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“Where’s Will?” Joyce asks.
She finishes drying off the last dish in the kitchen and sets it in its respected cabinet. She closes the cabinet door and turns away from the sink, drying her hands on the hand towel slung over the oven door.
“He left a while ago, but I don’t know where he went. I called the Wheeler’s house but he’s not there. And neither is Mike.”
Jonathan nods.
“I’ll go look for him.” He turns to Nancy, who’s sitting on the faintly yellow colored couch. “You wanna come, Nance?”
Nancy looks up from the paper she was writing on (college application, Jonathan assumes) and in his direction. She nods, putting her pencil down.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
She gets up and Jonathan grabs his car keys, then grabs his jacket and walks over to the front door. Nancy slips her shoes on and Jonathan gives his mother a quick goodbye before they head outside.
The sun is in its first setting stage, sky filled with streaks of two shades of blue, orange, pink, and purple. They get into the car and Jonathan starts the engine, turning up the heat a little. It’s starting to get a little colder, summer’s gone and Autumn is on the way. Slowly.
“Let’s… go to my house?” Nancy suggests once her boyfriend starts pulling away from the house.
Jonathan nods and drives through his neighborhood. It takes about ten minutes until they get to the Wheeler’s. Nancy unbuckles her seat belt.
“I’ll go check really quick. You’ll stay here?”
Jonathan nods again and Nancy closes the passenger’s door, then walks up to her house. She opens the door and closes it behind her. She hears a voice call out from the living room.
“Just me, Mom!” Nancy calls back. “One sec!”
She walks down to the basement, where her brother and his friends spend a lot of their time. It’s empty of any human beings. She walks back upstairs and up the other flight. She checks Mike’s room. Nothing.
Nancy walks downstairs and checks the kitchen, then she walks into the garage and huffs. Nothing in sight. She walks to the backyard, checking in spots Mike and Will used to hide in when they were little. Then she walks into the living room, where she sees her mom on the couch.
Karen smiles, wine glass in hand.
“What’s going on, sweetie? You know, there’s a new episode of-”
“Looking for Mike and Will,” Nancy says absently, checking behind furniture in case they’re hiding without Karen’s knowledge. “Hey Mom, has Mike been home recently?”
“I haven’t seen him for a few hours. I think he said something about taking a walk.”
Nancy huffs. Mike likes to be alone when he wants to unwind from everything. But if Will’s not home either…
“He’s probably just at the arcade,” Nancy says. She starts heading towards the door. “Later, Mom!”
Before Karen can respond, Nancy closes the door and walks back to Jonathan’s car. She gets inside with a small huff leaving her lips.
“Let’s check the arcade.”
Jonathan pulls out of the driveway and starts driving out of the neighborhood. They drive to the arcade and hop out. They walk inside and look around, music loud in their ears and bright, colorful lights shining every which way.
“Nope,” Jonathan says after a few minutes of searching.
Nancy sighs and they walk back outside. They get in the car and Jonathan puts his hands on the wheel.
“Where now?” Nancy asks.
Jonathan shrugs. “Let’s just drive around. Maybe we’ll come across them on the sidewalk or something.”
Nancy nods and Jonathan starts driving again. It’s quiet between them, both keeping an eye on the streets and glancing over small shops they drive by. It’s starting to get dark, nearing dusk, but there’s still a bit of light in the sky.
After minutes, the feeling that the boys could be anywhere in this stupid town starts settling over the two.
Nancy furrows her brows after another minute of silence, looking over at Jonathan as he drives aimlessly.
“Do you smell that?”
Jonathan blinks and sniffs the air. It’s familiar, but… he can’t quite place his finger on it.
He nods, following the scent.
“It’s coming from over here,” he says, turning the wheel into a rest stop with a bunch of trees and bushes from where it blocks it off. It’s a cutout of concrete they put down to split the forest.
Jonathan turns off the car and the two get out. Nancy wraps her jacket tighter around herself, feeling the chill of the quickly darkening night.
