The weekend and the first half of the week were boring, rainy, and uneventful, but on that Wednesday morning the sun shone bright through my sage green curtains.
I roll out of bed and put on a simple outfit for a sunny fall day.
Walking into the bathroom, I leave my hair down and brush my teeth. When I walk into the kitchen, I have a huge smile on my face.
"Someone's happy," Hopper notices, placing a plate full of pancakes on the table.
"I know! Today just feels like it's going to be great," I say, sitting beside El at the table.
Hopper sits down at the table too. We eat in comfortable silence. I finish and put my plate in the sink. Then I'm out the door, jogging across the yard.
I drive to school, the radio playing loud as I drive. When I get there I turn into my parking spot, but across from me, Billy isn't there. As if on cue, his blue Camaro races in, turning abruptly into the spot.
The red haired girl jumps out of the passenger seat and throws her skateboard on the ground, skating away like always.
I walk to Billy's car since it's on the way to the front door. By the time I reach the car, he gets out.
"Why are you smiling?" He asks, pulling his backpack out with him.
"I don't know. I'm just in a really good mood. Today just feels like it's going to be a good day," I tell him.
We start walking towards the school. Since last week, it was almost like a ritual that we walk together. We walk passed Tina's car that her and her friends are leaning on. I make eye contact with her and she sends me an almost deadly glare. Part of me wants to duck my head, but instead I visibly roll my eyes at her and continue walking.
Inside, we part ways to go to our own lockers. As I take my English book from my tidy locker, I hear someone lean on the locker next to me. I look up and see Steve Harrington the former King of Hawkins.
"Can I help you?" I ask, closing my locker and hugging my English book to my chest.
"Why are you always walking into school with Billy?" He asks.
I shrug. "We park near each other and get out of our cars at the same time everyday. It makes sense that we just so happen to walk in at the same time."
"Uh huh. Well, I don't think you should hang out with him. I know you haven't had much time to adjust to normal people, so you probably don't pick up on certain signs-" I cut him off. "Oh, I pick up signs just fine, and right now I'm picking up that you're being an asshole. Also what the hell do you mean by 'normal people.'"
"I- Come on, Cassidy. You know I didn't mean it that way," he says.
"No, no. It's fine. I'll just go be a freak somewhere else," with that I walk into English, leaving Steve at my locker.
I walk in right before the bell, throwing my bag on the floor, and taking a seat. The teacher starts talking, so I tune out, glaring at the desk.
I feel something lightly tap my ankle. I look up and see Billy's crystal blue eyes starting at me.
"You ok?" He whispers.
"I'm fine," I say, deciding not to let Steve's words get to me.
...
I walk into the library to read in silence for a bit. After I finish a few chapters of my book, I go to the cafeteria. Lunch isn't over yet so I sit at my table. The only seat open is by Billy so I sit down.
I smile at him. He smiles back and we start to talk. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nancy and Steve looking at me. I decide to ignore it, continuing my happy conversation.
———
The final bell rings and I rush out of my classroom, but someone grabs my shoulder before I can walk out the big double doors.
It's Tina.
"Hi, Cassidy. I need to talk to you about something," she says with a sweet smile. I scan her face. Her smile doesn't reach her eyes.
"Please," she says again. Deep down I feel that this isn't right, but I go along. Maybe she really does need to talk to me about something important.
"Ok." I reply. She leads me down a hallway and out a side door into a small alley like area.
Her two friends are standing there, waiting.
Red flags wave inside my head. I look at her with my eyebrows furrowed.
Her expression changes. "How long have you been hooking up with Billy?" She asks, taking a step toward me.
"W-What? We haven't," I say, taking a step back. Her friends circle in a bit, backing me further into the alley.
"I know you've been sleeping with him. Why else would he ever talk to you?" She sneers. Her words hurt my hurt. I can't help but wonder if she's right. Maybe he's only pretending to be a good person. I push those thoughts away, knowing it's all in my head.
"Maybe because I'm a good person and not an easy slut like you," I say back, remembering what Billy said to me about being confident.
"You bitch!" She yells, grabbing a handful of my curly, blonde hair. I yelp and grab at her hands, but she pushes me to the ground. I fall on my back, nocking the air out of my lungs.
When I go to get up, I feel a heeled boot kick me in the stomach, causing me to go back down. Two other pairs of shoes start to kick at me. Instinctively, I curl into a ball, resisting the urge to throw them against the wall with my mind. The kicking ceases and I look up at Tina. She just smiles and lands another kick right into my face.
I whimper and roll over, tears streaming down my face as I spit out blood. My entire body hurts.
I hear her and her friends laugh and walk away. When I'm sure they're gone, I push myself off the ground. A little dizzy from the kick to the face, I grab onto the brick wall for support. Blood grips out of my mouth. I spit some of it onto the ground.
I start walking to my car, with my head held down, stumbling a bit.
Billy is leaning on his Camaro looking at the middle school. I realize I have to walk passed him, so I don't make eye contact.
"Hey, Cass. What took you so long? You're usually the first out the door," he says.
I look up at him and his eyes go wide. I watch as his jaw tightens and his blue eyes scan my face.
"What happened?" His asks in shock.
