I step out of my house onto the front porch. It's the last day before spring break and I'm beyond excited. A week off from school is something I desperately need.
I hear Steve wolf whistle from beside his car. "There she is!"
I laugh as I do a twirl. Once I'm close enough Steve pulls me close to him and kisses me.
"I still love the uniform," Steve tells me.
"You don't need to flatter me, Steve, you already got the girl," I remind him.
"I know, Sugar," Steve tells me. "But I just wanna let you know how beautiful you are."
I can feel myself blush. "I appreciate it but we're gonna be late if we don't leave now."
We swing by Robin's to pick her up. She's putting makeup on in the mirror. Leaning over between Steve and me. I point to her cheek.
"You've got a little..." I start.
Robin groans. "It is 7:00 in the morning, we have the stupid pep rally, and I woke up looking like a corpse."
"You're worried about a pep rally?" I ask.
"You expect us to believe that?" Steve questions.
"Yeah? So?" Robin says.
"So, we both know what this is about," Steve says. "Not buying that. This is about Vickie."
"Absolutely not," Robin insists.
"It is," I insist.
"You know what else?" Steve says.
"I don't care..." Robin starts.
"You gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you're around her," Steve tells her. "You just gotta be yourself."
"You're literally quoting me to me," Robin tells him. "You do realize that."
"Maybe you need to listen to yourself," Steve offers. "Ever think about that?"
I smile. "Steve listened. And look he got me."
"It's not the same thing. Okay?" Robin argues. "Steve asks out a girl and she says no. Big deal. Nothing happens. Maybe your ego's a little bruised. I ask out the wrong girl, and bam, I'm a town pariah."
"I'd buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl," I tell her.
"We just don't know that do we?" Robin asks.
"She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds," Steve states. "Know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes, 5 seconds? People who like boobies, Robin."
"Ew!" Robin says. "Gross. Don't say boobies."
"Boobies," Steve says. "Not a big deal, okay? I like boobies. You like boobies. Vickie likes boobies. Definitely. It's boobies."
Steve pulls up to the school and stops his car. Robin gets out but Steve grabs me before I can put a finger on the door handle.
"Not so fast," Steve tells me.
I laugh as he pulls me close to him and kisses me. After a brief kiss I pull away.
"I am not making out with you in the school parking lot," I tell him.
"Why not?" Steve smirks. "You did last week."
"Last week Ms. Kelly wasn't standing five feet away and looking at us," I tell him.
Steve laughs as he turns his head to look at her. He waves and I cover my face with my hands.
"Steve!" I shout.
"I guess you've gotta go," Steve says.
I nod before kissing him one last time. "I'll see you before the game."
As I step out of his car Ms. Kelly watches me. "Good morning, Candice."
I force a smile. "Morning Ms. Kelly."
I sit in the front row of the bleachers in the gym with all the other cheerleaders. Our basketball team is playing in the championship game tonight. Hence the reason for the pep rally.
"And let's hear it for your Tigers!"
The basketball team comes running through a banner. Everyone cheers for them. The captain, Jason Carver steps forward.
"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Jason shouts. Everyone cheers again. "First off... Hey. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand." Everyone claps. "And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad. Chrissy... Chrissy, I love you, babe." Jason puts his hand over his heart. "You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, How much loss can one community take? In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Billy."
I feel my heart tighten at the mention of his name.
"Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some... some crap school? No." Jason shouts.
"No," the crowd yells.
"For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No!" Jason shouts.
"No!" the crowd yells again.
"Let's win this game. Let's win this game for them. And that's exactly what we did!" Jason shouts. Everyone cheers. "We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we're gonna bring home the championship trophy! Let's go!"
As I walk out of the bathroom, I bump into someone. I smile when I realize it's Max.
"Max," I say. Max just nods. "Can we talk?"
"I don't really..." Max starts.
"Please," I almost beg.
Max sighs. "Fine."
I find us an empty classroom.
"You've been avoiding me," I state. Max doesn't say anything. "How's your mom holding up?"
"Fine," Max tells me.
"Do you still have the nightmares?" I ask.
"No," Max tells me.
"You're lying," I state. "I have them, Max. You can talk to me. I want you to talk to me." Max just looks at me. "Will you at least talk to Lucas?"
"We broke up," Max reminds me.
"I know." I nod my head. "I know. But you can't keep this all inside."
Max nods. "Okay."
Without Steve and Jonathan to sit with at lunch I tend to sit by myself. That is until the other cheerleaders see me and sit beside me. It's not that I don't like them. I like most of them. I just don't find the same things interesting. I don't care who's dating who. I only care that I'm dating Steve.
Suddenly Eddie Munson is standing on a table. "But as long as you're into band or science... or parties or a game where you toss balls into laundry baskets..."
"Loser!" someone shouts.
Jason stands up. "You want something, freak?"
Eddie holds his fingers up to his head like horns and sticks his tongue out.
"Prick," Jason says.
"It's forced conforming. That's what's... killing the kids!" Eddie shouts.
