Something ▹ STRANGER THINGS

V. THE TERROR

❝WE ARE ALL EATERS OF SOULS.❞
-DAN SIMMONS, THE TERROR (2007)

          FAYE HAD ONLY been in Hawkins Middle School for a year or so before becoming a freshman in high school, and even though this was true, she remembers absolutely hating it. With everyone going through puberty and being uncomfortable with their bodies and voices and basically everything, hormones raged out of control, making it the one time Faye was actually pined after since her body was maturing faster than the others.

          It seemed that that hadn't changed in the past few years.

          Faye stood at the bike rack in front of the middle school, waiting for the three boys to come rushing out at 2:45 like they did every day. Normally she'd be fine with stopping by the old place; it'd become a routine for her to stop by and ride the boys home. With word out that Faye had been missing just as Will had, parents made their children more cautious of the Mathers girl. She could just tell based on the side-glances she was receiving from kids who never really paid her much mind in the past. Because this never happened, Faye began to feel more self-conscious as she patiently waited for the boys to arrive.

         The peeling of the skin around her fingernails suddenly became very interesting to her. This, while not the best for the wellbeing of her nails, was the best way she could avert her attention from the stares she was getting from everyone who passed her.

         "I just don't get him at all!"

          Faye pulled her gaze from the nails towards the sound of the familiar voice just across the way. She noticed Dustin and Lucas speaking to one another, keeping their heads low as they walked towards the bike rack, keeping them from seeing the strawberry blonde waiting for them. She didn't see Mike or Will standing with them, though. Faye looked down at her feet when she looked back on why the latter of the two wasn't standing there with the two.

         "Faye?"

         Looking back up, she saw Lucas and Dustin, their faces surprised, to say the least. Faye let out a breathy greeting to them as she watched their faces light up with overjoyed grins. Dustin and Lucas went into a full-on sprint, nearly making Faye topple over when they collided with her abdomen. The two wrapped their arms around her midsection in a tight hug. Faye, content to be back with two of her friends, she returned the hug with a blissful smile.

         Lucas began to pull away, saying, "Thank God you're okay!" but Dustin remained with his small arms around her frame, not seeming to want to move.

         "Dude!" Lucas chided, lightly hitting Dustin's shoulder to get his attention.

          Dustin immediately retracted his arms. He exclaimed, "I'm cool! I'm totally cool!"

          Faye laughed a bit at Dustin's loving personality as things like this were common in their everyday life. Truth be told, the boys weren't that popular, either. What with Lucas being black in a nearly all-white community, Mike not having the most attractive of faces in the eyes of the cruel children of middle school, Dustin with his teeth not fully grown in yet, Will with his odd family, and their accumulated love of Dungeons & Dragons, they were easy prey. And even though some of the boys were quick to put up a barrier and pretend as though it didn't affect them, Dustin was always up to rant to Faye about how much of an asshole those kids were being, leaving Faye to comfort him. Not that the other boys didn't ever look to Faye for advice, but it was evident that Dustin was always more open to her about the struggles of being a kid.