tuesday mornings at the byers

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

Mornings in the Byers household were chaotic. Alina and Will would usually start their day with the sound of their alarm, or, if they forgot to set it, the sound of either Joyce or Jonathan rapping on their door, telling them to wake up. They'd eat a quick breakfast with Skywalker alternating between begging Alina for food and hissing at the walls. Then it was get dressed, brush teeth, and go, Joyce insisting on Jonathan driving them both.

Today, as Alina's eyes popped open to the sound of Joyce calling her name, her heart pounding hard in her chest from a bad dream, she decided it was going to go a little different. Her pillow was wet from drool and the cold sweat she broke out in whenever she had a nightmare, and she flipped it over, wrinkling her nose in disgust, trying not to think of the dream she'd had, which included bloody bodies, Eleven reaching out for her desperately, and the Demogorgon, it's mouth opening like a deranged flower.

She closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. It's gone. The Demogorgon's gone. El killed it. Then she dropped off of the top bunk, landing in a crouch in front of Will, who was just blinking open his bleary eyes.

"Do you have to do that every morning?" he moaned, throwing off the covers. "Why can't you just climb down the ladder like a normal person?"

Alina let out a laugh, standing up. "Nothing about either of us is normal, Byers. Now come on, get up. I'm going to ask your mom if I can bike today."

With another moan, Will forced himself out of bed, and Alina inspected him quickly. His eyes were not red. There were no tear tracks on his face. And he was breathing normally. Unlike her, he seemed to have slept well. For once.

Whenever Will had a nightmare, he'd usually wake up screaming, his anguished cries rousing Alina out of her own uneasy slumber. She'd be able to hear his ragged sobs cut through the air, and so Alina would drop down from her bunk, closing the door as to not wake up either Joyce or Jonathan, and climb into the bunk with Will, wrapping her arms around her friend and comforting him from his night terrors. Inevitably, Will and Alina would eventually fall asleep there together. It was something a real brother and sister would do, Alina thought.

Still, even on the nights Will didn't wake up screaming, Alina would still check for evidence that he hadn't woken up during the night, which is what she was doing now. After a moment, Will seemed to realize, and he turned away. He hated it when she did things like this, but Alina couldn't help it. She felt a strong level of protection over the boy she helped save. She'd do anything to make sure he wasn't hurt again.

After Will padded to the bathroom, Alina moved to the framed photo she kept on her desk. In it, Brandon Fairgrieves grinned at the camera, a Santa hat on his head, while Skywalker knocked over a plant in the background. Alina touched the frame, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Morning, dad."

Alina set the photo down after a long moment and her and Will both headed into the kitchen, where Joyce was humming as she made scrambled eggs. The sight of Will's mother made Alina stumble, remembering all of the similar mornings she'd had with her own father. When he'd make her eggs or pancakes or waffles, when he'd wear his stupid flower apron, where he'd kiss her goodbye.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She missed those mornings.

Alina sat down beside Jonathan, who was already dressed. Skywalker wound around her ankles, and she bent down to stroke her cat's furry head. Jonathan chuckled as Skywalker let out a loud meow.

"Don't listen to his begging," he said. "I already fed him. He's such a spoiled brat."

"I know," said Alina, picking him up and kissing his head. "You're a little baby, aren't you, Sky?"

Skywalker wriggled in her hold, and Alina let him go just as Joyce put a plate of eggs in front of her. She'd made them the way Brandon Fairgrieves had—undercooked, with just enough pepper. Alina felt another surge of sorrow go through there and tipped back her chin, looking up at the ceiling. Although she didn't know if Brandon Fairgrieves was watching her from wherever he was, Alina hoped he was.

I miss you, she thought, trying to project her thoughts past the sky, to wherever he might be. I miss you so much.

Then she looked back to Joyce. "Thank you."

"Of course, sweetie." Joyce buttered some toast. "C'mon, Will, eat up. You want strength for today."

Will rolled his eyes but swallowed a bite of eggs. After biting into a piece of toast, Alina finally mustered up the courage to ask Joyce her question.

"Can I bike to school today?"

Joyce turned, but before she could say anything, Alina continued, "you said you'd think about it when I asked last night, and I think I made some pretty good points. And I promise I'll be careful, I'll be with Mike, Lucas and Dustin." She clasped her hands together. "Please?"

Joyce let out an amused sigh. "Okay. You can bike to school, Alina. But Will, you're still going to get a ride from Jonathan, okay?"

Will groaned. "Okay."

Alina had been begging for the opportunity to ride her bike instead of getting rides from Jonathan for over six months now, but before this Joyce had always shot the idea down, telling Alina that she wanted someone to keep an eye out on her for a little while. She'd been so overprotective that it had been difficult to even be able to run or bike to Lucas's or Dustin's, much less school.

Then, Alina had brought up the fact that biking had literally saved her life last year when she'd run from the bad men. She also reminded Joyce that she wasn't the one who'd gotten kidnapped by the Demogorgon (although Will was hardly to blame) and finally, it seemed that Joyce had relented. One good thing of a thousand bad.

So with a little more enthusiasm than she would usually have on a Tuesday, Alina got dressed and brushed her teeth, waving goodbye to Will, Jonathan and Joyce before hitting the road. As she climbed onto her bike, pedaling madly, she closed her eyes, feeling freer than she had all year. A cool wind rushed through her hair as Alina biked, and she temporarily took her hands off the handlebars as her bike jumped over a speed bump.

She met up with Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, who all grinned when they saw her coming, and the four of them biked together, just like how it used to be. Of course, everything was different now. Eleven was no longer clutching Mike's waist as he pedaled, and Alina knew exactly where Will Byers was. But for a moment, Alina pretended it was like before. Before Eleven and Brandon had both lost their lives.

