𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐨
𝘿𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙨 . . .

Laughs and chatter filled the air as people sat and ate with each other, conversing about the morning of their last day before break. There was also news of the last game tonight, which just had everyone more excited, but as Willow stood in line, waiting to get her lunch, she didn't seem too thrilled about the game, or thrilled to be there at all.

She gripped her tray as she stood behind the other students, looking around the cafeteria for anyone she recognised. Alas, she found no one. One of the perks of being a wallflower— hey, that would make a good book name.

Willow the Wallflower sounded much more appealing than Willow the Weirdo, but she didn't really get to choose what the other students called her. They didn't seem too taken with her, which was why she always sat alone in biology, no one bothered to even try to get to know her.

She thought back to first period biology and smiled at the thought of Eddie.

And speak of the devil. Literally.

Willow got to the front of the line and got her lunch, before turning to see Eddie Munson standing on one of the tables, shouting about all the conformists of the school. Willow huffed out a small laugh, walking towards where Mike and Dustin stood in awe of their Dungeon Master.

"Is he always this.. eccentric?"

Willow hummed teasingly at her brother, watching Eddie stare down Jason and put his hands to his head, creating the little devil horns and sticking his tongue out like he had done to Willow a few hours prior, but she could sense he was being much more malicious now than he was towards her. This made her smile.

"Shut up Willow, he's just.. a little roughed up today."

Dustin replied, obviously very tense and anxious to sit down and talk with the club leader.

"Yeah! We'll just act casual!"

Mike chimed in, before they both headed over and sat at the table whilst Eddie jumped off it, scaring a few cheerleaders in the process. Willow shook her head at the odd group, and although she had a sliver of hope that Dustin might invite her to sit with them, she knew it wasn't gonna happen. He'd been trying to keep her away from the group all year, she doubted he would invite her on the last day.

With that, Willow found herself wandering through the cafeteria and seating herself at a small, unoccupied table. She looked down at the meal she was given, a slice of dried up pizza, corn, a piece of stale bread and carrots. She was lucky they were selling small bottles of orange juice, she just had to take it.

She opened the drink and started chugging it, but much like Steve had done this morning, she suddenly felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders in attempt to scare her, along with a loud yell.

Willow choked on the orange juice and spat it out, coughing and spluttering and Robin revealed herself, laughing her ass off.

"Why so tense, 'Low?"

She sat down next to her blonde friend, continuing to laugh at her disheveled state as she picked up her now orange-juice covered pizza slice. Willow sneered at her friend, glancing behind her at the table where the band group sat, her eyes landing on Vickie. Willow looked back to a still grinning Robin, a grin of her own forming on her face as she tilted her head and feigned innocence.

"What, not gonna sit with your new girlfriend?"

Robin's grin was quickly replaced with a scowl as her cheeks tinted a light pink.

"I see Steve is rubbing off on you."

"Well from what I've heard, Vickie seems to really like boobies."

"Jesus Willow, could you say it any louder!?"

The blonde girl snorted as she laughed, picking at her now damp food.

"Come on Robin, you should at least give it a shot."

"Nuh uh, no way in hell am I getting shut down."

Willow huffed at the response, leaning her cheek on her hand as she gazed at her friend, puffing out her cheeks before speaking again.

"Want me to..."

Willow trailed off, raising her other hand and wriggling her fingers mysteriously. Robin immediately took her hand and put it down, and Willow started to laugh.

"You are not gonna brainwash a girl into liking me!"

"Relax Rob, I'm just messing with ya. And technically it's not brainwashing."

Willow pouted again at the negative name her friend gave her.. abilities. Unlike Eleven, she still had hers. They were a lot weaker than they were before, but she still retained a bit of them, much to her delight. She wouldn't feel complete without them.

"Well what about you, huh?"

Willow perked up at Robin's question and looked at her in confusion.

"What about me?"

"Well Steve keeps complaining about his love life and you two keep trying to set me up with Vick, but what about you? Got your eyes on anyone?"

Willow was taken aback by the question. Robin was always quite blunt, but she hadn't expected her to ask her something like that. No one came to mind. She looked around the cafeteria to see if she was forgetting anyone, and it was there that she saw Dustin and Mike standing in the centre of the cafeteria with Eddie in between them, his arms wrapped around the younger boys. She watched them for a second, noting how Eddie seemed to much telling them something serious as they looked absolutely terrified of the club leader, before shaking her head and looking back at Robin.

"No, no one."

_________________________

Willow had a free period, so she decided it was the perfect moment to head outside and get some fresh air. The school was still bustling with life, everyone that had a free period thought it would be great to go outside and they were right, it was a beautiful day, and it made people even more excited about break, the good weather practically begging them to go outside.

