NOVEMBER 7TH 1983 - 8:50 AM - Maha
Maha started out of her sleep and covered her ears as she heard her alarm beep loudly. Her eyes wide and heart racing as the blinding incandesence of the fire faded to reveal the plain pastel blue walls of her room. She felt around her table for the clock, knocking her glasses off in the process while snoozing her alarm, only allowing her to hear her parents argument more clearly. Maha rolled her eyes and jabbed the play button on her radio which filled the room with AC/DC's Back in Black which just about drowned out the echoes of her dad's shouts.
This had become a morning ritual in their household that Maha had grown used to it over the past fifteen or so years. Regardless of which house, town or country they lived in her parents managed to argue about one thing or another at least once a week. In their other residences neighbours would knock with noise complaints but their current abode was in a suspiciously deserted part of town where there were for people let alone people her age. Her mother enforced a strict curfew of 5pm everyday and Maha was to never go anywhere alone particularly when its dark.
The front door slammed as she brushed her teeth in her ensuite signalling her dad leaving the house. She then heard her music being cut off abruptly and exited the bathroom to see her mother.
"Breakfast's on the table and next to it is lunch. Don't forget it this time." She said quickly. "And...good luck with your Chemistry test."
"That's tomorrow." She reminded, moving her toothbrush to one side so she could speak clearly.
"I know, I won't be in town for the rest of the week. I'm staying over at the Owens because of work. Your dad's going to be working late again so I'll be leaving the keys with you. Make sure to lock the doors okay? I'm trusting you to follow your curfew, for the rest of the week. If you need anything ask Mrs MIthcell."
Maha grimaced at the mention of the old lady's name. "Don't pull that face Maha, she's a nice lady and even offered to check on you if I was worried, I didn't want you to be disturbed from your studying."
"She's a nosy old bat mother." Maha complained rinising her mouth and face. "Always prying."
"Precisely why I haven't let her come inside and check on you. She's an old lady Maha, with a small fault and I trust her to be honest with me."
"Okay fine...
Working as a full time nurse, demanded long hours of Mrs Prasad, meaning she had few days off. Since there were no decent jobs available for her level of expertise in Hawkins, her mother continued working in Chicago to ensure that one person in the family had a stable job. That was her justification, each time she missed a birthday or parent teacher conference.
She sighed and jammed the button on her radio to restart the music and got dressed.
Around ten minutes later Maha skipped down her front steps, shoving her keys into her pocket. Barb waved from her car. Maha smiled and quickly entered the car.
"Is that the new top we bought last weekend?" Barb rose her eyebrows as Maha buckled herself into the car.
"Yeah so?" Maha said ensuring her walkman didn't become tangled with the seat belt.
"Who's the lucky guy?" Barb asked as he started the car.
"No one. I'm not into dating anyone." Maha said.
"So you're not hoping to run into Charlie again today, like we did in the mall last Friday?"
"Nope, of course not." Maha said a little too quickly.
"Yeah, okay, we'll see how true that is when we get to school today." Barb said. "Honestly, I don't know why you're hesitating, it's clear that he likes you and he's one of the few guys that Steve Harrington's friends with who isn't gross. Take it from a girl who's lived opposite to him for years now, he's a catch."
"Then as the girl who has, why haven't you taken him?" Maha asked.
"Because I'm not interested in him in that way, never have been, never will be." Barb said. "You're mother always makes you hoard new clothes for the future Maha. The only reason you'd choose to take on her judgemental looks is if its for something or someone important."
"My mother's not in town for the rest of the week." Maha said in a deadpan tone.
"Either way, I think you should ask Charlie out, he's not bad at all, he must take after his mother considering how idiotic and irritating deputy Callahan is."
The pair rolled in front of the small square building a few minutes later. It had appeared unusually small when Maha had first arrived in Hawkins, but then again everything in Hawkins was small and dainty compared to the large buildings and shops in Chicago.
As they entered the building the bell rang and Barb hurried over to Nancy Wheeler. "So...Did he call?" she asked excitedly.
The brunette girl looked around and said. "Keep your voice down!"
"Did he?" Barbara repeated more quietly.
"I told you, it's not like that." Nancy replied. Maha scoffed. "Ok, I mean yes...he likes me, but not like that. We just...made out a couple times."
"We just made out a couple times." Barb repeated in an airy voice as she leaned against the locker beside Nancy's. "Nance seriously, you're going to be so cool now it's ridiculous."
"No, I am not." Nancy responded sounding exasperated by the suggestion.
"Well, you better hang out with us..." Barb said.
"If you become friends with Tommy H or Carol..." Maha began.
