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AUDREY STOOD IN THE HALLWAY ALONGSIDE HER FRIENDS, QUESTIONING HER LIFE. She didn't know whether she should go see Jonathan and get to the bottom of the situation, or if she was too hurt. Steve was sitting on the ground, his back leaned up against a row of lockers and across from him, Tommy sat on the bench with Carol's head on his lap. Neither Nancy or Audrey felt comfortable enough to sit down after the previous events, however.
"So I told Mr. Mundy, the solution of ten plus y equals blow me," Carol smirked, feeling quite proud of her response. The Wheeler Girl shot her a look of disgust at her ignorance and turned to look away, completely uninterested in the conversation at hand.
"Bull, if you did that, you'd be in detention right now," Steve argued.
"Saturday." Carol sassed.
Suddenly, the thought of being in school made Audrey sick to her stomach. Bile rose in her throat again and she hopped off of the wall, in search of some privacy. Although she loved being visible, sometimes she wished people would just ignore her.
"Addy?" Steve asked curiously as his best friend retreated. She didn't respond to him and kept powering through, leaving the boy confused. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply, feeling as if they were drifting apart.
And they were.
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"Kid, what are you doing here?" Chief Hopper asked as the blue-eyed girl stepped into the room. She looked disheveled as she panted, most likely attempting to catch her breath from the bike ride. She scanned the area and noticed Officer Powell sitting there as well, watching her with wide eyes.
"Hey." She sniffled, sulking in the doorway.
"Why aren't you at school?" He asks, frowning at her. He moved the magazines he had been showing Powell as evidence over and out of her sight. Audrey just shrugged, having no more energy to explain and instead she plopped down into one of the chairs. Hopper gave her an incredulous look but she gave him an equally as intimidating stare.
"I'm not ready to go back yet." She whispered finally, looking down at her lap. Jim immediately understood what he was referring to and nodded reluctantly. He opened his mouth to continue his conversation when his partners' radio went off.
"Hey, Powell, is the chief with you?" The voice of Callahan rang throughout the room, crackling sounds surrounding his voice. Hopper shot out of his chair and reached for the comm, pulling it up to his face.
"Hopper here. What do you got?" He answered.
"We have a lead... On the boy."
Audrey leaned forward, her interest peaking. Immediately after the words were spoken, Hopper stood up and got ready to head out, requesting a location. Before he could completely leave however, Audrey ran over to him eagerly.
"I'm coming with you." She stated, squaring her shoulders as to appear more mature.
"No way in hell."
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"Why did I allow this?" Jim said as he and Powell exited the truck. Audrey rolled out of the empty space in the back, trailing behind the two officers with an extra pep to her step.
Audrey just grinned mischievously at him.
"Because you love me!" She cheered, trying to lighten the mood although she knew it was serious. Hopper just grunted and continued on their trek. Audrey's smile widened immediately.
He didn't deny it.
"Aww, I love you too!" She squeaked.
She sped up a little bit as to catch up the others' fast pace and once she caught up, she wished she hadn't. They had reached the quarry and the paramedics were surrounding the area, some of them in the water. They were putting what appeared to be a body on a stretcher and Audrey's heart clenched immediately. She shut her eyes tight, hoping it wasn't what she figured and she pushed through the crowd.
And sure enough, there lying lifeless and pale, was Will Byers himself.
Audrey's breath caught in her throat and she once again felt every ounce of food she had eaten rise up. She rushed over to a nearby bush and released her contents into it, coughing up a fit as tears burned her eyes.
"No, no-no." She cried.
"Audrey," Hopper called. She turned to look at him only to see his solemn face, wracked with guilt. If she didn't know any better, it would have appeared he would cry as well. After a couple more shed tears, Audrey finally wiped her good hand over her face, sighing and trying to compose herself. She stood herself up tall once more and took the hit as another bullet to her collection of pain. And as she turned back to her guardian for the evening, she caught sight of something in her peripheral. A flash of a small bald head.
Her head whipped to her left and her jaw dropped. Although she was met with nothing but the empty wood, she had known what she saw.
"Eleven?"
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*🐝 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧
two chapters in one day? wow i'm on a roll :')
- gigi <3
