𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 || 𝘀. 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

S2E1: Mad Max

October 29th, 1984

It's a sunny October day in Hawkins. Not exactly the warmest, but it's hot in the sunshine. It's one of those days that I'll probably find myself ditching my jacket later on.

Mom drops me off in the parking lot of the school. I bring my arm out of one of the loops of my backpack and let it hang off my shoulder as I walk over to Robin.

She lifts the front wheels of her bike into the bike rack, then locks it to it with a chain and padlock. "Don't want a repeat of third grade," she says, double checking the lock.

I tilt my head. "What happened in third grade?"

The two of us begin walking to the school. "There was this boy who liked to bully me and—" She's cut off by a sharp, blue 1979 Camaro nearly running us over. "Watch it, asshole!" She yells at them, flipping them off. They probably didn't even hear her because of their radio playing Rock You Like A Hurricane so loudly.

It parks a ways from us and a guy with really tight jeans and a blond mullet steps out. He takes a long drag on his cigarette and surveys the area in a way that tells me he's bad news. The way his eyes prey on the other students is like he wants them as his own—like he wants to rule us. He wants to be king of Hawkins High.

A younger girl with red hair gets out of the passenger side, an annoyed expression on her face and a skateboard in her hands. She drops the skateboard on the ground and steps on it, riding it to the middle school. The older guy, who I assume is her brother, comes this way.

He walks with an air of cocky arrogance. He's been here all of thirty seconds and he already acts like he owns the place. All the girls' eyes are on him, just how I'm sure he intended it.

"Who's that?" Robin asks, squinting against the sun and looking on at the guy unsurely. I don't have an answer for her. He's obviously new.

"Would you check out that ass?" Tina says to Carol and Vicki and they all giggle, their eyes glued to the guy as he struts to the school. "Just look at it go."

Robin and I walk through the doors of the school and Tina hands us an orange flyer.

"Tina's Halloween bash," Robin says, reading the paper in my hands. "Come and get sheet faced." She scoffs. "Who would want to get sheet faced?"

I consider it, looking down at the paper.

"You're not actually thinking about going, are you?" She asks.

I look up at her. "And miss out on getting sheet faced?"

She stares at me for a moment. "You're joking...?... you're not!"

"I'm not joking. I'm graduating soon, might as well live it up while I can." I open my locker, then look at her from around the door, a grin on my lips. "And you're coming with me."

"Absolutely not! I will not be drug into the typical popular kids' drinking parties. I've stayed away from that area of high school and I intend to keep it that way."

"You know, you don't have to drink," I say. "Are you really going to abandon me, leaving me to go all alone, where I don't hardly know anyone there?"

She shuts her locker and turns around. "I think you'll know some people there." Her eyes are on Jonathan and Nancy, who stand in front of Nancy's locker talking. Steve sneaks up behind Nancy and grabs her around the waist, spinning her around.

"Why is he wearing sunglasses inside?" I ask.

Robin snorts. "'Cause he obviously is too dumb to realize he's inside. He's a certified dingus for crying out loud. Ugh, look at them being all mushy in the hallways. Where are the hall monitors when you need them?"

Steve's hands are on her hips as they kiss against the lockers. Big dopey smiles don both of their faces. Jonathan walks away from them, knowing his conversation with Nancy is over, but Nancy's eyes wander back over to him as he slips out the doors.

I elbow Robin in the shoulder. "Come on, don't you wish you had someone to be like that with?"

"Ew, no. Gross."

"I do," I confess. "But someone real. Not someone fake like—"

"Don't say his name," Robin reminds me.

"What, you think by me saying his name I'm going to summon him back into my life at the absolute worst time?" I ask with an eye roll. "Your being superstitious, Robin. We're done. I don't even hardly run into him around town or here at school since he's graduated. Besides, he starts college soon. Then I'll be even less likely to run into him."

"I'm not superstitious, I'm just cautious. You never know what's out there, you know?"

Oh, believe me... I know, is what I want to say. Instead, I say, "I guess. But it still sounds like superstition to me."

We walk into Chemistry and sit down at our desks. Mrs. Hodges, the teacher, walks in. Her gray-streaked blonde hair is pulled into a tight bun. "Today we'll be partnering up in pairs of two for a group project."

Several students begin raising their hands, claiming their friends as their partners (and a lot of girls claiming the guy with the mullet, who I found out is named Billy Hargrove), but Mrs. Hodges tuts. "I will be assigning pairs randomly." She starts writing names on strips of paper, then mixes them up in a bowl. She closes her eyes, reaching her hand in and pulling out a slip of paper. "Carol Perkins and..." she pulls out another slip of paper. "Olivia Wallows." She pulls out a few more pieces of paper. "Wanda Anderson and Dave Robinson, Billy Hargrove and Sarah Cothran." At that, disappointed sighs are let out by some girls. Sarah looks happy about it, though. "Nancy Wheeler and Tina Cline, Robin Buckley and Helen Johnson."

I, like those girls, let out a disappointed sigh, sliding down in my desk. Nancy and Robin were the only two I wanted to be paired with, and now I get neither. Maybe I'll get Jonathan, though. That would be okay with me.

"Jonathan Byers and Paul Turner."

Damn.

"Y/n y/l/n and Steve Harrington."

I roll my eyes. Of course I'm paired with Steve. Of courseee I am. Steve Harrington, who sucks at school. Steve Harrington, who I doubt has even read a book in his life. Steve Harrington, who is going to make me fail this assignment. Mom will kill me, then kill Steve for being the reason of my failure and death.

I look over at him, making sure my expression conveys my feelings of annoyance. I want him to know that I'm just as disappointed to get him, as he is to get me. He makes eye contact with me, his face an exact mirror of mine. Both of us frustrated about ending up as partners.

Mrs. Hodges goes on to explain the assignment to us. "You will be studying the effects Mentos has on Coke. Study the reaction, write what you see. Go deeper into the explanation of what is happening. I will hand out sheets of paper with questions to each of you to take home." She starts passing the papers around. "Answer these questions after you've done the experiment and made your observations."

She pauses as if she just remembered something. "Now, if you absolutely must have a change in partners, let me know."

I raise my hand.

"Yes, Miss y/l/n?"

"I'd like a change in partners."

"You haven't even worked with..." she checks her notes, "Mr. Harrington, yet." She frowns. "You must at least try to work together before I'll see about changing your partners. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

It was worth a shot.

A/N: I realize Steve is a grade above Robin, Nancy, Jonathan, and I think Billy, too, but I'm just going to cram them all in the same grade. This won't affect the future, when Steve is already out of school while the others aren't. We're just going to ignore that.

Besides, I think the Duffer Bros messed up. In S3, Robin recalls sharing classes with Steve. But then in S3 & S4, Steve has graduated, but Robin is still in high school.

So lets just not look too far into dates and grades and details. This is Wattpad after all 😀👍