"Ugh gross, it was a one time..." Barb rose her eyebrows at Nancy. "Two time thing."
Nancy turned back to her locker and found a crudely folded note on one of her books. Barb smiled smugly. "You were saying?"
Nancy said nothing and hurried away towards the bathroom after shutting her locker. Maha rolled her eyes. As she turned towards her locker she saw Charlie Callahan leaning against her locker. He was spinning a set of keys around his finger as he chatted animatedly with Brie Munson. She was with some of her cheerleading friends, who were eyeing him unashamedly as he conversed with the tall auburn haired girl.
"He's waiting for you at your locker Maha. What more proof do you need that he likes you?" Barb said quietly.
"He's leaning against my locker whilst, chatting up a cheerleader." Maha said. Barb rolled her eyes. "Everything can have more than one meaning Barb.
"But generally only one interpretation is correct." Barb countered.
Maha saw Brie nod towards them and the dark haired boy turned and his grin grew, he quickly got out of her way as she walked towards her locker. Brie had gathered her friends and diverted them the opposite way in the corridor. Brie nodded towards Maha and mouthed something to Charlie before leaving, as the dark haired girl rummaged through her locker, oblivious to her surroundings. Barb busied herself with her own giving Maha no way out to avoid the brunette boy.
"Good morning." Charlie said.
"Morning." Maha muttered preoccupied with her search for her English folder. She could hear the constant clink of his keys each time he caught them in his hand before spinning them round his fingers again. "Can I help you with anything?"
"Uh, yeah. So last Friday I was a bit ill so I couldn't really pay attention in our English lessons, it was a wonder that I managed to play basketball after that." Charlie said, he saw her nod and continued. "Anyway...now I know this might be a lot to ask, but would you be able to give me some of your notes from those lessons and a little guidance, so I'm not totally lost. I have a free third..."
"Yeah, sure, um me too, but I'm revising for the Chemistry test tomorrow." Maha said, shutting her locker. "You'd probably be better off with Barb's notes you know they're a lot more readable."
"No Maha, he's right, you're notes may not be legible but they are a lot more insightful than mine, you should read some of the points she wrote in her Shakespeare essay." Barb said. "Why don't you get together some time on Tuesday? After the test."
"That's fine by me, but is that okay for you?" Charlie asked Maha.
She fiddled with her folder, and avoided his eyes. "If anything comes up I'll let you know."
"Okay, it's a date then." Charlie grinned, Maha looked up sharply. "Just an expression, see you in a bit."
"Oh he so wants this to be a date. The only reason he took it back is because it startled you." Barb said as they walked towards first period.
"I don't have any frees on Tuesday, Barb." Maha said, ignoring her comment
"So meet him after school at your house, it's not like your mum's home to tell you off." Barb nudged her and winked.
Maha shook her head. "Mrs Mitchell would rat me out so quickly."
"Then meet with him in school and then go home. It's not a big deal, Hawkins is a safe town, nothing bad's gonna happen if you go home an hour later, okay!" Barb exclaimed. "It's not like there's some freak lurking around..."
The bell rang as they entered the classroom, cutting the redhead's rant off.
"Nancy's late." Barb observed as they took their seats.
"What a surprise." Maha responded sardonically and Barb chuckled.
------***------
Maha waited with Barb and Nancy at the lunch queue as they collected their trays. Barb was recounting their meeting with Charlie this morning, arguing her case vehemently in a quiet tone. Maha looked around warily and nudged her when she noticed the boy within earshot, jabbing her thumb towards him. The redhead rolled her eyes and Nancy chuckled.
"Hey, its not me you've gotta convince Barb, calm down." Nancy laughed.
"I know, I just hope hearing me make my argument enough times will knock some sense into her." Barb said jabbing a finger at Mama.
Maha rolled her eyes as they walked towards their table. "Snowball's chance in hell Barb. This is just a study session to help him catchup, its no big deal."
"I mean the way I see it you both like each other, I don't see what the problem is." Nancy shrugged.
"Have you guys met my parents?" Maha asked, seriously. "Hawkins is a tiny town, they'll find out in no time."
"What are they gonna do? Burn you at the stake as a witch?" Barb laughed.
"And more probably." Maha said cringing at the idea of her mother ever discovering her having interest in a boy. Every misstep or trip up will be blamed on her being 'distracted' by a boy and that's the last thing she wanted was to put anyone through.
"Uh, let's sit over there guys." Nancy said, she waved at Steve who gestured her to come over. Maha looked at Barb who's face mirrored the distaste that Maha felt at the suggestion, especially because Tommy H and Carol were present.
