Chapter Text
It's October 28, 1984. It was Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will, and me who were meeting at the arcade, as we always do. It’s something they did every weekend before what happened last year, but we’re over that now. Right as Will and I get out of the car, our mom smiles and quips, “Okay, so I'll pick you up in two hours. That's 9 o’clock on the dot.” She says firmly. She's been even more overprotective of me and Will than she ever has in the past, after last year.
“Okay, okay,” Will and I say at the same time from the backseat, both of us excited that she's letting us stay without her supervision for the first time since. We open the car doors, and our mom keeps talking.
“If anything happens, if you need to come home, just ask them to use their phone and call home. Okay? Don't-”
“Don't walk or bike home-” I say.
“We know,” Will adds.
“You know I’ll keep him safe. We have to go-” I say, and we start climbing out of the car.
“Have fun!” Mom smiles, and we get out and close the doors, waving and saying our goodbyes and ‘I love yous' as she drives away.
We run over to our friends, and we all go inside. Lucas and Dustin head straight for a game called “Dragon's Lair,” so Mike, Will, and I follow them over, and we all crowd around the small machine to watch Dustin play. When he loses, he starts yelling about overpriced bullshit, and Lucas just laughs, "You're just not nimble enough, but you’ll get there one day. But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine.”
“You know what? Whatever. I’m still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug.” Dustin says.
“You sure about that?” Keith says, coming over from across the room. Keith works at the arcade, and he’s the same age as Jonathan, Nancy, and K, Will and I’s brother, and Mike and Dustin’s older sisters. He looks like a greasy mall rat, and he barely even works; he just plays games the whole time.
“Sure about what?” Dustin asks, annoyed now, and Keith shoves a handful of Cheetos in his mouth. “You’re kidding…” Dustin says and runs over to the Centipede and Dig Dug machines. “No no no no no!”
“751,300 points!” I say, surprised.
“That's not possible,” Mike says, confused.
“Yeah, well, apparently it is, Dingus,” I say to Mike.
“Who’s Mad Max?” Dustin turns to Keith.
“Better than you.” Keith shrugs, and Dustin and I flip him off.
“Is it you?” Will asks.
Keith scoffs. “You know I despise Dig Dug.”
“Then who is it?” Lucas asks.
“Yeah, spill it, Keith,” Dustin says, still annoyed.
“You want information, then I need something in return,” Keith smirks, and everyone looks at Mike.
“No. No, no, no way! You're not getting a date with her.” He says, knowing exactly what Keith wants.
“Mike, come on, just get him the date,” Lucas says, desperate to know who Mad Max is.
“I’m not prostituting my sister!” Mike says, annoyed.
“But it's for a good cause!” Lucas complains.
“Gross.” Will and I say at the same time, and Lucas glares at us.
“No, don't get him the date. You know what? He's gonna spread his nasty ass rash to your whole family!” Dustin says.
I can't hold back my laugh, and Keith says, “Acne isn’t a rash, and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid.”
“Oh, I’m a wastoid?” Dustin asks, confused.
“She wouldn't go on a date with you anyway,” I tell Keith.
“Who even are you anyway?” Keith asks me because I normally don't come here, and when I do, I usually just play something alone, but Mom made me promise to stay with Will this time. “His little girlfriend? You haven't left his side since you got here.” He says, gesturing to Will.
Will and I glance at each other, and everyone looks at Keith, disgusted. “What?” Will and I ask at the same time. “Were you watching us this whole time, you weirdo? And no- We’re twins-”
“Twins?” Keith asks and shakes his head. “You don't look identical.”
“Uh, yeah- that’s because we're not? Boy, girl twins can't be identical.” I say with an attitude.
“All twins are identical, that's what twins are!” Keith argues.
I sigh and roll my eyes, “Are you serious right now?”
“No wonder you make like what? $2.50 an hour?” Dustin says.
“Nice perm,” Keith says.
“Oh, you're gonna make fun of my hair? Really?” Dustin asks, confused.
“Wait, where's Will?” I ask, and Mike seems to be the only one who hears me; Lucas and Dustin are still focused on arguing with Keith.
Mike looks at me, concerned, and we both look around before Mike sees him outside and immediately walks towards the door. I follow him and walk straight over to Will. “Will-” I say, putting my hand on his shoulder.
He gasps and turns to face us. “Are you ok?” Mike asks, gently pushing past me to get to Will, and puts his arm around his shoulders.
“Yeah… I just.. I just needed some air…” Will stutters, looking at the sky again.
“Come on.. You're up on Dig Dug, let's take that top score back, huh?” Mike says, leading Will inside, his arm still around him, and I walk behind them, a small smile on my face.
—
October 29th. 11:53 AM
—
There was a new girl at school today, and Lucas and Dustin insisted on trying to figure out if it was Mad Max because Lucas claims none of us know a single other Max and that it's not a coincidence that a girl named Max shows up the day after a Mad Max beat everyone's high score. I tried to explain to them that we look like stalkers, but they didn't care; they wanted to find out.
