Despite not being one for the “weird nerdy games” your brother plays, you hated how not himself he’d been recently. According to Dustin and his friends, they were playing Dungeons and Dragons at Mike’s house one night, they all went home, and hadn’t seen Will since. Your brother and the rest of the party had spent ages out of the house, searching for the missing member of their group, finding a girl with telekinetic powers along the way — a girl who Lucas was extremely reluctant to let into the group.

In your own way, you could understand how he felt. At one of Steve’s parties, you and your boyfriend had left your friend Barb outside, and when you returned, she’d vanished without a trace. But your brother was hurting, and while Barb’s disappearance was hard on you, you couldn’t do nothing about Dustin.

You’d accompanied the party to Hawkins Middle School, and you helped Dustin carry a large number of salt bags into the gym for a sensory deprivation tank. If you had to get to the Upside Down, there was one person who could do it — El. You didn’t know the night would end with a portal to the Upside Down right in front of your face, a clear entryway to where the missing residents of Hawkins may potentially be.

“You didn’t have to come. You could’ve stayed with Steve, looked for Barb. Know you don’t like… nerdy… board games.”


You look over at Dustin as he speaks, noticing he’s not looking at you. Did he think you didn’t care? Well, clearly he must do, otherwise he wouldn’t be bringing that up. You shake your head as you pick up a bag of salt, glancing at your brother from the corner of your eye and telling him that no, you’d rather be here, with him. If Barb is in the same place as Will, it means you can both find your friends. That’s a win.

“Might not find any of them. You’re probably just wasting your time.”

Did he not want you here? If anything happened to Dustin and you weren’t there, you’d hate yourself. Finally, he looked up at you.

"Thanks for helping, though."