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1981 June
Joyce first met Steve in 1980. She didn’t know that the hooded figure that paid in cash with wobbly hands was the boy, but it was. She rang him up like any other customer, albeit a tinge worried. His entire basket was full of canned food. Soups and beans and off-putting meat. The boy didn’t bat an eye at it, though, so Joyce tried not to show the disgust on her face.
In early 1981, she met El. It was the first time that Steve and El ran a grocery trip together. Joyce caught Steve whispering, “She’s a good stranger. Don’t be afraid.” El was wary of people back then. Joyce didn’t know why, just that her heart panged at the image of it. She kept her mouth shut about them being in Hawkins sooner than anyone else knew. She didn’t know what happened behind closed doors, and frankly she was scared to find out.
Nowadays the two siblings stopped by for odds and ends. Joyce knew that Steve did his grocery shopping at the actual grocery store now. She had seen him at the library before when she was searching for books that Will would like. Steve was constantly there, usually alone. He read a lot, copying things in a notebook word for word. It made her wonder if he had a library card.
She brought it up one day, “Hey, you know that the library will give you a card to check out books if you sign up for it.” Steve’s eyes looked confused at Joyce’s words. She added, “It’s free.”
So, while Joyce picked out a few drawing books for Will and went through the movie selection for movie night, she overheard the librarian getting Steve a card. Noises of pure awe followed. It made Joyce sad but it was covered with happiness. She helped someone today, even if it wasn’t herself.
She checked out her books a while later, smiling at the sight of Steve picking out his own 3 books to take home. One of them was a cookbook that she had tried out before but couldn’t comprehend. Another was a grammar book that teachers recommended for kids in elementary school. Then, finally, the last was a fairy tale storybook. It sent waves through her brain of a few years back when her sons first started school. It was nostalgic, to put simply.
1981 August
Today, she was met with the Harrington siblings. The store wasn’t the best place for deals on school supplies. Joyce shopped at the store down the road for the really cheap stuff. It did the same thing as the name-brand ones for the most part. She watched as Steve got dragged by his sister to one of the back aisles.
El came out with a backpack and a proud grin on her face. Steve trailed behind her, attempting to cover up his grin with a fist.
Joyce couldn’t help but show an amused smile. The backpack wasn’t anything special. It was leftovers from the year before that never got sold. She watched as El beamed at it like it was the most amazing thing in the world, though. It made all of them smile as Joyce rang it up. It was El’s, she supposed. Something that she picked out herself. That was special, now, wasn’t it?
Joyce said, “Preparing for school?” She wasn’t sure what their situation was. She didn’t truly know their names, either.
“I’m going to make friends,” announced El, like it was her one goal in life. She tugged on her brother’s shirt. “He’s going to make friends too.”
“Oh?”
El bobbed her head up and down excitedly. “And we’re going to take notes in class and eat in the cafeteria. We’re going to meet so many new people. I can’t wait.”
Joyce asked hesitantly, “Were your past schools small?” She wondered if Hawkins was considered as small of a town as she thought. It was true that the population was steadily rising in Hawkins. It was getting more business, too. She heard whispers of malls and bowling alleys being in the works like it was for other towns that grew up.
“Something like that,” said Steve.
El then jutted back into the store. Steve shrugged his shoulders as Joyce paused to let her get whatever she was planning. El returned with a bleach kit and green hair dye. Joyce thought for sure that Steve would draw the line at that, but all he did was pat her head and give a nod. El added the two items onto the conveyor belt.
“You’re going to look really cool,” said Joyce. She thought about doing highlights before, but she was more into the solid coloring of her hair.
Joyce bagged up the backpack and hair products as Steve swiped a card. She pressed a few buttons to confirm the purchase before printing off the receipt. She waved as they shuffled out of the store. She wondered if they liked her as much as she liked them. They reminded her of her own kids. El was a bit more outgoing than Will but Steve was reserved like Jonathan. Maybe school would change that. Or maybe they were only that way around her.
1981 December
Joyce checked the bruise in the mirror of her compact. It was a pale, sickly yellow, now, which was a good thing. It meant there was less of a chance of anyone else but Hopper noticing it. She put the compact away and turned to the door where the familiar ring of a customer drew her attention.
“Steve,” she greeted. Joyce was getting used to meeting with him. El ended up becoming friends with Will, Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. It was a rag-tag group, she knew, but it was adorable. El seemed to enjoy their company. Joyce worried about her boys, as any average parent did. Now it was Jonathan who needed to get friends. He was an outcast, partly because Lonnie sucked the joy out of everything in the household.
