Don't Go Without Me - Elmax

📌(This story was originally written in Portuguese and posted in 2023)

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Jane's
Point of View

I watch Hawkins' landscape rushing past due to the speed of my dad's car. I can feel his gaze on me, but I keep looking out the window, as I do every day. I just want to forget that I exist and that tomorrow I have to go back to that hellhole again.

"So," he finally says, breaking the silence since we got in the car, "where’s your model?"

"I left it with the teacher," I answer with an offhand excuse.

"But I saw several of your classmates leaving with their models."

"I don’t want to talk about it," I reply, trying to end the conversation there.

"Jan, if someone’s bothering you at school—"

"Is it so hard to believe that, for once in my life, I’m not being bullied, Dad?" I snap, finally turning to face Jim.

Silence falls again and reigns until we get home. He drops me off in front of the house and drives off to the station—after all, a sheriff should always be on duty, or so he says. I grab the key from under the mat, unlock the door, and step into the empty house, a rarity since Jim married Joyce and her two kids moved in. It was hard to adjust at first, but over time, I started enjoying having someone to greet me and eat frozen dinners with.

I toss the keys on the kitchen counter and head to my room. I sit at my desk and open my laptop, already on Word, staring at a blank page, just as I always do. I love writing, but sometimes it feels like all my great ideas are trapped in my mind, unable to materialize into words. I hate this feeling.

There’s a knock at the door, and I know it’s one of the Byers kids... who are now also Hoppers.

"Yeah?" I answer.

"It’s me." I smile when I hear Will’s voice.

"I should’ve guessed. You’re the only one in this house who knocks." He steps in and sits on my bed. "Why didn’t you come with me and Dad today?"

"I joined a book club. Meetings are twice a week after school," Byers replies. "Still struggling with writing?"

"Yeah..."

"I sat next to Max and some girl from third year at lunch today, and I heard you’re giving her tutoring lessons."

I roll my eyes. "Robin basically forced me to tutor that show-off Max. But when she shows up tonight, I’ll tell her it was a mistake."

"I don’t know... She’s cute, and you need to hang out with new people, besides me and Dustin."

"Look, I’m perfectly happy with my current companions, and it’s better to be alone than poorly accompanied."

"If you say so." He pauses, but a sly grin spreads across his face. "But I think all that irritation is just repressed love."

I throw a pillow at him, and Will laughs as he heads to the door.

"Since you don’t know how to play nice, I’m going to the kitchen to see if there’s any food left in this house."

"If you want, you can go farther—maybe to Connecticut to be with Mike."