Teenage romance is already difficult enough to navigate.
But when the one you love doesn't love you back? That's the worst pain of all.
STRANGER THINGS | NANCY WHEELER
seasons 1-2
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( the monster, pt. iv)
• °:.☆ . ₊°• ☆ . ° .• °:. *₊ ° . ☆
LAURA AND NANCY are free to go after they give witness statements, and Laura is eager to leave the stuffy, crowded police station before her mom senses she's there and drives over to kick her ass. Nancy assures her that she'll watch over Jonathan. He's now eerily calm in comparison to how wild he'd been mere minutes ago, staring into nothing.
Laura has business. Namely, interrogating Nancy's little brother.
She trudges back home with her arms huddled against the wind that flares the skirt of her dress, pressing the sherpa lining closer to her skin that prickles from the cold. It's mainly muscle memory that gets her there. She's only dimly aware of each step she takes, her mind entrenched in the questions she's going to ask the boys. Lucas will be the hardest to crack. He's always been the most level-headed, his no-nonsense attitude sometimes causing rifts between the group. But Dustin will be easy.
Laura steps into the foyer and sighs in relief at the heat that envelops her body. Her parents, seated on the sofa together, look up at the sound of the door closing behind her. Her dad's arm is slung over her mom's shoulder as she rests her head against him. The simple display of intimacy reminds her of Nancy and Jonathan's shared sentiments about their parents' lack of affection toward each other. She can't imagine living in a household where a sight like this wasn't normal.
"You're home earlier than we thought you'd be," her dad remarks over the sound of the television. "Nancy said you had plans today."
"She had something come up," Laura says, surprised by how easily and quickly the lie leaves her mouth. She shucks off her coat, hangs it on the rack next to the door, and kicks off her sneakers. "You know, with the funeral and Mike and everything. I was going to bring some brownies over there."
Her mom frowns. "Did they already eat the cookies you brought last week?"
"Dustin was over, Mom. The kid's like a machine."
Laura bounds up the stairs before they can ask more questions or notice the dirt smudged on her uniform. She'd tried to brush off most of the gravel and dust at the police station, but it turns out that falling in a gross alleyway, even quickly, makes your clothing pretty dirty. She eagerly sheds her apron and dress before chucking them into her hamper.
Will Nancy and Jonathan still want to go monster hunting tonight? She checks the clock. It's already getting close to three, and they have school tomorrow. Even if she wants to purge her frustration from the day by killing a monster that had taken her friend, she also has to remain cognizant of her grades if she wants to pass Chemistry. November usually flies by. Before she knows it, it'll be time for finals, and she wants to be prepared to ace an exam for once.
