and we can be heroes..
...just for one day.
In which whilst trying to bring some normality back to her mundane life in Hawkins, a sarcastic babysitter finds herself plunged deep into a world in which her 'cursed' town seriously begins to live up to...
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FIFTEEN - TOTAL CLICHE
WITH TINA'S HALLOWEEN FLYER SHOVED TIGHTLY INTO HER BACKPACK, Cassandra Cohen seemed to find herself caught in a daze, in another world entirely as she contemplated the prospect of the party at all.
She'd thought about her parents, ironically, they'd never want her to spend her teenage years moping, no matter the circumstances. Who would she be to deny them that?
Granted, Jane Cohen was blissfully unaware of the monsters that lurked within the shadows almost a year prior. She had no idea of the terrors that kept her daughter awake at night, of the unspoken bond so few of the kids in Hawkins shared - their unforgettable secret.
Cassie snapped back to reality when a picture fell from her locker, a small, thumb-tacked polaroid in her peripheral vision, slowly gliding towards the ground. She caught it in her palm, curiously turning the image to be met with the grinning face of her ex boyfriend, his arms bear hugging her laughing figure. Frankly, the teen had no idea where the snapshot had come from, seemingly tucked up behind some textbooks perhaps, but the reminder served a familiar sick feeling in her stomach.
It was barely three months after the single most traumatising week of her life that Noah Bedford and Cassie Cohen parted their separate ways. Nothing was ever really the same after that night in the woods, they knew, and it seemed both cared far too much drag out the pain any longer. By the end of summer, Noah had his things packed into boxes, hauling himself off to live with his mom in New York, partly in hopes of perusing his engineering dreams in a bigger city, far from home. And consequently, far from her.
She laid the photo down, swallowing the lump in her throat as she grabbed a leather jacket from inside the locker, absentmindedly tracing her hand over the seams.
The twitchy girl sighed, partly in a vat of irritation. The slashes upon her arm had healed nicely, and now all she was left with was three great scars across her bicep, forced into the lie of a particularly nasty branch whenever strangers would get a little too curious.
To Cassie, the mark itself only served as a reminder that she was still here. She made it, but there were others who hadn't. Her father, Barb, what made her special? why should she have lived?
She shrugged on the jacket, clouding any guilt ridden thoughts. Out of sight, out of mind, about to turn on her heel when a hand pushed against her locker, closing it for her.
There, none other than the new kid, Billy Hargrove, leaned lazily against the wall of blue beside her, that cocky smirk plastered straight across his face.
"Hey gorgeous." Cassie raised an eyebrow at his husky tone, turning her head to face him with a blank expression. Any trace of her nerves had dissipated behind the façade. "You lost, newbie?"
Billy ignored the comment, shrugging his shoulders to readjust the fit of his demin jacket. "It's Cassie, right?"
"Someone did their homework." She teased, head tilting to the side. She knew guys like him, grade A assholes, and more importantly, she knew what he wanted. "It's already 12:30. Shouldn't you be chasing some needy cheerleader by now?"