Mike, Will, and I sigh and just go along with it, not bothering to argue. Eventually, she throws a piece of crumpled paper into the trash and goes inside. Lucas and Dustin run over to the trash can, and Dustin bends over, his whole upper half in the trash can as he digs for the paper. “Are you actually serious right now?” I ask. Everyone ignores me, and we all read what the paper says.
“Stop spying on me, CREEPS!”
“See?” I ask, sighing when the principal comes over to us.
“William and River Byers. Your mother's here.” He says and walks us inside and through the halls. Everyone we walk past looks at Will, either scared or disgusted. I glare at all of them, and they look away when I do, knowing I don't put up with any of the bullshit names they call him, especially Zombie Boy.
When we get back outside, I can see Mike, Lucas, and Dustin watching us. I wave sadly, and Dustin waves back. “You guys think they're ok?”
“They're always weird when Will has to go in,” Lucas says.
“I don't know. Will’s quiet today.” Mike says quietly.
Lucas shrugs. “He's always quiet.”
“Riv isn’t,” Dustin says.
When we arrive at the doctor's office, I watch sadly as they administer shots to Will and connect him to a machine that displays his brain waves. Mom always says I should stay home or at school when this happens, but I refuse to let him come alone. So does Mike, when I'm not here for whatever reason, he comes instead.
—
6:11 pm
—
Will is sitting in his bed, drawing, and I'm lying on my bed, writing the story I’ve been working on in my notebook, when we hear a knock on our bedroom door.
“Hey, guys,” Jonathan says, opening the door. “I wasn't sure what you guys liked, so I got a variety,” he says, holding up the three DVDs he has. “Take your pick.”
“Whatever you want,” Will says, kind of annoyed.
“All right…” Jonathan says and sits on Will's bed. “What’re you guys working on?”
“I'm writing my book,” I smile.
Jonathan smiles back, “That's cool, are you illustrating it?” He asks Will, leaning over to see what Will’s drawing is. “Zombie Boy? Who’s Zombie boy?”
“Me,” Will says quietly.
“No, you're not-” I start.
“Did someone call you that?” Jonathan asks, confused.
“Everyone's been calling him that…” I say sadly.
“Hey… you can talk to me…” Jonathan says softly. “You know that, right? Whatever happened. Will come on, talk to me…”
“Stop treating me like that,” Will says, looking up at Jonathan now.
“What? Like what?” Jonathan asks, confused.
“Like everyone but Riv does. Like there's something wrong with me.” Will says, frustrated.
“What are you talking about?” Jonathan's still confused.
“Mom, Dustin, Lucas. Everyone. They all treat me like I'm gonna break. Like I'm a baby, like I can't handle things on my own. It doesn't help. It just makes me feel like more of a freak.” Will says, clearly upset.
“You're not a freak…” I say, sadly.
“Yeah, Riv… I am. I am.” Will says.
“Will…” I start, trying to figure out how to say what I want to say.
“You know what? You're right.” Jonathan says. “You are a freak.”
“What?” Will asks, hurt.
“Jonathan-” I say, but he cuts me off.
“No. I'm serious. You're a freak. But what? Do you wanna be normal? Do you wanna be just like everyone else? Being a freak is the best, alright? I'm a freak.” Jonathan explains.
“Is that why you don't have any friends?” I ask
“I-I-” He laughs awkwardly. “I have friends, Riv.”
“Is that why you always hang out with us?” Will asks quietly.
“Because you guys are my best friends… all right? And I'd rather be friends with Zombie Boy and Miss Piggy than be friends with a boring nobody. You know what I mean?” Jonathan asks, and when we don’t say anything, he sighs and keeps talking. “Ok, look… who would you rather be friends with? Bowie or Kenny Rodgers?”
“Eughh!” Will and I groan at the same time.
Jonathan laughs. “Exactly, it's no contest. The thing is… nobody normal ever accomplished anything meaningful in this world. You got it?”
“Well… some people like Kenny Rodgers…” Will says.
“Kenny Rodgers? I love Kenny Rodgers!" Bob, our mom's boyfriend, says as he walks in the doorway. The three of us glance at each other and smile. “What's so funny?” Bob asks.
“Nothing.” Will and I smile.
“Mr. Mom. Whoo! Perfect.” Bob says, grabbing one of the movies Jonathan brought in earlier on his way out, and Jonathan, Will, and I look at each other and laugh.
—
3:22 am
—
I wake up suddenly, something I do a lot now. It was way worse when Will was missing, but the nightmares never fully went away. I get up to climb into Will’s bed like I always do. I need to be close to him and hear him breathing, or I’ll never fall back asleep.
In the dark room, as my eyes focus, I realize Will isn't in his bed. I walk out of our room immediately, hoping he's in the bathroom or something. I walk down the hallway, hoping to see the bathroom light on. It is, but the doors open, and Will isn't in there.
That's when I hear the wind outside. I turn my head and see the front door open. Will’s just standing on the porch, staring at the sky, and he's shaking. I run over to him, already knowing what's happening. “Will!” I say, shaking him out of it. He gasps and blinks a few times, convincing himself I’m really here before he hugs me tightly. I hug him back and lead him back inside. “Come on… you're safe… let's go to sleep…” I say, and we go back to our room and climb into his bed to sleep.