MY TEARS RICOCHET 𛲕 STRANGER THINGS

22. Intuition

"What did you tell him?"

"That you're single and totally interested!"

"Meera!"

"What?" pouted Meera. "I was doing you a favour! I could have told him you had a boyfriend and kept him for myself, but I didn't!"

Daphne rolled her eyes. "How selfless of you."

Daphne chanced another look in Billy's direction, only to see that he had started to walk towards them. She tensed in her seat. Meera believed she was still hung up on Steve and that was why she wasn't interested in dating, but the truth was, Daphne had broken up with Steve as a favour to him. Her life was far too much of a mess to drag anyone else into it.

On top of that, she hadn't been given the time or space to grieve on her own, which Mrs Kelley had emphasised was an important part of the healing process. She knew Steve had only been trying to help, but in the end, he had made her feel suffocated. They were much better off apart, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

She didn't think she could handle losing anyone else, either. Now that she knew about the monsters that dwelled in Hawkins, she lived in constant fear of someone else she cared about being taken away from her. Everywhere she looked, there was the potential to get hurt. At least this way, she could limit the casualties.

The same reasoning applied to Robin Buckley. She hadn't seen the band geek since prom night three months ago. She had been so preoccupied with dealing with her hospitalisation and break-up with Steve that Daphne honestly hadn't had time to maintain most of her friendships. She and Robin hadn't ever really been friends, so Daphne couldn't quite understand why she missed spending time with her so much.

Robin had approached her a few times since prom. Once at the Hawk Theatre in late July, when they were seeing the same movie, to comment on how lame it was. Daphne had merely shrugged her off. Another time in the record store, Robin had asked which records she was looking at. Daphne had made an excuse to leave. The final time had been at the bookstore when Robin had asked if everything was okay with her. Daphne had snapped at her to mind her own business. Not her finest moment.

Despite Daphne's objections, Meera was waving at Billy, signalling him to sit down at their table. She stifled a groan. Meera meant no harm and she truly thought she was doing what was best for Daphne — but she was misguided at best. Daphne wished she could just understand that she didn't want a boyfriend.

"Billy!" cried Meera, shifting over on the bench so he could sit down beside her. "We were just talking about you."

"Really?" smirked Billy, raising an eyebrow. "Anything interesting?"

"Well, Daphne—" Meera cut herself off with a grunt as Daphne kicked her in the shin. Meera looked up in indignation, but a glare and a shake of the head from Daphne soon silenced her. "Erm, I mean... We were just wondering why you moved to Hawkins."

Billy's eye twitched with something Daphne couldn't quite place — but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. "My parents just wanted a change. I can't say I'm too impressed by it so far, though."

"I could show you around sometime, Billy," said Tina, leaning forwards on her hands. "I know all the best hang-out spots."

"Actually," said Billy, ignoring her. "I was thinking Daphne might want to show me around."