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This diary belongs to: Lacey Marie Henderson
November 6th- 1983
Dear diary, I don't know why I'm writing in here again, it's been a while since I have; since I've written anything really. But things have been different today. There's a bad feeling in the air, like a storm is coming. The weather man did say that rain was imminent. I've got a gut feeling as well. An uneasy feeling just won't leave me alone. It's the same way I felt when Dad left.
No one else will ever even read these. I don't even read these. Maybe one day I will. When I'm out of Hawkins, when I'm rich, when I've done something with my life.
Dustin came home later than usual tonight, he was at dungeons and dragons with the other boys. He said something about an X-Men #134 comic book. He also mentioned Nancy Wheeler again. I think he has a little crush, it's cute, and I don't blame him. Nancy is gorgeous, and smart. I'm kind of jealous of her. About Dustin: even though he tells me these things, like about Nancy and his games and comics, I feel like I don't have as much in common with him anymore, with anyone at all really. Mom doesn't want to talk to me as much either. Maybe I remind her of Dad too much... We can't relate to anything except our love for Dustin. Not that I don't love the kid more than myself, I do. It's just a lot without a father around to be his other parent. This gut feeling just wont go away, no matter what I do.
I feel invisible again.
November 7th- 1983
Dear diary, it's gotten worse. It always does.
Will's mom called this morning to ask where Will is, she sounded really worried. Dustin is going kind of crazy about it. I've got a really bad feeling about this. Like, really, really, really bad. Will is the sweetest kid. We all know he wouldn't have just run off like Mom says he might have. Dustin swears by it.
The rain is really adding to this bad mood. It's become more of a full-blown storm now. Poor little baby Mews got stuck outside and we had to bring her in and sit her in front of the fireplace. She slept snuggled up in a blanket nest on Dustin's bed.
After Dusty went to sleep, Mom mentioned something about Will's dad, Lonnie Byers. It was just an off-hand comment, but nevertheless it was memorable. I don't know Will that well apart from when I see him with Dusty, but I know that his Dad left sometime a few years back and his Mom took it kind of hard. Will reminds me of myself in some ways. He's quiet, but I know that he's smart. I'm sure he will be back soon, if he isn't… I don't even want to think of what that will do to Joyce, to the boys, to Dustin. I couldn't handle seeing that.
I really hope they find Will.
November 8th- 1983
Dear diary,
History class today was insufferable, Mrs. Click was rambling again. She expects us to remember everything that she mumbles and writes in that messy handwriting on the chalkboard. Apparently there will be a test next week, so Robin says. I haven't spoken to her much before, but I trust this insight. She seems very good at noticing the little things. Or at deciphering the seemingly secret codes that Mrs. Click scribbles around the classroom. I noticed Robin was a bit out of it today, zoning out staring at Tammy Thompson. I truly do hope that it isn't envy for her singing 'talent'.
Steve Harrington was there too, in history. Though he clearly wasn't learning anything. There was this funny little train of stares: I was watching Robin, while Robin stared at Tammy, who stared at Steve, and finally it ended in Steve staring mindlessly at his textbook while chewing on his pencil. Not that I pay that much attention to what King Steve is doing.
At least there is some normalcy left despite Will's disappearance.
November 9th- 1983
Dear diary,
They found Will. He's gone. Dustin came home crying, he knew about it before it was on the news. I think he saw it all happen. Dustin wouldn't say much about it, I tried asking and comforting him. He just went to his room with the cat and shut the door. Mom tried to talk to Dusty as well, she had no luck. When the news came on I found out more. Poor Will was found in the quarry. They said that he must have gotten lost in the storm and just...fallen. I really hope that Dustin or any of the other boys didn't actually see the body.
I can’t stop thinking about Will, about his Mom, about Jonathan. I don’t even know them that well, but now I wish I had gotten to know them more before all of this.
I keep picturing it. Will, without that spark he has when he plays D&D. I don't even know what I would do if i had to see that of a friend. Or of Dusty. I feel so helpless. I wish there was something I could do to fix any of this.
November 11th- 1983
Dear diary,
Will’s funeral was today. I drove Dustin there. He was quiet, I could tell that he was thinking really hard about something. He was fidgeting a lot with his tie and his jacket sleeves. It felt like he was about to tell me everything when he would sigh and open his mouth, but then he just kept quiet again. The radio wouldn't even work to fill the silence, it just kept cutting out.
I wore that one black dress that Mom got me a while ago. It's pretty. I never want to wear it again. Will's casket was so small. Will was so small.
The funeral was tense. It got even worse when the boys talked over some of it. They looked like they were making fun of some girl from their class. I gave Dustin a look to make him shut up, I still feel bad about that. He did stop talking though, which was better, especially since subtlety has never been a strong suit for him.
