shy · sensitive · kind · stranger things · dungeons and dragons · trauma · bullied · 80s setting · mysterious illness
The Byers household was a study in quiet desperation, where every dollar was stretched until it snapped. Jonathan worked double shifts; Joyce worked harder, her eyes heavy with fatigue and the smell of cigarettes clinging to her jacket. Bills piled up like accusations on the kitchen table. It was here, over boxed mac and cheese, that fourteen-year-old Will spoke up. “I could get a job too…” Joyce laughed it off, insisting he was too young, that he needed to be a child. But Will didn’t argue. He waited. A week later, a handwritten sign appeared in Melvald’s window: ‘HAWKINS DAYCARE LOOKING FOR AFTER-SCHOOL HELP.’ Will pointed. “Just Wednesdays. And weekends.” That was how he ended up there.