The next morning, Sam was sat on her bed, reading a book. Or at least trying too. Her ocd made that really hard. She just needed something to distract herself from yesterday's events.

"Hey, Sam?" Dustin spoke, climbing halfway up the ladder.

"What?" she responded, still looking at her book.

"Do you wanna come with me to Mike's?"

"You sure he'd want me there? I'm the reason they fought."

"No, you're not. And if we're going to find Eleven, we'll need you."

"Not according to Lucas," she finally looked at him.

"None of what he said was true, okay? He just wanted to upset you."

"Yeah, well, it worked."

"Come on, please? Mike stood up for you for a reason. He wants you there."

Sam stayed silent for a moment before saying, "Fine."

She climbed off her bed and got ready in the bathroom.

The twins then rode their bikes to the Wheeler house.

"I just.. I can't believe she didn't come back," Mike said, pacing back and forth in the basement.

"She's gotta be close," Dustin reassured.

"She said it wasn't safe. She just messed up the compasses because she wanted to protect us. She didn't betray us."

"Mike, calm down," Sam spoke.

"I shouldn't have yelled at her. I never should've done that."

"Mike, this isn't your fault."

"Yeah, it's Lucas'."

"It wasn't his fault, either," Dustin said, Sam looking up at him.

"It wasn't his fault?"

"No."

"So you're saying he wasn't way out of line? Did you not hear what he said to El and Sam?"

"He totally was, but so were you!"

"What?"

"And so was Eleven."

"Oh, give me a break."

"No, Mike, you give me a break! All three of you were being a bunch of little assholes! Sam and I were the only reasonable ones. But the bottom line is.. you pushed first. And you know the rule. You draw first blood.."

"No! No way! I'm not shaking his hand. He didn't have to lie to Sam."

"You're shaking his hand! And he'll shake Sam's."

"Yeah, like Sam wants to shake his hand!"

"I'll accept it," she spoke up.

"What?"

"I hate what he said but I don't want to fight. I really don't."

Sam was never one for confrontation. Well, except for yesterday.

"That doesn't mean you should forgive him!"

"This isn't a discussion. This is the rule of law," Dustin interjected. "Obey or be banished from the party. Do you wanna be banished?"

"No."

"Good."

Dustin put on his jacket and picked up his backpack.

"Where are we going?" Mike asked.

"Where do you think? We're going to get Lucas. And then we're gonna find Eleven," he threw Mike and Sam's backpacks to them.

Sam sighed as the three of them left for Lucas's house.

They got off their bikes and Dustin rang the doorbell, Sam standing behind the two.

Lucas opened the door. "What do you want?"

Mike didn't say anything, so Dustin hit him on the arm.
"I drew first blood, so.." Mike held out his hand.

Lucas then reluctantly let them inside. He paced around the living room for a minute before speaking.

"Okay, I'll shake. On one condition. We forget the weirdo and go straight to the gate."

"Then the deal's off," Mike said.

Sam put her face in her hands. She didn't want another fight.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

"No, no, not fine!" Dustin yelled. "Guys, seriously? Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?"

Mike and Lucas looked at each other.

"We couldn't agree on what path to take, so we split up the party and those trolls took us out one by one. And it all went to shit. And we were all disabled! So we stick together, no matter what!"

"Yeah, I agree. But this is the party, right here in this room," Lucas said.

Sam looked at him. He hadn't said a single word to her. Did he even want her in the party anymore?

"El is one of us now," Mike told him.

"Uhm, no, she's not. Not even close! Never will be. She's a liar, a traitor —"

"She was just trying to keep us safe! She didn't mean to hurt you. It was an accident!"

"An accident?"

"All right, accident or not.. admit it, it was a little awesome," Dustin stepped in.

"Awesome?"

"Yeah, she threw you in the air with her mind!"

"I could have been killed!"

"Which is exactly why we need her," Mike started. "She's a weapon! Do you seriously wanna fight the Demogorgon with your wrist rocket? That's like R2-D2 going to fight Darth Vader. We're no use to Will if we're dead."

"If you three wanna waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead, 'cause I'm not spending my time on her anymore. No way! I'm going to the gate. I'm gonna find Will."

He pushed through them and walked away.

As Sam went outside and got on her bike, she turned to Dustin.

"You sure he didn't mean what he said?" she said with tears in her eyes.

Before he could respond, she began riding away to look for El, the boys following after her.

As they were biking, all Sam could think about were Lucas's words the other day. She knew she didn't hurt herself for attention. She hated doing it, but she couldn't help it. But if her friends saw her as attention seeking, she figured the truth didn't really matter.

"This is weird without Lucas," Dustin spoke.

"He should've shaken my hand," Mike told him.

"He's just jealous."

"What are you talking about?"

"Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind. He's your best friend, right?"

"Yeah.. I mean, I don't know."

"It's fine. We get it. Sam and I didn't get here until the fourth grade. He had the advantage of living next door. But none of that matters. What matters is that he is your best friend. And then this girl shows up and starts living in your basement, and all you ever want to do is pay attention to her."

"That's not true!"

