PSYCHO 《 stranger things 》

-2.6 basketball player supremacy

chapter twenty-six!

SIX MONTHS LATER

THE SEPARATION OF CASSIE HARGROVE FROM MAX MAYFIELD was something Cassie found unbearable. Losing one sibling was hard enough, but when her father announced his divorce from Max's mom everything seemed to fall apart even more. Never in her life had Cassie been sibling-less. She didn't have Billy. She didn't have Max. She was alone. Completely and utterly alone.

Even though her father could only afford to move a singular town over, the distance was felt all around. Another new school. Another first day where all the attention was on her. It wasn't as nice as it was before; all that attention. As much as she wanted to love having all eyes on her, she found herself quite despising it. Everyone wanted to know who she was and where she had come from. She didn't want to talk about her time in Hawkins, but she didn't really want to just forget about it. For the first time in her life, she had found family. No school friends in this new town could compare to it, much less replace it.

Still, she found it easier to "fake it 'till ya make it", and act as if she was basking in the attention she was receiving as the schools new cool girl. She still had her obvious Hargrove charm, but there was something there that wasn't before. It made her palms sweaty in front of crowds, and made her second guess everything she did. It made her stomach twist when people asked about her personal life. It made her jump out of her skin at every loud noise. It made her nights restless and filled with night terrors. It almost felt like nerves. Almost like it was... anxiety.

This was new to Cassie because she had never before had anxiety. She was always cool and confident. She never second guessed herself, she never doubted anything at all. She wasn't nervous; the word wasn't even in her vocabulary. But this year everything seemed to be changing. For the first time, Cassie Hargrove was experiencing anxiety.

There was something else there too that wasn't before. It was like a dark cloud over Cassie's head that made her mind foggy and sad all the time. Although Cassie would never say this out loud, it made her feel like she was off her meds. She hated calling it depression, so she didn't.

While Cassie hadn't made any friends like the ones from Hawkins, she did find herself apart of a clique of kids that seemed to rule Whitry High. Oliver Brown was a tall brunet junior that seemed to make almost every other girl swoon with just a smile, although Cassie didn't see the hype. Oliver was a lovable dork, but she never saw him as anything more than a school-friend. June Robinson was a sophomore, a darker skinned girl who was probably the closest that Cassie had to a real friend. The two bonded over their love of pissing off Oliver, and David Bowie. Betty Young was the only other freshman in the group and was a pale brunette who Cassie thought had to be one of the most annoying people she had ever met, and told her that several times, along with reminding her that having a stick up her ass at all times would eventually get quite uncomfortable. Amari Miller was a sweet senior who had somehow gotten stuck in their weird little friend group, but didn't seem to mind at all. The group of five somehow managed to have the most influence over the school.

Cassie had kept close touch with her friends from Hawkins, as well as the ones that moved to California. She talked to El and Will a lot, writing them both constantly and talking with them on the phone as often as possible. Will and El would always fight over who got the phone. Nancy kept her promise and visited every weekend, usually bringing along Max or Mike. Steve called every night, the two talking for hours about their day and stuff they'd said a million times before, just so they wouldn't have to say goodbye. She missed them all dearly.

Once Cassie turned sixteen in November, she got a job and her license, and eventually saved the rest of the money needed to get a car. For a reasonable price, Cassie managed to talk her father into signing for her to buy a green 1975 Ford Mustang Cobra. It was Cassie's pride and joy, just like the Corvette was Billy's. She visited Hawkins as much as her poor-paying job at the local diner would allow.