Lately, the small town of Hawkins was receiving a name for itself for all things suspicious. Julia, a student at Hawkins high, a face in the crowd, class loner and mystery, starts to hang out with the class outsider and together they find out that...
In the car ride to the cemetery, I sat in the back seat behind Jonathan as Mrs. Byers drove. The two of them weren't really speaking, but what was there to say or talk about? Will was on everyone's mind today, but nobody wanted to talk about him, especially with the way Mrs. Byers feels about the body. I minded my own business, and just looked out the window the entire drive.
We weren't the first people at the cemetery, but all eyes were on us as we walked to the grave where Will would be buried. I didn't like the attention, and I certainly did not want anyone to give the Byers any nonsense. They were already dealing with a lot. There were some chairs for the family, when Jonathan turned to me.
"I'm going to stand right behind you." I told him. I wanted to sit with Jonathan of course, but he needed to be with his family.
"Please.." He looked desperate and I wanted to be there for him, so I nodded my head and sat next to him.
The order of people in chairs were: the grandparents, a couple of aunts and uncles, me, Jonathan, Mrs. Byers, and Mr. Byers. We all watched as the priest did his blessing and said some words about death, Jesus, and Will. I felt a little out of place, sitting with the family as all the other friends of Will and the Byers stood around, but I was only doing this for Jonathan and Mrs. Byers.
As the priest was talking, I could hear Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair whispering to themselves about how Will would find it funny if he knew that a certain girl was crying right now at his funeral. I wanted to smile, but I felt bad smiling at a joke whilst sitting with the family of the dead. Mike's mom shushed them right away, but I was thankful that at least his friends were coping okay.
The priest started to wrap things up, when roses were being passed around to throw on top of the casket, before burial. They started down the line of family first and Jonathan turned to hand me the bunch. I took a yellow one and turned to pass it to his aunts and uncles. As everyone got their roses, people started to stand up to toss them into the hole in the ground where Will's body laid. I looked to Jonathan who stood up next to me. A shower of different colored roses flew onto Will's casket and we gently placed ours in together.
I let Jonathan spend some family time with his mourning family as I wondered around by myself, when Mike Wheeler came up to me unexpectedly. I wasn't sure what to say, but Mike was easy to talk to and wasn't easily offended or uncomfortable like most people.
"Hi Julia." Mike said.
"Hey Mike. How are you? Are you guys okay?" Motioning towards Mike's friends off talking next to Mike's mom.
"We're doing okay. So, do you like Jonathan now?" He asked, out of the blue.
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"We're good friends." That was true and he seemed to drop it at that.
"Nancy wants to talk to you by the way." Mike mentioned. I could see Nancy making eye contact with me, standing by herself.
"She seems sorry for whatever she did to you." Mike shrugged his shoulders.
"Yeah, I'll talk to her, I guess." I was kind of put off by the fact that Nancy felt that she couldn't approach me, but I was willing to listen to what she had to say.
"Julia?" Mike asked. "Do you think that someone could get stuck in another dimension or like another world?"
Dimension. That was what that tree led to. Another dimension. I couldn't wrap my head around it at the time, but it all made sense now. That's why it looked the same yet different and maybe that's why a monster was there. What did Mike know? Has he seen it too? I didn't want to seem crazy or suspicious, so I thought of something neutral yet positive to say in return.
"Anything is possible Mike." I told him, and he seemed to like that answer.
"I'm going to go talk to Nancy now, but listen." I lowered myself to his level. "If you need anything, you have my phone number and if you ever want to talk to me about something or show me something, you can trust me. I can keep a secret." I knew that Mike knew something and I wanted him to know that he could tell me, whatever it was. He nodded and slightly smiled.
I started to walk towards Nancy, who saw me coming towards her. She started to walk away from other people so we could talk privately. I followed her so that I could try and understand whatever she wanted to say to me.
"Julia, I just wanted to tell you and Jonathan, that I'm so sorry for Steve, Carol and Tommy's behavior. They shouldn't of pushed you and broke Jonathan's camera. I feel awful about it."
"We're sorry about the pictures. I know Jonathan had good intentions, and he wasn't trying to be perverted or anything. We threw them all out." I felt the need to also apologize, but I didn't feel comfortable speaking on Jonathan's behalf. He was with family and I had to handle this on my own. Nancy seemed honest, although I doubted if Steve, Tommy, and Carol actually felt badly.
"Steve is really a nice guy, he's just protective of me." I nodded my head, pretending to agree with her statement.
"Well I got to go, see you around Julia." Nancy waved to me as I watched her and her family leave with her. I also waved to Mike, Dustin, and Lucas who waved back and I started walking back to Jonathan.
People were still surrounding the three Byers, sending their regards and apologies only to go back to living normal lives while they had to live on without Will. Jonathan saw me heading towards him and smiled. He grabbed onto my hand when I was close enough to him, but when his dad turned towards him, he let go of my hand quickly, waiting for his dad to speak up.
"Is this your girlfriend?" He asked with a smug look.
"This is Julia." Jonathan said. I shook Mr. Byers' hand with a smile. I was never good at first impressions, but I tried so hard when it mattered.
"I'm Jonathan's friend from school. It's nice to meet you." I told him. Mr. Byer's looked at Jonathan, raising his eyebrows and smiling as if he was trying to imply something.
Mrs. Byers stood by herself, wrapped up in her own arms as if she was building a wall up to protect herself. She wasn't speaking to anyone who tried to approach her, and I was starting to worry about her more.
Mr. Byers drove Jonathan's car to the funeral, in case Jonathan wanted to leave after the funeral. We walked over to his car, although we didn't leave the cemetery right away. We just sat in the front seats watching everybody else leave and go to the gathering in Will's memory. I sat all the way back in my seat, wanting to tell Jonathan about what Mike had mentioned.
"I'm sorry I let go of your hand." Jonathan didn't face me, but I turned to him.
"You don't have to apologize, but I have to tell you something." Jonathan then turned and faced me, eager to hear what I had to say.
"Mike had asked me if I believed if anyone could be stuck in another dimension. I think he knows something is up." Jonathan's face came across as if the wheels in his head were turning, so I decided to explain what I was saying further.
"When I went into the tree that night, it led me to a place that looked like here, but it wasn't. At first I thought it was another world, or a secret tunnel, but I now believe that it was another dimension and that maybe it leads to Will."
"I want to kill the monster." Jonathan finally spoke up, neglecting anything I had said. "I just want to kill the thing that killed my brother."
**OVER 1.1K READS HOLY SHIT! Thank you guys so so much!**
**11:37 I changed the title from "What Happened?" to "Roses". I felt this was more appropriate for the chapter's events**
