my girl || steve harrington

the monster

"we should probably get off the floor." steve whispered.

"let's just lay here a little longer."

~

lydia got to the hunting store when she saw her two friends checking out. they had acquired a questionable mount of traps and weapons that not only confused her, but also the cashier.

"what you kids doin with all this?" he asked nonchalantly. jonathan and nancy exchanged concerned looks and stuttered as they tried to come up with a reasonable response that wouldn't make them seem suspicious.

"monster hunting." the older henderson leaned on the counter with her forearms, giving the cashier a smile. he brushed it off and continued to ring up their supplies.

the three walked to jonathan's car with their gear piled up in their arms, ready to fight the hellish beast that they had previously encountered.

"monster hunting? that's the best you could come up with henderson?" the boy inquired as they loaded up the trunk. she shrugged.

"well you two ding dong's weren't saying anything so i had to think of something. plus i read somewhere that if you tell the truth, people are less likely to believe it." although she hid it well, lydia wanted nothing to do with the creature. every time she would close her eyes she would see the creature and she would have to constantly remind herself that she wasn't in that place. she could manage it if she was with people but when she was alone, it was really bad. after steve had left, she was getting ready when mews came into her room and nearly gave her a heart attack. she was triggered by the slightest thing and was constantly on edge, it was exhausting. but she also knew that they had to find barb and will. so if she had to suffer a little longer for them, she would.

"you know, last week, i was shopping for a new top i thought steve might like. it took me and barb all weekend. it seemed like, life or death, you know? and-and now-" jonathan interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. "you're shopping for bear traps with jonathan byers and lydia henderson." she nodded. nancy stared off as she thought about the strange scenario she had gotten herself into and how she never expected her life to take this kind of turn. the boy seemed to understand her thought process and could practically see the gears turning in her pretty little head, trying to understand what was the most bizarre aspect of this operation.

"what's the weirdest part? me or the bear trap?" he asked in a lighthearted tone.

"you. it's definitely you." they held each other's gaze for a moment which made lydia feel very out of place. she thought she saw something happening between the two before the honking of a car horn snapped the three teens out of their trances, and drew their attention away from the task at hand. as a dark red mustang drove by, reed peterson sat in the passenger seat being as dickwad-y as ever.

"hey nance, can't wait to see your movie." he wore a shit-eating grin just like every other meat head that craved popularity points. lydia stuck her middle fingers up at the boy as he drove off in response to his strange comment. at first, they were all confused. movie? it didn't make sense. but after a minute, nancy understood. she didn't say a word to the other two as she took off down the street to the movie theater.

"nancy wait!" the look of complete and utter betrayal was strewn across the older wheeler's face as she looked up at the marquee of the hawk. there it was. in big, red, spray-painted letters, for everyone in town to see. 'starring nancy the slut wheeler'. she stared up in disbelief at the horrid phrase and she felt anger bubbling up inside her. but that anger was quickly replaced with a sense of fear. she looked around frantically as people walked by, giving her a side eye and judging her.