The blonde girl found herself venturing towards a patch of grass where a lone tree stood peacefully, and she seated herself under it, taking in a few deep breaths as she bathed in the cool shade the tree provided. She sat her bag on her knees and rummaged through it, pulling out a book. It was a relatively new novel, written around 30 years prior, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Willow was about half-way through the book, a light blue string used as a book marker. The novel wasn't taught in class, in fact Willow had wandered into a bookshop out of pure curiosity and bought the book, she wasn't an avid reader but it had peeked her interest. She was very curious by nature.

Just as she opened the book where she had left off, Mike seemed to appear out of thin air, yelling incoherent words at her. She only understood a few words, 'Eddie' and 'Lucas' were thrown in there, along with 'campaign' and 'need'.

"Oh hi Mike."

Willow stated simply with her usual airy, dreamy voice and smile. She always looked tired and far, far away from reality, as if lost in her own thoughts 24/7, which wasn't completely wrong, she did like to dream quite often but it didn't stop the fact that her feet were planted firmly to the ground.

"Hi. Willow. Sorry. Um."

Mike seemed to be struggling to find the right words, and Willow sent him an encouraging smile.

"Do you want to play in our campaign? Tonight? During the game?"

As much as Willow would have loved to say yes right away, she couldn't help the questions that arose in her mind.

"The campaign? I thought the last one was tonight, why do you need a new player?"

"Well Lucas is playing in the basketball game tonight, even though he's always on the bench, and Eddie said—"

"Mike!"

A frustrated Dustin stomped over and took Mike to the side as they began whisper-shouting at each other. From time to time they would glance at Willow, and Dustin let out a loud huff, shoving Mike before turning to his sister.

"Forget what he just said, ok?"

"What? But I thought you needed a new player."

"We do— ow!"

Mike chimed in but got shoved by Dustin again, who looked at Willow.

"You're not playing."

Willow was progressively getting more and more peeved at Dustin's attitude towards her lately, and she stood up, crossing her arms.

"And why the hell not?"

"Because!"

"Because?"

"Because."

"Goddamnit Dustin!"

"Well who else is there? Everyone said no, Willow is our last hope Dust."

Mike piped up again, but something seemed to change in Dustins eyes as he got an idea, looking out towards the land off-campus.

"Screw it."

"What?"

"Screw highschool!"

Dustin yelled before running off down the road, Mike and Willow sharing a confused look. The former began running after his friend.

"Dustin where are you going!?"

"Just trust me!"

They continued running off, and Mike let out one last yell towards Willow.

"Sorry Willow!"

They disappeared off school grounds, and Willow sighed, kicking her bag lightly. That was her one chance to play and she blew it. Why the hell was Dustin so against her playing in the first place? With one last huff of annoyance, she picked up her book, shoving it into her bag and heading back into the school for next period.

_________________________

Willow sat on the bleachers next to Steve again, who had returned to see the basketball game. They were seated like they were that morning, not too far from where Robin stood with her band, eyeing both her and Vickie as they stood next to each other, playing along with the music. Willow and Steve would send sneaky glances at each other, nothing needed to be said, they could tease Robin with a simple look.

As if by some miracle, in walked Tammy Thompson, Robin's old crush, and Steve and Willow's jaws dropped in shock. This couldn't have been timed better, not to mention she was set to sing the anthem, and Steve was ready to prove to Robin just how much Tammy sounded like a muppet.

As she started to sing, Willow covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing, and Steve jeered at Robin at the resemblance, the latter finally agreed with the boy, to which Vickie chimed in, much to Robin's surprise. Willow watched Robin stumble over her words as she spoke to Vickie, literally feeling how anxious she was.

With that, the basketball game started, and everyone cheered on the Tigers. Willow huffed as she watched the sport. It had only just begun and she was undeniably bored. She didn't get the sport. She didn't get many sports, except for running and climbing, those were fun. Here, it was just throwing a ball around and hoping it goes in the hoop.

"You good, W?"

Steve spoke up with a chuckle, noticing her bored state. Willow grumbled in response, watching the game with tired eyes, and with one final huff she stood up, scootching past Steve to get off the bleachers.

"Hey where are you going?"

Willow didn't answer, she just grinned at him, and she skipped down the bleachers, heading into the dark hallways of the school. She held her arms out and pranced down the hall, twirling every now and then. Sure, she was in school, but she felt free, no one was around to see her skip down the halls, everyone was busy with the game in the gym.

Well, almost everyone.

She stopped in the hall when she heard voices coming from within one of the classrooms, and she peeked in through the small window.

The campaign had completely slipped Willow's mind while her brain was being fried with boredom. She couldn't see much from the window, but she could tell it was the club, the dim room with the soft lighting, the red glow... Willow had to see.

She slowly opened the door, thankfully it didn't creak, and she tiptoed in, gently shutting it behind her.

"The hooded cultists chant.. 'Hail Lord Vecna... Hail Lord Vecna...'"

