THREE. shine turned to rust

Halloween happened to be Nolan's favorite holiday and it was celebrated greatly in California. He'd been to many Halloween parties but this year, it didn't feel the same. The wasn't with his friends. He didn't know anybody in Hawkins other than Steve and Nancy, and he barely knew them.

The Mayfield siblings exited their rooms at the same time, both dressed in normal clothes. Nolan laughed. "Didn't want to wear a costume?"

"Nolan, I'm in middle school. We don't dress up at school." She stated the obvious.

"Maybe the lame kids don't."

She followed him into the kitchen. "You never wore a costume to school."

"That's cause I saved it for the parties. Which you are not going to." He said with a smirk. He reached into the fridge and grabbed a water. "Are you going trick or treating tonight?"

Max nodded slightly. "Yeah. I wish you were taking me."

"I'm sorry. Maybe I can skip the party and take you."

Before she could respond, Billy came out of his room laughed. "Yeah, not happening, Shredder. It's our first of many parties in Hawkins. Gotta make a good first impression." He stated.

Nolan rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say." He muttered and the three of them made their way outside. He slowed down his pace and walked with his sister. "Have you made any friends so far?"

"Not really. There's this group of boys in my grade that have been, like, watching me." Max responded with emphasis.

He raised his brows. "Watching you? Who are they and whose ass do I have to kick first?"

She rolled her eyes and elbowed him. "No, not like that. It's like they more trying to figure something out about me. I don't know. It's creepy."

"That's boys for ya. They're kind of stupid." He shrugged.

"You can say that again."

He looked at her again with a smirk. "Not me though, right?"

"Never you."

The hallways at Hawkins High School were bare. It was the same plain walls covered with posters about bullying and mental health and the same plain colored lockers. It didn't feel like home and it made Nolan sad. Since the move, his friends had reached out and told him how much they missed him and how Claremont wasn't the same without him. They lost their golden boy.

When he walked into Mr. Vincent's class, he saw that Steve was already in his chair. He smiled at him as he watched Nolan sit down. "What's up, Sunny?" He greeted.

Nolan's eyebrows raised. "Sunny?"

"Yeah, y'know, you're from California. The golden state. Warm and sunny." He elaborated with a crooked smile.

It made him chuckle. "Wow, my second day and I already have a nickname."

Steve pointed his pencil at him. "Well, I only give them out to people I like so you better enjoy it." He declared.

Nolan smiled. "I'll remember that."

The classroom continued to flood with students. They took out their notebooks from their bags. "So, are you excited for the party?" Steve asked him.

"Somewhat." Nolan answered with a small nod. He grabbed his pencil from the front of his bag. "It's just kinda weird going to a party without my friends."

Steve nodded. "Right, yeah. Course." He tapped his pencil on the desk. "Well, if you've lonely. You can always come and find me."

Nolan looked his way and grinned. "I'll hold you to that." He pointed his pencil at him.

Making friends always came easy to Nolan. He was a simple guy but was always easy to talk to. He was a great listener, despite not being able to hear well. He had a laugh that was contagious and a smile that you couldn't help to smile back when you saw it. He liked to think he was a good friend to all. Nancy Wheeler felt lucky to have him enter her life when she needed it the most.

Nolan exited the school and searched for Billy when he saw Nancy sitting by herself on the park bench, her arms crossed and she was staring into space. "Hey, Nancy."

She quickly looked his way. "Nolan. Hi." She said quietly.

"You okay? You seem upset."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine." She dismissed while waving her hand.

Nolan was really good at reading people. He considered it one of his talents. He could tell she was upset by the distant look in her eyes and her body language. "Are you sure?" He asked again. "If you need someone to talk to, I'm right here. I'm a great listener."

She chuckled under her breath. "I wouldn't want to waste your time."

What time do I got to waste?"

Nancy stared at him for a minute before exhaling quietly. "It's really nothing, Nolan. It's kind of a long story."

"I've got nothing but time." He assured her and smiled again, indicating that she could trust him.

Again, his smile was infectious, and it made her smile back. "Okay,  well. . . gosh it's really hard to talk about." Nancy started to say and she looked down at her shaking hands. "Um. . . about a year ago, my best friend went missing. We were at a party at Steve's house and I kind of left her by herself outside. I know I shouldn't have done it and she tried to get me to stay but I didn't listen." Her voice cracked as she told the story. "The next day, I tried calling her and asking if she got home but she wasn't answering me. I asked around but nobody had seen her or heard from her."

When her lips started to quiver, Nolan sat beside her on the bench.

"She died." Nancy exhaled and swallowed the lump in her throat.

He frowned deeply. "Oh, Nancy, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. It's just. . . it's just that people have forgotten about her like it never happened. I don't hear her name in the halls or hear people talking about her disappearance. It's like she's a ghost now. Like she never existed." Tears brimmed in her eyes.

"And you blame yourself." He realized.

She looked at him sorrowfully. "How'd you know?"

"I can just tell. I'm good at reading people." He told her. "Survivor's guilt's a deadly weapon. It can either make you or break you. But from what you told me,  you didn't mean for this to happen. You went to a party to have fun. I can understand that." He put one of his hands on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "You have to remember it's not your fault. It'll never be your fault. You're a teenager, Nancy. You shouldn't carry the guilt and burden on your back. What you can do is keep her memory alive. Let her know that you love and miss her in a healthy way. Screw everybody else. As long as she knows that her best friend still loves her, I bet she's smiling down on you. What was her name?"

"Barbara."

Nolan looked up at the sky. "Well, Barbara. Nancy loves you and misses you so much!" He shouted.

Nancy laughed wholeheartedly. "Thank you, Nolan. I really needed to talk to someone."

