❝ will is missing. ❞

         "WHERE IS DUSTIN?" Marina Prince asked her daughter when she saw her enter through the front door. She was in the living room, watching TV as Claudia Henderson was in her own room, speaking on the phone. Evelyn Prince was supposed to pick up her cousin, Dustin, from the Wheeler's residence, but she came home alone. Instead of picking him up, she was hanging out with her friend, Joshua.

         "Aunt Claudia said that he can just come home on his bike." Evelyn told.

          Marina sighed, "But what about the other boys? You could've picked Dustin up and offer his friends a ride home too, Ev."

         "They have their own bikes." Evelyn sat down on the couch beside her mother. "And plus, Dustin said they always ride on their bikes together. They're fine."

          And as if on cue, the front door opens once more, revealing Dustin. "Hey, Ev. Hey, Aunt Mars."

         "Hey, how was the D&D game?" Marina asked her nephew with a smile on her face.

         "Lasted ten hours." He answered, tiredly.

         "You've been playing for ten hours?" Evelyn questioned, stifling back a chuckle. She knew the times they played Dungeons & Dragons would be extreme, but was it really that intense?

          "Yeah, it was a big campaign. I also owe Will an X-Men comic. Do you know where my mom stored all of them?" Dustin asked.

          "You can check the closet in the hallway. It should be in a box." Marina pointed down the hall.

            "Thanks. Goodnight, guys." Dustin said before jogging to the closet to retrieve the box.

          "If you picked him up, he wouldn't be so tired." Marina scolded, whispering to her.

          "Mom."

           "What? I'm just saying." She wrapped her arm around her daughter and ran her fingers through her hair.

━━━━━━━━

The following day, Joshua and Barb scanned the halls, looking for Nancy. While Evelyn and Joshua were hanging out last night, Nancy revealed to them and Barb about her relationship with Steve Harrington. Evelyn was repulsed by it, given her negative feelings about the man, but who was she to get in the way of Nancy's happiness? Even though Evelyn wholeheartedly thought Nancy deserved better than douchebag.

Joshua and Barb managed to finally find Nancy so they could press her about Steve even more. While Evelyn was at her locker, she saw the group approaching her. "We just made out a couple times." Nancy informed, about to open up her locker that was right beside Evelyn's.

"That's disgusting." Joshua commented and Nancy playfully rolled her eyes.
"We just made out a couple times." Barb mocked, giving her a knowing look. "Nance, seriously. You're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous."

"No, I'm not." She shook her head. "Besides, we already have a cool friend." Nancy looked at Evelyn.

The Prince girl paused her routine of stashing her books in her locker when she realized her friends stood in complete silence as they all stared at her. "Who said I was cool?" She asked.

"Everyone in this school." Nancy replied.

"Okay, but at least Evelyn still hangs out with us. You should still be hanging out with us too when you get all popular and stuff. That's all I'm saying." Barb told the Wheeler girl. Nancy gave her group of friends a look. Why would she ever ditch her lifelong friends?

"If you become friends with Tommy H or Carol, I will hurl AV equipment at you every day." Joshua teased her.

"Oh, gross. Never." Nancy responded. Tommy and Carol were absolutely the worst people at Hawkins High School. Everybody despised them, but they mistook it for fear. "I'm telling you guys, it was a one time. . . two time thing." She then stopped in her tracks when she found a note from Steve in her locker. The words were fairly large, so the whole group was able to read it.

"You sure about that, Nance?" Evelyn quirked her eyebrows together. Nancy smiled, contemplating if she should meet with Steve. "Just go ahead, we know you want to. Just tell Harrington to keep it in his pants, okay?"

Nancy nodded before closing her locker and heading to the bathroom. The three watched her go as Joshua said, "We're already losing her to that idiot, aren't we?"

Evelyn nodded, "Unfortunately."

━━━━━━━━

         "If the two of you need anything, please call us. Also, please stay out of trouble and be safe." Marina said that night rushing out the door with Claudia. She pointed at her daughter, "You take care, 'kay? Take care of yourself and Dustin. Please call us when you can." Marina and Claudia made plans to visit a few relatives to support them during a familial issue.

         "I know, mom. Don't worry." Evelyn assured. Marina placed a kiss on her forehead before her and Claudia waved goodbye to their children. "Bye, mom. Bye, Aunt Claudia."

          "Bye, mom and Aunt Mars." Dustin waved, unusually unenthusiastic.

          Once the door was closed, Dustin immediately plopped down on the couch and sighed exasperatedly. The obvious fake smile that was on his face when his mom and aunt left quickly faltered. He's been moody and upset all day ever since he came home from school and he wouldn't tell anyone why. So, Evelyn sat down beside him and asked, "What's up with you?"

          He sighed once more and contemplated telling her. This was some serious shit and the last thing he wanted was Evelyn worrying. But ultimately, he reluctantly decided to tell her. "Will is missing."

         "Haha, that's so funny. I'm being serious, what's going on?" Evelyn asked, a lighthearted scoff coming out of her mouth.

        "So am I. I'm dead serious right now, Ev."

          She glared at him with the most incredulous look plastered on one's face, "What? He's missing?"

           "Yeah," He answered. "he wasn't at school today and then the cops came to speak to us and told us he was missing."

