Seeing the guidance counselor after school was always strange for Amanda. There were so many things that she could talk to Ms. Kelly about but yet also so little. How could Amanda go on with talking about the time she spent in a coma underground? Could she tell Ms. Kelly that she felt twice as lonely now than she did before? Could she say that she sometimes still coughed up black goo when she accidentally hit her uvula while brushing her teeth in the morning? And if Amanda told the guidance counselor that she woke up in the middle of the night scrambling to breathe because she felt like she was being choked, how would she react to that?

And worst of all, it felt like her mother wasn't even reacting to any of it.

Amanda could remember when she saw her mother frantically pacing the living room, hoping and praying that she would come back. And now that Amanda was back, her mother was acting as if her disappearance never happened. Amanda wanted to think it was her own special way of coping with the tragedy but as Amanda had learned, her mother was repressing it under the illusion of being strong or something like that.

Anxiously tapping her foot as she looked around the office, from the various achievements on the wall to the obscure grandfather clock behind Ms. Kelly's desk, Amanda realized that she was probably going to need more than a school shrink to get her through everything. But Miss Kelly was a good start. Miss Kelly smiled at her, waiting patiently so she could start the session.

"How have you been feeling?" Miss Kelly started. Amanda's lips pulled back into a tight smile as she answered, "I've been fine."

"And your sleep? How are the nightmares?"

Amanda remembered waking up in the middle of the night, gasping for air because she thought a root was wrapping itself around her throat again. She could feel something pull itself over her mouth as she struggled. She tightened up again. "The nightmares don't happen anymore. I've been sleeping a-ok."

Miss Kelly gave her a sad look, like she could tell that Amanda wasn't being honest with her. "You know this can only work if you're honest with me."

"What if you can't handle the bad stuff?"

Miss Kelly chuckled. "Honey, it's my job to handle the bad stuff. Is there bad stuff happening?"

"No," Amanda stammered, "but hypothetically speaking, if I were to talk about gross stuff happening to me, how would you react?"

"I can assure you that you won't get a disgusted look out of me, Amanda. Now what's going on?"

Amanda shook her head, her foot tapping getting a little faster, antsier. "Nothing's going on, Miss Kelly. I promise. My mom thought it would be a good idea for me to open up and talk about my disappearance but honestly I think she might need this more than me."

"And why do you say that?" Miss Kelly asked, pressing slightly.

"Ever since I got back, it's like my disappearance never happened. She's happy to see me, which is great, but she never really talks about what my disappearance did to her, even though I saw it for myself—"

"What do you mean you saw it for yourself?" Shit.

"I dunno. It's like I could feel her freaking out or something. I don't know." There. Amanda managed to work her way out of confessing. "Can I go? My session's almost up and I want to change into my outfit for the big Hellfire campaign tonight." Amanda started getting up, throwing her backpack over her shoulder, waiting for Miss Kelly for the go-ahead. Miss Kelly sighed and held out her hand, signaling that Amanda could leave. Amanda nodded and made her way out the door.

The Hawkins High theater was somewhat dark when Amanda walked in except for a few of the red stage lights that helped set the mood for the night. Everyone else was already there, waiting to get started.

"Absolutely not," Eddie stated as he stared down Erica, who stood alongside Mike and Dustin.

"You wanted a sub," Dustin gestured to Erica, "we delivered."

Eddie's grip around the armrests of his regal chair tightened. "This is Hellfire Club. Not Babysitting Club."

Amanda slowly took her seat in a similar-looking chair next to Eddie as Erica retorted, "I'm eleven, you long-haired freak."

"Ah, the child speaks," Eddie returned sarcastically before scooting back, his chair making an obnoxious screeching noise as it was pushed. "So, what's your name, child?"

"Erica Sinclair," Erica responded simply, holding on to her pink binder. Eddie chuckled and looked around the room. "So this is Sinclair's infamous sister."

Erica looked back to Dustin and Mike. "He's sharp." Everyone around her tried to contain their snorts and laughter but Eddie gave them all a sharp look and they shut up instantly. Amanda let out one final giggle when Eddie turned around to look at her.

"Dude, you're supposed to be on my side." Eddie made a face. Amanda simply shrugged. "I am a menace to society, I vouch for no one."

