[𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗘: 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗠𝗔𝗫]

SAGE WHEELER WAS sprawled out on her bed, face dug deep into her pillow as she was sleeping peacefully. her soft snores were heard along with a walkie-talkie static.

"sage? saaaaggggeee? sage! sage wheeler?"

a young boy's voice was heard through the walkie-talkie, trying to grab an answer from the brunette girl. sage didn't budge awake.

"mike! go wake up your gay sister!"

"don't say that!"

"just go wake her up!"

"just scream her name...it always works..."

there was a small pause.

"SAGE WHEELER!"

the young brunette girl gasped loudly, jumping up from her bed in shock as she fixes up her messed up hair. she clears her throat and wipes any drool that escaped her mouth while she was sleeping before reaching over to her walkie. her hand reaches for the device, but to her dismay, she falls forward and off her bed.

"shit! ow! what the flip fuck." sage hissed, grasping the back of her head. "did it work?" dustin asked, curious. "yeah it worked." mike, sage's twin brother, replied.

"what the fuck is wrong with you, henderson?" sage asked as she spoke into the walkie. "oh, okay, good morning to you too grumpy." dustin said with sarcasm dripping.

sage rolled her eyes in annoyance, "why did you wake me up?" she asked.

"what's your haul?" dustin questioned.

sage immediately knew what he was talking about and cursed herself. "uh, i'm not sure,"

"you're— you're not sure? jesus you and mike both." dustin mumbled, his head shaking. "mike go to nancy's room." sage told her brother through the walkie and then pushed the antenna down. the brunette pulled her hair into a low ponytail before walking to her older sisters room. "so glad she trusts me." sage whispered to herself, grinning.

sage began roaming around the room to find the piggy bank her sister nancy had. mike suddenly walked in, glancing at his twin sister.

"don't stand there! help me look." sage exclaimed in a whisper so that way nancy wouldn't hear her voice. "jeez! fine." mike whispered then searched around the room with the brunette. the two twins looked all over their sisters room for the money until sage opened her drawer. "mike," sage whispered quietly.

mike walked over to her, eyes landing on the piggy bank, and grinned.

sage took the piggy and placed it on the bed, opening it with ease. mike took it from the girl and dumped out the different kinds of coins onto the soft bed. sage licked her lips in amusement before footsteps were heard.

"what the hell!" nancy exclaimed, the sight of her sister and brother stealing her money came into perfect view. "i, uh, we'll pay you back!" sage squealed, grabbing a hand full of money in both of her hands and stuffing them in mike's jacket pocket. the twins ran out of the room, the coins they weren't able to gather still on the bed, and their older sister chasing them.

sage was giggling like crazy as her and mike ran around the house, nancy behind them.

"mike, sage, get back here!" nancy exclaimed, gaining speed. "hey. no running in the house." ted wheeler stated but got completely ignored. "what is going on?" karen wheeler asked in a shout. "we love you! bye mom!" sage yelled as her and mike ran outside.

the twins got their bikes, booking it.

"mike! sage! sage i trusted you!"

"i'll pay you back!" sage yelled, jumping on her bike with mike, biking away. "asshole!" nancy shouted, fed up with the twins.

"did you get enough money?" sage asked her brother, glancing at him for a split second. "i think so. did you?" mike replied.

  FOUR TEENAGERS COME INTO view. sage, mike, lucas, and dustin. the four park their bikes in the bike rack before a car honk was heard.

sage whipped her head to see joyce and will byers. her lips formed a smile, happy to see her best friend.

