𝐒𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄, eddie munson

𝐓𝐖𝐎

TWO
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"just forget about it."

"I KNOW IT'S A LONG SHOT," Dustin gulped as he stood in front of Tabitha with Mike nervously at his side, "But would you consider subbing for Lucas at Hellfire Club tonight? Please, Tabby, please? He's gotta play and—,"

Tabitha sighed, "You know I've got to be at the game too, boys. Besides, I doubt your precious leader would want a prissy popular princess playing."

Mike and Dustin looked confused, but their pouty, begging faces returned immediately, "We'll tell him you know how to play. You're amazing at it, please? Can't you skip one game? The... cheerleading can go on without you. This campaign can't."

"I'm sorry, boys. I would if I could but... I can't," Tabitha frowned, waving to Chrissy who was walking over to her, "I have to go to practise, but I hope you find someone. I'll take you guys home after the game, if you want? Where do you do your whole Hellfire Club thing?"

The two boys looked dejected, stalking off silently after expressing their disappointment but accepting her offer of a ride home, of course.

Tabitha missed the days when she'd play D&D with them and Will.

It did make her upset that the boys had joined a D&D club now that Will wasn't around, despite always being reluctant to play with him.

But now life was too chaotic, and she didn't want to spend all of her time with the kids — they needed their own lives without her.

"Hey, Chrissy," she greeted her friend, a grin on her face even though Chrissy looked troubled, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Tabitha didn't believe her for a second, but didn't question her, "Let's, um, get to practice."

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Tabitha flashed the brightest of smiles as the squad cheered the team on, watching them dart around the court.

She turned and sent a wink in Robin and Steve's direction, waving her pom-poms at them for a moment as they giggled and jokingly cheered her on instead of the team.

And then she flashed a smile in Lucas' direction too, watching him perched on the bench nervously.

She was incredibly proud of the young boy; He deserved that spot on the team even if he'd been benched, and he deserved the distraction after all that he'd been through with the group, Tabitha included.

She had never felt she fitted in with the cheerleaders and the jocks, but the damn "Queen of Hawkins" title seemed to hang heavy enough on her that she'd slotted herself into the group naturally anyway.

She was just lucky that they never questioned her friendship with the 'freaks' as they so often called them — at the end of the day, after all that had happened to her, they just let her get on with things.

The basketball game panned out stressfully, to say the least.

But Tabitha exploded with pride when in the last few minutes Lucas was brought onto the court, and in the very last second he won the game for Hawkins High, sending the whole room into a frenzy.