They walk across the concrete and through the trees and bushes. Once they pass through, they follow faded footprints on the sandy gravel. They look up and spot two figures in the distance, shadowed by the setting sun and waking moon.
Nancy and Jonathan look at each other and approach the two figures. Nancy raises her brows and Jonathan blinks as they step closer.
“Oh God,” she murmurs.
Their baby brothers are sitting by the quarry, legs dangling off the edge. They’re giggling and shaking their shoulders with each motion.
“Hey!” Nancy calls out. Both boys flinch and stop giggling, turning to look behind them. “Get away from the ledge!”
Mike and Will don’t budge, and instead look at her and Jonathan in confusion. Nancy huffs and approaches them. She grabs a wrist for both.
“Back!” She says, yanking them back.
They both yelp as she pulls them away from the ledge, legs back on the gravel. Will spots Jonathan in the nearby distance and goes quiet. Mike blinks up at Nancy, trying to make sense of her. Then his eyes widen in recognition and a dopey smile grows on his face.
“Ohh, hey!” He slurs.
The boys burst out in giggles again and Nancy blinks down at them.
“Are you two high?”
They only laugh more. Nancy looks up at Jonathan. He walks over, blinking incredulously.
“What the- is that- where did-”
Jonathan bends down and snatches a stick of pot between them. He holds it up and looks at Will.
“Where did you get this?”
Will shrugs loosely, hiccupping.
Nancy steps closer and makes a face.
“God, you guys reek of weed.”
Mike huffs and rolls his eyes in Mike Wheeler-fashion.
“It’s just marijuana.”
Nancy furrows her brows at his slow, clearly out of it, slurred voice. She looks up at Jonathan beside her. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair.
“Our brothers are high,” he mumbles. “Great.”
She looks between the two teens.
“What are you guys doing here? Why are you smoking?”
Mike hiccups, and he and Will break out in chuckles again.
Nancy, slowly getting annoyed, grabs Mike’s shoulders to steal his attention.
“What are you doing here?” She repeats.
Mike stops laughing and looks at her with his own look of annoyance and yawns.
“Well, we uhhh wanted to get away because… be- because…” He looks at Will.
Will blinks at him slowly. Jonathan raises an eyebrow as he gives him a once over. Is this how Will sees me when I’m high?
“Because we had to get away.” Mike looks at Nancy and shrugs noncommittally.
She furrows her brows. “Get away from what?”
“Life,” Will blurts. Both Nancy and Jonathan look at him. He copies Mike’s shrug, the movement slow and halfhearted. “Just life.”
Nancy runs her hand down her face, letting out a sigh, and shakes her head.
“Ok.” She grabs Mike’s arms and starts pulling him up. “Come on, let’s go.”
Mike grumbles as Nancy pulls him to his feet, and Jonathan pulls Will up.
They pull their stoned brothers to the car, mumbling quietly. The two drag their feet like children.
Mike slips out of Nancy’s grip and makes a break for it, but before Nancy can do anything, Jonathan steps in. He releases Will and reaches out, taking a couple large strides to grab Mike’s arm.
He starts pulling him towards the car. Mike whines and starts stomping like a child throwing a tantrum as Jonathan leads him back to the car. Meanwhile, Nancy walks over to Will, who’s just standing there swaying slightly, and takes his arm.
She guides him to the car and makes him sit.
Will starts flapping his arms slowly and loosely, almost hitting Nancy in the face. She grunts and ducks under his movements, positioning him in the seat as she picks up his legs and puts them inside the car.
“I’m a fairy!” He singsongs.
Nancy smiles a faint thing. “Sure you are, Will.”
Will turns his head and his eyes widen as he looks up.
“Look! It’s a bird! Or is that a plane? Or…” He glares at the sky.
Nancy decides to humor him and turns to look at the sky.
“It’s a plane, Will.”
Will grins and leans into the seat, back pressing against the cushion and head hitting the headrest.
Jonathan forces Mike inside the car, having been met with at least seven whines of protest, five grumbles, and three “get off’s.”
