Julie tried to hurry as best as she could while in the shower. She knew that her "foster" family had a bit of a tight income, so increasing the water bill was not on her list of things to do.
It was a blessing that the Byers family had allowed Julie to stay with them, after they found her lurking in their kitchen stealing food over two years prior. Juliana Hargrove was a mystery to anyone outside of her bubble, and an open-book to anyone inside.
Inside her bubble was only Joyce Byers, and her two sons, Jonathan and Will. Her husband and her had split long before Julie got there, which was a good thing, according to Will.
Julie had gotten to know other people in her two year residency in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana. One of her first days had included meeting Chief of police, Jim Hopper. She was arrested and held for a day before Joyce came back with legal guardianship papers.
Miraculously, the state had agreed to allow Joyce to take guardinship over the girl, given her situation. Her situation, was not a good one. Not at all.
Julie had met other people as well, including the Wheeler family, and had run into Mike Wheeler and his friends when they played with Will. Nancy was a good friend of hers, but Julie wasn't interested in being friends with people like Carol, or Heather. Or Steve Harrington, the crowned douchebag.
As Julie stepped out of her fast-timed shower, she heard a light knock on the door, startling her.
"Yeah?" she called out, wrapping a towel around her wet body.
"It's just me, honey." Joyce said, poking her head in the bathroom. "A letter came. From them." the woman explained, a fearful look creeping onto her face.
Julie sighed. "I'll look at it in a few. Thanks." she said softly, watching as Joyce nodded and offered her a sweet smile before ducking out and closing the door.
Quickly, Julie dried off her body and pulled on a pair of jeans, paired with a mocha sweater that she had previously picked out. She tied her shoulder length frizzy hair into two french braids, brushing her teeth once her hair was done.
As she stepped out of the bathroom, the smell of bacon, pancakes and eggs immediately hit her nose, making her mouth water. Jonathan really was a great cook.
She immediately noticed the absence of Will, but then remembered that he was at the Wheeler's, playing whatever game they play.
Julie sat down in front of a plate, sending a grateful nod to Jonathan, who tilted his head at the letter sitting ominously on the table in front of Julie.
The girl sighed for the second time in ten minutes, picking up the paper and waltzing to her room. Her room was very small, a neat bed tucked in the corner, a bookshelf lining the wall, three whole boxes of mixtapes under her bed next to her record player. Julie had a small dresser, topped with her childhood stuffed animal that she refused to get rid of.
Julie sat down on her bed, the poster of Queen on the other wall gaining her attention. She crossed her legs under her, focusing solely on the letter. It was addressed to her, in the familiar sloppy handwriting that she had come to love. As she opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, a light smile crept onto her face.
JJ,
Suck it baby, it's almost seventy degrees out her while you're already bundling up for winter. All that aside, I wish you were here to go surfing with me. Billy refuses to surf with anyone who's not you, so I have to go alone. Shockingly, Billy's been okay. He's always a dick, but he's not being as dick-ish as usual. I think it's because of a girl, but every time I ask him he kicks me out. I heard him talking to himself in his room, JJ. He stopped smoking as much because it reminded him too much of you. One night, he told me a story about how you guys snuck into a convenience store after hours and somehow bagged six boxes of the good cigarettes. I still wish I knew why you left JJ. No one will tell me. I don't even know if Billy knows. As for me, nothing has really changed. I hate your dad, my mom is annoying. I wish you could come visit us, but I guess that would violate the whole 'get out and don't come home' spiel that your dad created, huh? Maybe soon I can somehow con my way into hopping a bus all the way to Indiana. Unlikely, but I like to dream.
All the love in the state of California, your sister,
Max
Oh Max, Julie thought, so young and innocent. It was a less than ideal situation that brought Max into the Hargrove twins lives, but Julie accepted her happily. Billy did not.
Max had taken to calling Julie 'JJ' one of the first days they met, as it fit her persona better, according to the redhead. The Byers didn't know about JJ. They didn't know a lot, actually.
Sighing yet again, Julie stood up to grab a piece of paper from her notebook in her backpack, snatching a pen and her walkman and headphones. She selected a mixtape from her collection, this particular one housing mixes of Queen and The Clash. As Killer Queen came through her ears, Julie sat back down and opened her notebook.
Dear Max...
•••
Julie finished her letter quickly, folding it up and stuffing it in her backpack to take to the post office after school the next day. She walked back into the kitchen, finding Jonathan and Joyce both reading newspapers, eating their food.
