far too young to die ✰ m.w.

CHAPTER THREE

Early the next morning, after a whole night of anxiety and no sleep, Emily asked Joyce to take her to the Wheelers', using the excuse that she was going to ride her bike to school with Mike again. Even though she again had no intention of actually going to school, she was glad when Joyce agreed and dropped her off at the Wheelers' with her bike. Just like the day prior, Emily went straight to the basement where Eleven and Mike were, and Mike explained what had happened the night before.

Apparently just after Emily had left, Lucas tried to leave Mike's room to tell Mrs. Wheeler about Eleven, but Eleven had used her telekinetic powers to close and lock the door. Emily had just stared openmouthed at Mike for a few moments in disbelief, then looked at Eleven and back again.

"You know, if we were talking about anyone else, I probably would not believe you," she confessed, "but somehow, it makes sense."

But that wasn't all that had happened. Later on that night, Mike told her, Eleven had used his Dungeons & Dragons gameboard, along with the character Will always used and the Demogorgon piece to demonstrate to the boys that Will was hiding from something: A monster.

Eventually, Lucas and Dustin arrived, and the group of four began to formulate a new plan for going out to look for Will. This time, they would include Eleven, who clearly knew something they didn't.

"We just tell our parents we have AV Club after school," Mike said. "That'll give us at least a few hours for Operation Mirkwood."

"She's not in AV Club," Dustin pointed out, motioning to Emily, who stood between him and Mike as the four were gathered around the table.

"She is now."

Emily found herself grinning but quickly stopped when she saw Lucas looking suspiciously at her.

"You seriously think that the weirdo knows where Will is?" Lucas asked.

"Don't call her that," Emily told him.

"Just trust me on this, okay?" Mike requested. "Did you get the supplies?"

"Yeah," Lucas said, reaching down to grab his backpack and setting the items on the table as he listed them off. "Binoculars... from 'Nam. Army knife... also from 'Nam. Hammer, camouflage bandana... and the wrist rocket."

"You're gonna take out the Demogorgon with a slingshot?" Dustin questioned.

"First of all, it's a wrist rocket-"

"'First of all,'" Emily began in a mocking tone, "it's useless." She turned to Dustin, ignoring Lucas rolling his eyes at her. "What'd you get?"

Dustin grabbed his backpack and dumbed all of its contents onto the table. "Well, alrighty," he began. "So, we've got... Nutty Bars, Bazooka, Pez, Smarties, Pringles, Nilla Wafers, apple, banana, and trail mix."

Emily grabbed the Pringles and opened them. "Dustin," she said, taking out one of the chips, "you're a genius."

"Seriously?" Lucas asked exasperatedly.

"We need energy for our travels. For stamina. Which is exactly why someone shouldn't eat all of the Pringles before we even leave the house," Dustin said, taking the Pringles away from Emily, who groaned. "And besides, why do we even need weapons anyway? We have her." He motioned to Eleven, who was sitting on the couch playing with Mike's supercomm.