"Yes, it is. And you know it. And he knows it. But no one ever says anything until you both start punching and yelling at each other like goblins with intelligence scores of zero. Now everything's weird."

"He's not my best friend."

"Yeah, right," Sam chuckled.

"I mean, he is, but so are you guys. And so is Will."

"Can't have more than one best friend," Dustin said.

"Says who?"

"Says logic."

"Well, I call bull on your logic, because you're my best friends, too."

"Okay."

A smile appeared on Sam's face. Even if Lucas didn't like her, she knew she had Mike and Dustin. And she knew she'd have Will again soon.

The three of them suddenly stopped in front of the supermarket. The front door was completely shattered and the police had shown up.

"Woah," Mike stared.

"You don't think.." Dustin began.

"Uh.. definitely," Sam finished.

They got closer and tried to gather more information before continuing to the woods in search of El.

"El!"

"Eleven!"

"Eleven! El!"

They continued shouting her name until they heard a rustling sound.

"Hey, stop. Do you hear that?" Mike asked.

"What?" Dustin looked at him.

"El! El?"

Then, they turned their heads to see Troy and James walking over the hill and over to them.

"Hey, there, Frogface," Troy flipped a switchblade. "Toothless, Psycho."

"Shit! Run!" Dustin yelled, the three of them dropping their bikes and running.

"You're dead, Wheeler!" the boys ran after them. "You too, Henderson!"

They continued running until they reached a cliff, Dustin complaining about a cramp.

"Just keep going!" Sam yelled.

Soon, Troy caught up to them and James appeared from the other side.

"Shit!" Dustin screamed.

Mike picked up a rock and threw it towards James with terrible aim.

"Nice throw, numbnuts."

Dustin screamed and ran at Troy with a stick, Troy grabbing him and holding the blade to his neck.

"Get off! Get off me!" Dustin yelled.

"Let him go!" Sam and Mike shouted.

Sam attempted to pull Dustin and Troy let him go, but he grabbed Sam instead.

Before Dustin could do anything, James grabbed him.

"Stay back, or I cut her!" Troy threatened, Sam tearing up.

"What do you want?" Mike yelled.

"I want to know how you did it!"

"How I did what?"

"I know you did something to me. Some nerdy science shit to make me do that."

"You mean piss your pants?"

Troy got angrier and brought the knife closer to Sam's skin.

"Our friend has superpowers, and she squeezed your tiny bladder with her mind," Dustin said, trying to free himself.

"Shut up!"

"I think I should save Psycho here a trip to the looney bin. Finish her off right here."

"Let her go. Let her go!" Mike shouted.

"I'll let her go, sure. But first.. it's your turn."

"My turn for what?"

"Wet yourself."

"What?"

"Jump.. or Psycho here's back in the hospital."

Troy always used that against her. She missed school for two weeks after a specific incident that landed her in the hospital. That was when everyone at school found out.

"Stop, no," Sam spoke, tears streaming down her face.

"I'll cut her right now!"

"All right, just hold on! Hold on!" Mike yelled.

"Mike, please, don't do it!" Sam pleaded.

Mike looked at her and Dustin before walking towards the edge of the cliff.

"Mike, seriously, don't!"

He stood by the edge, looking over it.

"Mike, don't do it! Seriously, don't do it!" Sam cried out.

"Troy, I don't think this is a good idea, man," James spoke up, losing his grip on Dustin.

Troy ignored his friends concerns and looked back at Mike. "Five.. four, three, two.."

"Mike!"

"One!"

Just then, Mike jumped.

Troy and James let go of the twins and they all ran to look over the edge.

As she looked over the edge, Sam stared in shock, tears still streaming down her face, as she saw Mike hovering in the air.

"Holy shit," Dustin muttered.

Mike then started rising higher in the air and was brought back to the ground.

Sam ran closer to him as they all turned their heads to see Eleven walking towards them.

She no longer had the blonde wig and was covered in dirt. Though, Sam smiled at the sight of her.

El knocked James to the ground with her powers, then tilted her head, breaking Troy's arm.

He let out a loud scream as the switchblade fell out of his hand. "She broke my arm! My arm!"

"Go," El demanded, her nose bleeding.

Troy and James yelled as they ran away.

"Yeah, that's right! You better run!" Dustin shouted to them. "She's our friend and she's crazy! You come back here and she'll kill you! You hear me? She'll kill you, you sons of bitches!"

Sam looked over to El and saw her fall to the ground.

"El, are you okay?" Mike asked as they all ran to her side. "El?"

"Mike.. I'm sorry," she quietly spoke, sobbing.

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?"

"The gate.. I opened it. I'm the monster."

"No. No, El, you're not the monster. You saved me. Do you understand? You saved me."

Mike helped her sit up and pulled her in for a hug. Sam and Dustin quickly knelt down and joined in on the embrace.

Though she was still upset about Lucas, she loved the friends she had right here. And she knew everything would work out with Lucas, it had too. She wouldn't let go of their friendship so easily.

They soon collected their bikes again and slowly walked to Mike's house.

As they walked in through the side door leading to the basement, Sam had a weird feeling.

Something was wrong.