Willow peeked from behind the shelf, watching Eddie place the scene. He was good at it, fully invested in the game as he explained what was going on.

"They turn to you... remove their hoods. You recognise most of them from Makbar. But there is one you do not recognise... his skin shrivelled... desiccated. And something else..."

The suspense was killing Willow. God he really knew how to set the tone.

"He's not only missing his left arm..."

Eddie slowly stood up.

"But his left eye!

"No!"

"Nuh uh, no way!"

"Vecna is dead!"

"He was killed by Kas!"

The whole room filled with protests, and Willow couldn't help but chuckle at how invested they were.

"So it was thought my friends, so it was thought, but Vecna lives!"

Groans filled the room again, and Eddie's gaze landed on the dark figure behind the bookshelf. He frowned and stood again, getting defensive.

"Hey!"

The rest of the gang followed his gaze and Willow peeked her head out, Dustin groaning.

"Damnit Willow, I told you no!"

"Well as far as I'm concerned, Dusty Bun, I'm the older sister! I don't have to listen to you."

"Hey, HEY, I told you not to call me that, only Suzie can!"

"Well then suck it up buttercup because I. Don't. Care!"

"HEY."

Eddie stopped the argument and folded his arms, looking at us in disbelief.

"What the hell is going on?

"Willow's just being annoying, make her leave!"

"Oh grow up Dustin, I just want to watch!"

Eddie sighed as another round of bickering started again. Now don't get this wrong, Willow and Dustin loved each other very much, they were as close as brothers and sisters could be, it didn't matter to Dustin that Willow was adopted, she was his sister. But like all siblings, they had their fair share of arguments, and today was no exception.

"Ok, ok, SHUT UP!"

The siblings quietened down at the order, and Eddie looked at Willow.

"If you promise to stop fighting and stay quiet, you can watch, alright?"

"Yes!"

"NO!"

"Sit down Dustin."

Eddie groaned at him, and Dustin obeyed, muttering under his breath. Willow dragged a chair over from the corner and sat in between Dustin and Mike, quite proud of herself and sticking her tongue out at her brother. This didn't go unnoticed by Eddie, who shook his head and sat down, trying to hide his grin.

For the next hour, it was a rollercoaster of emotions as Willow watched the campaign unfold in front of her. There were cheers and there were cries throughout the game, some victories and some loses. Eddie's maniacal laughter filled the air as Mike and Eddie's friends were killed off, which only left Erica and Dustin standing to fend off the cult. Tension cut through the air, until one of Eddie's mates called a time-out. The gang huddled together, and Willow stood behind them, looking at Eddie from time to time with a quizzical stare. He merely grinned cheekily in return.

"Guys... I hate to say this but we have got to flee."

"I concur."

Willow was surprised they were willing to give up when they already got this far, and it seemed Erica thought the same as she tried to reason with them.

"Didn't we just agree 'to the death'?"

"That wasn't literal!"

"Vecna just decimated us. We can't kill him with two players!"

"You too?"

Dustin chimed in defiantly.

"He only has 15 hit points left--"

"Don't be pussies."

The group looked back at Willow who was smirking at them, they looked pissed she had just called them pussies but Dustin grinned proudly at his sister, even if she had interrupted him, I mean it was as if she had read his mind, that was exactly what he was going to say.

"Pussies? Really, cuz we're not delusional?"

"Delusional, how about not cowards?"

"HEY!"

Eddie's yell broke up the circle, and they all turned to look at the Dungeon Master who was kneeling on his throne.

"If I may interject, gentlemen, Lady Applejack..."

Eddie turned to Willow and bowed slightly.

"Wallflower."

Willow grinned at the nickname, it suited the situation well. She wasn't officially a part of the party, she was just observing from her own corner, watching them, like a wallflower. But the nickname alone, ironically, made her feel seen and a part of the small group.

"Whilst I respect the passion, you'd be wise to take Gareth the Great's concern to heart. There is no shame in running. Don't try to be heroes. Not today, 'kay?"

He sent them a bittersweet smile. Reverse psychology. Willow was impressed. She turned to look at the circle and was proud to see that Dustin closed the circle again to discuss. Him and Erica each had 12 hit points left. It was risky. That much was sure. But when Dustin turned back to face Eddie again, it was game time.

"Let's kill the son of a bitch."

"The chances of success are 20 to 1!"

"Never. Tell me. The odds."

Willow came over and rubbed Dustin's shoulders to get him to relax for the throw.

"You got this Dust."

She encouraged him.

"Gimme the D20."

Eddie held it up with grin and threw it to Dustin.

The air was tense again. 

Dustin shook it in his hand and let the dice roll. It spun and spun until it landed.

11.

"That's. A. MIIIIIIISS."

