"HAVE A NICE NIGHT," CARLA SIGHED TO A CUSTOMER, HANDING THEM THEIR ITEMS.

The customer gave a wave and left the shop, Carla shoving the register closed—money popping out of it.

Working the night shift was not her cup of tea.

If she were honest, Carla was rather unsure on why she applied for the job in the first place. She didn't need the extra cash—the family was middle class, and had enough money to financially support themselves—and it wasn't like she was dying of boredom in her household. Sure, sometimes her house was boring, but so was standing at a register.

It had to be her co-worker—the reason she applied, as well as the person stopping her from quitting.

Her fingers hurt from opening and closing the register, her feet ached from standing all day, and her body was exhausted, yearning for rest, but she couldn't leave until the boy next to her had finished his shift. But, unlike some people might think, having to stay a little longer was utterly terrible.

Not when her co-worker, Jonathan Byers, was also her best friend.

"Hey, Carla?" Jonathan called from the register a little away from the girl. At her name, she met his eyes, waiting for his question. "Can I borrow a pencil? I only have pens."

The Wheeler nodded, grabbing a pencil from her small mug full of writing utensils, "Looks like you need to start preparing better." The girl walked over to him, handing over the pencil as she stared down at the sheet of paper he was working on—homework.

Jonathan took the pencil, erasing some sort of equation on the paper—which he'd probably started in school earlier that day. Watching him, Carla pushed herself against the front coungter and asked, "What time do you get off?"

The Byers next to her looked up from his homework, giving a teasing smirk, "Let me guess, you want a ride home?"

Jonathan didn't mind taking her home most nights—he actually enjoyed it. From being friends for so long, he knew she didn't like driving all that much, and was always asking for other people to take her places. Eventually, she'd get over it, but for now, Jonathan enjoyed teasing her.

"Doesn't your mom usually pick you up? Or Nancy?" he teased, tilting his head to the side with a smirk plastered on his face.

"Well, I would ask my mom, but I'm not sure if Lucas and Dustin left our house yet, and, Nancy would be a fabulous idea if she wasn't calling Steve—to which I'd hate to interrupt." Carla rolled her eyes at the mention of Steve Harrington, her sister's new secret boyfriend.

The previous year, when she was a freshman at Hawkins High, Carla Wheeler was introduced to Steve Harrington, and understood why everyone fell for him. He had a cute smile, he knew how to get the girl, and was practically the king of the school.

And, like some lucky few, she became one of Steve's flings—notes in her locker, make-out sessions in the bathroom, holding hands in the halls. Now, Carla had never expected to start dating in her freshman year, but she couldn't exactly reject Steve's attention. He was on to her. He liked her.

But, Carla actually became serious with Steve Harrington—a stage at which very few managed to get too. Steve had more interest in her than just hooking up, and soon enough he asked her to be his girlfriend.

And Carla, the having-never-had-a-serious-boyfriend freshman she was quick to say yes. She liked the attention. She liked the love she received. She liked Steve Harrington.

But, as did most, the couple got into an argument—Steve was insecure about her friendship with Jonathan and when Carla tried to state that they were just close, the two started fighting. It ended with Steve asking if she loved him, to which Carla froze—and the next day, they weren't talking.

Carla blamed herself for the breakup. She'd been shitty—what girlfriend didn't say 'I love you' back to her boyfriend?—but that didn't mean she wasn't heartbroken. It was hard seeing Steve kissing another girl a few weeks later, watching him take her home in his BMW or sit with her at lunch. And because of this, Carla hated Steve. Had she been nothing to him?

It wasn't hard to see her distaste for the Harrington boy. Jonathan had been at her side after the breakup, and had learned not to mention the boy. In his head, he wondered if Carla still had any un-resolved feelings for her ex, but he'd never ask because she'd find it annoying, and would probably deny it no matter what her heart truly thought.

Jonathan pulled his car keys from his pocket, handing them over to his friend, "I'll meet you outside when I'm finished. Don't drive away."

"If you know me, you'd know I wouldn't try." Carla smiled at the Byers boy, hopping over the stores counter before walking out of the store entirely.

Jonathan Byers walked out of the store a half hour later, meeting the sight of Carla Wheeler singing along to Should I Stay or Should I Go playing.

The boy could tell she was playing the mix tape he'd made her for her fifteenth birthday, a mix tape that she probably knew by heart at this point.