“Hey,” replied Steve, a nervous expression on his face as he approached the register. “I was– I was wondering if you knew what kids liked.” He clarified after a pause, “For the holidays.”
“A present.”
“Yeah.” He slicked his hair back in anxiousness. “Like, I know she likes frozen waffles and cream cheese and hashbrowns and doodling, but I don’t know what she wants for a present.”
Joyce thinned her lips into a line. Presents were tricky things. Gifts in general were hard to figure out, even for the most open people. Nowadays, Joyce knew to get art supplies for Will and cassette tapes for Jonathan. “What are El’s hobbies?”
“She likes to hang out with her friends,” he said.
Joyce tilted her head. “No, no, sweetheart. Her hobbies. What does she do for fun? Color? Swim? Does she play games? Read? Bake? Write? What does she do in her free time?”
Steve’s eyebrows furrowed. It was a bit comedic, seeing his thinking face. Joyce knew the topic was serious, though, so she kept a straight face. “I… I think she likes to read and write, but that’s mostly for things she finds interesting from books. She doesn’t like the kitchen. There’s too much noise.” He bit his lip in thought. Then, his eyes lit up. “She’s been going on about comic books. Supergirl, I think.”
Joyce nodded gleefully. “See if any libraries around here have it. My boys used to read comics all of the time. Will was more into Superman while Jonathan liked Batman. They both agreed that Wonder Woman and Raven could beat them in a fight, though.”
She smiled as Steve hurried out of the store. She noted that he didn’t buy anything. Joyce’s boss wouldn’t be happy about that yet she didn’t care.
1982 March
Joyce was at home nursing a cup of tea. She had recently tried quitting smoking. Again. She was on her third day of nicotine withdrawal. She hated how bad her body twitched and itched for the cigarettes in her car console. Jonathan kept shooting her worried looks while Will colored at the table oblivious to it. Lonnie, meanwhile, was storming the house.
Joyce wanted to banish the man away. He hadn’t started to yell or push any of them around, but it was bound to happen at any moment. She quickly finished her tea – a weapon, her mind whispered – and set it in the sink. She gestured to Jonathan, who knew what to do. He corralled Will to his room where they would be safe.
After the event, the third one this week, she licked her wounds alone. Lonnie drove off to relieve some steam. Will and Jonathan listened to music. And that left Joyce walking in the forest. The snow was clearing out but it lingered in some spots. She huffed air from her mouth to see the fog it created.
She must have walked for quite some time because she heard shrill cries. She looked down to her watch. She was shocked to see that she’d been out for hours. She must have walked in a loop of some sorts, seeing as she made it to town. Joyce went towards the noise slowly with excitement. She’d be able to find her way home by using the road she was near.
Joyce didn’t expect to see the backyard of a large house. Or the kids that were there. El did a cannonball into the pool while Dustin and Mike cheered for her. Lucas was running, then, and belly-flopped into the deep end. Everyone cooed at the loud smack it made. Joyce winced, knowing that she did the same thing as a dumb kid.
She paused for a moment. Why wasn’t Will there? her mind demanded. She inched from behind the shrubbery and close-knitted trees. She wasn’t noticed right away by the kids, but Steve was peeking out from an upstairs window with a wave and a grin. He disappeared for a few moments only to reappear at the door.
“Mrs. Byers!” he called out cheerfully. “Is Will coming over?” At the mention of her son, Joyce heard the excited buzzing from his friends. It was high pitched, full of young voices and electrifying happiness.
“Ah, no. I was just…” She looked down to the pool of saddened faces. Joyce gave her best smile, knowing that it fell flat. The boys all had frowns on but El gave a knowing look.
“I know it’s a little weird,” said Steve, his voice casual but body language defensive, “but the pool is heated. Since most of the snow melted, El thought it’d be fun to try it out.” The look in his eyes was knowing, too. Joyce inwardly cursed the Harrington’s and their skills at determining human behavior.
Joyce gave a noncommittal hum. “I guess Will can join next time there’s a pool party.” She saw the twinkling of glee reappear in her son’s friends’ eyes. She shrugged casually, or at least her attempt at causal. “I’ll drop Will off next time, too.”
Steve simply showed a smile. “Mike’s sister and Will’s brother can be invited too. It’s a big enough pool.”
