Nine৯ Steve Harrington *SLOW UPDATES*

01| HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

Chapter One

Hiding In Plain Sight

৯

"NINA! Time to wake up for school!" a motherly voice called out from downstairs which echoed through the whole house.

A groan came from a mountain of bedsheets that were piled on top of someone. The sheets were pushed towards the end of the bed to reveal a teenage girl hiding under the sheets. She ran a hand through her messy blonde hair before opening her eyes to reveal her green eyes. "Fuck school," the teenage girl, Nina, snarled as she sat up in her bed.

She stretched her arms up and sighed in relief at the sounds of her joints cracking. After she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she looked down at her left inner forearm and glared down at the sight of 009 inked into her skin. Her hand reached down and threw the sheets off of her before swinging her legs around to rest on the wooden floors. She slowly stood up from the bed and entered the bathroom that was connected to her room. The bathroom had a shower and bath in one with a sink across from it and a mirror hanging above it. Makeup was laid across the counter, but it looked hardly used.

Nina removed her pyjamas and throw them into the hamper that was sitting beside the counter before turning on the shower and stepping in once the water was at the perfect temperature. Once her face and body were washed, she turned off the shower and jumped out. Nina wrapped a black towel around herself before walking back into her room to find an outfit for the day. She pulled out a pair of dark washed jeans and a colourful striped turtleneck sweater. Once she was dressed, she laced up a pair of distressed black converse on her feet before she quickly threw her hair into a tight high ponytail.

Nina grabbed her black side bag before heading down the stairs where her mother was cooking breakfast. Olivia Lance turned away from the stove at the sounds of Nina's footsteps on the stairs. She quickly placed the cooked bacon and eggs onto a plate for Nina before placing the pan into the filled sink to be washed after they had eaten. "Morning, Mum," Nina greeted her mother with a kiss on her cheek before sitting down at the table and scoffing down her bacon and eggs.

Olivia shook her head at her daughter attacking her food like she hadn't eaten in years. The older woman leaned against the counter as she sipped her black coffee and watched her daughter. Once Nina had finished her breakfast, she dropped her plate in the soapy water before kissing her mother's cheek and grabbing the lunch that she packed for herself the night before. "Bye, Mum," she called out as she grabbed her keys from the bowl beside the front door before she walked out the front door and towards her blue AMC Pacer.

Once she was in her car, she started up the ten-year-old car and headed off to Hawkins High. She parked in her usual park, which was the furthest away from the school, but she didn't care as she didn't mind the walk. She sat in her car for a moment before she stepped out. As Nina walked towards the entrance to the school, she noticed her red-haired friend, Barbara Holland or Barb as she preferred to be called waiting outside for her. "Hey Nina," Barb waved to her friend before pulling her into a hug.

Nina hugged her back as she spoke into her ear; "Hello Barb."

They walked into the school together and went to Nina's locker for her to grab her books for the day. After she grabbed her books, they waited by her locker for their other friend, Nancy Wheeler to arrive at school.

When Nancy finally entered the school, Nina and Barb began to walk on either side of her. "So, did he call?" Barb asked Nancy, not caring about who could hear them.

"Keep your voice down," Nancy scolded her friend as she didn't want anyone to hear what they were discussing.

"So...Did he?" Nina asked even though she didn't care.

"I told you both, it's not like that," Nancy sassed both of her friends which made them both gave her a look of disbelief.

After a few moments of Barb and Nina staring down at Nancy, she cracked; "Okay, I mean, yes, he likes me, but not like that. We just... made out a couple times."

"'We just... made out a couple times,'" Nina mocked Nancy with a large grin on her face as she leaned against the locker that was next to Nancy's locker.

"Nance, seriously, you're gonna be so cool now, it's ridiculous," Barb informed her friend who was opening up her locker.

"No, I'm not," Nancy retorted back, shaking her head slightly in disbelief.

"You better still hang out with us, that's all I'm saying. If you become friends with Tommy H. or Carol..." Barb was interrupted by Nancy saying; "Oh, that's gross! Okay, I'm telling you, it was a one-time..." Nancy stopped herself when she saw Nina and Barb raise an eyebrow at her.

"Two-time thing," her words caused a chuckle to escape from her lips while her friend shook their heads at her.

Nancy looked down to see a folded note at the bottom of her locker. She slowly unfolded it to read; Meet me. Bathroom- Steve

Barb and Nina looked down at the note which made the redhead retort sarcastically; "You were saying?"

"I'll see you guys in class," Nina said as she gave them a salute before walking towards her first class.

When she sat down in her regular seat in the back of the classroom, she noticed that the seat beside her was unoccupied which caused her brows to frown in confusion as the person would always beat her class. She quickly turned to the girl sitting beside her and asked; "Hey, do you know where Jonathan is?"

The girl snapped her gum and rolled her eyes towards Nina. "You think I care about that freak?" the girl snarled towards Nina who glared at her.

Nina gripped the down of her seat and caused feel the seat bending under her hands. She quickly removed her hands off the seat and was grateful that no one could see her display of her strength. Nina had to be careful about using her abilities because if the wrong person saw her use them, she would be sent back to the lab and that was the last thing she wanted. 

৯