Even if he was having a terrible day, seeing Carla sing along to the music could always make him crack a smile. She wasn't one to overly express herself, and when she did, it usually happened within the Byers boy's car. Jonathan had been Carla's best friend since elementary school—she felt most comfortable with him.

The drive from work to Carla's home wasn't terribly long, and Jonathan pulled into her driveway as the second song—Another One Bites the Dust—ended. As the car came to a halt, Carla grabbed her bag and turned to her friend, "Are you sure Will's okay being home alone for so long? I know how your mom is when it comes to you taking the late shifts when she's not there—"

Jonathan brushes any worry for his brother off. Will was a smart kid, and could take care of himself for an hour without a problem. "He's fine. Besides, my mom would rather have me coming home late because I was dropping you off rather than hanging out with Fagin." The girl hopped out of the car, and he added, "Call me if you get too lonely."

"You know I will." Carla shut the door, backing up towards her house, "I'll see you tomorrow. Bye." She sent an air kiss the boys way.

"Bye." Jonathan puts a hand to his cheek as if he caught her kiss —a habit they'd done since they were children, and never really grew out of. The Byers boy waved before pulling out of the Wheeler's driveway, heading back to his own house. She smiled as he went away, happy to have a friend like him. He was someone who cared because he wanted to, not because he had to.

Carla waited until she could barely see his car to let her face fall. Now that she was by herself, there was no reason to keep smiling.

Suddenly, a chill came to the back of the girl's neck, like something had shifted in the air. Placing a hand to the back of it, she rubbed her neck with knitted eyebrows. "Odd."

Brushing it off as a small, harmless, chill, the Wheeler then walked into her house; It wasn't too interesting.

Her father was asleep in his rocking chair, snoring away as he usually did. The television was still running, and the kitchen lights were on, signaling that someone was still awake, more than likely her mother.

Climbing up the stairs, Carla looked at each room as she passed. Her little sister, Holly was deeply asleep, her body all hidden beneath her covers, except her head. She had a stuffed animal tucked between her and the covers, making Carla give a small smile.

She didn't want to awaken the younger girl, so she quietly passed, stopping at the next room over—the bathroom—to see her mother. The older woman was relaxing in the bath, book in one hand, glass of wine in the other.

"Hi, Mom." Carla spoke quietly, stepping into the bathroom a little bit. The older brunette woman looked up from her book and gave a warm smile to her daughter.

"How was your shift?" Karen Wheeler asked, watching as the girl gave a small shrug.

"It was alright." Carla answers. "I'm gonna go to sleep, so goodnight."

Karen looked back down at her book, taking another sip of wine, "Alright, goodnight honey."

Carla then makes a small pit stop at her sister's door, the latter twirling the phone chord around her fingers, making smiles every few seconds. By the looks of it, Nancy was calling with Steve, which already irritated Carla.

"Nance," Carla knocked her fist on the door, trying to get her sister's attention. The petite girl looked up at the door, slightly annoyed, before speaking back into the phone.

"One second, Steve." Nancy Wheeler placed the phone on her bed, glancing up at her sister with a small—rather fake looking—smile. "Yes?"

Ever since Carla found out that her sister was dating her ex-boyfriend, there'd been some tension between the two—though, they hadn't been truly close since middle school. They'd each gone their separate ways when freshman year came.

Carla tapped her fingers against the door frame, "I just, uh, wanted to say goodnight."

"Night, Car." Nancy replied, before picking the phone back up and placing it to her ear. "Okay, sorry, it was just Carla."

Carla sighed and trudged over to her own room—which happened to be right next to Nancy's. She was destined to hear the conversation with Steve all night.....except, she quickly fell asleep from her night at work, and when she awoke, it wasn't because of Nancy talking, it was because of a low grumbling.

Carla Wheeler awoke with a start, a low grumbling taking place in her head that she just couldn't manage to shake away. The girl was going to get herself a glass of water, except when she wiped her eyes open, instead of seeing her baby blue walls, she saw everything in a dark tint.

Black dust floats all around her, pufts of it formed in her face making her cough and wave her hands around, trying to clear the air quality.

She stood up, her feet hitting something almost vine-like. It was black and trailed everywhere, from her walls to out her door. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. Where was she?