“Jonathan?” she asked as Mike nasally said with disgust, “Nancy!?”
Steve shook his head at Mike’s antics. “Just because of that, your sister is invited. Officially. I’ll tell her on Monday if you don’t over the weekend.” Mike stuck out his tongue in defiance. Steve turned to Joyce without a care about the kid-angst. He walked towards her instead. “I’ll invite Jonathan too, if you’re good with that.”
“I think he needs to get out of his room,” she murmured to him. Steve chuckled softly as he led her away from the pool, around the house, and to the front yard.
“Are you… are you alright, Mrs. Byers?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“I’ll be okay,” she lied.
That night, when she eventually made it home, she sat in the living room. She already checked the house. Lonnie was passed out in his car, breath soaked in the smell of mildew hops. Jonathan was fast asleep in his room, seemingly passed out from the exhausting day. Will was in the chair a few feet away, curled up to sleep.
Joyce managed to find the will in her to stand up. She softly tapped on her younger son’s shoulder. Will woke slowly but once his eyes caught sight of her, he was wide awake. She whispered sweet words to him, urging his legs to function. They walked down the hall slowly.
Once they reached his room, Joyce said, “All good?” Will gave a nod, not saying a word. “See,” she said, trying not to come off as mad, “I ran into your friends. I was… I was wondering why you–”
“Skipped the pool party,” guessed Will. Joyce nodded her head as she peered at her son. He looked so small, so frail, so innocent. “I didn’t want to go.”
Joyce rolled her lips together. “Honey,” she said patiently, “you know you can tell me anything. You love your friends. If something’s wrong, I want to fix it. So let me fix it.”
“I– I don’t…” His voice was higher pitched, almost afraid.
It took a little more coaxing before Will relented. Joyce stared in horror as Will lifted up his shirt, revealing the faded brown and off-yellow bruises along his torso. It all clicked in her mind. She felt an odd, excruciating noise escape her throat before tucking Will into her warm arms.
1982 June
Joyce’s foot tapped non-stop as she stood against the fridge. In her living room, the Party was camped out. It was a great week. Lonnie was officially moved out. He said he was going to Indianapolis, but Hopper called her yesterday to say that he was stuck in a motel an hour from town. Joyce didn’t care anymore, she decided. The divorce papers were signed. She was still a Byers, and so were her kids, but that name didn’t mean anything. They were free of him. She cursed herself for not doing it sooner.
Her foot got slower, tapping every other second instead of twice a second. Joyce looked at the kids full of laughter. Everything would be okay. Will was laughing again, Jonathan too. Will was always quieter, but now it was like that had never happened. He had on a wizard hat, all sparkles and glee. He was really into character today. Joyce couldn’t even attempt to wipe the smile off of her face.
Mike was leading them through the battle. Joyce didn’t understand Dungeons and Dragons much. She didn’t need to. All she needed to know was that her kid liked it, so if she saw something at the thrift store that mentioned DnD, she’d see if she had room in her budget to get it.
Surprisingly, DnD wasn’t the only reason that the Party hung out anymore. Ever since the Henderson’s moved to Hawkins in 1980, the friendship of the group started to evolve into more than just school friends. It became Mike-Will-Lucas-Dustin, instead of Mike, Will, Lucas, and Dustin. They were an inseparable quartet. And now, El was added onto it.
Lucas ate his chips softly but it was loud. Every crunch echoed in the room, as Mike was building up tension by keeping silent. Mike rolled his eyes as Lucas defiantly sank his jaw into another chip. It made Dustin laugh and Will show a smile. El shrugged by Will’s side before reaching over the table. She put her hand out. Lucas caught on immediately. He put some chips in her hand. Some of the crumbs fell onto the board, which only furthered Mike’s descent into madness.
And then, from the fanny pack that El never left home without, she revealed a packet of M&Ms. She cracked it open loudly, making Mike’s eyebrow twitch. She smiled at him and passed the M&Ms into her friend’s offered hands. They purposely chewed loudly until Mike relented and held out his own hand. El smiled sweetly as she deposited a few of the brightly colored chocolate into his palm until it overflowed.
Joyce stepped away from the fridge. She passed by the living room, ignoring the yell Mike made about cleanliness, and knocked on Jonathan’s door. He looked up from his textbook. School had ended yet he was studying. She didn’t remember being that studious when she was his age. He gave her a wave as she shut the door. She continued down the hallway until she found her room.
