Chapter Thirty-seven: The Pep Rally

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"Oh, my God," Robin groans while Jessica places a hand onto his arm. "Just go with it, okay." "Fine." "Okay, so like I was saying. Hypothetically speaking you and Jess break up and both move on, right? So, you ask out a girl and she says no. Big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego's a little bruised. But I ask out the wrong girl, and bam, I'm a town pariah."

"Yeah, I'd buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl," Steve states. "We just don't know that, do we?" Robin says before spraying breath spray into her mouth. "She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds. Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes, 5 seconds? People who like boobies, Robin."

"Ew!" Robin exclaims while Jessica giggles. "Gross. Don't say boobies. Jess, tell him to stop saying boobies." "Boobies," Steve exclaims. "It's not a big deal, Robin," Jessica tells her. "I like boobies, more specifically Jess' boobies. You like boobies. Vickie likes boobies. Definitely," Steve exclaims as Robin shakes her head at him. 

"It's boobies."

"Shut up!" Robin orders as Steve pulls into the parking lot of Hawkins High. Robin grabs her stuff and immediately gets out of the car. "Hey, wait up!" she yells, spotting her friends from marching band. 

Jessica turns to Steve. "I'll see you later for our date tonight." "Yes, you will," Steve tells her as he leans in, pressing his lips onto hers. Jessica smiles into the kiss, placing a hand onto his cheek as she deepens it. 

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Jessica walks into the gym, her eyes scanning the bleachers for Ace. The two had made plans to sit together but surprise, surprise, he wasn't there. Jessica shakes her head as she walks up the bleachers. She spots Dustin and Mike standing together. Mike spots Jessica and waves her over. Jessica shimmies her way through the crowd and stands beside Dustin. "Morning boys!" 

"Hey Jess," the two greet her. Dustin peers around Jess. "Where's Ace?" Jessica shrugs. "Either sleeping in or smoking weed out back." "If he keeps it up, he won't graduate," Dustin tells her. "Oh, he's graduating. He's still maintaining C's in all of his classes. How? I have no fucking clue." She admits, making Mike laugh. 

Jessica sees Max walk down the line and stand next to Mike. "Hey, Max," Jessica greets but she only gets a glance from Max before she adverts her eyes back onto the cheerleaders. Jessica sighs. Max has been pushing everyone away all year. 

The cheerleaders finished performing their routine and ran off to the sidelines. "And let's hear it for your Tigers!" The Hawkins High Basketball team made their way into the gym. Jason Carver, the captain of the basketball team bursts through the banner, the crowd erupting into cheers as he leads his team out onto the court. Jason steps up to the mic as his team lines up behind him.

"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Pulling the microphone from its stand, he let the cable trail behind him as he approaches the audience. "First off...Hey. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand."

The audience erupts into cheers as they clap their hands. Lucas looks out into the crowd and spots Jessica, Dustin, Mike and Max. He lifts his right hand up, sending a wave toward Max who ignores him. Seeing the action, Jessica lifts her hand up and waves excitedly at Lucas, making him grin. 

"And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy..." Jason pats his right hand against his heart. "Chrissy, I love you, babe." Chrissy blows Jason a kiss, making the crowd let out an 'awe' in unison. 

"Barf," Jessica whispers, making Dustin and Mike snicker. 

Jason takes a step back, lowering his head. "You know...I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, 'How much loss can one community take?' In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, 'Think of Jack.' 'Think of Melissa.' 'Think of Heather.' 'Think of Billy.' All eyes had turned to Max at the mention of her brother. Max shifts uneasily at the attention.

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