"I fell," I say, trying to walk to my car.
"Bull shit, Cassidy," he says, sternly stepping in front of me. "What happened?"
"I listened to you. I didn't lower my head. I was confident, and didn't let her get to me. Then she grabbed my hair, pushed me down, and her and her friends proceeded to kick the shit out of me," I say, wincing a little from pain. I'm sure my teeth are covered in blood.
His eyebrows furrow. "Why?" He asks.
"Why what?" I ask, trying to avoid telling him.
"Cassie," he warns, crossing his arms.
I replayed the incident over in my head. "Tina asked how long we have been hooking up. I told her we never have. She said that the only reason you would ever talk to me is if we were sleeping together," I laugh a little but then stop because it hurts. "I told her you talk to me because I'm a good person and not an easy slut like her."
He doesn't say anything. Just stares deep into my eyes. Suddenly, there is a sound of a skateboard rolling towards us. The red haired girl gets into the car.
"See you tomorrow," I whisper walking to my car.
Billy's POV
I watch as she walks away, getting into her car and driving away.
"Dammit!" I yell slamming my hands onto the steering wheel.
After a second, I pull out of the parking lot and speed towards our house. The whole time I think of Cassidy.
She was so happy this morning. Now she's driving home alone with a busted lip and bruised cheekbone. Not to mention the countless other bruises that will be on her tomorrow.
"What happened to that girl," Maxine asks.
"She was in an unfair fight," I say, clenching the steering wheel.
"With who?" She asks, slowly looking up at me.
A frustrated sigh leaves my mouth. "Three jealous girls."
Cassidy's POV
I drive around numbly for a few hours. By the time I get home and park my car, Hopper is home.
I sigh and get out, walking to my house. When I do our special knock on the door, Eleven opens it.
She gasps and stared at me in shock. I didn't wipe any of the blood on my face off. Hopper is sitting on the couch. At El's gasp, he looks up at me.
"Cassidy!" He stands up and quickly walks over to me, pulling me inside and slamming the door shut. "What the hell happened?"
"Would you believe me if I said I fell?" I ask, walking over to the couch and slowly sitting down. I wince as I do.
Hopper gives me a look then looks at a very baffled Eleven standing beside him.
"Go to your room for a minute," Hopper places a hand on El's back giving her a little push.
Eleven huffs and stomps to her room, slamming the door with her mind.
Hopper sits next to me on the couch and gives me a look. "Look, kid, just tell me what happened."
I sigh. "Ok. Um, this girl told me she needed to talk to me and I said ok, so she led me outside in this secluded area. Her two friends were already there and that's when I knew something was off. She asked me how long I've been hooking up with Billy," I pause at Hopper's face. His eyebrows are raised.
"Excuse me? Who's Billy?" He says, starting to get a little mad.
"Remember my friend I told you about that walked me to my car after the party to make sure I got there safely?"
"You've been having... with him?" He asks, tone rising a little. He avoids the words sex. I imagine the word scares him, especially in the same sentence as his teenage daughter.
"What? No. Just listen to the story. As I was saying, I told her I've never hooked up with him. She told me I must have because he had no other reason to talk to me," I pause again, averting my eyes from him. "I told her he talks to me because I'm actually a good person and not and easy slut like her." When I finally look at him he has a small smirk on his face.
"Um, so that part is when she called me a bitch and pulled my hair than shoved me to the ground. After that, her and her friends proceeded to kick me ending it with her kicking me straight in the face."
He sighs. "I'm proud of you for not using your powers to fight those girls."
I nod and stand up, wincing and grabbing ahold of the couch.
"I'll go get the Tylenol," Hopper says, standing up and going to the bathroom.
"El! You can come out now!" I yell to her. I walk over to her door, opening it. She has a black blindfold on. When I step in and close the door, she rips it down off her face in frustration.
"Need some help?" I ask, sitting criss cross in front of her.
She nods and stands up getting another piece of fabric. She hands me the white bandanna and I tie it around my head.
I give her a second to get her blindfold adjusted, and I take her hands into my own.
"Who are we looking for?" I ask.
"Mike," she says.
My heart breaks for her. She was devastated when Hopper told her she couldn't see Mike or the other 3 boys. Every once and awhile I see them riding their bikes around town or walking into the arcade together. Sometimes I stop by Will's house to check on him and talk to Joyce.
I close my eyes and think of Mike. Suddenly, I'm standing in cold water, surrounded in black. I look at El, who's holding my hand.
I look around and see Mike sitting on his basement couch. He's staring at the floor while crying.
"I miss you a lot, El," he mutters to himself before standing up. I look down at Eleven. She's crying too. Overwhelmed, I lose contact and start to feel like I'm falling.
I gasp and rip my blind fold off. I stare at my sister, who's already crying with her blindfold off. Sweeping her up into my arms, I hold her and rock her back and forth.
"I know you want to see him," I say,
Running my hands through her short curly hair.
"Cassie!" Hopper calls from the living room.
El lets go of me and I stand up. With a sigh, I walk slowly into the living room. Hopper hands me the bottle of pain medicine with a glass of water. I take them from him and walk to my room.
Since my hands are full, I close the door with a simple nod of my head.
Maybe tomorrow will be better.