"I promised myself that I'll retain all my brain cells before our test tomorrow....sitting with those three is not going to help me fulfill that promise." Maha said.
"Oh, come on guys, its just this once...please!" Nancy pleaded. "I don't want to go there alone, but with you guys it'll be fine...it'll be like we're evenly matched, Steve's got Tommy and Carol and I've got you guys."
"Ok...but one snark from dumb or dumber and I'm out." Maha said.
"Which one's dumb and which is the other?" Barb asked.
"Works either way." Maha shrugged. "Thinking too much about this will make me insane lets just get it over with."
"Hey, Nancy." Steve smiled, as Nancy sat down. Barb and Maha sat around her eager to have an easy escape if necessary. "How was your day?"
Carol whispered something to Tommy who laughed and then eyed Maha rather judgementally. He laughed. "There is no way that happened."
Steve ignored him and looked at Nancy who shrugged. "It was busy, and to make things worse Ms Micalizzi set an exercises for Wednesday."
"It's not that much." Barb shrugged. "It's only about 15 questions in total and we did most in the lesson...I mean I did most of them while she was bumbling through an explanation of trig identities."
Maha nodded before taking another spoon of her rice. Tommy was looking at her lunch rather curiously. She cringed away a little when he started leaning over. "It's aubergine curry with rice made by my mum."
"Well I guess if you have a lot of time on your hands it isn't but other people have better things to do than algebra and trig." Steve said laughing a little.
Barb rose her eyebrows at him "That your way of saying I don't have a life?"
"Well..."
"I'm sure that's not what Steve meant, Barb." Nancy cut in giving her a pointed look.
"Yeah, its just that we generally hang out with the loser demographic so that must mean we are creatures who have to hide before night fall to avoid spontaneously combusting out of existence." Maha said sarcastically. Nancy exhaled forcefully, clearly irritated.
"I didn't mean to offend anyone." Steve said rigidly, straightening up. "I'm sure you have a lot of interesting hobbies like..."
He trailed off looking at his friends for help but they were oblivious to this; Carol shoved Tommy disgusted by something he'd said.
"Let's just move on." Nancy said. "No one was offended."
"Yeah...moving onto important details, how did you manage to reel in Charlie Callahan Maha?" Carol asked. Maha's head shot up. "Girls on the squad told me all about your date this Tuesday."
"It's not a date." Maha said shortly. "He missed a lesson and needs my notes that's all."
"Oh come on Maha, Vicki literally heard him say 'its a date'." Carol laughed. "So how did you get him hooked?"
"Yeah...he said that. Not me." Maha responded simply. "And I'd appreciate it if you stopped talking about him like he's a fish."
"You don't have to know everything about everyone Carol." Steve cut in irritatedly. "Anyway, we still on for our study session Nance?"
Barb turned to the brunette with raised eyebrows. "Yeah...Dearborn and Maple like I said."
"Not to throw a spanner in the works...but aren't you studying with me tonight?" Barb asked.
Nancy looked at her blankly. "We made these plan last Friday...before you left the mall to meet Steve." the redhead reminded her.
"Why don't you just study with Maha at your place? I mean her parents aren't home so I don't think they'll mind if she stayed at yours.. That's cool right?" Nancy said and turned to Steve as if the conversation was over.
"No, no its not cool, her dad's in town and my house is very far from hers so I will have to drop her off, which will cut into both our revision time." Barb said, trying to remain calm. "Plus she has a curfew which she needs to stick to. Otherwise the old hag in the house next to hers will report to her mother of her absence."
"She'll probably call the police and tell them that Eddie Munson and his 'gang' kidnapped me or something...she really hates that guy." Maha chuckled and added trying to lighten the mood.
"Listen if you're gonna make a big deal out of this fine ." Nancy agreed reluctantly, rolling her eyes. "I'll meet with Steve after."
Maha scoffed softly shaking her head. "How dare Barb your best friend provide valid reasons as to why she doesn't want to change her plans to your pleasing,."
She snapped her empty lunchbox shut and chucked it into her bag. "I'm gonna go and make a few phone calls, let Mrs Mitchell know that I'll be home late tonight. We can study together tonight, Barb, I'll get my dad to pick me up."
"Are you sure? I know you don't like asking..." Barb began looking a little regretful about her complaints.
"I'm sure, its no problem. I'll probably get more studying done with you anyway." Maha cut off. "See you around Nance."
Maha got up and stalked off towards the pay phone outside the school, closely followed by Barb. "I know how much you hate calling your dad for a lift, so I can drop you off afterwards." Barb offered.
"It would be pretty late. My dad should know better than to expect a sophmore to drop me home at the dead of night in the most decrepit part of town." Maha replied. "I know how much you wanna do well in this test, so I'll help you ace it."
