A NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION
Ryan Fordman has lived next door to Steve Harrington her entire life. Her entire life, he'd always been a window away, occasionally shouting across the space between their houses. They were inseparable... at least, they we...
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Third period rolled around, the first class Ryan and Steve were on time for, a class that wasn't even a class for Ryan. She sat in the bleachers, flipping through the pages of the notebook Robin had brought her. Just like when she returned Ryan's a few days before, her notebook was lined with doodles. She was more interested in studying those than the notes themselves.
"Where were you this morning?" Robin asked, leaning back against the bleachers above them. She'd taken it upon herself to deliver on everything Ryan had missed in first period. "I was worried that you had gotten sick or something."
"Nah, I just slept in late. Had a busy night." Ryan shrugged nonchalantly. Busy night and she just didn't want to be in school at all. "Thank you so much. Aren't you supposed to be in history?"
"Yeah," Robin flashed a sly smile. "But we're just watching a video on the the civil war. I told him I was checking out a book on for my foreign language."
Ryan laughed, pulling her in for a hug, "Oh, you're growing up so fast! Skipping class to hang out with your friends in the gym? I'm so proud!"
Robin shoved her off which only made her laugh harder. She steadied herself, glancing over at the boys playing basketball on the court. Robin followed her gaze, "I'm not the only one that finds this dumb right?"
"No, no, I do too." Ryan shrugged, watching Steve catch the ball. "But I guess it makes sense. They've gotta practice somehow."
Steve dribbled the ball, going head-to-head with Billy. For a minute, not much happened, the two just dancing around each other, Billy guarding Steve to prevent his movements. Steve pushed him back with his shoulder until Billy managed to steal the ball. Steve fell to the floor with a hard thud.
Robin sucked in a breath with a grimace, "Ouch."
Ryan jumped to her feet as Steve slowly rose to his feet, pausing to catch his breath. She had never seen him so off his game before, at least not in basketball. An argument could be made about history, but that wasn't her concern right then.
"Steve?" The name left Ryan's mouth, but another voice had joined hers, calling for him.
She glanced to the side, seeing Nancy stopping by the bleachers. It was the first time Ryan had seen her since Jonathan had taken her home the night before. She didn't even see her in the hallways between second and third period like she usually did.
"Oh wow," Robin said quietly, eyes darting between all three of them. Ryan, Steve, and Nancy. "This just got so much more awkward than I thought it was going to be."
Steve stood up straight, turning to see Nancy by the bleachers before shifting his gaze to Ryan standing next to Robin. Without thinking, Ryan's hand went to the pendant around her neck, zipping it back and forth on the chain as she looked between him and Nancy. It was like he was waiting for her to tell him what to do, to tell him it was okay or something. So she nodded, gesturing to Nancy with a jerk of her head.
