Chapter Text
1985. Bomont, Utah. Population: 723.
The Byers’ family car puffs a small cloud of smoke as the wheels crackle on unfinished pavement.
If the Byers could ever agree on one thing, it would be that maybe being away from Hawkins was a good idea. It certainly seemed that way to Joyce; it was her idea, after all, and the loss of Hopper catapulted her further into the prospect of leaving it all behind. Jonathan grew to agree, although imagining a life without Nancy became an increasingly demanding sadness in his mind. Even despite his hesitation, he recognized that putting their family in danger (or, putting Will and Jane in danger, more accurately) was a risk too real to stay around for.
And there was Will. Will, who could still remember the Upside Down taking him in that November day so long ago: could still feel the cold overtaking every inch of his body in a way that was not his anymore, in a way that never was: Will who suddenly felt a lot of feelings about who he was and how his friends could all move on because they couldn’t see it, but he could, and he always would: Will who missed his friends so deeply, of course, but Will who maybe needed this. Needed the distance.
And Jane. Jane, who God knew needed it maybe most of all. Jane, who had come head to head with the Upside Down long before Will even had, and who was treated never as a person, but always as a project. Jane who was never understood. The Byers all hoped they could find somewhere new for her, somewhere where she didn’t have to be “Eleven” anymore. In a way, she never was. She could always be herself.
And so Joyce decided to move back where she was born, before her parents had moved her out to Hawkins. The town was “...calm,” as she described it, which, unfortunately, could only mean one thing; the town was positively and unequivocally boring. Boring, however, wasn’t a completely unwelcome descriptor, because after living in a town with a constant fear of death and demogorgons, sometimes, you’d pray for just one goddamned boring day.
“Well…here it is!” Joyce shuts off the car, briefly looking at their new house through the windshield before popping open the door, “come on!”
Jonathan follows, opening the passenger door. Will and Jane. however, linger a beat longer, simply taking in the scenery around them through the car window. Even the landscape looked different from Hawkins; Bomont was a desert, the only similarity coming from the warm sunny heat that they could feel radiating into the car.
Jane looks over, a glimmer of fear in her eyes, and Will caught her stare.
“...Come on,” Will whispers, pursing his lips into a small, solemn smile, “we should probably get out there. It’ll be nice.”
Jane blinks, and after a moment, a small smile appears on her face, too.
“Nice,” she parrots, causing Will to nod in agreement.
“Yeah,” he grins, and Jane parrots that as well, opening her door and getting up. Joyce and Jonathan had yet to go inside, still looking at the exterior of the house—it was nice, maybe even nicer than the one back in Hawkins—and most of all, it was different. Different in a way that causes a flutter in Will’s chest, and a glimmer of hope in the back of his mind that here, he wouldn’t be Zombie Boy, or…any of the “other things” the kids back home told him. Here, he could just be someone, like everyone else got to be, and the family could live like every other kid got to. The worst of their fears could be bad grades, and they could be calm, which in turn, would give them room to dream.
The rest of the day was spent packing. Jane had decorated her room with posters and comfy bedding, and, most of all, pictures of Mike. Will…ironically enough, had a similar experience, his room adorned in band posters, old drawings, comfy bedding, and pictures of the Party. Them on Halloween, all in their matching Ghostbusters costumes, or them on their first day of middle school…he looked at the pictures fondly, and something within him already ached. Homesickness, and…
‘You’re destroying everything, and for what—so you can swap spit with some stupid girl?’
‘El’s not stupid; it’s not my fault you—’ Will abandons that memory as quickly as it came, with a small shake of his head to try and rid himself of it once and for all. He puts the picture on his nightstand, and takes a shaky breath out.
—
The next week comes with their first taste of life really living there: not just staying in the house and experiencing the new weather. That Monday marked the first day of school, at a school called Bomont High. Nervous was…certainly an understatement, but when their car approached the bustling school, students laughing and talking around its small campus, it’s almost as though they were home again. Even though Jonathan can definitely drive, Joyce insisted on taking them for their first day of school.
