It had been a calm few months, there hadn't been anything out of place. But Dad had to confess to Hunter and I. He'd been to the upside down. That place Dustin wouldn't stop mentioning along with the other kids. He said what it was like. A parallel Hawkins. Him and Nancy gave the same account as to what it was like. It was official Halloween time. "Y/n, how much loose change do you have?" He asked me and I checked my pockets.

"I've got $5 in change you can have." I said to him with a smile. He then opened his hands.

"I love you so much." He said before hugging me and running out. I knew exactly where he was going. To the arcade. His favorite place, it had barely opened but the place was his heaven. When it got around to the start of school I was sat in Steve's car reading something he gave me.

"It's crap, I know." He said to me and I finished reading it all.

"It's not crap at all." I said to him with a smile.

"It's not good." I said to me and I looked at him with my held titled on my side.

"It will be. Trust me. But you just need to reorganize it a teeny bit." I said to him and he sighed at me. "I'll help you with it if you want?" I asked him with a smile on my face.

"Yeah, I guess." He said to me and I showed him what needed go be changed.

"You see this, in the first paragraph, you brought up the basketball game versus Northern as a metaphor for your life, which is really great and unique. But then, about here, you start to mention your granddad's experiences in the war. And I...I don't see how these two are connected." I said to him and he looked like he was thinking about something.

"It connects because...because, you know, we both won. Do you think I should start scratch?" He asked me and I had hope for it but.

"Not at all. I mean...when is this due in for?" I asked him, he wasn't making it to college this year.

"It's tomorrow for early application. Can you come and help me tonight?" He asked me, I then realized what tomorrow was.

"We can't, there's that dinner tonight, remember?" I said to him, it was at Barb's parents place. We had to cancel last week.

"Oh, my god!" He got out.

"Listen, the three of us already canceled last week. But you don't have to go. Work on this and I'll be over after." I said to him and he sighed at me.

"No, no, no. What's the point?" He asked before crumbling it up.

"Steve, calm it." I said to him and he looked at me.

"I'm calm. I'm calm. I'm just being honest. You know, I mean...I'll end up working for my dad anyway." He said to me and I looked at him.

"Dont say that." I said to him, it didn't have to be that way.

"I don't know, Y/n. Is that such a bad thing? There's insurance and benefits and all that adult stuff. And if I took it, you know, I could be around for your senior year." He said to me and I looked at him. He knew what I was thinking.

"Steve..." I said to him.

"Just to look after you a little bit. Make sure you don't forget about this pretty face. Y/n, I'm serious." He said to me before placing a kiss on my lips. "I love you." He said to me with a smile.

"I love you, too." I said to him before we heard a car engine revving and tires screeching. We got out the car. It some people that I'd need seen before. California number plate, new people in Hawkins. The girl skated off and the guy just looked around. I then walked into the school. I saw Eddie and I went over to him.

"This is my year, I'm going to finally graduate." He said to me as we walked over to my locker.

"Are you sure this your?" I asked him and he looked at me.

"Of course, I've been waiting for this for ages." He said to me and I smiled at him. I've been supporting him wanting to graduate since I met him.

"Well, I have full faith in you." I said to him before going to class. I was given a flyer from Tina coming out of it. A Halloween party. I saw Eddie again and we walked over to my locker. Where someone picked me up and spun me making me shriek. I heard Steve laughing.

"Oh, my god! What are you wearing please take those off." I said to him while looking at his blacked out sunglasses. They made him look hungover.

"I missed you." He said to me while taking them off and looking at me.

"It's barely been an hour." I said to him with a smile. There was no way he'd want to leave after he missed me after an hour.

"Tell me about it." He said before kissing me.

"Okay. Okay, okay. God." I said to him as he pulled away. I started to put everything in my locker and saw that Eddie had walked away.

"Sorry." I heard Steve say.

"Don't be sorry." I said to him with smile. I then shut my locker door.

