"You're dripping like a saturated sunrise
You're spilling like an overflowing sink
You're ripped at every edge but you're a masterpiece
And now you're tearing through the pages and the ink"
where the zoomer falls in love with the thief.
(max mayfiel...
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SUMMER 1985
Life for Joanna Harrington was going great. In fact, she didn't think it could get any more perfect. It was summer now, meaning she got to spend mostly everyday with her friends, and of course Max Mayfield.
Max. Her girlfriend. She loved calling her that. Max was perfect. Their relationship was perfect. Everything was just perfect.
Joe and Max had bit the bullet, deciding to tell everyone in their friend group that they were dating, since Steve and Dustin already knew. Everyone was pretty cool with it. Once you almost die with someone, they could tell you anything and it would be fine. That's how their group worked.
Starcourt Mall had just opened that summer, which was also amazing for Joe. She never knew how much she loved shopping until there was a giant building with neon lights to do it in.
She had been spending a lot of time there, since her brother, Steve, had gotten a job at Scoops Ahoy, which was a sailor themed ice cream shop. Joe thought that the theming was really random, but who was she to judge?
Joe was obsessed with Steve's coworker, Robin Buckley. She was everything Joe wanted to be. She was just effortlessly cool, and somehow made the embarrassing sailor ice cream outfit work. Steve... did not manage to make it work. To Joe, he looked like a child playing dress up. Joe loved to tease him for it, which is how her and Robin bonded in the first place. It was really easy to get along when you had the mutual pleasure of tormenting Steve on a daily basis.
In other news, Joe had also gotten a job, well not really, it was more like just helping out and getting paid. Mrs. Harrington had pulled some strings to get her daughter a summer job at the Hawkins community pool as a lifeguard. At the age of fourteen, she was a little too young to be an official lifeguard, but when your mom is super respected in town, you can pretty much get away with anything. So, she was a "lifeguard."
She loved the job, but there was an unfortunate downside. Two words. Billy Hargrove. He had also taken an interest in becoming a lifeguard that summer, and now, they were coworkers. Secretly, Billy and her had sort of become friendly. She could never tell Max that, but Joe was kind of glad. She didn't want to have anxiety about their complicated history while at work. Anything was better than how their relationship was a little less than a year ago.
Joe had actually just came from the pool. Well, she got off a couple hours before, went home, showered, got changed, and then headed straight to Starcourt. Her friends were meeting up with her later to see some movie. She wasn't sure which movie. Mike just told her a time and when to be there. It wasn't a problem since she was usually there anyways.
She could just go shopping and hang out with Steve and Robin. She had her own money now, meaning she could blow all of it on expensive clothes and jewelry.