"Good news?" Joyce asked hestitantly, looking up from the paper as Julie sat down next to her, picking up a fork.
Julie shrugged, shoving a piece of bacon into her mouth. "Nothing special. Just updates, I guess." she said nonchalantly, full aware of the looks Jonathan was exchanging with his mother.
"What are your plans for today, both of you?" Joyce asked, changing the subject away from the akward tension she herself had created.
"I have to babysit the devil spawn in an hour." Julie exclaimed with disgust, rolling her eyes as she ate her pancakes.
Jonathan smiled at her antics. "Erica Sinclair?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Nodding, Julie finished up her breakfast, standing up to wash her and Joyce's dishes.
"If you hate it so much, why do you do it?" Jonathan wondered, turning to look at the teenager in front of the sink.
"Pays good." she said, splashing water on Jonathan who cursed as the droplets bounced on his skin, gaining a scolding from Joyce.
Joyce stood up, joining Julie at the sink to help her with the dishes, grabbing her lazy son's on her way. "Honey, don't you also have work tonight?" she asked, taking the dish Julie was washing from her hand and handing her a dishcloth in return.
"Yeah. I have the overnight shift at work tonight." Julie recalled, throwing the towel over her shoulder and putting the dishes away.
Julie worked at Marty's Diner, one of the only places in town open all night. She was a waitress, who often got reprimanded by her boss for swearing at or flipping off some of the high school customers who came in just to antagonize her. She often worked the night shift, maily because her boss paid her more when she did.
Joyce clicked her tongue. "Sweetie, you know I don't like you working over night on school nights. It's not healthy." she spoke quietly, not seeming to notice that Jonathan had slipped off to his room.
"I know, Joyce, but Marty pays more overnight. The bills are due next week, remember?" Julie persuaded, her biggest talent.
Joyce seemed to know that she was going to loose the battle. "Fine. But do me a favor and get yourself a new record, okay? You get paid tonight right?" the woman confirmed, eyes smiling even though her face wasn't.
"Yeah, okay." Julie muttered, agreeing to Joyce's terms.
"You've got to get ready to watch Erica. You want a ride?" Joyce asked, leaving the sink to tidy up the house.
Julie shook her head, starting the short walk to her bedroom. "I'm gonna walk. Listen to some tunes." she said, walking into her room to put her shoes on.
The teenager threw some socks and her white high top Converse on, as well as grabbing her good luck necklace from her underwear drawer. The necklace belonged to her mother, who gave it to her on her and her brother's sixth birthday. The same day her brother got his pendant. It was an old necklace, having survived with her grandmother during World War Two. The copper was wearing, and you couldn't quite tell what it was anymore, but Julie loved it all the same.
Once the necklace was clasped around her nexk and hidden from view underneath her sweater, Julie sauntered over to her bed and knelt down, pulling her many bins of mixtapes out. She picked one that Jonathan had made for her, stocked with ten tracks comprised entirely of Queen, MJ and Whitney Houston. She also grabbed some other random ones, but she didn't anticipate listening to them.
Julie grabbed her backpack from the foot of her bed, and walked out of her room to bid goodbyes to Joyce and Jonathan. Once out of the house and into the crisp, cool air of November 5th, Julie put the mixtape into her walkman, pressing play and sliding her headphones over
her cold ears.
•••
Arriving at 10:59, one minute early, Julie knocked on the Sinclair's front door, clipping her walkman to her waistband, resting her headphones on her shoulders as the door opened, revealing Lucas's mother.
"Hi, Julie! Come on in." Mrs. Sinclair greeted, opening the door wider.
"Hi, Mrs. Sinclair." Julie greeted back, walking in the door and kneeling down to unlace her shoes.
"Erica! Get down here and say hello and goodbye!" Mrs. Sinclair yelled up the stairs to her nine-year-old daughter.
Moments later, both Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair were putting their shoes and jackets on, and Erica was bumbling down the stairs, dolls in hand.
"Say hi to Julie, Erica." Mrs. Sinclair demanded with a serious look in her brown eyes.
Erica smirked, and Julie knew what was coming. "Hi to Julie." she repeated, earning a grumbling reprimand from her mother.
But Julie remained calm, cool and collected. "Nice to see you again, Erica." she said, getting an eye roll from the child in return. "Don't worry about a thing, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair. We'll be just fine here."
