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CHAPTER TWENTY ONE | THE LITTLE PUNK GIRL
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i crave you; even in the darkness, even in blood.
-thoughts #74 // r.m
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"All right, missy," Hopper said once Jackie and Steve entered the kitchen. "I want answers. Now."
For a fleeting second, Jackie thought he could tell that she and Steve had kissed. Then she realized that he was definitely talking about her making a demogorgon explode.
"Oh, uh," Jackie hesitated, scratching at her eyebrow. "I don't really know. It was on top of me and it sort of just... happened?"
Eyes narrowed, Hopper placed his hands on his hips and gave her a look. "That's not good enough. What's the truth?"
"Hey!" Steve snapped, glaring at the police chief. "Leave her alone. I just had to help her clean chunks of lizard out of her hair."
So much for acting normal, Jackie thought, curbing the urge to roll her eyes.
"It's fine," she whispered, eyes pleading with him to calm down.
He didn't need to go around picking fights, especially with the chief of police. Leaning against Steve, Jackie looked at Hopper and sighed.
"You know what the Hawkins labs did to kids," she said, itching at her tattoo. "I was the tenth kid they took. I was supposed to be the last." Her eyes met Hopper's defiantly. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Silently, Hopper nodded at her. He walked away from the kitchen, patting Jackie on the shoulder on his way out, and disappeared into one of the bedrooms, presumably to talk to Joyce.
For a while, nobody talked or moved until Mike stood up and walked over to a stack of games. He picked up a small blue cube and held it delicately in his hands.
"Did you guys know that Bob was the original founder of Hawkins AV?"
Jackie had never met Bob Newby, Joyce Byers's boyfriend, but Will had told her about him. He was a nerdy guy, goofy, and a little awkward, but endlessly kind and giving. And now she'd never get the chance to meet him.
"Really?" Lucas asked, sounding surprised.
"He petitioned the school to start it and everything," Mike said. He was smiling a little bit. "Then he had a fundraiser for the equipment. Mr. Clarke learned everything from him." He started walking back towards the table. "Pretty awesome, right?"
"Yeah," Lucas and Dustin said.
"We can't let him die in vain," Mike said, placing the blue cube on the table.
"What do you want to do, Mike?" Dustin asked. "The Chief's right on this. We can't stop those demodogs on our own."
"Demodogs?" Max snorted, speaking exactly what Jackie thought about Dustin's new term.