She laid in bed, feeling the thump of her heart clearly. It was a good day.
1982 August
School started back up again. It was Jonathan’s first year of high school. She was so worried. Joyce knew that middle school was somewhat of a break compared to elementary school. Hawkins Middle only held two grades compared to the 4 years of kids in high school. It meant less teasing. She prepared for it by cooking. She must have worried her sons because they staged an intervention where they hid the pots. It made her laugh, which made them smile.
All in all, Joyce felt anxious. Will was in his last year of elementary school. He’s starting at Hawkins Middle next year. Jonathan was officially a high schooler. It was mind-blowing. Her little boys were growing up. Way too soon, if you asked her. What happened to being 3-feet tall and having wiggling teeth?
She dropped them off, unsurprised to see El waving from the bike lockup. Will rushed to hug her, then quickly dragged her over to say hi. “How are you, honey?” she asked.
El showed a toothy grin. “I’m doing good.” She gave a wave to Jonathan, who returned it quietly.
Joyce noticed that her hair was slightly shorter, now at her shoulders. She must have trimmed it. It was wavier than before, less weight pulling it down. El also had the same bracelets on, if not more. There were no drawings along her skin like normal. Will mentioned that she would doodle on her left hand and have him draw a quick pattern on her right. It was a sweet thing, if not a tinge worrying. Joyce wasn’t sure what was in the markers they used, after all.
“Be sure to pay attention,” Joyce told them. “And behave. Don’t draw attention to yourselves, either. Bullies will notice that and pick you out.”
Will giggled at that. “Mom, bullies have left us alone lately. Practically all of last year.”
“Really?” she asked, noticing that Jonathan seemed just as surprised.
“Yep!” Will gave a small salute. “I’ll see you later, alright! I love you!” He walked backwards with El until he eventually turned around completely.
The next stop was the high school. Jonathan groaned as they pulled up. She huffed at him. “You better have a good day,” she said.
“Mom,” he complained as he waved his hand around, “I can’t make people like me. It’s not possible.”
Joyce understood that. She truly did. However, she also knew that Steve would take her son under his wing if something went wrong. She had heard from Karen that her daughter Nancy heard that Steve was a kind soul– popular but nice. If Jonathan struggled in school, Steve would make sure he was okay. It was the type of person Steve was.
Just on cue, Steve rolled up on his bike. He waved at them before locking it up on the metal bars. He showed a goofy grin at them as he went into the school. She watched as he was immediately tackled by a boy with freckles. A girl with red hair waited in front of them, blowing bubble gum with a vivid gaze on the two.
Joyce ushered, “You’ll be fine.” Jonathan didn’t seem to believe her. He gulped audibly. “Oh, come on. Give it a chance, at least. If you have to, make friends with Mike’s older sister. You’re in the same grade, for goodness sake. You need to get along ‘cause it doesn’t seem like your brothers will be parting any time soon.”
Jonathan groaned as he got out. Joyce shook her head with an amused look. He would be fine. It was just high school. He had his whole life ahead. This was just the start of something more. She turned the wheel to get out of the parking lot. It was going to be a long day.
1982 December
Joyce furrowed her brow. She asked, almost in a daze, “You want to do what?”
“See the basketball game,” said Jonathan. He messed with the hem of his sleeve, as if she would be upset that he was making friends.
“Basketball,” she echoed, “like the club Steve’s in?”
Jonathan ticked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing. “It’s just a game, mom.”
“You’ve never been interested in sports.”
“I want to try taking photographs of moving players,” he replied. It was a good excuse, too.
Joyce knew that the new camera he had was his prized possession. With the divorce finalized, Joyce had a few extra bucks laying around. She managed to get the camera during the holiday sales. Lonnie didn’t chip in, though, that bastard. He thought having a hobby like photography was pointless. He didn’t know that Jonathan would be a star one day.
“Who are you going with?” She needed to know if she needed to drop him off before her next shift.
“Oh, uh, all the kids are going.”
“Is Mrs. Henderson giving everyone a ride?”
Jonathan shrugged. “Mr. Wheeler said he’d swing by to pick Will and I up.”
“Ah.” Joyce’s face morphed into a knowing look. Jonathan’s face turned bright red. Joyce chuckled softly. “Just make sure to keep an eye on your brother.” She knew that the Party started to go to the basketball games last year. El convinced them somehow. Lonnie tried to get Will into basketball when he heard about it, the awful piece of shit that he was.