"You guys excited for Halloween tomorrow?" she asked as they headed up the long path leading to the middle and high school.

Lucas nodded. "Who you gonna call?" he said, mimicking blasting an invisible ghost with a proton blaster. He, Dustin, Mike and Will were all going as Ghostbusters, and while they'd offered to let Alina play Dana, she'd turned down that offer. She was going to go as a skeleton instead, and had already made most of her costume with Jonathan's help. On Halloween night, she'd be painting her face to complete the look.

"Ghostbusters!" the other three chorused, laughing, before dismounting their bikes and lining them neatly in the rack. Today would be a good day. Alina was determined to make it happen. Even if she had to walk the halls where her father's blood had been spilled, sit in the classroom where Eleven had killed the Demogorgon. She couldn't be afraid anymore.

The party headed inside as the bell rang, separating to their lockers. Alina pulled her own open to get her books.

Alina Fairgrieves' locker was the epitome of a middle schooler's. Binders were stacked haphazardly on one another, crumpled pieces of paper shoved in the corners, and photos stuck to the locker door, ranging from everything from pictures of the party to Skywalker to older photos of Alina and her father. Jonathan had taken most of the newer ones, but he'd been teaching her photography recently, and Alina found out that it was something she quite enjoyed.

Alina touched a photo of her dad. This one he and Alina were smiling at the beach, posing in front of the ocean. Linda, who had been on the end when the picture was taken, had been ripped out of it.

Will, whose locker was beside hers, let out a sudden sigh, causing Alina to turn, her books in hand. "What's wrong?"

Will just shook his head, crumpling something in his fist. "Nothing," he said quickly, stowing whatever it was in his pocket. Alina could tell he was lying, though, from the way he clenched his fists to how his eyes scanned the hallway. But she didn't comment. She needed to focus on getting to class without having a panic attack.

Alina shut her locker door and waited for the halls to clear out. She always did this, not wanting to navigate her way through crowds and crowds of people. This caused her to be late to class every single morning, but Mr. Clarke had talked to her about it and promised that he'd start class a few minutes later so she wouldn't miss anything.

For nearly five months after the day both Eleven and Brandon died, Alina's grades had begun to lower. She couldn't focus on school at all, and she'd freak out whenever she was forced to walk the halls of Hawkins Middle. It was almost laughable that she had to be stuck in class after what she'd gone through, what she'd managed to endure.

How could she sit in chemistry class when she knew parallel universes existed? How could she run laps in gym knowing that girls had superpowers? Was she supposed to eat cafeteria food when a monster almost killed her, take tests after being chased by full-grown men with the intention of killing her?

Apparently, the answer was yes. But after talking to the Principal about her grades, Alina resolved to put more energy into school. Listening to music in the halls kept her from seeing them splattered with blood (and she didn't even need music, now), focusing on homework kept her from replaying her father's last words again and again. And now, her grades were above average, higher than she'd ever gotten in her life.

Still, mornings were rough. Alina clenched her fists as the crowds slowly but surely faded, counting to a hundred in her head. When they finally dispersed, she took a deep breath and began walking. Breathe, Alina, she repeated. In and out. Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

The chant in her head helped her reach science class, where most of the class was already sitting. They were so used to her bursting in late every day that they didn't even look up, and Alina slid into her usual seat beside Dustin, who smiled at her. Alina smiled back, taking out her books just as Mr. Clarke, who had a certain flair for the dramatic, slammed a model organ down onto his desk.

"Meet the human brain," he begun. "I know. I know, it doesn't look like much. A little gross even, right? But consider this. There are a hundred billion cells inside this miracle of evolution. All working as one."

As usual, as Mr. Clarke spoke, only five students listened. Alina, Lucas, Mike, Will and Dustin all sat up straighter in their seats, exchanging looks of awe as they listened to Mr. Clarke. The other students seemed to be lost in their own little dreamland. One girl played with a cootie catcher, her mouth slightly open in her boredom. A boy passed notes to his friend. Another girl popped her bubblegum, her eyes trained on the ceiling. Daniel Tree eyed Alina and her friends with his usual contempt.

Alina, meanwhile, chewed on the end of her pencil as she listened, feeling Daniel's stares on her back. She didn't turn around, knowing that was what he wanted, and instead focused on Mr. Clarke.

"No, no, I did not misspeak. I did not stutter. A hundred billion."

Before he could say more, however, the door opened, and Principal Coleman entered, flanked by two new students. One of them was a girl, misery etched upon her face as she followed him inside. She was wearing a red sweater and jeans, her bag casually slung over one shoulder, and had silky red hair cascading down her shoulders. Her freckled skin was a little tanned, and it was evident she'd been living in a warmer climate before this.

Alina put a hand to her own hair self-consciously as she met the new girl's blue eyes. Today she was wearing her hair in a ponytail, her dark curls spilling out from the elastic band she'd tied it with. Definitely not silky in the slightest.

The other new student, however, was a boy, and one Alina recognized immediately. He was wearing a blue button-down today, and his backpack straps were over both shoulders unlike the girl's. His warm brown eyes scanned the crowd of students, and when he saw Alina, he smiled with recognition.

Gabriel Burton then raised his hand and waved at her.

. ✧ ・゜. +・o ✧

a/n: and gabe is back! i know he doesn't have a big part in these first few chapters, but he's going to be a more major character by the end of the story, so i hope you like him! he's my adorable son and i'm so glad i decided to add him, lmao.

hope you enjoyed this chapter! as usual, thank you so much for all of the support, i love you all. remember to comment and vote if you enjoyed! i love to hear your thoughts!

'till next time!