Eddie groaned, promptly ignoring the brunette to return his attention to Erica. "So what's your class and level? Level one dwarf?"

"My name is Lady Applejack," Erica started, tone confident and unshakeable, "and I'm a chaotic good, half-elf rogue, level fourteen. And I will sneak behind any monster you throw my way and stab them in the back with my poison-soaked kukri. And then I will watch as they die a slow, agonizing death. So are we gonna do this or are we gonna keep chit chatting like this is your mommy's book club?"

It went quiet for a moment as everyone waited for Eddie to give an answer. The ends of his lips pulled back into a mischievous, Grinch-like smile as he held out his for Erica to shake. Erica met his handshake and the game was soon to start.

The continuing game started off slow, with an introductory reading. Eddie let Amanda read a page or two, seeing everyone react from what was to come.

"The cultists remove their hoods," Amanda read dramatically, moving her hands for flair, "you recognize most of them from Makbar. All except one. His skin is shriveled, desiccated. Along with something else." Amanda looked about the room to the different faces as she read. "He was not only missing his left arm, but his left eye!" Just as she revealed the line, Eddie slammed down his Vecna piece.

The table groaned with overlapping remarks.

"Vecna died!"

"He was killed by Kas!" Mike interjected. Eddie smiled devilishly at the reveal and revelled in the shock. "So it was thought, my friends. So it was thought. But Vecna lives!"

The campaign continued on to be brutal and everyone had taken several hits, both good and bad as Amanda watched on. After several missed rolls, the members called a timeout to huddle together to go over their choices.

"Thanks for not letting me sit here bored all night," Amanda said, "I mean, watching you guys play out the campaign is fun, no doubt, but it was nice to do something for once, ya know?"

Eddie swung an arm around Amanda's shoulders, jostling her slightly and ruffling her hair. "You're my right hand Mandy. You gotta do something or else I'd be babysitting you and I don't need to do that."

"I've been underground for a year, I can take care of myself." Amanda smacked Eddie's hand away playfully so she could fix her bangs. Eddie gave her a perplexed look. "What?"

"Nothing." Amanda shook her head. "How long do you think it's been since they had their group huddle?"

"If I may interject gentlemen, lady Applejack," Eddie intervened, "whilst I appreciate the passion, there is no shame in running. Don't try to be heroes, 'kay? Not today."

"I say, let 'zem play!" Amanda rang in from her seat, putting on her best Lady Antoinette accent.

Dustin nodded. "Amanda's right. Let's kill this son of a bitch."

"Wait, I didn't say all of that."

"I'm really starting to rethink your right hand man privileges." Eddie eyed Amanda and she gave him a sheepish smile.

"Give me the D-twenty." Dustin held out his hand and Eddie tossed him the twenty-sided die. Dustin blew on it for good luck before shaking it vigorously and rolling it out of his palm. The die twirled as it rolled down the board before landing heavily on an 11.

"That's a miss!" Eddie laughed recklessly as the team members threw their hands up in anguish. It was down to Erica to see if they could defeat Vecna once and for all. They all gathered around as the die rolled around in Erica's hands and it seemed as if time had slowled tremendously when the die rolled out, twirling and twirling, spinning before it landed on a 20—a critical hit. The players threw their hands up in delight, Amanda clapping in her seat, having seen yet another wonderful campaign. Eddie congratulated the lot of them, packing up as they continued celebrating.

"Hey, Mike, can I talk to you about something?" Amanda asked as they all left the building, stars over their heads as they walked into the night air.

"Yeah, what's up?" Mike raised an eyebrow. Amanda shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "It's- it's just that I've been having these nightmares and I've got no one to talk to about them. My mom doesn't wanna hear it and the counselor freaks me out and it's. . .it's a lot."

"Nightmares about the Mind Flayer?"

"The Mind Flayer, me being practically kind of dead but not really and then coming back to life, all of it. Also my head hurts on top of that but maybe I'm just dehydrated."

"Hey, hey." Mike pulled Amanda into a hug then, shushing her. "You're fine, Mandy. Everything's gonna be fine."

"Yeah. It will be. By this time tomorrow, you and I are gonna be in California with El, Will, and Jonathan and I couldn't be more excited."

"True. But we won't be going if we don't get home on time."

"Right."

# author's  note.
another chapter !
thank you for reading and let me know
what you think <3