Balance

Chapter 2

Theo Rothchild was missing. It was official.
The once quiet town now buzzed with rumours and scandals about the poor family and Elizabeth was thoroughly sick of it.

Opting to stay in her house to avoid the whispers, much had changed since the fateful day Theo escaped through her window.
Theos room was now a 'crime scene' as declared by Jim Hopper but as time passed Elizabeth began to see the holes in his operation.

Hopper seemed to be trying his best to reassure her mother and bring Theo home but that didn't change the fact that Theo was dead.

It sounded strange, maybe even crazy but deep down in her heart she knew Theo had not survived that night. However she could not prove it.

Hopper brought her to the sheriffs station to ask more pointless questions and she wasted no time in telling him that it should be a murder investigation but all he seemed to do was shake his head and mutter something about grief to the other cop in the room.
So she sat in her room replaying the day over in her mind, the disbelief on Hoppers face, her uncles unusually cheery demeanour when a knock sounded at the window breaking her from her thoughts.
Elizabeth drew back her curtains to see a familiar face perched on the trellis. Steve Harrington knocked on her window again

"come on Lizzie I'm freezing my ass off out here!" he called, making her hurry to open the window.

"Finally" he groaned, flopping down on the floor dramatically.

"Careful I'll lock you out!" she warned sitting down on her bed. The pair laughed for a while until Steve broke in

"How'd it go?" he asked rolling onto his side.

"jeez, you don't waste any time, do you?" she chuckled looking away. Feeling Steve's eyes burning into the back of her head, she turned to see his raised eyebrows.

"Fine" she said leaning back into her pillows

"they think I'm crazy".

"What! They said that to you? They cant do that!" he cried in anger.

"They didn't say it Steve. I saw it from the look in their eyes." she turned away from him

"I can't even blame them. It sounds so bizarre, of course I'm gonna sound mad" she heard the springs of her bed creak as Steve sat beside her

"Your not mad Lizzie" he said putting his arm round her

" And I believe you" she let out a sigh and Steve looked at her

"Tell you what, Hoppers asking to talk to me tomorrow so when I get there I'm gonna back you up, tell him your telling the truth." the pair smiled at each other. Elizabeth pulled him into a hug

"Thank you" she whispered, glad someone else believed her.

"Anytime" he said breaking away from the hug

"Now how about we sneak downstairs and watch a movie?" he added standing up. Elizabeth rolled her eyes but stood up as well as the pair began to sneak around her family to the basement and watch movies till dawn.

Another week had passed. No news had come from Hopper and the whispers of the town only continued. Elizabeth was still confined to her room, unwilling to go out and face the town but a small comfort was provided in the fact that the sheriff had finally left Theos room alone, declaring that they had found something.

She didn't know what they had found but she hoped it would help them believe her. Her uncle seemed overjoyed to have them out of the house, his house he called it. He had immediately wanted to turn it into an office for himself but both Elizabeth and her mother had protested.

They were downstairs now, yelling and screaming like no one could hear them. Elizabeth had been sent upstairs to prepare for her return to school, trying to tune out the screams as she sat on her bed.

As if in contrast, silent tears slipped down her face as she dreaded the coming of tomorrow.

The kids at Hawkins high school were judgemental to say the least and having a brother who was missing was defiantly going to  earn some stares.

Now Elizabeth mostly kept to herself in school, her main friends being her brother and Steve but she was a friendly face for most of the school and her kindness had earned her a few other friends as well.

However she hadn't heard from Steve since he had talked to Hopper and word around the town was Steve had become friends with Tommy and Carol, the cliché popular couple.

Even if you weren't part of the 'popular' kids in school you knew Tommy and Carol. Not only had they been sleeping together since seventh grade they were two of the cruellest kids in school and Elizabeth was not looking forward to meeting them.

Suddenly she realised the yelling had stopped. Hearing footsteps on the stairs she quickly wiped away her tears and sat at her desk making it look like she had been writing something.
"Elizabeth" her uncle appeared in the doorway
"May I come in?" she nodded, knowing that even if she didn't he would have come in anyway.

"now I know your upset, mainly because of school but I really believe that going back will be good for you" she looked away

"really Its the truth but I got you something as well as an apology of sorts."

he placed something on the desk. She looked over to see a pair of shoes.

They were small, black shoes with a little heel, maybe two inches high she guessed. Elizabeth looked at her uncle in confusion

"Now that your brothers gone, our family - especially you, needs to be watching out for the town gossips".

As much as she hated her uncle, Elizabeth knew he was right. People in the town had begun to whisper behind her back when she went out, whether it was on her own or with her mother, and the constant pitying looks had become upsetting. She looked back over to her uncle and nodded, a way to show she understood. Her uncle just smiled

"When you go out from now on you should wear these. They'll help you look respectable and put together. Always remember Elizabeth, the more respectable you look the sooner the whispers will stop."

he patted her on the shoulder and turned to leave.

"I'm just trying to protect you."
and with that he was gone leaving her alone with the thoughts of the towns judgement.