EVERY SMALL TOWN had one. The family which was well looked up upon due to circumstances which are ranged across the board. For the town of Hawkins, Indiana, it was the DeGray family.

The family was of Emmeline and Charlie, who had married when they were merely twenty-one years old. They had their first and only child at twenty-four. They had both came from old money going back to generations and generations in their families.

Emmeline DeGray née Egan is a pretty woman of thirty-six with sleek brown hair and dark brown eyes. Despite being known for her good looks and she was more than a pretty face. Emmeline always was a clever girl, ever since she was a young child. Submissive, yes. But clever. She could've taken up a good job somewhere in Hawkins. Regardless, she stayed unemployed her entire life, living off of her families fortune and her husband's employment.

Charlie is also thirty-six, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. After getting married to Emmeline, he went off to law school and spent the next three years working to become a lawyer. Charlie was a hard debater with caustic wit, known best around the town for his cold demeanor despite his kindness to his family and peers. After graduating, he and his wife had their daughter.

Emmeline and Charlie only had one child, born on February 14th, 1971. Their child being a girl. They named her Mariella after Charlie's late mother.

Mariella inherited both her mother and father's brown hair and her father's eyes, a signature of the DeGray family. She was twelve as of 1983. She was commonly seen romping town dressed in Peter Pan collared shirts or sweaters tucked into dark jeans with fleece-lined jean jackets and cardigans.

Their daughter was known for her tired droopy eyes and having her nose stuck in a journal or book. She was expected to be the type to roll with the 'cool kids' considering her families reputation, her pretentious clothing, and calculating eyes. But, you see Mariella kept to herself often. She chose to stay alone but hold a type of kindness at her fingertips. Easily accessible but very hard to manipulate.

♧

It was a harsh winters day of 1982. The classroom was blasting heat from the vents yet still students her bundled up in warm sweaters and scarves. The sixth-grade class shivering while the teacher explained the unit project to them.

"I'll be assigning the partners," Mr. Van ends the explanation. Earning groans from the students. The teacher goes to his desk and grabs a list. In a monotone voice, he reads off names and their partners.

Mariella sat at the back of the class, biting her tongue and twirling her pencil in her fingers. She listened intently, hoping that she wouldn't be paired with Samantha Jensen or Jessica Park. She found them awful irritating, with their bubblegum smacking and self-righteous attitudes. They've always been like that. Obnoxious, rude, pretentious. The works.
Time drawled on slowly. Then finally, her name was called.

"Mariella DeGray and Will Byers." Mr. Van speaks out while looking at the list. Instantaneously, Mariella's eyes looked up and found the site of the light brown head of her partner. He looked back as well, smiling softly. She smiles back just before he turns back to his group of friends who seem to be chattering excitedly.

♧

The class ended slowly. As the class filed out, Mariella walked her way over to her partner. Her purple Jansport backpack slung over her shoulders. He was packing up his pencil crayons as his friends packed their things, as well.

"Hi, Will?" Mariella asks softly, not used to being the first to say something. She only ever spoke when spoken to.

"Oh! Hi, Mariella," Will smiles while looking up at the brown haired girl who shifted on her feet uncomfortably.

"Well, uh. I was just gonna suggest we could do the project at my house over the weekend if that'd work for you? I'm free on Saturday," She explains, fumbling with her fingers. Feeling the stare of the other boys burn into her. They were intrigued by the usually muted girl.

"Sure! Yeah, that'd work. Would it be okay if I came around noon?" Will asks, zipping up his backpack.

"Yeah. That's good. I live on Loch Nora Road, the address is 31," She says before pulling out a pink gel pen, ripped piece of paper and writes it out in neat handwriting.
'31 Loch Nora Road — Mariella DeGray, Address'
She hands it to him and he takes it.

"Cool. We can brainstorm then! I'll see you, Mariella," Will nods while shoving the paper into his jacket pocket.

"Yeah, see you. Bye Will," She smiles before nodding to the other boys and walking out of the classroom.

♧

The day Will went to Mariella's house began the friendship which would them last for ages. As they worked and brainstormed, they would crack jokes and tell stories until they were laughing so hard they couldn't breathe. Sat on the floor of the DeGray's living room with pencil crayons and papers all over the floor.

As the project came to a close, they were beginning to become best of friends. Learning more about each other as the days passed and becoming more close than ever. They felt as if they knew each other forever. As if they were siblings.

Soon thereafter, the due date came and afterward, Will had finally convinced his friends to integrate the girl into the Party. Mariella then found her place.

Happily, she became best of friends with all of them. Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Will, and Mariella. It became known that they were best friends. Days spent biking around the neighborhoods, movie nights at the DeGray's, campaigns at the Wheelers.

Will would remain Mariella's best. Bonding over the memories and inside jokes they had created while they made the project, which they had gotten a good mark on. Doodling all over each other's arms with markers and proudly showing off each other's drawings. They loved to draw, those two. Sharing their art supplies which accumulated over the years while giving each other ideas of what to draw next. They were closer than ever, the Byers boy and DeGray girl were.

Lucas became fond of the shy girl quickly. Finding that despite her quiet act, she had a loud mind. Always brightening their ideas with something out of the ordinary. He thought she was interesting with her calculating eyes and a big imagination. The way her hands shot up in a wide dramatic motion when they found themselves sat in the Wheeler's basement and she gets a good idea. They seemed to be a recipe for greatness, that Sinclair boy and DeGray girl.

Dustin took a bit to click with Mariella. After all, Dustin was vivacious and goofy and anything but shy! Perhaps, it was because he came off as too loud and it was overbearing which frightened the timid girl. Soon after, they found common ground. Movies. They laughed and laughed while watching the latest films, smacking each other while their stomachs cramped from their cackles. Then, from there, the rest became history and they became a duo to reckon with. The Henderson boy and DeGray girl with their cleverness.

Michael Wheeler was something else, Mariella always said with a sweet smile and fond tone when asked to explain the Wheeler boy. Mike always found the girl intriguing. Even before they were friends. Naturally, Mariella was rather intimidated by the taller boy who carried leadership on his shoulders so easily. He was rather iffy of her at first, as well. Believing that despite her intriguing demeanor, she didn't belong in the eclectic group of outcasts. But, as time drew on and the group became closer with her. Mike found himself wondering how there was ever a time without the Party's proclaimed 'timid gem'. Michael Wheeler and Mariella DeGray were as thick as thieves, they were.

Thus, this made up the Party. All bringing in new talents and abilities. With similar interests but differing personalities. They truly were a group which were overlooked yet a strong force which was not to mess with.