Neighbors - Strangerthingsau

Chapter 12

Family Emergency

The next few days El didn't go to school. She and Hopper made up an excuse saying that she was sick and couldn't leave the house.

Will started to get a little suspicious though, because every time he saw her out of her room, which wasn't a lot, she seems perfectly fine. He started to wonder if she was just trying to get out of school because there was someone, like Troy, bullying her. He really hoped that wasn't the case because he loved his sister and he didn't want her to get hurt.

El, for one, knew exactly why she was stuck in her bedroom. Papa was out there and he saw her. He didn't see her enter the house though, so she is still a little more safe than she would have been.

She was upset that she had to miss school to be stuck in her bedroom. She knew it was for her safety but she just got really bored. The only part of the day she looked forward to was after school. Mike would bike home and immediately tell El, over their walkie talkies, about everything that happened at school and would help her with the homework she missed.

El looked over at her clock and saw that it was 3:15. She made sure that her walkie was close and on, because she knew Mike would call any minute now. She was sitting at her bay window waiting for his call when she heard a knock on her door. She walked over to her door and opened it to see Hopper standing there.

"Hey kid, we need to talk." He said walking in and closing the door behind him.

"Am I going back to school?" El questioned.

"That's the thing," he stated. "I have seen Brenner around town. It seems like he is going around to where teenagers hang out to try to find you. I made a few calls and you are going to live with your mom and Aunt Becky a few days."

"What!"

"It's only going to be for a few days. At least until the town feels a little safer for you to be back in here."

"What are we going to tell the others? Aren't they going to wonder why I was sick and then going out of town?"

"Well, we just tell them that you needed to leave for a family emergency."

"Will that work?" El whispered.

"Hope so." Hopper shrugged. "Pack your things, you're leaving tomorrow morning."

With that he turned on his heel and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

"El, you there?" Mike's voice rang from the walkie on the bay window.

El ran over to the window and looked out to the other window on the house next to hers. She saw Mike in the window, so she smiled and waved at him as he did the same thing.

"I'm here." She stated.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"Are you going to be at school tomorrow?"

"No, I'm going out of town tomorrow. It's some sort of family emergency."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's just some family stuff I need to take care of."

"Okay. If you need to talk to someone I'm always here."

"I know. Thanks Mike."

"No problem. Do you wanna get start on the homework you missed?"

"Please. I feel so behind."

After Mike and El got done studying, El quickly ate her dinner and went back to her room to start packing. She knew she was going to be gone a few days, maybe even longer, so she needed to pack up enough clothes that would last a while. She was just finishing up packing her clothes when she heard a soft knock on her door. She looked over her shoulder to see Will standing in the door frame.

She smiled at him. "Hey Will."

"Hey." He said walking in. "So why are you leaving again?"

"Family emergency." She simply stated.

"What's going on?"

"Not sure. Aunt Becky said I just had to go there."

Will crossed his arms at the statement. Something about this was off to him. He tried to ask Hopper the same question and had gotten little information back as well.

"How long are you going to be gone for?" He pushed.

"I don't know."

Will nodded and left her room, but he did not stop thinking about it. He thought it was weird that a few days ago she said she was sick, but when he saw her around the house she looked perfectly fine to him. And now she was just leaving, with no explained other than a "family emergency". It didn't sit well with him. He knew something was up, he was going to find out what it was.

Authors note

Thank you guys for 500 (almost 600) reads!!!
I have some really good ideas for the future of this book! I can't wait for you guys to see them!

I am posting a day early because I'm going to a place with no WiFi for the weekend. So please enjoy your 4th of July!

Stay safe!