Shutter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things I

XXV: Exuberant

ex·u·ber·ant

adjective

filled with or characterized by a lively energy and excitement.

"Do you want a ride home?" Jonathan asked Emilia when she came down from her exuberant state. The high of defending oneself had to last some time, Jonathan noticed, and wondered if maybe there would be a time for him to do the same. Though he did not face the same issues as Emilia did, and could never put himself in her shoes, they were very similar in many ways. This was likely the reason they got along so well.

Emilia thought about it, "I'd love a ride home, but there is something else I should tell you."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. The way his facial expression changed from so joyous to so curious made Emilia smile. He always thought about her, he always put her ahead of everything else. Emilia didn't want to admit how much she needed that, but it was time to come to terms with the fact she didn't need it anymore. That Emilia had shed her skin and become a new Emilia, one who could defend herself when she needed to. She wanted Jonathan to put himself first, because it was only fair. Reminding herself to do something extra nice for Jonathan soon, she decided to tell him that she had been lying for a long time about where she lived.

"I've been getting you to, uhm," she ran her hand through her hair nervously. "Drop me off at someone else's house."

"You have?" He was about to laugh, but then he worried about whether or not she even had a home. "Where do you live then?"

"I live just one street over from where I've been getting you to drop me off," she admitted. "At first I thought maybe you'd... make fun of me for living in the trailer park. I didn't know who you were at first, and after that it was easier to just pretend I had one nice thing going for me."

"You are full of surprises today," he laughed, "I thought you were going to say something about your dad coming out with a shotgun."

She smiled sheepishly as she got in the car, "Yeah, well, I guess we'll have to see."

Jonathan pulled out of the parking lot, and that's about the time he noticed the group of people whom Emilia had just doused with honesty were on their way to their own cars. They left just in time, in Jonathan's opinion, because they were the type of people who might start a fight now that they'd had time to marinate in what had happened. Chances are, they would probably try to bring Jonathan into it somehow. Jonathan didn't want to admit how easy it would be for him to get into a fight; if any of them said anything about Emilia, Jonathan might lose it. All he really wanted was one good swing at Tommy. 

Glancing over at her, he smiled; she had the window rolled down even though it was quite cold especially with the wind chill. Her loose, black hair flowed wildly and she didn't care about the tangles she'd get, or the weird slick feeling that would follow. She threw her hand out the window and moved it along with the gusts of wind, and that was when Jonathan realized he'd never seen her so relaxed in a car before. Crediting his driving would be selfish; she'd overcome every obstacle that life had thrown at her in the last two years.

"This street?" He pointed and Emilia nodded; their time together was up, but neither of them felt sad. There would always be tomorrow.

"Probably best to stop here," she blushed, "Maybe I should talk to my dad before having you show up at the door step."

"More than happy to oblige," he grinned.