           "What? Dustin, why didn't you tell us this when you came home?" Evelyn stood up.

          "I thought he'd be found by now! The sheriff said he's got it, but we haven't heard anything." He defended himself. He then sheepishly spoke, "Which reminds me. . . can you maybe drive Mike, Lucas, and I somewhere?"

          Evelyn kept glaring at her cousin, too scared and stunned to even think about why he would ask such a thing instantly after telling her that his friend is missing. Her eyes were slightly widened, still taken aback by the news of Will's disappearance. Despite this, she still asked him slowly, "Why?"

            "We're gonna look for Will."

           "Are you insane? I'm not taking you and your friends to where Will went missing. It's incredibly dangerous and how would you even know you'll find him there?" She explained to him.

"Ev, please, this is Mike's idea. You don't even have to come with. You can just stay in the car." He beseeched.

         "No, I'm responsible for you right now and I'm not letting anything bad happen to you or your friends. Let Sheriff Hopper deal with it." Evelyn reasoned.

         Dustin didn't want to do this, but he had no choice. It was his last resort; he had to blackmail her. He knew it was the only way to get a chance of her agreeing. "If you come with us, I won't tell your mom that you scratched her car last year."

         Now, Evelyn knew it was silly to let her 12-year-old cousin blackmail her about a car scratch so he could look for his friend, she knew that. However, Marina Prince is a force to be reckoned with and she is fucking terrifying. She contemplated it for a moment and bit her lip in deep thought. It was stupid that she was even thinking about it right? Jeopardizing her and a bunch of kids' safety to look for a missing child? It was crazy.

          "Fine." She gave in and Dustin muttered a 'yes' to himself. "But you are to never tell my mom or yours about this."

         "Deal."

         They grabbed their coats and a couple of flashlights before getting in Evelyn's classic 1980 Pontiac Fiero that she got for her birthday last year. They picked up Lucas first and then went to Mike's house. When she was pulled over in front of the house, she saw Mike staring at one of the windows. "Mike, let's go." Dustin and Lucas whisper-yelled and motioned for him.

         Evelyn followed Mike's gaze and saw the infamous Steve Harrington attempting — and failing — to sneak into Nancy's bedroom window. She shook her head in embarrassment and whispered to herself, "I don't even wanna know what he's doing."

         Steve looked back behind him and saw Mike running to the car while he was still staring at him. He noticed Evelyn in the car with her cousin and his friends and nonchalantly rolled his eyes and leaned back against the house, pretending like he wasn't doing anything. Evelyn rolled her eyes too and started driving away.

         The entire duration of the drive, the boys had explained to Evelyn exactly what happened from last night up to today. She couldn't help but feel partially at fault. Maybe her mother was right. She should've gone to pick Dustin up and offer his friends a ride. Maybe Will would be here right now and no one would be in this predicament.

By the time the group of four made it to Mirkwood, it was pouring. Once the car pulled over, the boys did not hesitate to take out their flashlights and run to where Will disappeared. Evelyn instantly got out of the car to catch up with them, "Don't run like that!"

          "Will!" The boys shouted.
          "I got your X-Men 134!" Dustin yelled.
          "Will?" Evelyn shouted.

         The quartet repeatedly screamed for Will, hoping that they may have an actual chance to find him. They were hoping to beat the odds and that they'd be the ones to find Will and he'd be safe. But after a few minutes of walking, it didn't seem to happen any time soon. "Guys, I think we should head back." Evelyn suggested.

         "I actually agree." Dustin seconded.

         "Seriously, guys? Stop being a bunch of babies." Lucas retorted.

          "Lucas." Evelyn reprimanded.
          "What, we're just being realistic." Dustin told. "You ever think Will went missing 'cause he ran into something bad? And we're going to the same exact spot when he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything." Evelyn felt proud that he actually thought about the dangers of what they're doing.

         "We have Ev." Lucas protested.

         "Just because I'm older doesn't mean I can fight." Evelyn said.

"You have a bow and arrow in your room." Lucas reminded her.

"Yeah, but I don't bring it everywhere I go." Evelyn told him as she continued walking with the boys, being careful with each step.

         "Guys, shut up." Mike chimed in.

          "Weapons or not, we're just saying, does this seem smart to you?" Dustin yelled.

         "Shut up!" Mike said, even louder this time. "You guys hear that?"

         The group stopped in their tracks as the rustling of leaves on the ground were heard. Faint footsteps were in the background almost being drowned out by the sound of the raindrops. Evelyn whispered, "I don't like this. We're going back to the car, now."

         "No, wait." Mike said. He turned around thinking he heard something, but once the light was shone, there was nothing there. They heard the rustling again and they jumped when they flashed their light into the direction it came from again. It truly scared the shit out of Evelyn when she turned around and saw what was least expected. She couldn't even begin to fathom why she's seeing what she's seeing in the middle of the woods at night in the pouring rain.

         A little girl.

ANGIE'S NOTES☺︎
slow beginning! pls bear with me bc the first
few chapters might be a little slow! trust me
i just wanna jump into steve and evelyn
content, but for right now, i'm just gonna
focus on evelyn as a character and trying to
fit her into the story 😁
anyways, i love u all & tysm for reading
MWAH🤍