ৎ ָ࣪ 𓄹 ﹙𝟬𝟭𝟰﹚˖ ᨒ .ﾟ ꗃ 𓄸
❛ MADMAX ❜  𓂃   𓈒   𓏸  ₊ ˚ 〆

        THE YEAR OF 1984, new people moved into Hawkins, Indiana and some people moved out of the cursed town. Everyone that suffered the events of last year's tragedy were still trying to get over it all, but the people could never forget. The sudden disappearance of Will Byers. . .left a huge impact on everyone's lives. Hawkins was changing, and so were the people in it.

    Grace Baker was now at the ripe age of thirteen. She felt like the world was at her fingertips, everything felt so much more real, especially after losing Eleven again. The first time hurt, but it was nothing compared to when she really lost her. There were times when she felt like she needed therapy for wishing that it was her who had disappeared that night and not El.

She couldn't see how everyone else seemed to be moving on with their lives so well, like they were just perfectly fine. Like they weren't kids who went through the craziest thing imaginable a year ago.

          Yes, she was very dramatic. Most people would have moved on. It has been a whole entire year. Why couldn't she move on? That confused her, too. A part of her tried to forget, but she didn't think she ever could. The tragic events still kept her up at night.

          There was always a constant nagging feeling in the back of her mind. A feeling that told her Eleven was still alive. Eleven was out there somewhere. She felt like she might sound really stupid if she said it out loud. But it's Hawkins, anything is possible.

The teenage girl sat in her hot pink fluffy chair, staring at her own reflection in the vanity mirror, combing through her luscious hair. Her eyes stayed focused on her reflection, trying to ignore the river of tears flowing from them. A small smile was on her face. She was practicing to make sure it looked genuine.

Every time she hung out with her friends she'd smile so big, so that no one could ever tell the difference between her real smile and the false one she put on to please everyone around her. She didn't want to ruin their happiness for the sake of her own.

Grace waited until her tears dried, covering it with a natural makeup look. Her eyes were no longer tear stained, but they ached. The teenage girl shook her head, ridding her of all unhappy thoughts.

"I look perfect." Grace let out a small laugh, flipping her freshly curled hair. A flip in her switched almost immediately as someone walked into her room without knocking first. The girl turned towards the door to find Ethan standing there with a smile.

"Hey, I'm going out with Hop, so I'll be a little late tonight. Want a ride to the arcade before I go?" The man asked the girl. Grace sent him a single nod before he kissed her forehead and headed to the car.

She just couldn't get over the fact that Ethan has been acting weird for a while now. He knew something that she didn't. He always spent extra time with Hopper, which wasn't unusual, but the two adults seemed closer than they were before everything went to shit.

The girl with blue eyes shook the thoughts out of her head, knowing that she shouldn't get too involved with whatever he was hiding from her. If she got too involved she'd want to invade his mind, as intriguing as that sounded, it wouldn't end well for them. He trusted her enough to respect his private thoughts. The last thing she ever wanted was to break his trust.

Grace stood up from her chair, scanning her outfit in the mirror for a few seconds. A quiet hum of approval left her lips before she grabbed her bag full of change, knowing she'd need it if she wanted to keep her score at the top one on some of her favorite games.

She ran outside to Ethan's mustang, sitting in the passenger seat as he started up the car. The ride to the arcade was silent besides the radio playing. The silence was almost comforting, though, as if he knew what she was going through but couldn't say it.

"Alright. Have fun, kiddo, and be safe. I love you." Ethan parked in front of the arcade. Grace leaned towards him and hugged him super tight.

"I'm always safe. I love you, too." The teenage girl mumbled, earning a proud grin from the man. "Knock 'em dead!" He called out as she closed the door, waving at him as her friends waved her over.

"Come on, Princess, you're late." Lucas spoke up teasingly, earning an eye roll from the girl. She walked towards the four boys, trying to hide her blush, as Mike threw his arm over her shoulder with a grin.

The small group of friends walked into the bustling arcade. The atmosphere was cheerful and fun, full of kids running around and enjoying themselves.

"Do you think I still have the top score on Dragons Lair?" Grace asked Will, he was the closest to her besides Mike who wouldn't leave her side.

"Yeah, Dustin's not even close to beating your score." Will pointed at the boy, making both of his best friends laugh at the sore loser.

"No! No! I hate this overpriced bullshit! Son of a bitch! Piece of shit!" Dustin kicked and punched the machine, angry that he lost again.

"You're just not nimble enough. You'll get there one day." Lucas smirked at him.

"But until then, Princess Daphne, is still mine." Grace told Dustin with a mischievous smile. She had just beaten Lucas' top score not too long ago.

"Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug." Dustin commented, ignoring the smug look that was plastered on her face.

"You sure about that?" Keith appeared out of thin air, scaring Grace a little bit.

"You have got to stop doing that. I'm already paranoid enough as it is." The blonde pointed an accusing finger at Keith, causing him to stop.

"Sure about what?" Dustin didn't take her words to heart, turning to look at Keith. The older male didn't say anything, throwing chips into his mouth.

"No, no, no!" Dustin ran towards the other game, his friends following right behind him.

"751, 300 points!" Will gasped, amazed. "That's impossible," Mike shook his head.

"That's amazing! Are you kidding me?" Grace chewed on her fingernails in awe.

"Who's Mad Max?" Dustin turned to Keith. "Better than you." The male answered. Dustin stuck his middle finger up at Keith in annoyance.

"Is it you?" Will questioned him suspiciously. "You know I despise Dig Dug." Keith scoffed.

"Then who is it?" Lucas threw both his arms in the air before dropping them back down.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith." Grace stepped forward, biting the inside of her cheek.

"You want information, then I need something in return." Keith turned to Mike, smiling.

"No. No way! You're not getting a date with her." Mike realized what Keith was hinting at, shaking his head in disbelief and in disgust.

"Mike, come on. Just get him the date." Lucas tried to convince him. He didn't budge.

"I'm not prostituting my sister!" Mike shook his head, glaring at Keith. "But it's for a good cause." Lucas let out a sigh, done arguing.

"No. Keith is just a disgusting pig who doesn't know how to talk to girls." Grace explained, trying to hold back her grin at his offended look.

"She's right. Don't get him the date. You know what? He's gonna speed his nasty ass rash to your whole family." Dustin turned to glare at him.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid." Keith defended with a look, mad that Dustin came for him like that.

Grace tuned them out as they continued to argue, her focus on Will instead. She stared at him strangely as he looked around like he was seeing something that she couldn't see. A panicked look was spread on Will's face. The blonde followed after him in concern.

"Will? Are you okay?" The girl asked, worry present on her face. At her words, he seemed to be knocked out of some kind of trance that he got stuck in.

         A glimpse of a red, stormy sky, flashed in her eyes for a second. She blinked, the evil image erased from her mind as soon as her eyes opened.

"Yeah, I just. . .I needed some air." Will was stuck in his spot, still staring off into the night.

"You saw that, too? Didn't you?" The blonde questioned him. A small gasp left Will's mouth when he heard her question. He was going to answer her, but Mike appeared behind them with a worried face.

"I was looking all over for you two. Come on, you're up on Dig Dug." Mike put his arm over both their shoulders, smiling at the pair. Will and Grace shared a quick look with each other.

"Let's take that top score back, okay?" The blonde girl gave the two boys a fist bump.

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      AUTHOR'S NOTE 📝. . .
Act two is here! I know how much you guys have been waiting for this update, I wanted to get over vol.2 before I updated. By the way, that shit has destroyed me. I'm still a little depressed by how things ended.