𝑇𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝐽𝑢𝑛𝑒 26, 1984
"Julie! Are you ready?"
Junior year was over. Julie was packing for her trip. Joyce and her kids were waiting on the porch. The early summer sun was beating down on Hawkins, and Julie was kind of excited to be in the Pacific ocean for the summer. Of course, she was going to miss her Hawkins family, but she couldn't deny her excitement to see her California family.
"Yeah, give me a second!" Julie called through the house to Joyce as she finished putting a pair of shorts into her suitcase. She shoved another book into her backpack and went through her bins of mix tapes one last time. She was finalizing her selection, when a knock sounded on her closed door. "For Christ's sake..." Julie muttered, standing up and going to open the door.
What she wasn't expecting to see was Steve 'The Hair' Harrington leaning against her door, tossing a ball into the air. "Can I help you?" Julie asked, checking her watch.
"Not really. Nance told me you were leaving for the summer, so I wanted to say 'goodbye'." he said, accidentally tossing the ball at Julie's face.
"Well, while I appreciate the sentiment, I have to go." Julie said, walking back into her room to zip her backpack and sling it onto her back, as well as grabbing her suitcase. She quickly shut her window and pushed her boxes back under the bed, before stepping out and shutting the door.
"You really are enjoying avoiding me, aren't you?" Steve asked, following Julie as she grabbed the snack Joyce had made for her from the kitchen.
"I'm not avoiding you." Julie said. She was kind of lying.
"Then why haven't you talked to me at school? I mean, we fought a monster together Julie. Doesn't that promote us to friendly?" Steve said, grabbing Julie's shoulders gently so she had to look at her.
Julie sighed. She gave in and hugged Steve quickly, reaching up to screw with his hair once she pulled away. "How's that for friendly, King Steve?" the girl teased, patting Steve's chest and side stepping past him to walk out the door.
"There you are. You ready?" Joyce asked, standing up and smiling at Julie.
"Yeah." Julie smiled, and Jonathan and Will took her bag from her, lugging it to the car. As Julie opened her car door, she saw Steve slip out the backdoor to go home. He waved at her, and she waved back.
"So..." Joyce started, turning on the engine as the boys piled into the car. Jonathan in the front and Will next to Julie. "What did you and Steve talk about?" Joyce teased, looking at Julie in the mirror.
Julie rolled her eyes. "He just said goodbye. Calm down." she said, looking at Will who was snickering.
Jonathan scoffed from the front. "He's a dick." he said, and Julie raised her brows.
"He is, but so are you sometimes." Julie said. Jonathan rolled his eyes, but said nothing else.
The drive to the airport was a little less than an hour, and when the four arrived at the drop-off area, Julie finally realized how real this was. She was going home. They all got out of the car and Julie swung her backpack on as she grabbed her suitcase from the trunk. She walked to the curb where her choosen family was waiting, slightly teary-eyed.
"Guys..." Julie trailed off, bringing all three into a hug. "I won't be gone long." she promised, and Joyce cupped her face as they all pulled apart.
"Have fun, okay? I love you. Be safe." she said, kissing Julie's head.
"I will. I love you."
Julie turned to Jonathan, and they hugged quickly with smiles on their faces. "Do me a favor? Get with Nancy." Julie whispered in his ear, pulling back and patting his shoulder.
"I'm gonna miss you." Will said sadly, looking up at the girl he thought of as a sister.
Julie smoothed the boy's hair out. "I know. But I'm gonna call every week, okay? And you're gonna have a great summer, and before you know it, I'll be back." she said, and Will smiled, nodding his head. He hugged her one last time, and Julie checked her watch.
"I'm gonna miss my flight. I love you, I'll be back soon, goodbye!" Julie exclaimed, taking her suitcase in her hand and waving at the Byers, who waved back.
•••
In the San Diego International Airport in sunny San Diego California, Neil, Susan and Billy Hargrove, along with Max Mayfield were sitting and impatiently waiting for their daughter and sister. Max was excited, Neil and Susan were emotionless, and Billy was annoyed by the presence of his step-sister.
Sure, Max had moved into his house a little less than three years ago and had been in his life since he was thirteen, but Billy still hadn't gotten used to her. He blamed her for everything wrong in his life. According to Julie, he wrongfully blamed her.
When Max's knee would not stop bouncing, Billy snapped at her. "Can you be still for once in your life?" he asked her with gritted teeth, inhaling sharply.
"Billy." his father scolded, not even sparing a glance at his only son. Billy shook his head and looked down at the ground, until Max jumped up from beside him.
"JJ!" Max squealed, running up to Julie who had barely made it through the terminal and attacked the girl into a hug. Julie grunted and stumbled, but regained her footing and hugged Max back.
"What's up? You're so pretty, babe." she said, tousling Max's red hair.
Julie looked up from Max and at her father and brother, who were now standing. Her step-mother was still sitting, but Julie couldn't blame her. "Hello, Juliana." he said, his voice causing Julie to tense and Max to back away from her to her mother's side.
"Hi, Dad. Susan." Julie nodded at each of them, giving them tight-lipped smiles. Julie looked to her brother who had on a blue button-up shirt, half of it unbuttoned. Classic. "Hey, Billy." she said, smiling at him.
Billy smiled back and the two walked the short distance to each other, wrapping their arms around each other. Julie sighed, resting her chin on Billy's shoulder. "You've grown up." Julie said, looking at his manly body and his moustache.