"Are you going to the party that Tina's hosting on Halloween?" I asked him. He pulled me into him.

"You mean are we going. Because my answer depends on you, I don't want to go and have fun when your not with me." He said to me and small smile appeared on me face.

"Did you have to ask. Because you know I'm going." I said to him. He smiled at me. Once it got to later that night, Steve, Nance and I headed to our dinner. I saw a for sale sign as we walked to the front door.

"Okay. Ready?" Steve asked the two of us.

"Yeah." Nance answered.

"I guess so." I said to him.

"Okay." He said before ringing the doorbell. Once we were let on I saw the pics of Barb everywhere. We were having KFC.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to cook. I was gonna make that baked ziti you guys like so much, but I just forgot about the time, and before you know it, 'oh, my god, it's give o'clock.!'" Marsha said to us, it was fine. I was never allowed fast food.

"It's fine. It's great." Nancy said to her with a smile.

"For a first time, this is pretty good." I said and I felt Steve give me a questioning look.

"Right. I love KFC." Steve said to us all before eating some mash.

"So, I noticed a 'For Sale' sign out in your yard. Is that the neighbors', or..." Nancy said not wanting to finish that sentence.

"You wanna tell them?" Marsha asked her husband.

"Go ahead." Her husband said to her and she looked at us.

"We hired a man named Murray Bauman. Have any of you heard of him?" She asked us and I shook my head.

"Not that I know of." I said to her.

"No." Nancy said before looking at Steve.

"No, I don't think so." Steve said to us before eating some more.

"He was an investigative journalist for the Chicago Sun-Times." She said to us before her husband got something out.

"He's pretty well known." He said while handing a card to Steve.

"Anyway, he's freelance now, and he agreed to take the case." She said before Nancy and I looked at the card. I wouldn't trust this guy at all.

"That's...That's great. No, that's really...That's great, right?" Steve asked while looking at us. Of course we all knew the truth.

"Yeah, that's really great." I said to them, I hated lying.

"Um, what exactly does that mean?" Nancy asked them and I wasn't looking forward to this answer.

"Means he's gonna do what that lazy son of a bitch Jim Hop- -" He started before Marsha stopped him. He was angry and that was fair. "Sorry. What the Hawkins police haven't been capable of doing. Means we have a real detective on the case." He said to us, but he was a journalist nothing else.

"It means...we're going to find our Barb." Marsha said to us but they weren't. Barb was long gone.

"If anyone can find her, it's this man. He already has leads. By God, he's worth every last penny." He said to us but he wasn't because he'd never find them. They were going broke for no reason.

"Is that why you're selling the house?" Nancy asked them both, she was worried.

"Don't worry about us, sweetie. We're fine. More than fine. For the first time in a long time, we're hopeful." She said to us and I looked away. They wouldn't be for long.

"Excuse me. I'll be right back." Nancy said before leaving. Steve took a bite from his chicken and I drunk my drink.

"It's finger lickin' good." Steve said with a smile to them both.

"Mmm." He got in response. This was turning to be the worst dinner ever. How could I sit here and lie to them and be hopeful that they'll find Barb. When in reality she'd be dead. Never seen from again. And that, that was hard to life with. Once I got home I sat on my bed. I didn't know what to think I put my head in my hands and cried. I heard a knock on my door.

"Go away." I said to whoever it was.

"Im not doing that." The voice spoke to me. It was Hunter. He came over and sat next to me on the bed.

"I take it dinner didn't go well." He said to me and I nodded.

"How am I supposed to be supportive and say that they'll find Barb. They won't." I said to him and he hugged me. I loved that I had a brother who was always here for me and didn't want to be like his friends. I mean, I've basically been his friend for years.

"Everything will be okay and maybe they'll find out the news but it won't be from you or Nancy. That's a good thing." He said to me and maybe it was. Unless they never gave up then we'd have to tell.