Unlike most of the popular girls at school, Clara Henderson was kind and was never afraid to stick up for others. Her younger brother, Dustin, and his friends were pretty nerdy to say the least and they tended to be picked on quite frequently. But if someone chose to be mean to them when Clara was around she was more than happy to threaten the bullies, which means that according to Dustin's friends, Clara was the coolest older sister in existence. 

Clara was currently sitting on the hood of her car at the edge of the woods, smoking a joint. Her family and close friends don't know that she smokes, she knows her mom would worry and her friends would judge her so when she was around them she pretended to be the perfect good girl everyone thought she was. 

Once she put the joint out she sprayed herself with some perfume to get rid of any lingering smell then proceeded to hop into the drivers seat and head to the Wheelers house to pick up her brother. Clara knocks on their front door as soon as she arrives. "Hi, Clara. Go ahead in. I was just about to call to them." Mrs. Wheeler steps aside, letting the teenager into her home. 

Clara smiles at the older woman, muttering a thanks before heading to the basement door. As she slowly opens the door she hears the boys panicking, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" "Can you find it?" "No, I can't find it."

Clara smirks, peeking around the corner. Instead of moving into view she bangs on the wall next to her causing the boys to scream. Clara bursts out laughing, "Oh man. You should have seen your faces."

"Clara! Why would you do that?" Dustin exclaims.

"Because it was funny." The older girl smirks at the group of boys. "Are you boys done? We gotta head home and Mrs. Wheeler was ready to call you guys up any second now."

"No. We're not done. We're in the middle of a campaign." Mike starts to complain.

"Sorry Mikey. You'll have to finish it some other time."

"That will ruin the flow! This campaign took two weeks to plan!"

"Do you want to try and argue with your mom? Because I'm not doing it."

Before Mike can reply his mom calls from the top of the stairs, "I just put Holly to bed. You can finish next weekend. Don't make Clara wait." Mike groans at his mothers words but doesn't argue, knowing he's not going to win.

Dustin holds up the pizza box with one more slice left, "Yo, hey guys. Does anyone want this?"

The boys quickly reply together, "No."

Dustin turns to his sister, "I would offer you it but I know you don't really like sausage." It's true that Clara usually doesn't eat sausage but being high caused her to not really care but before she can tell him she wants the slice he walks past her to go offer it to Nancy. 

Clara purses her lips as he walks by her. She waits downstair for Dustin and turns towards Will and Lucas, "Did you two want a ride home?"

"No, we have our bikes. You won't have room for all of us." Lucas says.

"It's late. I'm sure the Wheeler's won't mind if you leave your bikes and come get them tomorrow or something."

"It's okay, Clara. Thanks though." Will smiles. Clara returns the smile just as Dustin comes back down the stairs.

"There's something wrong with your sister." He says to Mike.

"What are you talking about?" Mike replies.

"She's got a stick up her butt." 

"Yeah." Lucas agrees.  "It's because she's dating that douchebag, Steve Harrington." He pauses and looks at Clara, "No offence. I know he's your friend."

"None taken. He is a douche. Just like most of the people I'm friends with." Clara shrugs. 

"Well she's turning into a real jerk." Dustin says, putting the topic back on the oldest Wheeler sibling.

"She's always been a real jerk." Mike argues.

"Nuh-uh, she used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for out Elder tree campaign."

"Four years ago!"

"Just saying."

"Well, I'd take your sister any day. She's way cooler than Nancy."

"Thanks Mike!" Clara smiles at the younger boy.

"Yeah, you're awesome Clara. Later." Lucas says, heading out. Will and the Henderson siblings following. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

The Henderson's sit around the table eating breakfast when their phone starts ringing. Mrs. Henderson stands to answer the phone, "Hello? No, he's not here. I'll ask her." She turns to Clara, "Did you give Will a ride home last night?"

Clara shakes her head, "I offered but him and Lucas said they would ride their bikes. Is everything okay?"

Mrs. Henderson doesn't answer but puts the phone back to her ear to relay the message. "Is he not home? Okay, bye." Both kids eyes are on their mom. "Joyce said she thinks Will left the house early this morning. Nothing to worry about."

"Come on. I'll give you a ride." Clara says, standing up and putting her dishes in the sink.

"No, thanks. I'll ride my bike."  Dustin replies.

"Suit yourself."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Walking down the school hallway, Clara passes Nancy and Barbra as they whisper by the lockers. Probably talking about Steve and his interest in Nancy. She stops by her own locker and starts gathering her things. "Hey, beautiful." 

Without looking up Clara replies, "Good morning, Eddie."

Eddie sighs, "I love that you know me just by the sound of my voice."

"Yes, it's very distinguishable." She turns to him, shutting her locker, "Like nails on a chalk board."

Eddie knows she's teasing, by the playful smirk on her face, "You wound me." He smirks back, then he leans closer to whisper, "Meet in our spot after school. I got your stuff."

"I have cheer. It will have to be after that."

"Sure, if that means I get to see you in your uniform."

"Don't be a perv. I'll be in my practice clothes."

"Even better." Clara rolls her eyes at the boy in front of her. Without replying she walks past him to get to her classroom. 

*_*_*_*_*_*

"Okay, girls. Great practice. We'll start fresh tomorrow, so rest up." Kim, the cheer captain says to the group as they pack up their bags. 

"Clara Henderson?" Chief Hopper asks, stepping into the gym.

"Yeah?" Clara asks stepping away from the other girls. Hopper gestures her to the side of the gym, away from the girls leaving.

"Did you want me to wait for you?" Amy, Clara's best friend asks.

"No, it's okay. I'll talk with you later."

