Hawkins High's cafeteria was overcrowded with students because of the over-casted day outside, threatening to dump sheets of rain any second. The racket of kids was almost so loud that Daisy Lonsdale couldn't think clearly, or maybe that was because she hadn't slept a wink last night. Her mind had been busy circling around the argument she had overheard the day before. Why had Duncan's name, a name long dead, come up with Marigold's? It just didn't make sense.

"Earth to Daisy, hey..." Dottie was clicking her fingertips together, trying to draw Daisy's attention, which had been lost with her pen still pressed to her sketchbook page. The blonde finally glanced up, shaking her head briefly. Dottie frowned, letting her fork clutter to the table and forgetting about her half eaten tomato sauce soaked meat pie. "Where'd you go?"

Daisy chewed on her bottom lip, wondering if bringing up her haunted thoughts was such a good idea with Dottie Fields, knowing she wanted nothing more than to forget about events from a year ago. For so long, Daisy had tried her best to drag the old news into the light, but failed miserably each and every time. "Nowhere." she yawned out, covering her mouth with her hand and hoping her friend would buy the lie. "I just didn't sleep much last night."

"Is everything alright?" Dottie queried, knowing with little Will Byers going missing, it was only rehashing old wounds that had never faded, even with a year passing. Worry painted Dottie's pretty face which was dolled up with makeup today, colourful eyeshadow smeared across her eyelids. She wanted to somehow comfort Daisy, but didn't know how anymore. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

Daisy shifted in her seat awkwardly, pushing her tray of food aside. She did in fact know that, but right now, there wasn't anything to say because right now, Daisy didn't even know what was running through her head or why her family were arguing about a dead boy and a missing girl. "I'm fine," Daisy lamely maintained, her eyes dropping to her sketchbook and flipping through the pages and noticing something odd. Her sketchbook was almost completely full, detailed drawings showing a story, but when she reached the second last page, she found tiny rips of paper in the margin that suggested a page was missing. "Hey, remind me to pick up another sketchbook when we stock up on snacks soon."

Dottie nodded. "Yeah, okay."

A loud banging broke the girls' attention, Tommy H. howling with laughter, knocking his fists against the table. Strangely, Nancy Wheeler and Barbara Holland were seated with the rich kids today, looking a little out of place. Steve Harrington had his arm thrown around Nancy's shoulder, smirking like a fool with his friend's joke about something. Daisy was already staring at the group, imagining Marigold among them. She used to watch from another table last year, watch how her sister flipped her golden hair and pulled in everybody's attention with her sweet smile and snarky jokes. Marigold Lonsdale bright like the sun, had suited the popular life. "Do you think Steve ever liked Mari like he likes Nancy?" Daisy questioned quietly.

"They weren't even a couple," Dottie snickered, scooping some chocolate pudding into her mouth and wiping her lips clean with her sleeve. "They kissed once down by the community pool on a dare."

Daisy frowned. "A dare? Marigold never told me that."

Dottie was caught like a deer in headlights but recovered smoothly. "Marigold lived for attention, for adventure. She wasn't the type of girl that fell in love with boys like Steve Harrington. They might have been friends, but I can guarantee, she only wanted into their rich kids club because it made her untouchable and it raised that podium she stood tall on." Dottie paused, her gaze resting back on the group of teenagers. "She was clever like that. Mari knew how high school worked and had this whole town wrapped around her pinky finger. She definitely wasn't in like with Steve, nor was he in like with her."

"You really think so?"

A smile touched Dottie's lips, recalling just how clever Marigold Lonsdale truly was, always three steps ahead and always looking for something more in life. Maybe that's why she became a mystery, so she could live forever in some weird way. "Yeah, love wasn't a game she ever wanted to play. Maybe she knew Steve Harrington was the key to her popularity, that's why she kissed him. I guess we'll never know though..." Dottie randomly pointed towards the untouched pudding on Daisy's tray. "Do you want that?"

Daisy pushed her chocolate pudding towards her friend, her thoughts even more clouded with the realisation that maybe Marigold Lonsdale did indeed have a plan up her sleeve, maybe that plan did include running away, considering she had more clever thoughts in her head than anybody ever realised. Including her own sister.

When the bell sounded the girls were gathering their belongings, Daisy packing up her pens and sketchbook when somebody stepped up to their lonely table. Nancy Wheeler was giving both girls a kind smile, her brown hair pinned off her face. "Daisy, hi."

"Nancy, hey."

Dottie was looking up from her backpack, the breath in her throat drying up suddenly with the realisation that this was the first time Nancy had ever approached her. That thought was smashed when she realised Nancy didn't even look in her direction, not really, and was not here to speak with her. Dottie was twisting her lips into a sad smile, giving her head a bob of greeting to Barbara Holland, who stood with the pretty girl. "I have to cancel our tutoring session tonight." Nancy started, Daisy keeping her face blank. "Um, we've got this thing we're invited to. I would invite you along but—"

"Let me guess, Steve Harrington's parents are out of town?" Daisy questioned, almost rolling her eyes. She noticed Barbara wasn't very thrilled with the idea of spending the night with Steve Harrington and his crappy friends. Daisy almost felt bad that poor Barb was being dragged along, but then realised it wasn't really her problem. "Yeah, I've lived through that play-by-play. Have fun with that."

