History Must Repeat Itself

Chapter 25

Three months later...

         We were at the Byers' all day. They'd considered moving for a while, but it became a reality when Joyce decided to take the kids to California. Hawkins was too dangerous and had too many scars. 

So here we all were, to finish packing everything in one day. My job was wrapping breakable items in newspapers. Poor Dustin listened to Max and Lucas singing 'A Never-Ending Story' for the hundredth time. Well, the hundredth time I'd overheard.

I was in the kitchen, wrapping the last of the Byers' plates. Mike stood next to me, wrapping up the cutlery. Footsteps approached and a bit of shuffling happened behind me.

"Whoa, dude," Mike said with his head turned, "that's the donation box."

I glanced back. Will had put his D&D stuff into the cardboard box.

"I know. I'll just use yours when I come back," Wil said, "I mean, if we still wanna play."

"Yeah, but what if you want to join another party?"

"Not possible," Will said, with a sad smile. He glanced at me before walking back to his room. I looked after Will, tapping my hands on the counter.

"I'll be right back," I said quietly to Mike. I walked to the end of the carpeted hallway, knocking lightly on the open door. Will knelt over a box, putting the last of his books inside. I stepped into the room when he acknowledged me and slid down the wall.

"You're almost done here?" I asked, pulling my knees against my chest.

"Yeah," Will said, "I didn't have as much as I thought."

I sat silently, watching Will continued to pack. He peered at me again.

"Everything okay?"

My head tilted in curiosity, "how are you feeling about moving? I know it's draining emotionally."

"You've done it more than most," Will said with a smirk before it disappeared, "I want to stay in Hawkins. Everything I know is here, but so are my nightmares. I get why mum wants to move so badly."

"I'm almost surprised she lasted this long after you went missing," I responded.

Will chuckled, "same. If my doctor wasn't at Hawkins Lab before, I'm sure I'd have a much better tan by now."

I let out a barking laugh, "don't worry, I was very pale until we moved down to Austin. I lost it in Seattle," I scratched my nose, "do you mind if I give you some advice?"

Will put down his stuff, turning to me, "of course."

"When you're in California, take care of yourself first. Be selfish. Don't let your good nature put someone else first," Will nodded, "but stay aware of El? She doesn't know better most of the time. You and Jonathan have significantly more social skills than her which says something because you two are awkward as hell."

Will laughed, shaking his head and I joined him.

"Just be careful, okay?"

Will nodded, standing up and I followed him. He wrapped his arms around my waist. A part of me worried for him. Going to high school was a new experience and doing it without friends wasn't fun. Being different in high school was shitty too. And being the new kid in the crowd of new kids? Shitty.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" I said, letting him go.

"I will. I'm sure I'm going to have questions about the weirdos on the west coast."

I started laughing, "I was in Seattle. It's very different from California. I mean look at Billy Hargrove. That's a different cat."

My laughter faded at the thought of Billy and all his California-ness. Will looked at me with sympathy.