Walking out of her room, Carla was quick to see that the hallway wasn't any better. The same black vines and dust trailed in front of her, and the low grumbling continued, and kept getting louder as she walked further.

"Carla!" a familiar voice cried out from somewhere in the distance. "Carla!"

"Will?!" Carla calls back, the voice being the one of Will Byers. Now she was really confused.

"Carla! Help, its gonna get me!" Will wailed in panic, the Wheeler girl starting to get more worried. Without knowing what was getting the boy, Carla walked closer to Nancy's room, trying to hear better.

"Will, whats gonna get you?" Carla calls out, as she did so, she looked into Nancy's room, seeing the smaller brunette sitting backwards on her bed. Carla walked into the room to get her sisters attention.

"Hey, Nance, can you help me —" Carla tapped the girls shoulder but stopped as the girl's head slowly turned to reveal a disfigured face with a slug crawling from its mouth. Carla let out a scream of horror and backed away, running out of the room. As she did so, she heard another scream from Will, a terrified one at that.

"CARLA!"

The girl rushed into her living room, seeing her dad with the same appearance Nancy had—a slug crawling from his mouth, a dead-like appearance. She put and hand over her mouth again, and ran out of the house, the growling growing near as she did. The brunette ran out to her front yard, where she saw the small boy with a bowl cut.

"Will!" Carla called to the brown haired boy, who frantically looked over at her.

"Carla, please, you gotta get me out of here! Please, it's gonna get me!" Will spoke quickly, looking around as if something was about to grab him at any given moment. "Please, I don't know where I am! Please, find a way!"

"Will, come on!" Carla rushed closer to him and was about to grab his hand, but she was too late. A large monster with a huge mouth pounced on them, Carla falling as the slimy monster hit her.

Quickly getting back to her feet, she watched in horror as the monster towered over the small boy, growing in his face. If she wasn't completely frozen in fear, Carla would have screamed.

"CARLA!" he managed to scream, "RUN!"

As the monster turned back to her, the girl finally started running, her body unfreezing itself. She ran until she was back into her bedroom. As if she were a terrified little girl, Carla curled up in the corner of her room. She was fucking horrified.

Soon enough, she heard the low grumbling coming from outside of her room, and she let out a whimper, though quickly slapped a hand over her mouth. She closed her eyes tight, hoping she'd just wake up soon, but when she heard the door creak open, she knew it was too late.

She heard the monster walk into her room, and she opened her eyes and saw the monster looking right at her. The creature got right into her face, it's hot breath fanning over her face, saliva falling upon her. With no hesitation, the monster roared and Carla screamed, and then it all faded to black.

Carla Wheeler awoke with a start, her heart racing and her breaths were fast paced. Looking around, she was relieved to see that her room was just that. No vines were on the floor, and no dust filled the air. It was just a nightmare, it wasn't real. Nancy and her dad didn't have slugs coming from their mouths and Will was alright.

As if on cue, her phone began to ring from her bedside table. It wasn't unusual for her to receive a call in the morning—it was probably Jonathan making sure she needed a ride. Placing the phone to her ear, she answered. "Hello?"

"Carla, it's me." as expected, Jonathan Byers' voice came through, though it was rather desperate and panic filled.

Hearing the emotion in her friends voice, Carla was quick to ask, "Is everything alright?"

"Is Will at your house?" the boy asked, which caused Carla to furrow her brows. "Did he spend the night, or come over this morning?"

"Last time I saw him was when I left for my shift last night—he was with the boys." Carla answered, before allowing herself to question again. "Jonathan, what happened? Is Will hurt or something? Please, tell me what is going on?"

"Carla....Will's missing."

maras misc!

in honor of the battle of starcourt, i decided to post my first re-written chapter :) it was so fun to re-write

i added some details into this chapter that i'd like to come back to later.   in the og, i never stated what starla's fight was about but after seeing a comment by roxy_beamie, i decided why not add their idea to the fic itself. steve was pretty insecure about how close carla was with jonathan and being the teenage boy he is, didn't handle it well.

also!! i added a small detail that goes along with the wheelers......carla not knowing how to say ily back to steve! 

since both nancy and mike suffered with this problem, it makes sense carla would too, and i really want to add this to her character. it'll make it more genuine when she says it to steve in vanished :)

i hope you enjoyed the first chapter! see you back with chapter two <3