"hi will!" sage said, waving over at him.

will smiled over at the brunette.

it took a at least two minutes for will to leave his mothers car and his mothers rambling about his rules. sage brought the bowl-cut headed boy into a hug, giggling softly as she felt his hair poke at her neck just slightly.

will and sage had always had a really close friendship. their friendship grew when sage came out as being a lesbian because will knew that she would be able to help him figure out his own sexuality. he was still confused. he didn't know if he liked girls or boys. maybe both.

sage was practically the only person who knew about his confusion and she was happy about it. she thinks that the others will push him on about different kinds of things and not give will the chance to think. that was her opinion, but she didn't know if she was right.

the two brunettes pulled away from each other so the boys can give each other a hug. sage fixed her jacket, crossing her arms as she watched the boys communicate. soon enough the five teenagers were inside the arcade, ready to play some video games with each other.

the boys walked away to play their little famous game of dragon's lair. sage walked around the place, looking for a game to play until she noticed a red-head at the game dig dug. her eyebrows furrowed, watching the focused teenage girl as she was curious to see if the girl would beat her and dustin's high score.

suddenly, the red-head turned around to look at sage; feeling her stare. the brunette saw her bright blue eyes suddenly getting lost in them.

"no! no! no! i hate this overpriced bullshit! son of a bitch! piece of shit!" the sound of dustin henderson broke the eye contact of sage and the red-head. the teenage girl took the opportunity to take her skateboard, rushing out of the arcade. "you're not nimble enough. but one day you'll get there! but until then, princess daphne is still mine." lucas told his best friend.

sage rolled her eyes then turned back to look at the red-head again, but saw that she was gone. the brunette frowned, eyes wondering around the area. sage walked over to the dig dug game to see that the screen shows sage was in second place just right underneath the username madmax. keith stood behind her, crunching onto cheetos making sage cringe.

the older teen walked off making sage sigh in relief. it was until dustin came running over with the rest of the boys. sage was gently shoved to the side causing her to scoff quietly.

"751,300 points!" will exclaimed, shocked as he stood next to sage. "that's impossible,"

sage's points were 679,500.

she was greatly shocked, however; she was at least able to grab the username of the red-head girl she made eye contact with.

"who is mad max?" dustin asked.

"better than you," keith said. "is it you?" will asked. keith scoffs. "you know i despise dig dug." he stated as if it were obvious. "then who is it?" lucas asked.

sage would speak up but she didn't have the courage to. besides, it would lead up to getting at least a thousand questions. she didn't want that whatsoever.

"yeah, spill it, keith." sage spat, deciding to join in on the "argument". "you want information, then i need something in return." keith pointed out and glanced between the wheeler twins. the boys looked over at the twins and sage gagged knowing it was about nancy. "no, no, no. now way. you're not getting a date with her." mike protested immediately.

"mike, come on. just get him the date." lucas argued. "we're not prostituting our sister!" sage exclaimed, whacking lucas against the arm. "but it's for a good cause," lucas defended.

"no," dustin spoke up. "don't get him the date. you know what? he's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family."

"acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid." keith defended himself, his voice wavering slightly. "oh, i'm a wastoid? she wouldn't go on a date with you. you make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?" dustin fired.

sage felt a tug on her jacket sleeve. she turned her head to see will looking back at the arcade doors. she felt herself get pulled with him as he began to walk off. sage removed her arm away from him, and grabbed his hand instead, lacing their fingers together.

"hey. hey, guys, do you see the . . ." will spoke and turned around to see everyone was gone, except sage. "will," sage breathed out, squeezing his hand gently.

the lights flickered.

they were in the upside down.

sage whimpered quietly. she hated it here. so did will. it was another reason why her and the bowl-cut teen were so close. they were connected to the upside down, but their stories were completely different. will got chased by a demogorgon while sage touched a one of elevens flakes. the door behind them slammed open causing them to whirl around to look over.

sage looked over at will then slowly began walking outside the arcade with him. their eyes landed on the sky as it thundered loudly. normally sage would love thunderstorms but with the current situation she was in, she hated the sound of the thunder.

the brunettes stared out into the sky, a slight figure with legs and a weird shaped head flickering into their view.

"sage, will! are you two okay?" mike asked.

the two teenagers snapped out of their trance and spung around to look at the boy. sage looked back at the sky to see it was pitch black, only just a few stars showing.

