Play// Stranger Things

005

Valerie Archer wasn't sure what she had done the past couple of days that somehow afforded her entrance into Steve Harrington's, the proclaimed king of Hawkins, room.

Yet there she stood, awkwardly looking around at his generic bedroom as she dripped the smallest amount of pool water onto his hardwood floors.

"You're cool with this right?" Steve questioned Charlie as he handed the boy a pile of  clothes he had forgotten at Steve's house ages ago along with an extra pair of sweat pants for Valerie to steal.

"You mean you banging my sister?" Charlie questioned the boy, who awkwardly chuckled and nodded as he scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, sure bro. As long as I don't have to hear any of the gory details." Charlie shrugged.

Steve let out a hearty laugh before patting his best friend's back. "Hey." Nancy spoke as she entered the room. "Have fun you two." Charlie snickered as he pulled Valerie towards the door, shooting Steve a wink once he was behind his sister.

Valerie had noticed the boys did that a lot. "Bye, Val." Nancy called out, to which the girl gave her a smile and a small wave.

"There's a bathroom just over here." Charlie spoke as he led the girl down the stairs. "Great, thanks." Valerie smiled before slipping into the guest bathroom. Now that she stood in front of a mirror Valerie was extremely conscious of the way her light blue bra was visible through her top.

Whatever buzz she once had dissolved as she anxiously wiped away any smeared mascara and attempted to pry her hair clips out of her now tangled locks. She hadn't though about the fact her naturally curly hair didn't mix well with chlorine.

Peeling her top off she replaced it with Charlie's sweater, which hung down to the middle of her thigh due to the few inches he had on Valerie. The girl couldn't take her eyes off the mirror as she replaced her soaked jeans with a pair of Steve's sweats.

Maybe mixing her pills with alcohol wasn't the best idea, Valerie thought to herself as the light above her sparked moments before returning to normal. Closing her eyes, Valerie took a deep breath. The last thing she wanted was to lose control.

Control. What a silly concept. Valerie hadn't been in control of anything since before she was even born. Control was a mere social construct to the girl.

Opening her golden brown eyes Valerie felt her breath hitch in the back of her throat. Her head began to pound, as if she was at the bottom of the ocean and the pressure was slowly crushing her from the inside out. She was in that place, the place that haunted her nightmares.

Except this time she wasn't asleep, no, she was wide awake and could feel her heart pound as fear washed over her. As soon as it began it ended, a bang at the bathroom door causing Valerie to almost scream out for her life.

"Everything okay in there?" Charlie questioned softly. "Yeah, yeah." Valerie's voice broke but she coughed in an attempt to stabilize it. "Everything's fine." Valerie tried as she opened the bathroom door, holding her discarded clothes in one hand.  There was that word again. Fine.

"It's getting late, I should probably head home soon." Valerie faked a smile. "Yeah, uh, I can walk you home if you'd like." Charlie stood up straight. "I mean, only if you want. It's probably not the safest time to go wandering all alone at night."