I step out of the cafeteria to use the payphone. I know Jonathan is gonna be up for school getting ready.
"Hello?" Joyce asks.
"Hi Mrs Byers," I tell her.
"Candice. Oh hi," Joyce says.
"Is Jonathan there?" I ask.
"He's getting ready for school. I'll go get him," Joyce tells me.
After a moment I hear Jonathan on the other end of the line.
"You are not gonna believe what happened this morning," I tell him.
"What?" Jonathan asks.
"Ms. Kelly saw Steve and I making out in his car," I tell him. Jonathan laughs. "It's not funny, it was mortifying."
Jonathan laughs again. "It's pretty funny."
I hear Jonathan cough on the other end.
"Are you getting high?" I ask.
"No." Jonathan coughs again. "Maybe."
"How did you become such a stoner?" I ask. "My straight edge best friend," I tease.
"You were the first person to get me high," Jonathan reminds me.
"Yeah. Good times." I laugh. "Your friend Argyle still in love with me?"
"I think he stole one of mom's photos of you," Jonathan tells me.
"Not creepy at all," I remark. "Any news from Nancy?"
"She's not coming," Jonathan tells me. "She has to work."
"Only Nancy Wheeler would work over spring break," I state.
"And why can't you just come see her?" I ask. "And me by the way. Two birds, one stone."
"I have to watch Will and El and Mike when he gets here," Jonathan reminds me.
"They're in high school now," I tell him. "They can watch themselves."
"I just... I can't leave," Jonathan tells me.
I sigh. "Okay. Okay." I hear the bell ring. "I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow."
I wait out back behind the school. Eddie smiles when he sees me.
"Always on time," Eddie says.
"I saw your little show in the cafeteria," I tell him. Eddie smiles. "Maybe that's why people think you're a freak."
"Do you?" Eddie asks.
"Get over yourself, Munson," I tell him.
Eddie puts his hand over his heart. "You wound me."
I roll my eyes. "Do you have what I asked for?"
"I'll do you a half ounce for, uh... 20. What do you say?" Eddie tells me. "Plenty of bang for your buck."
"You still play guitar?" I ask.
Eddie nods. "Yeah. You should come see us. Uh, we play at The Hideout on Tuesdays. It's pretty cool. We... We actually get a crowd of about five drunks." I laugh lightly. "It's not exactly the Garden, but you gotta start somewhere, right?"
"Did my flattery work?" I ask.
Eddie smiles. "Yes, it did. Twenty-five percent discount for the half. Fifteen bucks. You're robbing me blind here, you know."
I smile as I hand the cash to him, and he hands the baggie to me.
"I'm gonna miss your weed when you finally graduate," I tell him.
"I can always start making house calls," Eddie offers.
I shake my head. "Maybe you can just bring it to Steve's house." Eddie makes a face. "Thanks. I gotta go."
I wait for Steve to pull into the parking lot. When he does I step into his car. I hold the baggie out in my hand.
"For later," I tell him.
"You got it from Munson?" Steve asks.
I nod. "You know he gives me a discount."
Steve nods as he takes the baggie and puts it in the glove compartment.
"Dustin called me at work," Steve tells me.
"Oh?" I ask.
"He wanted me to skip the game to play dungeons and dragons with him," Steve tells me.
I laugh. "He wanted me to do the same."
"He thought I was jealous that he has another older male friend," Steve tells me.
I make a face. "Ew."
"His words not mine," Steve assures. "But no way I was missing the chance to see you."
I smile as I wrap my arms around him. "That's why I love you."
Steve pulls me closer and kisses me.
I stand with the rest of the cheerleaders waiting for the game to start. The band stops playing as Steve finds a seat.
"Everyone now please rise for our national anthem. Singing for us tonight, we have a very special guest. All the way from Nashville, our very own Tammy Thompson!"
"Go, Tammy!"
"We love you, Tammy!"
Tammy starts to sing, and I have to cover my mouth so no one can see me laugh. She's horrible. Completely tone deaf. I clap loudly when she finishes, happy that the assault on my ears is done.
I cheer as the game starts. "Push 'em back, defense! Push 'em back..."
It's a tight game. Both teams play hard. Suddenly Lucas stands up from the bench. I smile when he takes his jacket off and steps onto the court.
It's a close game. It's never more than a six-point difference.
"Time-out. Time-out," Jason calls.
There's less than a minute left on the clock. I hold my breath as Lucas gets the ball. He shoots just before the final buzzer. After bouncing on the rim, the ball goes through the net. Everyone starts to cheer.
"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!"
Steve wraps his arm around me as we walk towards his car.
"So, what are the plans for tonight?" Steve asks.
"There's a party at Benny's," I tell him.
Steve shakes his head. "Or we could just watch the movies I rented." I smile as I roll my eyes. "And smoke some that weed you got."
"What movies?" I ask.
Steve laughs. "Nothing scary." I narrow my eyes at him. "Alright, one scary movie. The rest are those dumb chick flicks you like."
"Can we stop for pizza on the way?" I ask.
"Of course," Steve tells me.