Veronica Harrington and her best friends go on an adventure of a lifetime when one of their friends turns up missing. While on their search for their friend they meet a mysterious girl with and even more mysterious background who helps them find the...
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The Party continued the day in school. They don't have all of their classes together. But they have their favorite class together, Mr. Clarke's science voyage. Roni does not exelle in any of her classes except music and art, but Mr. Clarke makes science a lot more interesting than most teachers. Right now her average is a C-minus, that's better than all her other classes, which are D-plus'.
Roni sat behind Lucas, surprisingly in the second row. She's more of a back row kind of person. After class, the bell rang and the students all clatter towards to door, trying to make it out of the classroom. Mr Clarke tried to give them information needed for class but the students were too much in a rush to listen. She tried to pay attention to his information but ignored it and instead focused on trying not to get stepped on. Being 5'0 is not easy.
The last person leaves and the boys stand excitedly in front of his desk. Roni stood off the side, showing an internal happiness for them. She didn't care about HAMM radios or tech equipment, she only joined the club to be with her friends.
"Did it come?" Mike asked, moving around excitedly.
"Sorry, boys," He glances at Roni in the corner. "Oh, and girl." Roni smirks and picks at her chipped black nail polish. They look down in disappointment. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but....it came!" They smiled happily and high-fived each other.
They ran into the club room, which was just a slightly bigger broom closet. Sat on the desk was a new Heathkit ham shack. The party piled closer to the machine and fiddled with it slightly. Roni stood next to Dustin and rolled her eyes at them, but her eyes shone brightly at their excitement. Mr. Clarke stood proudly with his arms folded at the boys.
Mike puts on a fake Australian accent because of how far the radio can transmit. "Hello, this is Mike Wheeler, president of Hawkins Middle AV Club," They all laughed and Dustin takes his headphones and begins to talk in a terrible Australian accent.
"You guys sound like real Australians," Roni said sarcastically with her thumbs up. They ignored her and continued on with their fun. As Lucas was about to try his turn, the Principal walking into the room. Their smiles fade.
"Sorry to interrupt, but, uh, may I borrow Micheal, Lucas, Veronica, and Dustin?" He gestures to them. Roni peaks over and sees Chief Jim Hopper and his deputy, silently waiting. She pales, nothing good comes when the police are involved.
*****
The Party was escorted to the office where they were stuffed onto a couch. It was there were Hopper delivered the devastating news.
Will was missing.
The sweetest, quietest Party member was missing. It felt like wave of worry and dread wash over Roni and the boys.
The boys immediately began talking at once, overlapping each other. Roni was unusually quiet. She sat between Lucas and Dustin and Mike was sitting on the end. Guilt crawled up as she thought back to that night.
"Okay, okay, okay. One at a time, all right?" Hopper says with an annoyed voice. He looks at Mike, "You. You said he takes what?" Mike nods.
"Mirkwood," Mike answers confidently. Hopper looks confused for a moment before asking the officer what street is that.
"No, it's from Lord of the Rings," Lucas says, holding himself slightly. Roni breathes in slowly, ringing her hands out.
"Well, The Hobbit," Dustin corrects.
"It doesn't matter," Lucas counters and they begin arguing. Mike tells them to shut them up.
"Gosh," Roni puts her hand on her forehead, already feeling early onset wrinkles coming on. Hopper sets them straight yet again and tells Mike to explain.
"Mirkwood, it's a real road. It's just the name that's made up. It's where Cornwallis and Kerley meet," Mike explains. Roni nods with his answer. Hopper nods slowly, recalling those streets.
"We can show you, if you want," Mike offers with a hopeful look.
"I said that I know it!" He yells. Roni rolls her eyes at him, he didn't need to be so mean. They were just trying to help him find Will faster.
"Come on, Hopper. Just let us help. We know Will better than anyone and we're way smarter than any of your goons," Roni spoke. The boys clamor, trying to convince him to let them go.
"No. After school, you are all to go home. Immediately," He says firmly. "That means no biking around looking for your friend, no investigating, no nonsense." Hopper lists. "This isn't some Lord of the Rings book," He quips. Roni squeezes her fists. When a friend is in danger or worse, she will find them, no matter what.
"The Hobbit," Dustin corrects, yet again. It gets Lucas started again and Mike just looks off numbly. Roni puffs out her cheeks and slaps the both of them on the back of the head simultaneously.
"Shut up! No one cares where the name came from. It's stupid and you're stupid arguing about it," She looks Hopper straight in the eye. "Now, what are you going to do, Hopper?"
He looks over at her. "What am I going to do is find your friend and what you're not gonna do is try to find him yourselves," He walks forwards and pulls up to his full height. They all gulped nervously. "Do I make myself...clear?" They nod quickly, whispering, 'Yes, sir.'
Will was missing. And now they couldn't do anything about it.