Eddie chanted as he rocked his head back and forth theatrically, and the party groaned, Dustin cussed and tossed his figurine to the side, and Willow sighed, wrapping her arm around him and consoling him.

It was all up to Lady Applejack now.

She shook the dice in her hand for what seemed like forever. She just kept shaking and shaking until finally, she let the dice roll. It skidded across the table, and everyone held their breath as it finally came to a stop.

A perfect 20.

"CRIT HIIIIIT!"

Everyone went crazy and started jumping up and down, and Willow was right there with them, grabbing onto Dustin's shoulders and shaking him around. Even Eddie took part in the celebration, in his own eccentric way.

"That's why we play!"

We all piled out of the room after finishing and headed outside into the cool air, still cheering. The boys were high-fiving Erica, and Willow followed closely behind with Eddie, who could no longer contain the grin on his face.

"So what'd you think of that, Wallflower?"

Willow glanced at Eddie as she searched for a word to describe the campaign.

"Sonderling."

"Sonderling?"

Eddie chuckled at the odd word, tilting his head. Willow grinned as she proceeded to explain the word.

"It's German. It means... someone who doesn't quite fit in. Eccentric. Basically you're a bunch of nerds."

She teased him with a smirk, and Eddie gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.

"Well ya don't say!"

They laughed together as the night breeze blew by and Willow stuffed her hands into her pockets.

"You know I don't believe we've been formally introduced."

Eddie spoke up again in the comfortable silence, before turning to Willow and doing a theatrical bow.

"Eddie 'The Freak' Munson. The one and only."

Willow laughed yet again at the bow, something he seemed to enjoy doing, and she gripped the ends of her skirt, doing a curtsy back.

"Willow 'The Weirdo' Henderson. Pleasure."

"Ah, Dustin's infamous sister, no wonder you two were bickering."

Willow snorted at the comment, and wondered what he met by infamous, but before she could question him, Eddie seemed to see someone behind Willow and let out a string of cusses.

"Well Willow, it's been lovely but I must bid you adieu."

Willow's smile turned slightly sad, but she was glad to have at least met the "one and only" Eddie Munson. He passed Willow and started jogging off, before suddenly stopping. He seemed to hesitate, before slowly turning around and looking at the blonde.

"If I... do another campaign this summer, would you be interested in joining?"

Willow's good mood immediately returned with the question, but her throat seemed to dry up like it had done in first period biology, so she just nodded adamantly at him, and the response seemed to satisfy him nonetheless as his grin grew.

"Then I guess I'll see you around, Wallflower."

Willow, however, wasn't satisfied with her lack of verbal response, so before he had the chance to turn back around again, she quickly brought her hands to her head and pointed her fingers up like devil horns. Eddie chuckled and stuck his tongue out at her, before turning back around and walking off.

_________________________

Willow walked down the hall after getting out of the shower, now changed into comfortable pj's. She turned and looked into Dustin's room, seeing him sat on his bed with his radio, and when he saw Willow he quickly ended the conversation with Mike and looked up at her expectantly. Willow came in and sat on the bed, pursing her lips together.

"Why don't you want me playing DnD?"

Dustin was shocked at the question, and hesitated to answer at first, before ultimately sighing and folding his hands in front of him.

"I just... With everything that happened with the Demodogs, and the Mind Flayer.. I thought you'd have enough of adventure. And I didn't want any of the campaigns to make you feel uncomfortable or bring back bad memories or.. something like that.."

He trailed off, having a hard time looking Willow in the eye.

But when he was met by silence, he looked up and saw his big sister with tears in her eyes and a soft smile on her face. She finally realised that Dustin was just trying to protect her. She moved forward and hugged him tightly, wiping her tears away.

"Thank you Dusty..."

They sat there hugging each other for about a minute, before Willow leaned back and looked at him with a small grin.

"But I can protect myself... ok?"

Dustin nodded quickly, and they went in for another small hug, before Willow placed a small kiss on his capped head and left the room, retiring to her own.

She lay down in her bed and picked up her book again, hoping to get some reading in, now that Mike couldn't interrupt. As she read the first few lines, her lamp began to flicker, and Willow looked at it, confused. It continued to flicker, and Willow felt something whisper in her ear.

"Willow..."

The lamp flickered and shut off, but the whispering continued.

—•—
author's note 。

So the poll is still ongoing, but I've made up my mind that I want Willow to have some kind of connection with Vecna, hence why she heard his voice at the end of this chapter, very spoopy~
For now I'm keeping her as number 001, but I edited in a small author's note in the synopsis so people wouldn't be confused by it, I might change her number in the future if people vote for it to change or if it gets too confusing for everyone, but for now she is still known as 001! She is just not Vecna lmao

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, if anyone has any feedback I'll be very grateful for your guys' opinions, and I'll see you all very soon <3

Sincerely,
𝔎𝔥𝔞𝔬𝔰 。