❝ you won't be in trouble. ❞

THE THREE BOYS stubbornly insisted on having their bikes instead of Evelyn's car. They persuaded her by going on a tangent about how bikes would help them keep a low profile and be more efficient in the woods. The trio just kept on talking and talking to the point where Evelyn sighed and gave in. Fortunately, they had some time to spare before it was 3:15 — the time they were going to meet El. She stopped by hers and Dustin's house and Lucas' house to retrieve their bikes before the group went to get El. They were only a minute late when they saw her gazing off into the distance. She ended up sitting behind Mike as they rode off into the woods, ready to look for Will once more.

          They had finally made it to the woods and hopped off their bikes to walk through the trail. Evelyn walked with Lucas and Dustin as Mike and El walked in front of them. They heard bits and pieces of the pair's conversation and knowingly glanced at each other from time to time.

The group of five ended up spending the entire evening walking through the woods, still dragging their bikes and holding onto the handles. Mike and El have practically spent the entire time chatting with each other while the other three chimed in occasionally. Dustin and Lucas would end up discussing a topic that would lead to the two of them bickering and having Evelyn as their mediator.

But other than that, Evelyn spent most of the time thinking. It was mostly about Barb. How could she just disappear from her sight so quickly? And not only that, but the fact that she's practically missing and no one has reported it yet. She hoped Nancy and Joshua were still trying to figure it out. She may not be as close to Barb as Nancy is to her, but they were still friends who hung out almost every day. She couldn't bear the thought of anything bad happening to her.

         Twilight began to fall on them. The beautiful period of day when the clouds are about to meet with the stars. The otherworldly scenery right before nighttime completely took over. Lucas had his suspicions, but kept quiet to himself since he just knew Mike was going to berate him for not trusting El's guidance. The Henderson-Prince duo grew tired of all the walking, but persevered through it. Mike had no idea where he was being led to, but immediately followed El with no questions asked.

         Evelyn was quite excited for the nighttime just so she could at least gaze at the stars while walking. But just to her luck, the foggy night got in the way of her plans. She and the boys had to turn on the lights on their bikes at this point of the night. The group finally came to a stop when they realized the eccentric girl had led them to the Byers residence.

          "Here." She turned to face the group.

           "Yeah, this is where Will lives." Mike told her with dubiety lacing his voice. He was truly uncertain why she'd make them walk all this way just to be at the place where Will certainly wasn't.

           "Hiding." She whispered.

           "No, no, this is where he lives." The Wheeler boy clarified. "He's missing from here. Understand?"

            Lucas and Dustin let go of their bikes in exhaustion as Dustin panted. "What are we doing here?" Lucas asked.

            "She said he's hiding here." Mike informed.

            Lucas glared at them, "Uh, no." His tone made it clear that Will was obviously not at his house.

           While being out of breath, Dustin uttered the words, "I swear, if we walked all the way here for nothing. . ." Evelyn didn't like encouraging negative behavior with younger kids, so she gently nudged his shoulder to get him to stop with his thought.

           "That's exactly what we did. I told you she didn't know what the hell she was talking about!" Lucas argued.

           Mike rolled his eyes and turned his head back to Eleven. He stoically asked, "Why did you bring us here?"

            El's mouth was agape, not knowing how to answer that question. She was sure about Will's whereabouts. How could she explain it to them? They're gonna think she's more insane than she could be and the group doesn't seem to be too welcoming towards her anyway. She doesn't want to do or say the wrong thing.

         Evelyn finally dropped her bike and took a step forward to El so that she was right behind Mike. "If you don't know where Will is, it's okay, just let us know now. You won't be in trouble."

            "Don't waste your time with her." Lucas looked at both Mike and Evelyn.

           "What do you want to then?" He inquired.

            "Call the cops, like we should have done yesterday." Lucas responded.

           Mike disagreed, "We are not calling the cops."

          Evelyn stared at the boys who couldn't stop arguing with each other. How could she have let herself get to this position? Dustin heard something off in the distance and took a couple steps towards it as El watched him from the sidelines. "Hey, guys?" His voice was drowned out by the sounds of Mike and Lucas bickering like toddlers. "Guys!"