"I was told you saw Will Byers last night." The Chief states when they're off to the side.

"I did." She confirms. "Is he alright?"

"He never made it home. We checked with your brother and his friends about the route home he usually takes but wanted to check with you to see if you can tell us anything they may have forgotten."

"Oh God. Um, I don't think so. I offered him and Lucas a ride home but they both refused since they had their bikes. Dustin and I passed them both before they got to their houses."

"And they were both fine when you passed them?"

"Yeah, I didn't notice anything with either of them. But I mean, Lucas is okay, right? Wouldn't he have been the last person to see him?"

"He was. Do you know which road he takes home?"

"He lives by Cornwallis so I would assume he headed that way. The boys would know better."

"Thanks Ms. Henderson. If you think of anything, let us know."

"Yeah, of course. Hopefully he's okay."

*_*_*_*_*_*

As Clara heads to the meeting spot with Eddie, her eyebrows crease in worry for Will. He may not be her actual brother but he's close enough to Dustin that he might as well be. If only she tried harder to convince him to let her drive her home. Maybe he'd be okay. "You okay?" Eddie speaks up, a joint held between his fingers.

Clara jumps, not realizing she already made it to their spot. Instead of answering she reaches out for the joint, "Give me that."

"What? No, please?" Clara glares in response, "Sorry." He passes the joint to the girl, "But seriously, you okay?"

"You know Jonathon Byers?" Clara asks, taking a puff of the drug.

"Photography weirdo?"

"You say that like you're not weird. But yeah, him."

"What about him? Did he do something to you? If he did I'll have to break his nose for messing with my girl."

Clara rolls her eyes, "I'm not your girl Eddie. And no he didn't do anything to me. My brother, Dustin, is friends with his brother, Will. Chief Hopper just talked to me because Will's missing." She takes another puff before passing it back to Eddie.

"You must really care for your brother to be so worried about his friend."

"Will's practically my brother too. I tried to offer him a ride home but he refused. I just keep thinking that if I-"

"Woah woah woah, no. Don't do that. Don't think of the what if's. It's not your fault he's missing. You offered the ride home and even if you didn't it's not like you could have known he'd disappear."

Clara sighs, "I know."

Eddie passes the joint back to her, "I think you need this more than I do. And because you're upset, I'll even give you a discount on your weed."

"That's terrible business." Clara says, a small smile making its way onto her face.

"Maybe, but I'd do anything to see that pretty smile on your face."

"I'm just smiling because the weed's working."

"Uh-huh, sure that's why. And I'm not the leader of The Hellfire Club."

Clara rolls her eyes, "Yeah, whatever. Just give me my stuff. How much do I owe you?"

*_*_*_*_*_*

Once home, Clara starts her homework and gets ready to study for her upcoming Chemistry test. After awhile she decides to take a break, catching Dustin trying to sneak out. "What do you think you're doing?" She asks him.

Dustin jumps, turning around to look at his older sister, "Meeting up with Mike and Lucas."

"No you're not. Mom wants you home tonight after what happened to Will."

"We're going to look for Will."

"If I turn back around you're going to wait 5 minutes then sneak out, aren't you?"

"Yeah, probably."

Clara sighs, happy that her brother is at least honest with her. "Fine. I'm coming with you guys."

"What? You-" Dustin begins to argue.

"Don't try. There's no way I'm letting the three of you wander off in the middle of the night. I know you want to find him. If it was one of my best friends I'd be doing the same." The siblings leave the house together, grabbing their bikes to meet up with Lucas and Mike.

*_*_*_*_*_*

As the group of four ride their bikes around they pause at the edge of the woods. "Ah, man. This is it." Lucas says, getting off his bike so they can walk the rest of the way.

As the others follow his lead, the sound of the thunder starts to be heard and rain starts slowly falling from the sky. "Hey guys. You feel that?" Dustin starts, looking up at the darkening sky.  "I think maybe we should turn back."

"No." Mike immediately protests. "We're not going back. Just stay close. Stay on channel six. Don't do anything stupid."

"Let's go Dustin." Clara says, wrapping her arm around his shoulders and raising the flashlight in her other hand. "And let's be careful. We don't want to tread on anything that could possibly lead to Will. Whether it's us that finds a clue or the police." 

As they trek further into the woods, the rain gets heavier, quickly soaking the group. "Will!" "Byers!" The call out.

"I've got your X-Men 134!" Dustin adds to the yells. Then quieter, to the group, "Guys, I really think we should turn back."

"Agree. The rain is coming down way too much." Clara agrees with her younger brother. 

"Seriously? If you guys wanna be babies, then go home already!" Lucas replies. 

"We're just being realistic Lucas!" Dustin argues back.

"No, you're just being a big sissy!"

"I can't answer for Dustin, but I personally spend a lot of time hanging out in the woods with my friends. I'm not afraid but the rain makes it harder to search for a missing person." Clara says.

Dustin asks the group, "Did you ever think Will went missing because he ran into something bad? And we're going to the exact same spot where he was last seen? And we have no weapons or anything?"

"Dustin, shut up." Mike replies. 

"I'm just saying, does that seem smart to you?"

"Shut up. Shut up." Mike says again, hearing something the others hadn't picked up on. "Do you guys hear that?" There's a rustling behind the group. They quickly turn around, shining their flashlights in the direction of the noise. Clara slowly inches her way in front of the boys. 

There's another rustle behind them, in the original direction the group was heading. They jump once more and aim their flashlights. In front of them is a young girl, probably about the boys age. Her head is shaved and she has a huge yellow t-shirt on. Soaked just like the rest of them.