“He’s a little guy that can get lost in the crowd,” said Jonathan, a smile tugging on his lips, “but I don’t think I can lose an entire group of children.”
“Mike is a sneaky kid!”
“They’re all sneaky when they try,” agreed Jonathan, giving a few stout nods.
Joyce clapped her hands together before reaching for her keys in between the sofa cushions. “I’ll be back by 11:30 P.M. okay? Get Will to bed before that.”
“I know the drill.”
“Yeah. Okay.” She gave him a hug before leaving for her shift. She was glad that her sons were both finding their way in the world.
1983 February
It was a quiet day when Joyce awoke to a metallic bang. She quickly got up from her bed and found the cause of the noise. “What are you doing?” she asked, a laugh lacing her voice.
Will turned around sheepishly. He had a pan on the stove, a spatula in his left hand, and a carton of eggs in his right. He looked like he was on a mission. That mission? To cook breakfast.
“I’m just– just you know,” he rambled.
“Cooking eggs?” she guessed, stepping closer. Will let her set the carton of eggs on the counter. She turned the stove onto a low heat as well. “Were you hungry?”
“No, uhm…” He looked down, clearly struggling to find words. Joyce kneeled down to be eye-level with her youngest. “I want to cook breakfast for you and Jon.”
“Uh-huh.” Joyce ruffled up Will’s hair, smiling as he giggled at the contact. “You’re too good, you know that?” She let him go from the hug and took out a bowl from the cupboard. She reached for the carton and explained, “I learned from multiple failed attempts to always crack eggs in a separate bowl so no shell gets in the food.”
“And we need to grease the pan,” added Will, his interest piqued.
Joyce grinned as she cracked 4 eggs into the bowl. She fished out some of the shell and pretended that it wasn’t a struggle to get them out. “Alright, chef, what’s next?”
Will beamed at her, then directed, “We whisk them.”
Joyce peered around the kitchen. She whispered, “I don’t think we have a whisk.”
Her son didn’t seem to mind. He went to the utensil drawer and took out a fork. “This can be our whisk for today.” Will was very proud of solving the problem, if his confident look was anything to go by. Joyce smiled as she took the fork from Will’s gracious hand. Once they were properly scrambled and Will had the pan lined with butter, the eggs fell into the hot pan.
Jonathan came out a few minutes into plating the eggs. Joyce had the toaster running but it was pretty slow. Sometimes one side of the slice of bread got burnt while the other looked perfectly golden. She would buy a new one when she didn't worry about making the bills.
Jonathan looked at them strangely, as if he didn’t think either of them knew how to cook. He’d be correct in that fact, but eggs were a fairly easy breakfast. She slid him a glass of orange juice while Will took out the ketchup. He sat down at the table with a proud grin as they all dug into their meal.
Joyce wondered who gave Will the initiative to want to cook. She didn’t have to think too hard about it, in the end.
1983 April
Joyce woke up to a knock on the door. She shuffled through the halls and grabbed for a jacket in case it was Mrs. Wheeler or another one of Will’s friend’s parents. She didn’t expect to be greeted with Steve Harrington. He was polite and sweet like normal, but looked guilty about something.
“Hi, Mrs. Byers. I was, uh, I was wondering if you knew anything about cars.”
“Cars?” she repeated. She stepped forward to see what he meant. Joyce already connected the dots when she noticed the BMW parked by the old Byers’ cars. “You have a car,” she said, almost faintly.
“Mr. McGee lost his license because of his eyesight, so he gave me a good deal on it,” replied Steve. Joyce bobbed her head. She knew Alexander McGee was getting older. He used to be the librarian until Marie took over a decade or so ago. “There’s something wrong with it, though.”
“Oh?”
“The seat won’t move.”
Joyce’s heart stopped for a moment. Something in her released tension. She didn’t know anything about motors or oil or why a car would be smoking. She did, however, know how to fix easy things from getting stuck or unstuck. She directed, “Lead the way.”
Steve walked down the porch with Joyce one step behind. He opened the door on the passenger’s side. He knelt down and pointed to the metal sliders that moved the seat back and forth. For show, he wiggled the seat to no avail.
“Huh,” she said.
“Yeah. I don’t know how to fix it. The manual doesn’t explain anything about it being a problem.”