"You're a life-saver, Julie. We'll be back by four so you have time to get ready for work. Thank you." Mr. Sinclair thanked the teenager who nodded.
Julie waved to the Sinclairs with a foux smile as they pulled out of their driveway, closing the door once they were out of sight. After locking the door, she turned to Erica, dropping the facade.
"You and I are going to have some fun, kid." Julie said, pointing at the nine-year-old, who scrunched her face up.
"Whatever." Erica muttered, walking into her kitchen. She took a seat on the floor, starting to puppeteer her dolls into making out, disgusting Julie immensely.
"Did you eat lunch?" Julie asked sweetly, setting her backpack on the counter.
Erica shook her head. "Make me something, servant." she called out from the floor, and Julie fought the urge to step on her.
"What do you want then? Something patriotic?" Julie teased, knowing how Erica felt about her country.
"You can't spell 'America' without 'Erica'. Make me American mac 'n' cheese." the tiny nuisance demanded, looking up from her inappropriate acts.
Rolling her eyes and biting her lips, Julie sauntered over to the pantry and rumaged around, finding boxed mac 'n' cheese. As she walked back to the stove, she purposely kicked Erica's leg, lightly enough to not hurt her at all, sadly.
As Julie was cooking, Erica found herself in front of the living room tv, repeatedly changing the channels. Julie looked up from her boiling to see the child skip over The World of Strawberry Shortcake to watch My Little Pony. When The World of Strawberry Shortcake first came out, Max was eight-years-old, and basically forced Julie to watch it with her.
Shaking the memories from her mind, she focused back on the pasta, just in time to keep the water from boiling over. Deciding that the pasta was done, Julie drained it in the sink, and grabbing butter and milk from the Sinclair's fridge. Julie set the items on the countertop, climbing onto the counter to search for red and blue food coloring to please the princess.
The mission was a success when Julie finished making the mac 'n' cheese, one part blue, one part red and one part plain. She grabbed a fork and a poured Erica a glass of lemonade, placing it all on a tray and setting it on the coffee table in front of Erica.
"Thanks." Erica muttered, immediately digging in. Julie smiled softly and left the living room, going back to the kitchen and making herself a small bowl of food, paired with a glass of lemonade.
Once she was set, she pulled her walkman out and started playing a random track on the mixtape she was listening to on the walk to the Sinclair's.
Before Julie could get even an ounce of peace and quiet, a high-pitched yelp, followed by a string of 'Julie's came from Erica's mouth.
"I dropped the lemonade!"
•••
"I'm late, Jonathan! I don't have time to argue! Give me a ride!" Julie yelled to her foster brother from her bedroom that afternoon, pulling on the khaki pants and black shirt that she wore to work. Her converse were on her bed, as well as most of her belongings. She brushed out her frizzy, thick hair honey blonde hair, pulling it in a low ponytail.
"Julie! I have to work too, you know!" Jonathan reminded the girl from the kitchen where he was eating a bowl of cereal.
The seventeen-year-old girl groaned loudly, shoving a pair of jeans, a plain shirt and a flannel into her school bag for school the next day, seeing as she wouldn't be going home in between.
"Then take me on the way! Please, Jonathan!" Julie downright begged, slipping on her converse and slinging her heavy backpack over her shoulder.
"Fine! Let's go!" he shouted, grabbing his keys.
As Jonathan walked out to the car, Julie quickly scribbled a note for Will, telling him to call the diner when he got home. Leaving it on the table, she ran out the door and into Jonathan's car that he wouldn't share with her.
"Don't forget to be home when Will gets home tonight. Your mom made it clear that someone be home with him at night." Julie reminded her foster brother, making sure she looked okay.
Jonathan nodded. "Yeah, I remember. You know she's kind of your mom now, right J?" he asked, making Julie smile.
Before either of them knew it, Julie was rushing into the diner, straight for the room in the back to tie her apron around her waist and hang her backpack. After she clocked in, she snagged a notepad and a pen and somehow made it to the floor before her boss left his office. He never left until seven for the night shift, and as soon as the hands on the clock reached seven, the infamous footsteps came closer to Julie.
"Ah, Juliana. Right on time. Go help the teenagers in the corner. They asked for you." Julie's boss, Scott instructed nodding towards the farthest booth.
