THE KIDS AREN'T ALRIGHT ｡ STRANGER THINGS

16 - ALL THE RIGHT MOVES

When almost twenty minutes had passed, she was growing bored and was just about to fish out the hidden snacks in the glove box when something caught her eye. It was Micky, Dustin and Mike riding away from the house on their bikes. "Alright, boys, what are you hiding?" Dottie whispered while stepping on the gas.

***

Daisy Lonsdale was riddled with so much uncertainly, that she felt weighed down and almost felt like it was growing harder to breathe. She was once a girl that loved mysteries and adored when Marigold would create stories to share with her at bedtime. But lately, the mysteries that danced in her skull felt like a burden. She had stayed up late staring at the clues her sister had left behind; the novel, the mixtape and the scribbled down lyrics. Sadly, no matter how long she looked at the clues, listened to the odd songs on the tape or even flipped through the pages of the book, nothing revealed itself and she felt hopeless that she hadn't figured it out yet.

She had spent half the night puzzled with thought and the other half worrying about everything that was currently going on, that she hadn't slept very well, which was why she was sluggish today. Thankfully, the Hawk was quite. Her manager had taken one look at her darkened eyes and informed her to stay outback and restock storage her entire shift. Being alone in a dusted closet didn't help with her never ending theories about Marigold or the monster racing in her clouded head, but organising boxes did help keep her awake.

It was almost noon when Kennedy Khan stuck his head around the bend in the doorway and distracted her from counting out stale bags of chips to be wasted. "You will never believe what's going on outside in the alleyway." His smile was huge and Daisy stared at him, quite confused. "Jonathan Byers is fighting with Steve Harrington."

Daisy was scurrying to her feet. "Are you kidding me?"

Kennedy followed her out of the storage closet, chatting away excitedly. The two teenagers hurried through the main lobby area towards the service entrance out back which connected the candy bar to the makeshift kitchen. "Yeah, I think Jonathan's defending Nancy's honour or something. The group spray painted something a little crude on the announcement board out front."

Sure enough, when they finally flung open the back door that led to the alleyway out back, a fight had broken loose. Daisy stared at the two boys, blood covering their faces as grunts echoed through the air. Nancy was shouting out for them to stop, while Steve's friends were barking with laughter. "Holy shit." The words tumbled from her chapped lips as Kennedy sucked in a deep gasp, not realising the fight had gotten so bloody, so quickly.

For a moment, Daisy did nothing, just simply watched with mild interest. When the sirens finally rang out in the distance, that's when she was springing into action. Kennedy was cursing out her name when she moved towards Jonathan and Steve, who was currently taking quite the beating. Nancy was still yelling, strangled with dread. "Jonathan, that's enough." Daisy's voice seemed timid though. When she saw the blood running down Steve's pale face, her stomach twisted sourly. "Come on, you've done enough damage."

A police car was pulling up behind the kids and that's when the panic truly started. Carol, Tommy and Nicole were shouting out loudly, ready to flee the scene. Kennedy was already hurrying back inside, not wanting any part of the fight on his clean hands. Nancy was running her hands down her face as Daisy yanked on Jonathan's arm, trying desperately to ease him away from the bloodied boy on the ground. It was only when the two officers decided to get involved did Daisy step aside, blood smeared on her crisp white uniform. She was not sure which boy it belonged to though. With Officer Callahan pulling Jonathan off Steve, he was punched in the face which had Nancy shaking her head. Steve was pulled off the dirty alleyway concrete and made the mad rush in escaping the trouble. With blood dripping down his face, his eyes swung back to spy Daisy Lonsdale, who was standing quietly near the backdoor, staring down at the blood on her shirt.