"You have too." Billy said, his blue eyes shining as he took in the features of his twin. She was taller, and her hair was shorter. It fit her more. Her bronze necklace was clear as day resting against her white top.
"Let's get a move on. I want to get you home in time to settle in." Neil broke up the tender reunion between the twins, taking Susan's hand.
Julie nodded, and stepped away from Billy to grab her bag. As Susan and Neil walked by, Susan smiled and patted Julie's shoulder. The five walked to the baggage claim, Max at Julie's side, their parents in front of them, and Billy slightly behind his beloved twin.
•••
They collected Julie's singular bag quickly, and walked to Neil's car. Julie sat in the middle between Max and Billy. Max's head was on Julie's lap as she ran her fingers through her light curls. Billy had Julie's walkman on his thigh, a mix of Queen and heavy metal on the mix tape as they shared Julie's headphones. Julie rested her head on her brother's shoulder, and his head was on hers.
The residence of Julie's family was on the outskirts of the heart of San Diego, and a half mile walk from Mission Beach. Their house was nice, two stories with four rooms. It was one of the nicer houses in San Diego, and Julie was grateful, because he's seen poverty first-hand.
Julie's room was storage now, according to Max, but once they recieved the letter that she was coming home, Billy jumped headfirst into the mess and cleared the room for her. He wanted everything to be just right for her, so maybe, just maybe, she would stay.
Upon arriving at the house, Neil gave Julie instructions to unpack and then join the rest of the family for dinner. She did. Billy basically threw Julie's bag into her room and left the house in a huff. "Where's he going, Max?" Julie asked the young girl who was making Julie's bed for her.
Max shrugged. "I don't know. Probably hooking up with some random girl." she guessed, tucking the sheets under the matress.
"Jesus." Julie muttered as she unzipped her suitcase and started pulling out clothes. "You want some of my old clothes?" Julie asked Max, tossing an old sweatshirt and some shirts at her.
"Um, duh." Max said happily, grabbing the clothes.
The duo was awfully speedy in getting Julie's room ready. Max put her clothes away while Julie organized all of her music, books and treasured items. They finished within two hours, and were joining their family at the dining table moments later.
Julie and Billy were seated across from each other, Max next to Julie and Susan and Neil at the heads of the table. Susan had made chicken, potatoes and caulieflower, Julie's favorite vegtable. "It looks great, Susan." Julie said, cutting some chicken for her and Max.
Susan nodded gratefully, and Julie saw Billy roll his eyes. She gave him a look, and he looked down at his food. Mission successful. "So, Julie. How was your time in Hawkins?" Neil asked his daughter, looking up from his plate.
Julie swallowed a piece of chicken. "It was fine. Pretty boring." she lied. The government documents she signed flashed through her mind as she told her family of her life. She would keep what happened to Will secret, she would keep El secret, and she would keep the mysteries in Hawkins Lab secret.
"Did you make any friends, Juliana?" Susan asked, and Julie nodded.
"A few." she said.
Max snickered. "Did you meet any boys?" she asked, and Julie turned to her, skeptism laced in her features.
"Yes, Max, in the town of Hawkins, I did meet people of the male species." Julie told her sister, pushing her head away gently.
"That's not what I meant. Did you kiss any boys? Do you have a boyfriend?" Julie's head whipped back to look at Max, after seeing Billy almost choke on his food.
"First of all, absolutely not. Second of all, why do you care? Third of all, you have issues."
"You're mean." Max pouted, and Billy chuckled from across from his twin.
"And you're annoying."
•••
Later that night, Julie was sitting in her bed, reading one of her books. The lights in the house were off, except for two. Julie's, and Billy's. Billy was sitting on his bed with a cigarette in his mouth, debating if he should follow through with his plan. It was simple: Sneak out of the house and go to the beach with his clutz of a sister. "Should he do it?" well, that was the question.
He did it. Billy snubbed his cigarette out and turned his light off. He walked quietly down the hall past his father's room and walked into his twin's room, not even bothering with knocking.
"Hey! What the hell?" Julie asked, setting her book down.
"Get up. We're going surfing." Billy said, turning on his heels and leaving her room.
Julie scoffed, but got up and pulled her covers back. She quickly slipped on a bathing suit and random clothes over top it. Julie put her hair into a high ponytail and tugged on some sandals. She quietly walked down the stairs and found Billy outside, loading the surfboards into a car.
"This is yours?" Julie asked, pointing at the blue Camero.
Billy nodded. "She's nice, right?" he smirked, shutting the backdoor.
Julie rolled her eyes. "She's fine. Why are we surfing at midnight?" she asked, getting into the passenger seat as Billy started the car.
"Why not?" was all Billy said, handing Julie a cigarette that she lighted with ease.
Billy sped down the dark highway, with his sister beside him, holding on for dear life. Julie blew the smoke outside of the window while she gripped her seat with one hand. "You've always been a terrible driver." she remarked, speaking loudly over the wind and the obnoxious music.
"You're one to talk, you don't even have a license." Billy shot back, looking at his sister.
Julie chuckled sarcastically. "Touche, asshole."
"Watch who you're calling an asshole, Juliana."
"You're not going to do anything to me, William." Julie teased, the ends of her cigarette burning her fingers slightly.
"Don't call me that." Billy said sternly, and Julie rolled her eyes.
The reunited twins spent almost three hours riding the waves that night. Being home with Billy felt right to Julie, and she wanted to remember every moment they had together, because Julie didn't know when they would see each other when she went back to Hawkins.