“Alright you guys, have a good day, alright? And if anything happens, I can come back and pick you guys up—”
“Mom, we’ll be fine,” Will bashfully smiles, with Jane nodding by his side and Jonathan looking back fondly.
“Oh, alright, you guys. Stay safe!” Joyce smiles back, and they repeat back a smaller “we will!” as the car pulled away. The school was accented in shades of green, much like the Hawkins High they would’ve gone to, although now that they were out of the car…there was one glaring difference.
…These kids were happy. Of course, that’s a great thing, but…these kids were really, really happy. Like, absurdly so.
Will and Jane’s classes are in a different sector of the school than Jonathan’s, so they wave goodbye before beginning to go. As they began to walk towards the front doors of the school, they could pick out some pieces of conversations from kids who weren't just staring like it was their life goal to make them uncomfortable here, words like,
“...Prom…”
“Reverend Moore said…dance…”
“Mill…going…?”
“Dancing…”
“...dance…”
“...Dance…?”
Will notes to himself to wonder why there was such a concern about dancing? And, isn’t it a little early for prom, anyway?—and frankly, how unfortunate if the day they showed up was the day Bomont had prom. There’s no way they’d get to have the full experience if everyone’s just worrying about prom, and what to wear, and what they’re gonna do after school with all their friend groups they’ve probably grown up with, and how his friends he grew up with are miles awa—
He walks right into someone and stumbles back a little, and when he looks over, it seems Jane has stumbled, too.
“Son of a bitch—where are you two going?! You know, you oughta look!” the boy spits, in a thick country accent that Will would’ve laughed at, if not for the fact that the first interaction he’s had here has been someone calling him a son of a bitch.
Quickly, he looked back at him, eyes wide, stuttering out a, “oh, we’re really sorry, we were just trying to get to class and not thinking but we’ll go now—”
“Hold on…” the boy muttered at him, looking the two up and down. Unsure of what to do, Jane and Will share a confused side-eye, before looking back at who was in front of them. He almost looked like a caricature of someone who would go here, with a straw cowboy hat atop his head, plaid flannel buttoned up and a look on his face like they had just grown another head.
“...You two new here?”
“Uh…” Will glances at Jane, “yeah. We are.”
“What’re your names?”
“Jane,” she speaks up, stepping forward a little, “and…this is my brother, Will,” Will offers a small wave, which seems to satisfy the boy. At the introduction, his lips curl into a small, amused smile.
“...You two always jump out of your skin when someone talks to you?” he laughs heartily, earning another confused side-eye between Jane and Will, before he continues with. “Name’s Willard. Hewitt,” Willard (as they now know him) clarifies, before reaching out his hand for them to shake. Will awkwardly shakes his hand first, his grip not quite right and also not prepared for the sheer force of the handshake, which, after observing, Jane is able to imitate much more gracefully.
“You know, you two came at the right time. There’s the—”
“Hey Willard, who you talking to?” another voice starts from behind him, causing Willard to turn back.
“Ren! You always interrupting or what?”
“Are you always gonna pick a fight?” he grumbles back, although it's with a smile on his face, “who’re these two?”
“New kids. Jane n’ Will from…uh…”
Before answering, Will and Jane share one more look.
“...Indiana,” Jane answers.
Ren hums, impressed, commenting, “Indiana. Some distance, huh? Indianapolis?”
“No,” Jane shakes her head.
“Oookay. Where then?”
“It’s, uh…it’s a small town,” Will justifies, “you probably wouldn’t have heard of it—”
“Hey, I had to tell my folks back in Chicago that I was moving to goddamn Bomont last summer, ‘kay? Can’t imagine it’s worse than that,” he laughs dryly, running a hand through his hair.
“Hawkins,” Jane looks up at them.
“Oh, Hawkins! Ain’t that the place with the, uh…you know, that mall fire and stuff? You hear about that, Ren? Whole mall, burnt in an afternoon. Some people died and everythin'," Willard lights up in recognition, looking at Ren.
Jane stiffens and Will winces, looking over at her and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Oh yeah, that’s right! The earthquake town, and…” Ren looks over at the pair again, with Jane’s eyes now downturned and teary and Will rubbing small circles in her skin, his eyes flickering towards Ren and Willard.