Joyce bent down next to Steve. She jerked the seat every which way, focusing on pushing it back and pulling it forward. “Maybe the metal’s too cold,” she said.
“The cold affects it?”
Joyce explained, “Metal expands when it’s warm, I think. I’m sure one of the kids can explain why it expands– something to do with atoms, I’m sure.” She poked at the metal some more. “If it’s not due to the temperature, it might have something sticky on it. Come inside. I’ll boil some water.”
It was a few minutes later when Jonathan woke up, sleep clouding his eyes. He didn’t recognize that Steve was in their house until he came out of the bathroom. “St–Steve?!”
“Hey, Jonathan,” he replied with a wave added on. Steve paused for a moment, then said, “Your mom’s helping me with a problem.”
“Alright…”
Joyce lifted the kettle off of the stove. “I think it’s hot enough now.” Steve took the kettle from her carefully and walked outside. Both Byers followed him. Joyce thought about being the one to pour it, but Steve looked confident in his abilities to not burn himself. He slowly poured some of the hot water onto the metal sliders.
“What’s going on?” whispered Jonathan. Joyce batted at him, as he snuck up on her. He was getting taller, nearly her height. She knew he was bound to hit another growth spurt again soon. “What?”
Joyce answered, “The seat is stuck. He wants to move it forward, yeah?” Steve hummed as he watched the water slide off the metal. He then moved the seat back and forth with a frown.
Jonathan suggested, “I can push it from the back seat.” It only took a moment for Joyce and Steve to agree. Jonathan opened the back door and sat down quickly. He used his arms at first, but when that didn’t do anything he switched to his feet and legs.
The seat moved forward. Joyce heard Steve and Jonathan let out sounds of happiness as she clapped her hands together automatically. Steve then messed with the seat some more while Joyce held onto the kettle. The seat locked into place when Steve let it.
“See, not so hard,” said Joyce. Steve smiled at her, then helped Jonathan get out of the backseat.
On the following Monday, Steve showed up to the Byers household. El was in the passenger’s seat grinning as Will and Jonathan loaded into the car. Joyce waved as they went off. She knew that Jonathan had started studying for his permit ever since Steve got the BMW. He’d studied a little bit before, but now he seemed confident in taking the test in days if not weeks.
1983 August
As soon as school was out, Jonathan got a job at the cinema. He also secured his permit. If anyone saw Jonathan driving around, they didn’t mention that he didn’t have a license. Joyce saw the card in Jonathan’s room. It was Hopper’s. He must have pulled him over before letting him get away. Joyce wanted to say that there was no point in that because Jonathan would continue to drive illegally, but she was also thankful. The added income made it easier to keep the cupboard and fridge half-full instead of barely scraping by.
It was a Sunday when the entire Byers family was at home. For the first time in a month, all of their free time intersected. Joyce rented a movie from Family Video to celebrate it. They ate microwaved popcorn and half-dollar box candy. It was the best time Joyce had in a long time. The smile on her face didn’t waver the entire day.
The days of summer passed in a blur. Everyone was so busy. Joyce was working two part-time jobs, Jonathan was putting in a lot of hours at the cinema, and Will was enjoying time with his friends. He practically lived at the Wheeler’s house. Apparently, so she heard from Dustin, the Harrington household was an event place not an everyday place. Joyce chuckled at the thought. She understood why they didn’t use it often, though. It was a larger, nicer house that probably daunted them. Loch Nora in general turned a lot of heads. However, pool parties were a weekly if not daily event. June and July were full of chlorine hair and sun-kissed skin.
Joyce went over once. She didn’t visit the Harrington siblings often. It felt like she was intruding. She heard rumors about their parents from the concerned adults at her jobs. Joyce couldn’t tell what was fiction and what was true. She waited at the door with Will and Jonathan. It was a pot-luck of sorts, hosted by Steve as a returning-to-school celebration.
When some time had passed, Will whispered, “He has a key under the petunia plant.” Joyce frowned at it at first, but once another minute passed with no answer, she gestured for it. Will gleefully picked up the ceramic pot to unveil the key. Joyce scooped it out of his hand and twisted the door open.
She walked inside the house slowly, setting the key down in a bowl. Joyce walked forward, only to be met with an empty house. Jonathan entered after her with Will peeking out from behind. They trudged through. Will stepped past them and walked around confidently. He led them to the dining area, where there were plates set in stacks and utensils stood up in jars.
