Unforgettable | Steve Harrington [1]

12 (LET'S STICK TOGETHER)

Jenna's memory from the rest of the night was foggy, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up in her bedroom the next day. Sitting up, her head was spinning, which almost caused her to fall back down in the bed and pull the comforter over her head. The sunlight filled the room, almost making it to Jenna's face. For a moment, she closed her eyes and tried to remember what happened after leaving Jonathan's house. But the more she thought about it, the less progress she was making with it. Giving up, she slowly got out of the bed and made her way downstairs, already able to smell the bacon from the top of the steps. When Jenna reached the bottom, her mom was hanging up the phone, with a small smile on her face.

"Afternoon, sweetie," she greeted her.

Jenna furrowed her brows in confusion. "Afternoon?" she repeated.

"Yeah, it's noon," she replied, chuckling a little. "You had a rough night, so I figured I'd let you sleep in."

Nodding her head, Jenna went to sit down at the table with the plate of bacon in front of her. "So, uh...who was on the phone?"

"That was Nancy Wheeler," she responded. "She wanted to check on you and see if you were okay."

"Oh." She thought it was nice for her to do that, especially after the night they had fighting that monster at Jonathan's house. "Do you know how I got home last night?"

"Yeah, your friend Steve took you to the hospital," she said. "You had been there a while by the time I showed up. Do you remember any of that?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I must've been out of it."

She chuckled in response. "Yeah, you were. Your friends explained everything to me. Fortunately, the doctor couldn't find anything wrong with you other than exhaustion. He figured you partied too hard."

Jenna smiled a little at this. To him, he thought it was just a typical Saturday night for teenagers. If only that were the case. Too bad the doctor was far from right.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Jenna nodded in response. "A little." Pausing, she looked at her mom with curiosity and concern. "Mom, what happened after I left Hawkins Lab?"

Dorothy let out a sigh, sitting across from her. "Well, I got caught by Dr. Brenner, which I knew was gonna happen. He put me in a room and we talked about you."

Jenna bit her lip, reaching for a piece of bacon. "I guess he told you everything about our conversation, then."

"Yeah, he did," she replied. "And I can't believe you would agree to what crazy idea he proposed to you."

She looked up at her with guilt. "I was trying to protect you, Mom."

"I'm the one that's supposed to protect you. That's my job."

"I know," she simply said. "But I thought I was doing the right thing. You know, keeping you safe from Hawkins Lab for good."

Her mom let out a sigh, shooting Jenna a sad look. "Well, if there's anything we can confirm about them last night, it's that those people are liars, especially Dr. Brenner. He's a piece of work, that's for sure."