“...We’re gonna go to class,” Will states, using his hand on her shoulder to guide her away, “sorry. Nice to meet you,” he politely smiles although it doesn’t reach his eyes, walking away with Jane.
“Hey!” Ren calls out as they walk past, which makes Will turn back. Jane opts to just listen.
“Prom tonight, you hear? In the old Roller Mills; first one since the bridge accident. Whole school’ll be there. Come by,” Ren invites. Will hesitates, but nods.
“We’ll, uh…we’ll see if we can make it,” Will nods, walking down the rest of the hallway with Jane in tow.
The rest of the time from then to first period is spent with them consoling each other in the dark corner of the B hallway, an area where most no one would go. Hawkins seemed to follow them no matter where they went, and most of all, Hopper. Once the bell rings, though, they go to class—English, luckily together—and try to survive the rest of their first day.
—
“You’ve never heard of the Potawney Bridge accident?!”
If Will had it his way, they’d be sitting alone at lunch, but as the world would have it, three overly cheery girls immediately beckoned them over as soon as they entered the lunch room. Jane, wanting to make a good impression, jumped at the opportunity, leaving Will to get dragged along as well.
(Will also finds it a little awkward that this table is exclusively girls with gossip; he quickly finds himself sticking out like a sore thumb.)
“No,” Jane answers, intrigued, and the girls’ jaws drop to the floor.
“You’re the second and third people this year to move to Bomont without knowing ‘bout it! How’d you do that?”
“I do not know,” Jane laughs breathily, “just…” she looks at Will, “...haven’t.”
“Well,” a girl with curly hair who is called Rusty for some reason Will hasn’t quite learned yet, “there were these four kids who we all knew. Woulda been seniors this year. They were driving home from this huge dance party up in Baylor County—”
“Going to Baylor was their mistake—”
“Don’t say that!”
The other girls chatter as “Rusty” explains, “but it was rainin’ that night, and maybe they had just partied hard too but…whole car skidded right off the bridge. Crashed through the railing, and went straight into the Potawney River.”
Jane gasps in shock, and Will hums in an acknowledging sadness.
“Yup,” Rusty nods in woe, popping the p in ‘yup’, “no survivors. And when the autopsy came back and they had all this liquor and marijuana in their systems…the town went crazy. Then the pastor, Reverend Moore, got super preachy ‘bout alcohol and rock music and dancin’ and stuff, so he convinced Town Council it was all against the Bible or whatever and,” she snaps her fingers, “banned just like that. You couldn’t go out, you couldn’t listen to bad music, and God forbid you start dancing. That’s why we haven’t had a prom since way back when.”
“...Wait,” Will looks over, “they banned dancing?”
“Still is banned,” a shorter girl, whose name is either Wendy or Jo (Will couldn’t quite tell) “but he’s been softening ever since Ren got here and started going out with his daughter. ‘Ts a shame ‘bout that, though…what a cutie he is!”
The girls, except for Rusty, giggle in agreement.
“So…you two goin’? It’s gonna be funnn,” Rusty sings a little, tilting her head.
“We’re, uh, probably—” Will starts.
“Sure!” Jane answers.
“...What???” Will whisper-yells to her, but she shrugs with a smile and a small, “they said it’d be fun!”
“I wanna see Ren there,” Wendy and/or Jo reiterates with a lovestruck sigh, “you seen him, Jane? He catch your eye?”
“Oh, uh…” Jane looks off, “...no.”
“No?!” Wendy/Jo and Urleen (he remembered that one, somehow) replied back in sync.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“Back in Indiana? You know, Wendy Jo had a fling back when she went to California for a summer, but that doesn't count,” Urleen says, pointing at Wendy Jo (her name is both), and Jane’s eyebrows furrow a little, “how long have you two been a thing for?”
“Three years.”
“So since, like, what, sophomore year?”
Jane tilts her head in confusion.
“No. Since I was twelve.”
The three girls in front of them look at each other in disbelief, then right back at Jane.
“That don’t count!” Wendy Jo giggles.
—
“So…how was your first day?” Joyce beams, setting down plates of spaghetti at the dinner table before sitting down.
