high school is hard, losing the ones you love is hard, fighting the unknown is harder.
[ jonathan byers x rebecca hopper (oc) ]
[ stranger things fanficiton ]
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I brush my curly blonde hair from my eyes as the wind picks up around me. The open night air was soothing against my exposed skin. I sat restlessly under a tree in the backyard of the trailer. My school books scattered around my bare feet, my knees tucked under my chin. I had taken my shoes off once I had reached my little backyard sanctuary.
I had come home late, and found my father had company, the local librarian. I knew she wasn't visiting because my father had some overdue books. So I skittered around to the backside of the house, to stay away from the nasty events taking place inside at this moment.
This was a normal occurrence, I'd come home late, usually from after school shifts at the local diner, Benny's Burgers. And there would be an unknown vehicle parked in the driveway. I would just sit outside till the car left. It gave both me and my dad some privacy time.
I hear a car start up from the front of the house, but make no move to get up from my spot under the tree. I hear the back door swing open, and the familiar smell of a lit cigarette.
"What are you doing out here, Becca?" My dad's voice called out to me, very well knowing what I was doing.
"Homework." I replied dryly, gathering up my books and shoving them into my backpack.
"You should stop stealing my cigarettes, they aren't good for you." He remarked, flicking ash off the porch, watching me closely.
"I'll quit when you do." I sigh, standing and walking toward the house. I brush by him, not even glancing in his direction. The screen door slams behind me and he's left on the porch alone.
&
I don't hate my father, I give him the same treatment he gives me. Everything's square this way. Fair is fair. I love my father, but I doubt he knows I exist unless I'm in his line of vision. He certainly doesn't act like I exist.
I hear the front door open and close from my position in bed. I glance toward my bedroom window, and watch as a pair of headlights flick on and back out of our driveway. I sigh and turn on my side, curling my arms around my pillow.
Maybe he figured I was old enough to handle myself. Nothing bad ever happens in this town anyway. "not since '23", my father would say.
The yellow phone on my bedside table began to ring. I sat up quickly and picked it up, hoping it would be some escape from this house for a couple of hours.
"Hello?"
"Uh, hi." A voice responded on the other end.
"Jonathan?" I question, peering around my room, like I'd see him standing there.
"Uh, yeah. You wanna go for a ride?" He asked, stuttering.
I paused for a moment, half smiling. "Okay."
&
I dressed out of my pajamas quickly, and into a pair of jeans and a black sweater. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, a few stray pieces framing my face. I put on my converse and a light jacket and headed out the door.
Jonathan and I lived very close to each other, ever since we were kids we used to meet up to play together. I didn't live here my whole life, my dad and I moved to Hawkins when I was five from the city when the divorce paperwork went through.
Jonathan and I stopped hanging around each other all the time when we hit puberty for different reasons. He got a job to help his mom with bills and to save up for college. I grew more isolated and inward. We still saw each other from time to time, but not often.
I walked to the end of my dirt driveway to find Jonathan sitting in his car, fiddling with his 8 track player in his car. I cleared my throat and he looked over to me.
"Got a smoke?" I asked, he nodded and motioned to the passenger seat. I took his offer and slid into the passenger seat. He handed me a cigarette and pulled away from my driveway.
"I just got off from work." He spoke without question, blowing out a small puff of smoke from his own cigarette.
"I did too, not too long ago. How was it?" I asked, borrowing his lighter. As I exhaled, my eyes caught his before he looked back to the road.
"The usual. I mean, got some money in my pocket. So no complaints." He replied, as he pulled onto a dirt road that lead to a small wooded hill.
"Yeah, no complaints." I repeated, rolling the cigarette between my fingers as he parked his car on the hill. The hill looked over the deep quarry. It was the best place to see the stars.
"I saw you at school today, sorry I didn't say anything. I've been tired from work." He said tossing his finished cigarette out the window.
"Maybe you should cut back on shifts, your mom will worry, you know..." I trailed off, taking another drag.
"Yeah. She's so busy with work, I hardly thinks she notices." He says as he leans over the back seat and grabs a backpack. He opens the bag and pulls out some pictures and drops them on my lap.
I quickly finish my cigarette and toss it out the open window. I flip through the photos. They were black and white shots of the town, empty roads, his little brother and a couple of his unaware mother.
"You're getting so good, you'll be famous some day." I smile over at him, a small smirk forms on his face. It was too dark to tell if he was blushing. He was so cute when he blushes.
Jonathan reaches back over the seat and grabs another photo. He hands it to me and looks out the window, wordlessly. I look down at the photo and saw myself from earlier that day, sitting outside the school gym smoking. I look quickly back up to see his face. The moonlight showed off the bright red on the tip of his ear that was closest to me. I reached over and grabbed his ear lobe, laughing.
"What is this, weirdo!" I exclaimed, laughing. He began laughing too, his ear getting hotter in my hand.