Julie's eyes snapped over, seeing some of the people she hated most in Hawkins. Tommy H, Carol and Steve Harrington. The only person she was actually friends with was Nancy Wheeler, who somehow got herself sucked in with them.
"It's Julie, and no." despite her being adamant on not serving them, Julie hadn't forgotten how Scott called her Juliana, a name she heard last in California.
Scott laughed. "That's cute. Go now, or you're not getting the extra pay." he commanded, pointing over to the teens.
Julie groaned, and swiveled around, walking over to the booth.
"What do you want?" Julie asked, not making eye contact with any of her peers, instead holding her notebook in front of her.
Tommy spoke up first, arm wrapped around his girlfriend, Carol. "What, no, 'Welcome to Marty's Diner, my name is Julie, how can I help you?'" he joked, earning chuckles from Steve and Carol. Nancy remained quiet.
Julie rolled her green eyes, not bothering to look up from her notebook where she was working on another letter to Max and Billy. "Well, you said it so I don't have to. What do you want?" Julie reiterated, pen moving furiously.
Carol popped a gum bubble loudly, chuckling at Julie's startled face. "Who are you writing to, weirdo? A boyfriend?" she teased, making Tommy laugh. Steve cracked a grin, but he didn't make any noise. Nancy was silent once again.
"Nope. Are you here to eat or antagonize me, because I have shit to do." Julie said exhasperated, looking up from her letter for the first time in their interaction.
"How about service with a smile, and then we'll order?" Steve suggested, wrapping his arm around Nancy's waist, staking his claim, even though Julie was the only one around.
Julie smiled as sarcastically as she possibly could, making Nancy smile at her antics. "Are we all satisfied?" she said, feeling like she was talking to toddlers, with the exception of Nancy, their babysitter.
"Burgers and fries all around. Throw in some waters too. Make it snappy, but don't forget to walk slowly. I like to watch you walk away." Tommy demanded, smirking as he finished his sentence.
Julie nodded, sarcastically smiling again. "You got it, douches." she called, turning around and flipping them off as she walked away, earning whistles and chuckles as she did so.
Her boss was nowhere to be found when she arrived back over to the counter, so she told the to the chef, and leant against the counter as she worked on her letter.
Julie was distracted by the phone ringing. She walked over to it quickly. "Marty's Diner." she greeted, expecting it to be Will, telling her that he had made it home. It was not Will, and he was not home.
'Jules! Are you there?' Dustin Henderson's chirpy voice rang through Julie's ear, making her wince.
"Yeah, I'm here Dustin. Is everything okay?" she asked, concerned as she continued writing to her siblings, phone tucked between her ear and shoulder.
'No, it's not okay! The campain's going to shit and we need your help!' he shouted, and Julie could hear the panicked voices of Lucas, Will and Mike in the backround.
"What do you need that I can help you with?" she wondered, turning at the cook's whistle, letting her know that the food was ready.
'We're against these freakin' wizards blocking the road and we can't decide whether to shoot, or run.' Dustin explained.
"Okay, Dustin hold on a second, okay? I'll be right back." Julie promised, setting the phone on the counter and taking the tray of food in her hands.
As she walked towards Nancy's table, she could still hear Dustin yelling for her. Without saying a word, she placed the tray in the center of the table and walked away.
"Okay, I'm back. I know what you need to do." Julie said calmly, leaning against the wall next to the phone.
'Hurry, Jules! We're running out of time!' Dustin stressed.
"You guys have to run and save your chances. Trust me on this one." Julie explained, and she heard the other party members agreeing.
'Okay, got it. You're the best. We'll hail to the Queen when we're done.' Dustin promised, hanging up quickly.
Julie smiled to herself, and took a quick break to the bathroom while the diner was slow. While in there, she thought of the first time she met Will's friends. She woke up one of the first mornings with the Byers to all four kids surrounding her bed, waiting for her to wake up.
Julie's trip down memory lane was over sooner than it started as Carol entered the bathroom as Julie was washing her hands.
Not even uttering a word, Julie exited the bathroom and returned to her post, waiting until she could go home. She was many, many hours away from that.
•••
"Julie!" Scott called out, startling Julie who was hunched over a cup of coffee, barely awake.
"Yeah?" she spoke quietly, smoothing her hair.
Scott handed her the phone with a grave look on his face. "It's your foster mom. Something happened to your foster brother."
It was in that very moment, that Hawkins would change forever. And Julie was more scared than she had ever been.