby raised a curious brow, looking around. Dustin was the only one before him, which was a strange sight to see; usually his four other best friends were right beside him.

Of course, as unfortunate as it might have been, one of those friends had died the night prior. Will Byers' body had been found in the quarry.

"I'm sorry." Dustin laughed nervously, shaking his head. "You don't know me, I'm-"

"Dustin Henderson." finished Colby for him. "Yes, I know who you are. You were one of Will Byers' friends."

Dustin shifted uncomfortably where he was standing, and Colby immediately felt guilty. He saw the way Dustin's face had fallen.

"I'm sorry for your loss, by the way." Colby added swiftly, putting his hands in his pockets. "It, uh, must be tough."

"Listen," Dustin waved his hands in front of his face, making Colby frown further, "can you, like, sneak out of school later today?"

"I'm sorry?" Colby scoffed lightly, his expression growing more and more confused. "W-What's going on?"

"We know you're a major nerd. Jonathan told Will that a couple of months ago."

Colby winced at the mention of Jonathan. His SD card was still in his room, yet the guilt of breaking his camera still followed him everywhere. He should've bought him a new one.

"Can you work a ham radio?" Dustin queried, looking like he was impatient himself. "We need some help. It's a lot bigger than anything we've worked with before, and we can't tell our teacher what we're doing."

"Uh... what?" Colby's brows raised.

"Here," Dustin handed him a ten dollar bill, "we really need your help. Listen, and you cannot tell anyone about this, but we don't think Will is dead. We heard his voice over our radio thanks to this girl... okay, just come to the middle school at 1:15 today! See you there!" Dustin sprinted back to his bike, racing it towards the edge of the forest.

Colby had never been more confused in his entire life.

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

"Can I see Colby Martin for a moment?"