          He finally got their attention and they faced the direction he was looking at. They heard sirens in the distance, gradually inching closer and closer to their vicinity before witnessing two cop cars and an ambulance passing by. Stunned by what they had just saw, the group frantically picked up their bikes and got on them. They hurriedly pedaled their way to catch up with the other vehicles and followed their directions.

           They stopped at the quarry where the cops cars and ambulances were. The group kept themselves hidden behind a firetruck and watched as the authorities lined up right in front of the water. The kids and Evelyn observed people from the state pull up a body from the water and set it on a raft. The quintet watched Chief Hopper disappointedly walk away from the scene. Their eyes were still glued on the boy in the raft. "It's not Will. It can't be." Mike mumbled.

          The sirens flashed upon their faces, but they didn't pay attention to them. They keenly gazed on the lifeless body as the authorities brought it closer and closer to land. This time, the group was able to see glimpses of the body. The outfit was exactly the same one Will wore the night he disappeared. He was around the same height and the body was eerily recognizable. Lucas crestfallenly muttered, "It's Will. It's really Will."

           Evelyn instinctively placed her hand over her mouth as the expression of sorrow contorted her face. She's never experienced a death this close to her. She didn't know what to do. In a moment of grief and shock, Evelyn pulled her little cousin closer to her with her free arm. Will was one of his best friends. And out of all of them, he was Evelyn's favorite. Like with his older brother, she's only had a few conversations with Will before. But he was a great kid and was nothing but full of brightness and potential.

          Dustin's vision was distorted by the tears he was trying to hold in. He knew that if he cried, then it would be real. He wasn't ready for it to be. Lucas felt the same way with only one tear managing to trickle down his face. Mike moved from where he was standing and El followed him. She tried to touch his arm to comfort him, but he slapped her arm away in anger. He felt betrayed by her. He defended her, sheltered her, and believed her just for his best friend's lifeless body to be pulled out of the water in front of him.

          "What?" He furiously asked. "You were supposed to help us find him alive. You said he was alive! Why did you lie to us? What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you?"

          A tear rolled down Evelyn's cheek with her still holding on to her cousin. "Mike. . ." El began. The boy spat out, "What?"

           Her feelings were hurt. This didn't make sense to her; she knows Will is alive. How would they believe her now though? She had no idea how to respond to him. Or to anyone in the group. Mike ended up running away with his bike. He needed to be out of that place. The group called out for him, but he still continued on.

They stayed there for a couple minutes before it was time for them to go home. Lucas was the first one to leave after Mike and before he could do so, Evelyn approached him. More tears fell down his face since the last time she took a look at him. She hugged the Sinclair boy, expressing her condolences. He hugged her back with tears spilling out harder. "Take care, okay?" She murmured before she let him go and he nodded, riding away on his bike.

Dustin got on his own bike and waited for Evelyn. She looked back at the crying girl who looked down at her shoes. She felt so ashamed. Evelyn asked if she wanted to go back to Mike's house or if she'd like to stay with her and Dustin. She wanted to go back to Mike's to prove to him that she knows Will is still alive. She didn't tell her this, but it's what she thought. Evelyn told her she should ride on the back of her bike and she'll bring her back to Mike's house. El obliged and the three rode off.

Evelyn dropped the girl off at the basement entrance and walked with her. Mike wasn't there, but Evelyn left a note that said she brought her back there. She said her goodbyes to her and she and her cousin rode their bikes to their own home.

Once they got there, Dustin broke down in sobs. He couldn't believe one of his best friends was gone and he had to see his body get dragged out of the water. He went over to the couch and Evelyn followed him. She tightly embraced the young boy in her arms to comfort him as the tears continued to roll down his cheeks. The two stayed like that for a while until Dustin stopped crying and decided to put it off and deal with his grief in the morning. Evelyn stayed up in the living room with the TV on all night. After seeing what she saw, she just couldn't bring herself to sleep.

ANGIE'S NOTES☺︎
sad hours for the party + evelyn ig
so many more things are planned for this fic, which means so much more drama 🤭
ok anyways love u all bye🫶🫶