“It went good,” Jonathan acknowledges.
“Yeah, it was fine,” Will nods, twirling some spaghetti on his fork.
“It was good,” Jane nods, “really good. Me and Will met three girls and two boys. They’re seniors, like Jonathan.”
“Making friends,” Joyce nods contently, “how nice!”
They’re not quite “friends” yet, Will wants to add, but decides against it. Jonathan smiles, too, with a warm, “knew you guys would have a good first day.”
“They invited us to prom tonight,” Jane smiles, and at this, everyone at the table pauses, including Will himself. Subconsciously, he had hoped that would fly under the radar.
“Bomont High is having a prom this year?” Joyce asked, surprise laced in her voice.
“Not really. But Ren is hosting one, because they haven’t had one since the Patow…Pat…the bridge incident,” Jane nods, taking a bite of the spaghetti.
“I remember hearing about that…dancing’s been banned here for a while now, hasn’t it? Are your friends causing trouble by hosting this?”
“Yeah, El, maybe—” Will tries to butt in.
“No,” Jane shakes her head, “they got the preacher to say yes. It’s for the whole school. It’s in the mill.”
Joyce looks around at the table, before focusing back on Jane.
“Well then, what’re you waiting for? Eat quick—you all have to get ready!” Joyce grins widely.
“No, mom, it’s—” Will sighs, looking at Jonathan for moral support who can offer him no more than a confused ‘you okay?’-esque look, “...we don’t have to—”
“How exciting; my babies’ first day at Bomont High and they’re already going to prom!” Joyce squeals, and Will mildly dreads going somewhere where he knows literally no one other than his siblings, at some dance. His last dance was the Snow Ball, and that was mediocre at best—as much as he wants Jane and his mom to be happy, he'd much rather settle in. Dinner passes by rather quickly, and Joyce rushes to help Jane get ready, Jonathan opting to be with Will in his room.
“...Do you not wanna go?” Jonathan asks, sitting on Will's bed.
“No, it's—...” he sighs, “it'll be fun. Probably. I just…I mean, it's our first day, and this guy bumps into us and he's, like, insulting us and then all of a sudden he's talking about the…Starcourt fire. El starts crying and saying she doesn't wanna go back a-and…” he pauses.
“Hey,” Jonathan starts, patting the space of the bed beside him, and Will gratefully takes the opportunity to stop staring at the freshly unpacked closet, sitting down.
“I just…it’s been overwhelming, and I’m gonna go there and it’s gonna be just like the Snow Ball; everyone’s gonna be dancing and having fun, a-and I’ll end up alone or with people I barely know. And I’ll drink stupid punch and pretend to have a great time when…when I could be doing anything else,” Will laughs dryly, one that holds much more sadness than amusement, “like…planning a campaign with the Party, but they’re across the country, or…”
Will sighs.
“...I miss Hopper. I miss the Party. I miss…I miss going to Mike’s for movie night, and some random prom hosted by someone isn’t gonna help me feel better. I…” he trails off, and his shoulders slump.
“Will…” Jonathan starts, voice soft, “you don’t have to go, okay? You don’t have to. But…” he breathes out, looking away for just a moment.
“But this isn’t Hawkins, Will. Not anymore. You don’t know if you’re gonna be alone, and you have never deserved to be. Do you hear me? Not even…not even when Mike was being stupid back then—”
Will groans a little at the memory.
“—and not now. People are different, and…and you deserve to have a good night. You really do. Plus, you got invited there; they’re gonna get to know you and they’re all gonna love you, okay? Your friends would want you to have fun, and you can tell them all about it on the phone.”
Will looks over at him. His expression has softened, but it hasn’t fully melted yet.
“Will, you are…the most badass kid I know; you know that, right? And if Hawkins didn’t see that, then screw Hawkins, because Bomont will. You deserve to be there. You really do,” he smiles at Will. Will smiles back a little, but his eyes are deep in thought.
“...You don’t have to go. A-and don’t let El or mom tell you anything otherwise. But…let yourself have fun, alright? This isn’t Hawkins.”
