SWEET DREAMS - STRANGER THINGS SEASON 1

twenty; public humiliation

           Public humiliation was in the form of Nancy Wheeler's name spray painted on the sign of The Hawk Picture-House. Tommy had done the dirty work, spraying the words "starring Nancy the slut Wheeler" underneath the movie title and the boy had been impressed with his handy work although Mary thought that a toddler would have done a better job.

          The group sat at the back the cinema, standing in a circle at the middle of the alleyway. Mary on the hood of her car, a cigarette in her mouth to try and calm her nerves — she usually felt a rush of adrenaline after doing something so awful and crazy.

           But Mary knew what Nancy had gone through only the night before with the monster and knew she would be struggling already. And now being the town slut things wouldn't be easy, in fact there'd probably be a hell of a lot of teasing from the other teenagers and judging from the adults.

            Mary puffed away at the cigarette much faster than usual as the group spoke amongst themselves before the sound of heels clacking against the pavement filled her ears and the sound of a velvety voice followed next, "Public humiliation in the form of slut shaming. I like it." Mary looked up, her eyes landing on no other than Corina Hayes whom strutted towards them, looking like a movie star instead of a teenage girl in Hawkins.

           Mary found herself rolling her eyes, "What do you want, Hayes?" She asked in irritation, pulling the cigarette from her lips and Corina's sly red lips stretched into a smile and Mary couldn't see the look in her eyes from under her red heart shaped sunglasses.

            The girl stopped directly in front of the group, her hip jutted out and long legs on show from her short skirt, "Steve invited me." She stated, a coy smile forming on her lips as she glanced towards Steve and Mary looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Steve's

            "We have English together." He pointed out with a light shrug, but Mary wasn't having it.

             Mary looked back to the red head, "Do you have an answer on where you got Charlie's jacket from yet?" She asked, raising an eyebrow however Corina didn't speak a work and instead just smiled, "Well then, you can leave now." She said, her tone full of teenage bitchiness as she offered her own Queen of Hawkins smile.

            Corina opened her mouth to speak, but just then Nancy was charging down the alleyway and Mary felt her stomach churn. The girl didn't even hesitate a moment before slapping Steve across the face and Mary flinched, "What is wrong with you?" She yelled and Mary wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

           "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" Steve retorted, "I was worried about you. I can't believe that I was actually worried about you." He said more to himself, scoffing as he diverted his gaze but Nancy didn't seem to understand what it was all about.

              "What're you talking about?" She squeaked, her eyes wide and desperate to understand why Steve would humiliate her the way he had.

             "I wouldn't lie if I were you," Carol called over at her, "You wouldn't want to be known as the lying slut now do you?" She asked her, smiling mischievously and just to make things worse, Jonathan came into the alleyway.

             "Speak of the devil." Tommy murmured as Mary smoked her cigarette quietly, her foot jittering. Anxiety wasn't a feeling she usually felt, but she had been with Nancy and Jonathan — she had spoke to them and they began treating her as though they were friends and now she had betrayed them both. But if she hadn't been there, she would have betrayed Steve.

           Jonathan's gaze found Mary's suddenly realising where her allegiance lay when she diverted his gaze, refusing to look at him, "You came by last night..." Nancy said in realisation, nodding her head.