the next day, dustin had decided to stay home from school. claudia henderson had allowed him to rest and lydia was tempted to stay home as well. her eyes were puffy from the night before and she only got 3 hours of sleep which caused her to look like a zombie. however, she wanted to be strong for dustin. so she forced herself out of bed to get ready for school. she tried her best to look presentable but even a stranger could tell that something was off. looking in the mirror, she took a deep breath and grabbed her bag, mentally preparing for the day ahead of her. as she left her room she stared at the closed door across the hall. she contemplated going in before lightly knocking.

"dust?" she got no answer. slowly opening the door, she saw her brother wrapped up under the sheets. sitting down on the bed, she placed a hand on his leg. "hey bud." he peeked the top half of his face out from under the covers, his eyes puffy and red just like his sister's. she gestured him over for a hug and held him tightly. they sat like that for a little longer before they let go and lydia got up to leave. she gave him a light kiss on his forehead before ruffling his hair and saying goodbye. little did she know that her brother would later be at school with his 3 friends and a little girl with superpowers.

~

sitting in the parking lot in her beat up chevrolet citation, lydia tried her best to calm herself down before school started. she leaned her forehead on her knuckles as she gripped the steering wheel. she wished for nothing more than to be laying with lawrie as they play one of her beatle's albums on her record player while they drifted off to sleep. but now wasn't the time for that. taking a deep breath she exited her car and walked into school.

before she even got to her locker she saw steph waiting for her. smiling at the sight of her best friend she ran up to her and gave her a hug. there had been quite a lot of hugging recently, but lydia didn't mind.

"hey, how was dustin? is he okay?" her friend immediately asked, hugging her tightly. they pulled away and the freckled girl took a good look at her friend. "woah, lyds are you okay?" the brunette nodded and tried her best to keep her composure before her friend pulled her into another hug. lydia stifled a sob.

"they found will's body." her voice cracked as a few tears fell. steph hugged her tighter and rubbed her friends back in an attempt to comfort her. pulling away from her, lydia wiped away her tears with the sleeves of her sweater. taking a deep breath, she regained her composure and got her books from her locker like nothing happened. "lyds, are you sure you're gonna be okay today?" she nodded.

"i'll be okay."

~

it was third period when nancy wheeler walked in pissed out of her mind. she huffed and aggressively sat down next to lydia. well, aggressively was a bit of an overstatement. the older henderson eyed the girl in a confused manner, wondering who got her so upset. after taking a deep breath, nancy looked over at the sleep deprived teen next to her and her feelings of anger were replaced with concern.

"are you okay? you look like-"

"shit?" she interrupted. the wide eyed girl cracked a smile at the joke.

"i was gonna say that you look like you didn't sleep last night. but i think that saying you look like shit also works." both girls lightly chuckled, the presence of one another enough to lift their moods. students were entering the room slowly, taking their seats one by one. a comfortable silence fell between the girls as they watched the classroom slowly fill up.

"steve's an ass." chuckling lightly at her comment, lydia nodded in agreement.

"yeah, he can be like that sometimes. anything specifically that he's done lately?" nancy nodded.

"i told him about how i went back to his house yesterday because barb's car was still there and i saw this," she paused and gestured with her hands in an attempt to explain what she saw that day. "this thing. it had no face and i-i just have a terrible feeling about all of this." she threw her hands up in the air. the brunette across from her was following the series of events pretty well, but she didn't quite understand how steve fit into all this.

"so what did steve do?" this caused nancy to roll her eyes and sigh deeply.

"when i told him about all this and about barb's disappearance he was only concerned about his parents and his dad and the fucking beers. he's unbelievable." lydia understood now. the cops would want to interview all of them, which might lead to steve's parents knowledge of the party. more importantly, his dad's knowledge of the party.

steve's dad had always been an asshole. even when lydia was over, his dad would yell at him saying how he was "useless" and "wouldn't amount to anything." knowing the way mr. harrington operated, she understood that if he found out about the party and the beers that steve would be in serious trouble.

"lemme talk to him about this whole thing. give me lunch period and i'll try to talk some sense into the dweeb." she nudged the solemn girl, trying to lighten the mood. nancy couldn't help but smile at her friend.

~

lunch time rolled around, and nancy was nowhere to be found. lyds assumed it had something to do with the reason she was pulled out of class but didn't think too much about it. she sat down in her usual spot next to steve who seemed more anxious than usual. his arms were crossed and he bounced his legs up and down rhythmically, trying to calm himself down. he hadn't bothered to get lunch due to the anxiety that plagued his entire body. the only thought on his mind was what his dad would say when he found out he had people over. he prayed to god that nancy didn't mention anything about the beers.

he could practically see the scene playing out in front of him. his dad would be waiting for him when he got home. he would be sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and that look that steve knew all too well. he'd stand up and walk over to where steve was standing and he'd stare him in the eye, preparing the words he was about to yell. he'd go off about how steve can't even handle a night with them away without fucking up, and then he'd yell that if he doesn't deserve everything he has because he's just a useless piece of shit. then his mom would butt in and try and tell her husband to stop but he would ignore her, just like he always does. and he would get up in steve's face and say, "you're lucky i don't have it in me to hit you you sorry son of a bitch." before storming off and slamming a door in the distance that would make him jump.

"stevie." lydia interrupted. he looked up at her with wide eyes, remembering that it was all in his head. "come on, let's go outside." she nodded with her head, gesturing to the door. he slowly nodded before picking up his books and following her.

"i was an ass, i got that much," he explained as they sat on a ledge. she nodded as she looked out at the parking lot. "but you know how bad my dad is. h-he's gonna go fucking ballistic on me." he pushed the heels of his palms into his eyes trying to think of a scenario where this actually works out. the brunette looked at her anxiety-ridden friend sadly. rubbing his back, lydia placed a kiss on his temple.

"she's just concerned about her friend. she's missing and she feels like no one is doing anything to help look for her. she just wants someone to be there for her and believe her and have faith in her. you know?" she looked over at steve who was staring intently at her. it skeeved her out by how intense his gaze was. "harrington, did you hear a single word i said?" he snapped out of his trance and sat up straight.

"yeah, yeah sorry. i just, i just got distracted." humming in response, lydia took his hand in hers. "it'll be okay, i promise." he nodded, trying to believe her words. but even as she said it, lydia henderson knew something was wrong. not just with steve, but with the town. something was happening in hawkins.