Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 14

It's been three months since the fight against the mind flayer and its demo-dogs. In fact, Valentine's Day is right around the corner. 

Angie ended up with nothing more than an annoyingly big scar and a barely-noticeable limp. Fortunately, Eddie didn't want crazy details to how her injury occurred. Her small fib of just being bitten by a dog seemed to tie him over. He never was one for gory details anyway. 

The teens went back to school the following January. Tommy and Carol had a field day when it came to teasing Angie about her traumatic injury. That was until she put a stop to that...

"I guess you're like paralyzed now." Tommy lays his arm around her shoulders which she immediately throws back off.

"It's actually called a limp, asshole."

"Whoa, whoa, no need for the aggression... That scar just makes you look even more like a freak."

"And you standing here annoying me makes you look even more like the desperate virgin you are, Tommy. Now, back the fuck off of me before I ruin your precious reputation." she seethes, shoving him away, so she can get to class.

"Freak!" he yells down the hall after her.

She just turns and mocks him by pouting her lips, "Virgin!"

Her and Jonathon became even better friends. Jonathon wasn't exactly strong-spoken, but Angie made sure that Tommy and his friends stayed away from him. She didn't like to think of it as fighting his battles. It was more supporting him, and helping him until he could find the confidence to fight his own battles.

Angie and Nancy still weren't very close. Nancy was collectively spoken, popular, had her whole life planned out. Angie was sarcastic and confidently loud-spoken, plus she was the school's biggest freak. They were drastically different people. You could even say they were polar opposites. Maybe, in the future, opposites could attract. But for now, those two girls didn't know what to do with each other.

There was one thing for sure that was painfully normal about going back to school, and it bothered Angie to her core. Steve "The Hair" Harrington went back to being just that. He was no longer some kick-ass babysitter or protector of Hawkins from all things evil. It was like everything in November didn't even happen, it was a long-forgotten memory. Angie tried to talk to him...

"Hey, Steve can you-"

"No I can't, Munson."

"What? Steve-"

"Fuck off."

Then again...

"I heard that you won your basketball game the other night. Congrats."

"Did you even go to the basketball game?"

"N-no but I-"

"Can it, Munson. I don't give a shit."

Angie tried again and again and again. She tried constantly until the last time, the time that hurt them both the most...

"Hey, I know you're mad at me... for some reason. I'm really sorry for whatever it is that I did, even if I have absolutely no idea what it is. I've been thinking about it every night, but... Look, I'm sorry, alright? You can stop treating me like shit."

Steve sat against his locker, quietly frozen at the thought of the terrible thing he was about to do. But, deep down, he knew it was a line he had to cross in order to achieve what he needed to.

"I'm treating you like shit cause you're a freak. God, why are you even talking to me, Munson?"

They both knew how much she hated it when people called her that: a freak. She decided in that exact moment that was the final straw in her attempt at rekindling their friendship.

Angie almost instantly wiped the hurt from her face, replacing it with an angered expression.

"I don't know. Guess I thought you were someone else. It must be the hair, everyone looks like that these days. Didn't you get the memo, Harrington? Your hair isn't cool anymore, its just average."

That's when Steve knew his miserable plan had been successful. She had gone back to calling him Harrington, which never bothered him before. But, ever since the moments they shared in November, he couldn't help but care about her. Steve was finding himself internally searching for her approval, and he didn't even know why. He was "King Steve", so why did he search for reassurance from "The Freak"? Why was he so insecure around her? Why was his popular charm immediately washed away when she was around? Steve couldn't decipher his feelings towards Angie, and it drove him insane. 

In reality, those traumatic memories had left them both exposed in ways that they never could've imagined. It caused them to search for comfort anywhere they could find it. Those two would look anywhere and everywhere: friends, family, even enemies. However, there is one place where they can find comfort. Its their main problem. No matter how much they hated the idea, they could only find comfort in each other.

---------------------

Here's a shorter filler chapter for you guys. The next several chapters are going to take place in between seasons 2 & 3. It'll show more of their high school setting because you don't get to see much of it in the show. Most excitingly, it'll dive into Steve and Angie's relationship. They don't really understand their feelings rn, so I wanna take the time to really dig deep into their character development before I move on to season 3.