Will’s gaze stays at nowhere in particular, still somewhere deep within his own head. Jonathan stares at him, until he finally hears Will speak up with a bashful smile.
“...Okay. I’ll go.”
They quickly find that his old Snow Ball suit is much too small for him nowadays (even though he wore it not much over a year prior), so he borrows one of Jonathan’s old ones instead. The dress pants are slightly long and the jacket a little boxy, but all in all, it actually fits Will quite well. Paired with a yellow tie and a good combing of his hair, Will finds himself looking much more presentable than he had earlier in the day. Looking in his bathroom mirror, he smiles at himself, suit ironed and somewhat confident, at least to the best of his ability.
Soon after, Jonathan and Jane finish getting ready. Jane’s dress from the Snow Ball still fit her, besides it being ever so slightly shorter in length now, and Joyce had curled her hair and done her makeup to match. She looked beautiful, Will thought, with a smile. Jonathan initially wasn’t going to go as well—
(‘Why aren’t you getting ready?’
‘Oh, I wasn’t invited, so—’
Jane pouts.
‘I invite you. You’re going.’)
—so Jonathan too has on a black-blue suit, white dress shirt underneath and hair slightly more brushed through than normal.
“Alright, get together you three!” Joyce beams, Jonathan’s camera in hand. The siblings shuffle closer as Joyce fiddles with the camera.
“Mom, you take the picture with the button at the top, not the—”
The camera flashes.
“Oh–oops! Okay, let’s try that again,” Joyce laughs, “everyone say Bomont!”
“Bomont!” they all attempt to say through closed, smiling teeth, and Joyce snaps the photo, “oh aren’t you all adorable! Have fun you guys! Be home by ten!” she smiles, and they scurry towards the door so as to not get trapped taking a million more pictures.
“Bye, kids!” she waves as they leave, and they say bye back as they close the door. It’s quite dark out already, and stars paint every inch of the night sky. Cold air bites their skin, and the soft Utah grasses sway softly in the subtle breeze. They get to Jonathan’s car, and Jonathan turns to Jane to ask, “so, where’d your friends say it was again?”
“The mill. Rolling mills.”
“...Okay,” Jonathan acknowledges, pulling out of the driveway with the hope he could find whatever in the world “rolling mills” meant. Luckily, Bomont is small, and so “rolling mills” (actually called Lehi Roller Mills) is rather easy to find—only a few short turns from their house finds themselves in the plains leading to the Mill, and even if they couldn’t find it…in hindsight, it’d be quite easy to tell where it was.
In contrast to the stillness of the plains surrounding it, lights and the rattling hum of bass can be seen and felt from the building. It’s alive, and incredibly so—Jonathan parks the car near the front, and looks at Jane and Will.
“...You two ready to dance?” he asks with a smile; Jane nods feverishly, and, after seeing her enthusiasm…Will can’t help but laugh a little and smile, too. They get out of the car, and the bass only grows louder, rattling their skin a little. They giggle as they rush over towards the doors, and so suddenly, all the pain of Hawkins seems to start to melt away, running hand in hand with their siblings towards a school dance in the dark of night, and—
“Oh my God.”
As soon as they enter, the first thing they see is Ren McCormack doing a full backflip, followed by a girl getting fully lifted to the ceiling, followed by a boy doing the robot to extreme accuracy in the middle of the dance floor. The amount of glitter in this room is absurd—it just keeps falling, and it’s hard to tell where this much glitter is even coming from—and the music is clearer now, the voice of Kenny Loggins singing,
Tonight, I gotta cut loose,
Footloose,
Kick off your Sunday shoes!
Jane looks over with wide eyes and begins laughing, a laugh that can’t help but be reciprocated by Jonathan and Will. They stand at the entrance, laughing in shock, until suddenly, a voice approaches them.
“Hey, you guys came!” Ren smiles, walking over quickly with a nod, before looking over to Jonathan with a curious stare.
“Jonathan; I’m their brother,” he nods, and shakes his hand when Ren offers him a handshake.
“Three new kids in one day, huh? Good seeing you,” he pats Jonathan’s back, and the squeal of girls can be heard from the dance floor too.