Joyce set down the plastic bowl of cookies(bought frozen at the store then baked at home) before having Jonathan set down the platter of deviled eggs he made. Will continued to look around. Eventually, he came back with a friend.
“El, sweetie?” called out Joyce.
El looked exhausted. Her eyes were dark with round circles, her face pale and almost green-tinted, and her hair was a tangled mess. She walked lethargically but her eyes were full of life. “Hello, Mrs. Byers, Jonathan.” El gave a tired smile. “I guess I didn’t call you in time.”
“Are you okay?” asked Jonathan. He leaned forward with a concerned facial expression.
El rubbed at her eyes. “I’m fine. I’m not the one that’s sick.”
Will supplied helpfully, “She’s been taking care of Steve.”
Joyce instantly understood. “He’s sick, then. And you’ve been taking care of him.” El bobbed her head. “How long has he been sick?”
“He came down last night,” said El. “He thought he’d be better with some rest, but he’s gotten worse. Steve said that Tommy’s mom was sick, so he probably transferred it somehow.” She wiped her hand through her hair. “I managed to call Mike and Dustin. Dustin said he’d call Lucas and Mike said he’d tell you guys.”
“We probably left before he was able to call.”
El accepted the answer. “You’re early.”
“We were going to help set up,” agreed Joyce. She tried not to pry, but it was worrying to see two kids alone in a house. “Do you want any help?” She attempted to cover up a yawn, but it came out anyway.
“We’re okay,” promised El. She looked concerned at them more than herself. “I just, uh, it’s been a long night. Don’t worry. We have soup and crackers to eat. He stocks up on it before school starts because he read a book that said the first month of school is when a lot of kids get sick.”
“Well, call us if you need any help, okay?”
El nodded before saying, “Mike said that the potluck was moving to his house. Mrs. Wheeler okayed it and everything… She was on the other end of the line. She said it’d be a nice thing to see everyone, too.”
“Oh, okay.” Joyce tried not to be awkward. “I’ll leave some cookies for you two, okay? They should keep for a few days.” El waved them away before going upstairs.
Jonathan spoke quietly, “She looks really tired. Is she sick too?”
“I don’t know, Jon.”
1983 September
Joyce smiled as her sons talked about their days. Dinner was on their plates, and yet no one seemed to focus on the food. They were buzzing with excitement. Jonathan mentioned studying with two friends – Barb and Nancy – while Will couldn’t stop talking about AV club.
“It was started by Bob Newby. He runs the Radioshack. He’s definitely a nerd like us, mom. Mr. Clarke said that being into science and wanting to learn more about the universe isn’t weird. Apparently a lot of kids have been in the club through the years.”
“You seem to like your science teacher,” she commented. She remembered Scott from school. He was a fairly nice guy back then, dorky with his nose stuck in a book. Joyce was glad that Will finally had a teacher he liked.
“He’s awesome,” assured Will.
Jonathan shrugged from across from his brother. “He went on rants in class. It was hard to tell what was important to know for the test.”
“You’re supposed to be happy to learn,” said Will, his lips still in a smile. “I bet you were too focused on looking at colleges for your photography.”
“I’ve known for years that I’ve wanted to go to NYU.”
Will shook his head. “You just don’t want to learn about cool things.”
Jonathan argued, “Maybe what I view as cool is different than yours.”
She watched with amusement. She loved when they didn’t agree on things. For the most part, her sons were very similar. Both introverted and shy, maybe a bit weird too. Jonathan didn’t mind being weird, but Will did. Will wasn’t like other boys his age, after all. She knew, and she knew that Jonathan knew too. Neither of them brought it up. Not until Will figured it out himself, or was comfortable with talking to them.
“Steve says that you told him that being weird was cool,” said Will. He even had his fork raised to point at his brother.
“Being weird is awesome, alright?” said Jonathan. He wasn’t defensive about it, but definitely startled. “You don’t want to be like everyone else.”
Joyce added, “Just be yourself. It’s gotten you this far.” She mirrored Will’s grin. “You have a big group of friends and now you’re all a part of an awesome club. Middle school won’t be as daunting as you think. I promise you that.”
Jonathan muttered, “High school’s definitely worse.” Joyce kicked him under the table, eliciting a startled yelp from her oldest son. “Hey!”
“Don’t scare your brother like that!”
“I wasn’t trying to–”
Will laughed, loud and high-pitched, at them. It made both Joyce and Jonathan stop squabbling to look at him with fondness.