After the funeral I saw Jonathan and Nancy talking together. They seem closer. I'm happy about that, as happy as I can be in a situation like this. Jonathan always has seemed a bit more of a loner than everyone else, I hope that Nancy is a good friend to him.
I just don’t know anything anymore. Everything about today sat wrong in my stomach. Something isn’t adding up, especially with the way that Dustin has been acting. Will Byers is gone, but not in a way that feels final. Not in a way that feels true.
And I hate that I can’t shake that feeling.
November 12th- 1983
Dear diary, it seems like everything is escalating everywhere.
Dustin and his friends are always out and always rushing to be somewhere. Neither me nor Mom have any idea where or why. Mom doesn't really ask either, I don't know if she does really care…
School’s been hectic as well. Nancy is having some relationship drama, or so it seems. I saw her with those assholes Tommy and Carol. They're talking behind her back, I know it. If I was closer with her then I would have said something. She doesn't deserve to be treated like that. They looked at me too for some reason, perhaps because I sit near Steve and Jonathan in some classes? Carol laughed and I swear it was at me directly. She said something I couldn't hear, it made me nervous, and angry. I never liked them, but now dislike them even more.
Steve Harrington surely has some part in the relationship drama with Nancy. The glorious King Steve fucked something up big time because Nancy looked really upset after school. She even missed class again earlier today, so did Barbara.
Speaking of, Barbara hasn't been at school for a few days now. I've got a bad feeling about that one too.
Please can someone just make Hawkins go back to normal so I can be invisible again.
November 12th- 1983
Dear diary, two entries in one day. I know, I know, overkill. You'll never guess, but it's gotten weirder.
The neighbors were talking about Will, I overheard them talking shit about Mrs. Byers. They said that she has gone crazy again. It's barbaric and cruel speaking about them not even a day since the funeral. I flipped the bird at them when they weren't looking. That felt good to do.
Dustin keeps asking something about energy department vans. He freaked out when I told him that I did indeed see one. I think something really weird is going on, like a dam has burst and a wave is coming over everything. First Will, then Barbara, and now the van mystery. I just wish that I could talk to Dusty more about it but he's never even home anymore. It's like he doesn't live here at all. I promised him I’d keep an eye out though, even though I don’t really know what I’m looking for.
In other news, I spotted Steve Harrington again today. This time he was sporting a terrible looking black eye. Even though he's a pretentious rich asshole, he doesn't seem like the worst guy ever. I don't know what he would have done to receive that. P.S: Later on I was driving to pick up some groceries for Mom and I saw something horrid written on the sign outside the theatre. Someone wrote that Nancy was a slut. I don't believe it at all. Now I am beginning to piece together a possible reasoning behind Steve's black eye...
November 13th—1983
Dear diary,
I think that Dustin might be being bullied again by those mean kids from his class. He came home from the direction of the quarry with Mike and they both looked pretty shaken up. They were also talking about a girl, which had a more positive feel to it. Mike blushed when I asked who she was, they both wouldn't speak a word on the matter. It's nice seeing them just be kids again after all the craziness.
From what I gathered overhearing gossip at lunch break today, Nancy and Steve broke up. It's a little bit shocking to be honest. They seemed so in love, it seemed so perfect. Maybe all of this tension will help Steve to realize that the crowd he hangs around with aren't good people. (Apart from Nancy of course, she isn't counted in that group)
December 25th- 1983
Dear diary,
It’s been a while since I wrote in this goddamn thing. I've got big news for you. Will is back, and alive. I don't know how it happened, I went to his funeral for god's sake. Everything about the situation confuses me still. If there are any answers to the ever-growing mysteries of Hawkins, I will make it my mission to find them. I am so happy that Will was found. Hopefully they find Barbara soon.
Christmas is today, and for once, it almost feels like Hawkins is going back to normal. Dustin’s acting more like himself, like a massive weight has come off of his shoulders. He got some new dice for D&D and hasn’t stopped talking about them, they've got little tiny axes inside them, a weapon he uses in the game. It took three different stores to find the right ones. (Thank you Mike for telling me where to get them.)
It seems like so much has happened in the last few weeks. But at long last I can relax, and so can Dusty.
January 1st- 1984
Dear diary, Happy new years!
Will got out of the hospital and Dustin has been going over to see him a lot. He is still obsessed with his new dice set and the boys have been planning a massive campaign. I let him talk about it for hours on end, even though I don't know a lot about the game. I'm just happy that he is at home more and actually talking to me.
Dustin mentioned Steve again, he keeps bringing him up in conversations that have nothing to do with him. I don't know what's going on there, (maybe he's jealous of the hair?) but if Dustin keeps talking about Steve, I might just start to trust him. I just hope that when school starts again I can test that theory for myself and find out what is going on with Hawkins.
I feel like this year will be better. As Dusty says, let's hope for a critical hit.