Nancy shifted her bag higher up her shoulder while the girls hurried to their feet, the cafeteria crowd thinning out. "Thanks for understanding. We can pick up our revision tomorrow afternoon, or we could meet before school, if that works out better?"

Daisy gave a tight smile. "I'll let you know."

Without a look back, Daisy was pushing through the crowd, not all that interested in Nancy Wheeler's plans to get drunk with Steve Harrington's groupies. Dottie was following behind, although she gave the girls a smile. "Bye, Barb," she called out cheerily, a pinkness in her cheeks." Bye, Nancy."

Daisy was shifting a laugh with her friend's attempt, but that's when she caught Steve Harrington's heavy gaze, watching her and letting his lips tilt up in a smirk. She lifted up her hand, flipping him off.

***

That night Daisy Lonsdale found herself cooped up at the Fields' house, enjoying the time not spent with her mother smothering her or her aunt talking nonsense while she flipped through the newspaper, despite reading it twice already that day. Although the Fields' house was rundown in places; the paint peeled off the walls and some ugly stains littered the old carpet, it felt more welcoming than her own house.

Packets of candy fanned the single bed, Dottie spread out on the floor, her history homework long forgotten as she painted her nails bright red. Daisy had yanked off her boots, her chin rested in her hand as she idly sketched her friend, who had no idea. Laughter filled the warm air, the window slammed shut hours ago, not wanting the coming coolness to upset their night in. "Come on, Flashdance was great!" Dottie was saying loudly, tossing a pillow at Daisy.

The girls were talking about movies they had seen that year, quite the hobby they enjoyed when the weekends turned boring and they found themselves driving through town without anything to do. "Only because you think Jennifer Beals is hot!" Daisy interjected.

Dottie shrugged, popping a hard candy into her mouth. "At least I'm not hiding a massive crush on Tom Cruise from Risky Business." Daisy's mouth dropped open, the pillow being flung back towards her friend who giggled into her hands.

Veronica Fields appeared in the doorway, her work uniform in place. She looked somewhat tired, her shoulders sagging a little bit, but her contagious smile was in place. Dottie was glancing up, her face was a bright shade of pink from laughing so hard. "Hi, mum."

"Evening, Mrs. Fields!" Daisy greeted the lady, somebody she felt comfortable around. Actually, sometimes she felt more welcomed in their house than her own, even with little Micky around and taunting her with his quick wit.

Dottie's mother peered into her daughter's room, noticing the large amount of candy wrappers still left over from Halloween. Although she had just arrived home, it was nice to know some meatloaf was heating in the oven, Dottie quite the little cook. "Nice to see you're not spoiling dinner." Veronica hummed out, which resulted in Dottie grinning wildly, a hiccup sounding from her lips. "Anyway, I'm headed over to collect your brother from the Wheelers, I don't want him riding in the dark...well, with what's happened."

Both girls fell quiet, the darkness in town seeping back into their minds suddenly, burning the happy and somewhat carefree moment they had been sharing. "Alright, yeah." Dottie agreed with a tiny nod of her head. "We could pick him up, if you want?"

"Oh, no, it's fine." her mother assured her, "Although, since your father won't be home till late, would you mind dropping off that casserole for Joyce Byers next door? I thought baking something might be a nice gesture of support."

Daisy pushed herself into a sitting position, ink smudged down her hand yet again. "That's a really nice idea, Mrs. Fields." Veronica Fields could not begin to imagine how Joyce was feeling right now, knowing she would be out of her mind if Dottie or Micky had gone missing. "We can drop if off now, sure."

With the car's headlights dying in the distance, the girls stood lonely in the darkness for a little moment. Daisy was scanning the trees around them, wind rustling leaves with movement. The walk to the Byers house was not overly long, only a few short minutes away. Dottie was holding the casserole in her hands as they made their journey without any comment. When the Byers house finally came into focus, both girls stopped dead in their tracks.

"Are you seeing this?" Dottie whispered across at her friend, a thrill sounding in her voice.

The house was flicking with lights. It almost looked like the entire electricity circuit was going into mayhem. Silence crackled around the girls standing lonely on the makeshift driveway, only metres away from the tiny wooden porch. There was a strange tingle in the air, almost like a storm was coming and it was the calm before. Almost like an odd electricity floated in the air. Daisy's eyes yanked away from the windows that kept flashing with lights, hearing something in the distance behind them, something in the woods. Without thinking, her hand was snaking around Dottie's wrist. "I think somebody's in the woods." Her voice was quiet.

Dottie glanced across at her. "I don't hear anything."

Without warning, a crying sound filled the woods around them. It was like somebody was running their nails down a chalkboard, almost like something was screaming or howling, but the cry didn't sound like an animal. The house lights blinked off from inside, the girls bathed in complete darkness. The screaming sounded again, more like a trickle of mismatched calls. Dottie was spinning on the spot, trying to find the source of sound. "What the hell is that?" Daisy squeaked out, fear touching her heart.

When a branch snapped loudly in the distance, the casserole dish was dropping from Dottie's fingertips, her heart crashing against her ribcage. Daisy was already pulling on her friend's hand, hearing the sound growing closer. Panic flared in the girls' hearts and they were racing back the way they had come, too scared to look behind them and notice the lights in the Byers house had flicked back on, one song drifting from the house. Should I Stay or Should I Go by the Clash.