Jonathan huffs and looks at Nancy. She shakes her head.
“Alright, buckle up.”
Neither boy moves. Jonathan and Nancy give each other the same look: seriously?
She grabs the seat belt on her side of the car and Jonathan grabs his. He struggles to put the seat belt over Mike, but Mike complies when Nancy gives him a death glare.
Nancy moves the seat belt over Will and has no complaints from the latter. But his hand is covering the buckle, almost absentmindedly. She slaps his hand and he retracts it, giggling. Nancy gives him an unimpressed look as she clips the seat belt in, and Will giggles again.
She closes the door and he lets out a small yelp. She opens the door and realizes his pantleg is stuck in between the door and the seat, meaning the door hit his leg when she closed it.
Nancy shoves Will’s leg further inside the car, muttering a sorry and closes the door again. She gets in the passenger seat as Jonathan gets in the front and starts the car.
Click.
Nancy turns around and glares at Mike, who’s just undone his seat belt. He returns the glare.
“It’s too tight,” he says, like that’ll let him off the hook.
She reaches over, twisting her body to the back of the car and towards him, diagonal from him. She grabs the seat belt and snaps it back on, moving the belt so the leather isn’t pressed against his stomach anymore.
Mike lets out a grunt when she releases the seat belt and lets it slap against his chest. He frowns and leans back into the seat, looking out the window.
Jonathan starts driving. “Now Nance already asked this twice,” he starts, glancing in the rearview mirror. “But actually answer it this time. What are you guys doing out here?”
Will sobers up a little and looks down at his lap.
“Well, I was… tired. I needed a break, and…” He sighs, shifting slightly. “Vecna is getting to me. I- I mean, I’m having anxiety. I’m stressed.” He fidgets with his fingers. “So I just thought… it wouldn’t hurt to try some weed.”
When he looks up, Jonathan is staring at him in the rearview mirror. He swallows hard as they lock eyes and Jonathan raises a brow.
“You’re having anxiety and you’re stressed so you… you decided to smoke marji?”
“Yeah.” Will shifts defensively. “So? You do the same thing.”
Nancy looks at Jonathan, who lowers his gaze to his hands on the wheel. He lets out a quiet sigh.
Will looks at Mike, who’s staring out the window, watching the dark outlines of trees fly past. Nancy turns over her shoulder to look at him.
“What’s your excuse?”
Mike moves his head away from the window and towards her. He shrugs.
“I was with Will.”
Nancy doesn’t look impressed.
“That’s your excuse?”
“It’s the truth.”
She looks at Will. He nods.
Nancy sighs and turns back around in her seat. The boys in the back are quiet. The car is filled with the sound of pebbles getting crushed by the tires and the low hum of the engine.
It’s quiet for almost five minutes until-
“Don’t tell Mom.”
Jonathan almost scoffs at Will’s request, rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
“Please,” Will adds, voice strained. He sounds sober and high at the same time.
“Yeah,” Jonathan grips the wheel, looking disbelieving, like he might laugh in Will’s face about this. “No shot.”
“Please,” Will stresses. “I don’t- I don’t wanna worry her.”
Jonathan actually scoffs this time.
“Right. You don’t wanna worry her more than she already does.”
Will shrinks back in his seat. Nancy sighs and attempts to compromise.
“Just don’t do it again,” she says. “You’re too young.”
She doesn’t return a nod from either boy, so she turns around to look back at them. Even with her expectant gaze, they still don’t respond.
“Ok?”
Nothing. She slaps Mike’s leg.
Mike startles. “Yeah, ok.”
Nancy looks expectantly at Will. He looks dazed. She snaps her fingers in front of his face. He blinks and looks at her.
“Ok, Will?”
Will blinks twice. “What?” He says stupidly.
She sighs and Jonathan purses his lips in secondhand embarrassment.
“I said is that ok?”
Nancy keeps staring at Will. It’s clear her words from a minute ago are turning through his head. He finally nods, blinking dazedly.
“Uh, yeah, yeah, of course.”
She decides to test if he’s really here.