"yeah. we just . . . we needed some air." will answered. "come on. will you're up on dig dug. sage'll be next." mike said, wrapping his arms around his sister and will, guiding them back in the arcade. "let's take that top score back, huh?" sage looked over at her brother, smiling.

   SAGE WHEELER PULLED at her button up sleeves as she walks up to her best friend, will byers. she sees him look around, his face holding a confused, scared, and sad expression all in one. sage makes it towards him, smiling.

"hey," she whispers before seeing the newspaper he is holding.

ZOMBIE BOY

"who gave you that?" sage asked, glaring at the paper in his hands. "i don't know," will replied honestly. "but it doesn't matter anyway." the bell rang so he grabbed his stuff, slamming his locker shut. sage followed behind him.

"are you sure? i can beat the persons ass if you'd like." sage suggested. "it's fine, sage." will assured with a soft smile. "hey, i have a question." will then asked after the short silence.

"hm?" sage hummed. "does mike know about your connection? and...your powers?" will asked, whispering the last part. ". . . no . . . he doesn't." sage answered him, sighing deeply.

"why not?"

"i don't have the courage to just tell him. i don't know what he'll think."

will stared at his best friend. he understood what she was talking about. it was almost exactly like what was happening with his mother. he couldn't just get the courage to tell her that his "episodes" are getting worse.

"he doesn't even know i can communicate with el." sage added. "you can?" will asked, surprised. the girl nodded, "i haven't been successful yet, though." she told him. "sadly."

will nodded before walking into science class taught by mister clark. sage followed him inside and took her seat behind will. she sent a smile at her brother, in which, he kindly returned. mister clark brought out his lesson.

"meet the human brain. i know. i know, it doesn't look like much. a little gross even, right? but consider this. there are a hundred billion cells inside of this miracle of evolution. all working as one. no, no, i did not misspeak. i did not stutter. a hundred billion." mister clark explained.

the party all glanced at each other, intrigued by the lesson the man is teaching. sage hated to admit it but she loved science. she was practically a nerd with it. her lips twitched into a smile until the classroom door opened.

all the heads in the classroom turned towards the noise.

"ah, this must be our new student." mister clark said, smiling excitedly. "indeed. all yours." the principal said before walking out of the room. the red-head tries walking past the teacher, but gets stopped. "all right. hold up."

sage tilts her head. she felt as if she recognized this new girl. "you don't get away that easy. come on up. don't be shy." mister clark told the girl.

"dustin, drum roll."

dustin closed his book and began to drumroll on it making sage smile a bit.

"class, please welcome, all the way from sunny california, the latest passenger to join us on our curiosity voyage, maxine!" mister clark introduced. "it's max." the red-head corrected. "sorry?" mister clark asked.

"nobody calls me maxine. it's max."

sage stiffened up on her seat, eyes widening slightly. the five teens look at each other.

"mad max." lucas whispers, referring to the username on dig dug. "well, all aboard, max." mister clark said kindly, smiling.

the party all turned around to watch max take her seat. sage gulped quietly as the sun shined on the girl. she was pretty. very pretty. max glanced over at the boys before her eyes landed on sage. max's eyebrows furrowed inward.

she recognized sage.

sage blushed, her cheeks turning light pink. the brunette turned back in her seat, staring down at her hands and fiddling with her fingers.

max, sage thought. she's pretty . . .

very pretty . . .

AUTHORS NOTE //

first chapter is done! now, time to explain about sage's backstory.

sage wheeler is the younger twin sister of mike wheeler and the younger sister of nancy wheeler. she had a good brother-sister relationship with mike and had always stuck by his side no matter what. meaning, when will byers went missing, she ended up in the chaos with trying to find will, but ended up finding eleven. sage developed a great friendship with eleven and when she disappeared sage had touched a one of elevens flakes; it sinking into her skin.

not only does she have powers, but she is connected to the upside down just like eleven.

happy reading <3