He pointed to his ears and smiled. "I'm all ears any time. That's what friends are for."

She smiled back and nodded. "That's what friends are for."

After finishing their conversation, Nolan said goodbye to her and rushed to the parking lot to Billy's car. He found his step brother leaned against the back of the blue vehicle, impatiently waiting on him and Max,  who wasn't there yet. "Did you get lost or something?"  He questioned in annoyance.

"I was talking to someone."

"I don't give a shit. Don't be late again or you can walk home."

"What's up with you and threatening me to walk home?" Nolan questioned. "Are you telling me I need to work out?"

"Yes, Nolan, that's exactly what I'm saying." His step brother replied with sarcasm and he rolled his eyes.  "Got your costume picked out for the party?"

"I was thinking Marty Mcfly. I can borrow Max's skateboard."

Billy scoffed. "That's lame."

Nolan rolled his eyes again. "Okay, tough guy. What are you going as?"

"Terminator."

"Yeah, I should've known."

Max's long red hair came to view and she skated on her board to them. When she reached them, got off and kicked it with her foot to reach her hand. When she saw Billy's glare, she slumped over.  "You're late again."

"I had to get catch up homework." She explained herself.

"Jesus, I don't care. You're late again and you're skating home, you hear me? You and your brother both."

Nolan glared at him. "Stop being a dick, Billy."

"Just get in the fucking car." Billy hissed and yanked his door open, getting in the car.

He rolled his eyes. Looking at his sister, his annoyed expression turned into smile. "How was your day?"

"I'll tell you about it later." She simply stated.

Billy zoomed out of the parking lot once they were all in the car. He was pissed off which made the space very awkward. Nolan kept quiet, his eyes cutting to him occasionally. He knew not to say anything while Billy was driving, for you could never tell what he would do.

Billy was driving so fast that you blinked once and the trees were gone. "God, this place is such a shithole."

"It's not that bad." Max said from the back seat. 

"No?" He mocked her. He clicked a button and Nolan's window rolled down. He inhaled deeply. "Mmm! You smell that, Max? That's actually shit. Cow shit." He pinched his noise. "You smell it, Nolan?"

"Your breath smells worse than the cows." Nolan muttered and pressed the button to roll the window up.

Billy flipped him off.

"I don't see any cows."

"Clearly, you haven't met the high school girls." He commented grossly.

Nolan scoffed. "Real classy."

"So what, you guys like it here now?"

"Course not, but we're here so we might as well get used to it." Said Max.

"Then why are you defending it?"

"We're not."

"Sure sounds like it." Billy argued with her.

"Nolan's right, we're stuck here—"

"You're right." He interrupted her all of a sudden.  "We're stuck here. And whose fault is that?"

Nolan noticed the way his voice darkened. It was quiet until Max muttered a quiet 'Yours' from the backseat and her brother sucked in a deep breath. 

"What'd you say?"

"Nothing."

"Did you say it's my fault?" Billy asked again, more hostile.

"No, she didn't. Now drop it." Nolan defended his sister.

"You know who's fault it is. Say it." He demanded.  When neither of them spoke, Billy kept on. "Max. . . Nolan. . . say it."

"Or what?" Nolan challenged him.

"SAY IT!" Billy suddenly screamed in his left ear. Both the Mayfield siblings jumped on fear. "SAY IT!" He screamed again and started speeding faster down the road. He turned the music up louder and tapped his hand on the steering wheel.

Nolan winced at the volume of the music.

"Billy, turn it down!" Max demanded, seeing her brother's discomfort.

Billy glanced at his step brother and laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, Nolan. Am I hurting you?" He sneered, not caring at all.

"Fuck off." Nolan hissed and winced again as the loud echoing pounded in his ears. 

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" He shouted and hit the steering wheel again.

He concentrated on his breathing. It was an exercise the doctors told him to do when he felt like a panic attack was coming.

"B-Billy, slow down." Max stammered after seeing the boys from her school riding their bikes on the road.

"Oh, these your new hick friends?" Billy ridiculed with a sinister laugh.

"No, I don't know them."

"I guess you won't care if I hit 'em, then?"

Nolan's eyes widened. "Are you fucking insane?"

"I get bonus points, I get 'em all in one go?"

"No, Billy, stop. It's not funny." Max practically begged.

He ignored both of them and continued to hit his hands against the steering wheel. The music seemed to gradually grow louder and Nolan felt sick to his stomach. He winced and held his head in his hands.  It reminded him of when he was little and his mom would take him and Max to the fair. He loved to ride rollercoasters. He loved the adrenaline rush and feeling the breeze on his face. He didn't care that he always threw up afterwards. Nolan felt like he was on a rollercoaster right now and it wasn't fun.

"Billy, stop. It's not funny!" Max shouted over the music. "Nolan!"

Nolan suddenly couldn't hear anything. A loud ringing invaded his vision and pressure pounded against his left ear. He gritted his teeth in pain.

She reached forward out of her seat and grabbed the wheel from Billy's hands and jerked it to the left,  avoiding hitting the boys in the road. "YEAH, THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE, HUH?" Billy screamed psychotically.

Max paid no attention to him and looked at Nolan in concern. "Nolan? Nolan, can you hear me?" She asked and put her hand on his back.

Her voice was muffled. 

"Nolan!"

When Nolan for home, he ran to the bathroom and locked himself in. He threw up ferociously until his throat was raw. Max stood on the other side of the door, asking him if he was okay. "I'm fine, Max." He responded and hurled again, the retching echoing off the walls. He wasn't okay and he knew that. Max knew it too.

Nolan fell backwards and leaned his back against the wall. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and sighed. He was behind exhausted, physically and mentally.