“Jane!” Wendy Jo, Urleen, and Rusty giggle, “come here!”
Jane looks over with that same look of shocked, happy disbelief, non-verbally asking for approval to leave them. The brothers smile and nod, and Jane skips over with joy. The girls quickly take her in, adding her to their little circle and spinning her around. Jane is giggling and grinning ear to ear, and their attention is only brought back when Willard appears beside Ren, with Ren answering, “Jonathan. He moved with the other two we saw today,” before Willard could ask.
“Well, I’ll be damned! Hawkins got a lot of ‘em here; Willard Hewitt,” he offers his hand, and Jonathan shakes it. They begin talking about something Will can barely hear over the blaring cheerful sound of Footloose—
Jack, get back,
Come on, before we crack!
—and Ren grins a little when he asks, “you dance, Will?”
“Huh? Uh—well, not really. Not like you are, anyways,” he laughs sheepishly.
“Well, this is the first time Bomont’s been able to dance since Potawney, and we’re not gonna have people just standin’ there, alright? I promise it’s fun,” he nods, pointing his head towards the dance floor. Students are kicking and spinning and laughing—some even in what looks like a choreographed dance break—and suddenly, the idea of just standing there like he’d subconsciously planned seems rather silly. If he wasn’t already on the fence, hearing Jane call out between giggles, “Will! Come here!” certainly caused him to be, and he recalled what Jonathan said earlier about having fun and that it isn’t like Hawkins, because it certainly isn’t; here, people are so free and alive, and calling for him to dance and—
“Why not,” Will grins, and finds himself gravitating towards the dance floor as well. Only a few minutes in, he finds himself somewhat getting a feel for the miraculously synchronized line dance the students have created, joining in along with Jane. They’re beaming as they move, letting go for the night, the music carrying them somewhere they hadn’t quite been before. It’s only when the song ends—
Everybody cut,
Everybody cut:
Everybody!
Everybody cut footloose!
—that either of them realize how short their breath is and how small beads of sweat cling to their foreheads. In the small moment of silence from the music (although the noise is filled in with cheers and applause) they giggle, looking around the room in disbelief. If Jonathan was right about anything, it was that truly, Bomont was nothing like Hawkins.
The rest of the night went similarly, only occasionally leaving the dance floor to drink punch or to sit down. Jonathan primarily hung by the snack table, although he was occasionally coaxed into joining Jane and Will anyhow, finding himself just as lost in the music as the other two.
Many songs later and many insane Ren dance moves later (seriously—how many could he do? Will couldn’t help but admire it, in a way) Will felt a tap on his shoulder. When he looked back, it was Jonathan.
“Hey, guys,” he called out, tapping his watch, “it’s 10:42. We should probably get going soon,” he solemnly smiled, and Jane pouted. However, after some convincing, the night ended with them yelling giggly goodbyes to the group, and taking some more punch before they walked back out into the cold of the night. Once more, the air bit them, and the sky was riddled with countless stars, but this time, it felt different. More hopeful. Across from these beautiful stars lies Bomont, a town with laughter and dancing and glitter and fun. Fun not in spite of anything, not to make a point. Fun just to exist, just to breathe and be alive as much as its citizens.
They pile back in Jonathan’s car and discuss the night as they drive back home. Will finds about a million new songs that he likes, Jane was almost set up with about twenty different boys before the girls decided she just needed to dance tonight, and Jonathan managed to meet a lot of people in the senior class with him. As they pulled into the driveway, the pavement crackled once more, and they got out in a fit of giggles and joy. Jonathan walked up to the door, took out his keys, and opened it, first seeing a slightly frazzled Joyce sitting on the couch reading. Her head snapped up, and she smiled with relief, getting up to hug them.
“Oh,” she started with joy, before looking up with an unintimidating sternness, “I told you to be back by ten.”
“We were having fun, mom,” Will smiles, and that seems to melt the last of Joyce’s resolve away.
“Alright, you crazy kids,” she laughs, and they laugh too, “I’m glad to hear you had fun.”
Bomont was a fresh start, and the Byers couldn’t wait to live peacefully.