Prologue
1983

"I FOUND HIM." Those words are clear as day to everyone in the gym.

The three words are filled with hurt, anger, happiness, and hope. Hurt from all of the pain they'd been through up to then, anger from the frustration of having no leads, happiness from knowing that Will was alive and okay, and hope for a future. The three words allowed any and all feelings to be brought to the surface.

Joyce practically cried out when she heard that Eleven has found Will, and everyone else felt a surge of relief. All except Nancy, who was still coming to terms with the loss of Barb that she had just been made aware of.

Jenson let out a silent whimper and he tightly clutched Lucas' arm. Lucas smiled softly at him and put his head on Jenson's shoulder.

Apart from Will, Lucas had always been the person that Jenson was closest with, and the disappearance of their friend only led to them growing closer. Lucas was the only person who knew of Jenson's true feelings regarding Will, and he was the only person whom he trusted enough to tell.

"We've got him now, Jenson. He'll be okay," Lucas whispered.

"I know. Thank God."

. . .

WHEN WILL WOKE up in the hospital, Jenson was the first one in the room. He ran as if his life depended on it—as if Will was his lifeline. The image of Will, frail and sickly in bed, made Jenson's heartache. He knew that Will was going to need time to recover, but seeing him be so... sick... it was gut-wrenching. Jenson wanted nothing more than to engulf the boy in a long hug—which, along with the rest of the party, he did—and tell him just how much he missed him.

"My god, I missed you, Cherry Boy." Jenson's voice was soft, almost as if Will would break if he spoke any louder.

Will smiled at the sound of the infamous nickname Jenson had gifted him. Cherry Boy; a name he was given due to his love of cherry-flavored everything. Jenson had begun calling him that when they were nine years old, and through the years it just kind of... stuck.

Cherry Boy was the only name Jenson ever wanted to call Will. He completely disregarded his real name and simply stuck to Cherry Boy, sometimes even shortening it down to Cherry. Even when Will was missing, Jenson still referred to him as Cherry Boy.

His name for Will would oftentimes confuse Eleven, and she would tilt her head while furrowing her brows. Jenson would always laugh when she did that, and then he would have to explain that he was talking about Will. She eventually grasped the concept of Will being Cherry Boy, and it became a whole lot easier for her to decipher what Jenson meant when he would say, "Have you got any news on Cherry?"

"I missed you too, Jenson."

Minutes passed before Jenson let go of his grip on Will, but it only felt as if a few seconds had passed.

"Once you've recovered I want you to tell me all about it, okay? I wanna know everything."

"Only if you promise to tell me what it was like for you." Will smiled faintly.

"Deal."

AUTHOR'S NOTE !

I know that this chapter is pretty short, but it's just the prologue so bear with me here, guys. I'm really excited about this book, and I have a bit of free time, so I will update as often as I can. <3