"I can't believe Nancy forgot." Barb said. "She was the one who made the plans, she's paranoid about her GPA."
"Boy fever changes everything Barb. I know my comment may have seemed a bit harsh but the way she phrased that last comment really bugged me. Nancy needs to have her rose coloured glasses knocked off soon because her metamorphesis is happening way too quickly." Maha said she stopped at the payphone and began to dig through her bag for change.
"Metamorphesis?"
"I...I don't know, its just...Nancy's response seemed kinda bitchy to me. I was expecting a comment like that from Steve or Tommy or Carol not Nancy...they're the kinda people who'd make it seem like you're the problem when they are." Maha said, she then rememebered Carol's comment about her. "Ugh that dumb bitch Carol is going to tell everyone that the study session is a date."
"I think I can fix that." Barb said, she nodded towards Brie. "Sometimes being nice to people and socialising is useful, you should try it sometime."
"Na, why would I do that when I could just ask you to do it for me?" Maha laughed.
"Someday, you're gonna have to go out into the world and do this by yourself." Barb countered. "I'm not going to be around forever, we'll eventually leave Hawkins."
"Don't even bring that up." Maha said, cringing a little. She dreaded the day her father would write up his letter of resignation again, declaring without a care for anyone else that they had to move again.
When she was younger, she could delude herself into believing that every new place is their 'forever home', but she's been uprooted too many times to maintain that hopeful outlook. Now she was just counting down the days before she'd have to leave her life in Hawkins. Unlike her mother, who always looked into and selected the schools she could attend, her father simply declared the move and within two weeks they'd be gone. What was the point of getting to know people, and making them think she's someone who's reliable and around for the rest of their numbered days in school when she could just be gone as quickly as she'd arrived. If not for her mother's job and the ever dwindling pile of money her father had inherited they wouldn't be able to afford all the moves they'd made over the past few years.
"Hi, are you gonna make a call? " Maha turned to find a small girl behind her. Her blonde curly hair was long and untamed and something about her face was familiar but Maha was sure they'd never spoken with each other before. She was fidgetting with her sleeve as she waited picking at the sides of her fingers. "It's just you've been standing there for a while...and...well I need to make a call someone..."
"Uh, yeah sorry about the hold up." Maha said putting the change in before dialing the number. "This will be really quick, I promise."
Maha ignored the nagging thoughts of familiarity and returned to focus on the call. "Hi Mrs Mitchell, I'll be an hour or two late tonight because I'm studying for a test with my friend I didn't want you to get worried and call my mum..."
"It'll be pretty dark at 7 are you sure..."
"Yes, have a nice afternoon, thank you." Maha cut off and ended the call. "All yours."
The girl smiled gratefully and hastily put the coins in before dialing, her hands were a little shaky as she put the number in.
"Brie's gonna make sure Carol doesn't spread fake news." Barb said, catching Maha's attention.
"How?"
"She went to find Eddie." Barb replied. "Said he'd have what she needed."
"How?" Maha repeated, more confused now..
"Hmm...It's related to a certain extracurricular activity that Eddie is known for." Barb replied.
"Running a DnD club?" Maha asked. Barb shook her head. "Then what?"
"He's involved in the trade of getting people access to things they can utilise to 'let loose'. This is mostly just the rich idiots who act like they own the school. Haven't you ever come across this kind off thing in the city?" Barb asked.
"Well yeah, but I didn't realise Eddie was the one doing the distribution." Maha said. She'd only spent a couple of weeks in Hellfire during her freshman year, but after the sessions became longer her parents had forbid it as it breached her curfew too often. "How do you know?
Barb laughed. "Its because of that thing called socialising I mentioned Maha, anyway the problem's sorted. Let's go and get some actual studying done."
Maha nodded as they were about to leave she noticed the blonde girl staring in their direction and she was about to approach the blonde girl, but she roller skated away towards the middle school, stumbling in her haste.
"Do you know who that is?" Maha asked pointing to her.
"That's Evie, she's pretty nice. Doesn't have many friends though...she usually hangs out with Jonathan or Eddie because she's in Hellfire. She's in most of our classes, usually sits in the corner." Barb said. "Why?"
"Just curious...she seemed familiar." Maha replied, she wondered why Evie had been so perturbed.
Barb checked her watch. "Shit we only have two minutes left, let's get to home room."
Maha snapped out of her reverie and hurried towards the building. She speed walked into the school to avoid getting marked late by Ms Williams for arriving 0.5 seconds after the bell, so she wouldn't get another punctuality detention wasting her time.