“Ok?”
He nods. “Ok.”
“Got it?”
“Sure.”
“No more marijuana.”
Will startles when she puts her hand on his knee for emphasis.
“Okk,” he whines like a kid.
Satisfied enough, Nancy turns back around and steals a glance at Jonathan. Jonathan shakes his head, giving her a silent message.
Our brothers are idiots.
Nancy rolls her eyes with a small smile.
Don’t need to tell me twice.
Mike and Will sit quietly, looking at each other for a minute before they look between their siblings. Then they look back at each other and start laughing softly again.
Nancy raises her eyebrows, staring out of the windshield.
“Oh, is this funny to you?”
Will tries to stop laughing but she can see him smiling in the rearview mirror.
She scoffs. “You guys are such dumbasses.”
Mike squawks indignantly and Will lets out another small laugh. Jonathan tries to appear annoyed, but he looks slightly amused. Even Nancy herself, as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, finds herself secretly finding it funny.
She lets out a long sigh.
“Well, I didn’t expect this tonight.”
Jonathan lets out a small huff of laughter.
“No, me either.” He looks in the rearview mirror at his little brother. “Mom was looking for you. She’d started worrying twice as hard. If she found out what you did…”
Will sighs, shaking his head.
“I’d rather jump off the quarry.”
The change in atmosphere is immediate. Jonathan’s hands freeze on the wheel. Nancy’s eyes widen as she slowly turns her head to look at him. Mike’s jaw drops and his body goes stiff.
Will looks around the car awkwardly, shrinking back into himself.
Jonathan, without looking, reaches over and slaps Will’s knee. Will lets out a small gasp and flinches a little at the touch, but doesn’t say anything. He looks down at his lap. He figures he deserved that.
Will looks up and sees Mike staring at him with a surprised and hurt look. He knows that Mike was deeply affected by the sight of Will’s “body” being pulled out of the quarry. Will swallows hard. How could he make a joke about something so depressing? So insensitive.
“I’m sorry,” Will whispers to Mike, guilt spreading over his face. “I’m sorry. I- I shouldn’t have said that.”
Mike waves a hand and tries to brush it off with a small smile, but Will can tell his comment really hit him in the feels. He swallows hard again and looks in the rearview mirror. Jonathan steals glances at him through the mirror, something sad on his face. Nancy sits quietly too.
Will figures he should say something to hopefully break the tension.
“Sorry,” he mutters. “Just- just don’t tell her, please.”
Jonathan nods wordlessly. Granted, he’d rather have their mother find out than have his brother drown in the quarry for real. Just the thought makes him shiver.
It’s quiet and rather awkward again. Nancy turns over her shoulder slowly and looks at Will with concern.
Will swallows hard once again and looks away, not finding it in himself to look at her face of full worry and pity. She hands him a small slip of paper. Startled, he takes the paper, squinting his eyes to read it in the dim car light.
208-325-971
Ms. Kelley
Therapist/Guidance Counselor
Will feels his throat tighten at the realization of what Nancy’s implying. He wonders why she even has this on her right now of all times. He looks up at her to see her still looking at him. He gives her a small smile and she returns it.
It's quiet for a few minutes before Nancy clears her throat.
“So, when we get back to your house,” she looks between Jonathan and Will. “We’re gonna pretend like this never happened. But whenever we’re all together again, it’s on sight.”
Mike and Will gulp albeit nod sheepishly.
“Until then, neither of you can touch pot. You understand?”
Both boys nod. Nancy looks at Jonathan.
“Neither can you.”
Jonathan scoffs, giving her a look. She nods her head to the back seats.
“It’s not a good influence for him.”
Jonathan looks at Will in the rearview mirror.
“You stole from my stash, didn’t you?”
Will looks at his lap, nodding sheepishly. Jonathan sighs and nods at Nancy’s expectant gaze.
“Ok,” he says softly.
Nancy nods and turns back towards the windshield. It’s quiet again.
“Never again,” she states.
Mike and Will hear her and look at each other.
So close.