It Gets Stranger [Stranger Things x Reader]

fifty two

six months later

"so about hellfire tonight-" i start, but eddie interrupts me.

"no, no, no. it's mandatory. you're gonna be there." he says, keeping his eyes on the road.

i roll my eyes, playing with the end of my skirt. "if you'd let me speak, i was just gonna say that i'm benched from the game tonight. coach won't let me cheer because i missed last practice for hellfire so...i'm not going to the game."

"perfect." eddie smiles. "i knew you wouldn't disappoint me, little sister."

he swerves his van into his parking spot and i hop out. "i'll see you at lunch."

"mhm." eddie responds, staying in his van.

i ran into the school, running down the hallway and to the last bathroom on the hall. no one ever came to this bathroom. the stalls were all gross and disgusting.

when i got inside, mike was already waiting for me.

"there's my little cheerleader." he grins, uncrossing his arms.

"shut up, wheeler. i hate it when you call me that." i say, walking over to him and dropping my bag on the floor.

"i know, that's why i love it." mike teases before pressing his lips onto mine, causing me to instantly melt.

he starts to run his hand up my cheer uniform and i pull away from the kiss. "okay, mike."

"sorry." he clears his throat. "that's- uh, i'm sorry."

i laugh, pushing his hair back. "no, it's fine, just...not now."

he looks into my eyes for a moment before giving me a slow, tender kiss. "good luck at the pep rally today. and the game and everything."

"i'm- uh, not going to the game." i say as he rubs his hands up and down my arms. "coach isn't letting me cheer so i'm just not going tonight. i'll be at hellfire."

his gives me a confused look. "tonight? the game is tonight?!"

"uhm, yeah." i say, glancing down at his watch. 7:48.

"shit, i have to go. pep rally starts at 8." i say, pecking his lips and picking up my bag again.

mike nods. "yeah, i'll, uh, see you at lunch."

"uh-huh!" i say before running out of the bathroom.

—

the marching band plays as the cheer team and i dance along to the song. chrissy cunningham tumbles across the gym floor right as the song starts to come to an end.

i ruffle my pom poms together, smiling big at everyone standing in the bleachers. i spot mike, dustin, and max towards the middle but they seem to be having their own conversation.

i join the rest of the team on the first row in the middle of the bleachers.

"and let's hear it for your tigers!" the announcer says as jason carver leads the basketball team out from the back corner of the gym.

the boys stand in a line in the middle of the gym and i spot lucas off to the side. he was smiling and clapping, clearly very excited about tonight's game. i doubted he'd ditch it to come to hellfire.

"good morning hawkins high!" jason yells into the mic, causing everyone in the gym to start cheering.

he takes the mic off the stand and starts walking towards the bleachers.

"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!" he talked as if he was a preacher giving a sermon.

he was good at speaking to a crowd, though. the whole gym started cheering.

"and of course, i have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the tiger cheer squad!" jason motions towards us.

he walks back to the middle of the gym and stands directly in front of chrissy cunningham.

"chrissy..." he began, patting his chest, "chrissy, i love you, babe."

i smiled, looking over at chrissy, who blew him a kiss. jason smiled back at her. he started backing up, looking up at the crowd again.

"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." he tossed the microphone over to his other hand. "and sometimes i wonder, how much loss can one community take? in dark days like this, we need something to believe in."

he starts to walk around the gym again. "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. think about our heroic police chief, jim hopper."

i accidentally scoff, causing some of the girls next to me look over and give me dirty looks. i didn't care. it's not like they actually knew hopper. or billy.

i looked behind me, trying to find where max and the boys were standing. max was looking down, clearly not giving two shits about anything jason was saying.

i felt bad.

i hadn't talked to max in months. she kind of stopped hanging out with us after her and lucas broke up last winter.

her and her mom had moved into the same trailer park where my family lived. but it's not like either of us ever really made an effort to hang out.

i did miss her.

i zone back in just as jason is wrapping up his speech.

"we're gonna bring home the championship trophy!" he yells, causing an uproar from the crowd. "let's go!"

lucas stars clapping before jogging up towards jason with the rest of the team.

i follow chrissy's lead and stand up, cheering on the boys.