IT WAS NOW THEIR freshmen year. billy's death took a huge toll on y/n.
y/n started shutting everyone out, she didn't really talk to anyone anymore.
she hardly ever talked to max, despite the both of them living in the same house.
y/n and mike broke up, despite them keeping a relationship for a year, she broke up with him last month.
y/n swung her backpack on her shoulder, as her and max got off the bus, with y/n placing her headphones on.
"y/n." the school counselor, ms. kelley called.
y/n immediately turned around, to be face to face with ms. kelley, as she took her headphones off.
"where were you yesterday?" ms. kelley asks y/n, in a soft voice.
"oh, yeah. sorry, i forgot it was thursday." y/n apologized, as she looked away.
"well, i'd like to see you today. come straight after lunch, okay?" ms. kelley told her.
y/n nodded her head quickly, and put back on her headphones, she didn't want to talk right now.
y/n walked in the pep rally, to see mike, dustin, and max were already there.
"-look, i'm not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours." dustin compares with mike. "it's just that suzie's, like a certified genius."
"you do realize me and y/n are broken up, right?" mike reminds dustin, as y/n went to go stand in between him and max.
"and yet you still have a c in spanish." dustin adds.
mike furrowed his brows in confusion, as he turned to dustin.
"and let's hear it for your tigers!" the principal announced, then the whole basketball team started running on the gymnasium floor.
y/n spotted lucas running out with the rest of his team, with a cheerful expression on his face.
"good morning hawkins high!" jason, the basketball player says on the microphone.
"first off, hey, i'd like to thank each and every one of you." jason continued. "without your support, we wouldn't be here. give yourselves a big hand."
lucas looked over to max, and waved at her, but max just ignored him, not wanting to speak to him.
yeah, billy's death definitely took a toll on max too, she hardly ever tried speaking to anyone, except y/n.
but, y/n just always pushed max away.
"and of course, of course, i have to gives a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the tiger cheer squad." jason said. "chrissy.. chrissy, i love you babe."
then jason paused for a little, but started speaking again. "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."
jason turned to the rest of the basketball players.
"i looked at my team, and i said, think of jack. think of melissa. think of heather." jason continued.
"think of billy."
y/n's heart sank, hearing billy's name, she uncomfortably looked around the gym.
mike turned his head to y/n, giving her an apologetic look, but y/n didn't give him any attention.
"think about our heroic police chief officer, jim hopper. think about each and 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. for us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? no! no. let's win this game. let's win this game for them. and that's exactly what we did! we're gonna win this game tonight."
"tonight?" mike asked dustin, remembering that the hellfire campaign was tonight.
"how is that possible?" dustin asked.
"they call it a tournament." max intervenes.
"you win one game, you go on until there's only one team left." y/n explained to the two boys, dumbing it down for them.
-
after the pep rally, y/n walked around the halls with her and max's favorite song, running up that hill blasting into her headphones.
y/n saw chrissy cunningham come out of the counselors office, really scared.
y/n looked in confusion, seeing as chrissy never went to the counselor.
y/n brushed it off and walked into the counselors office.
y/n bounced her leg anxiously as ms. kelley sat in front of her.
"can you remove your headphones, please?" ms. kelley politely asks.
y/n takes off the headphones, and stops the music.
"sorry." y/n said, not really meaning it.
"a c in english, and a c-minus in spanish." ms. kelley reads y/n's grades, then looked up at y/n.
"yeah." y/n simply said, just wanting the conversation to be over.
"well, that's not normal for you." ms. kelley reminded her, with a smile.
"if you say so." y/n remarked, as she stared at her shoes.
"how's susan holding up?" ms. kelley asks.
"she's fine. she hates our new place." y/n explained.
"is she still drinking?" ms. kelley concernedly asked.
y/n's lips parted slightly, before she responded. "i-i mean yeah.. a little, but, well.. she's working two jobs, so it's not easy."
"it must not be easy for you either." ms. kelley told y/n. "with neil being gone."
"yeah, it's been kind of better, honestly." y/n said, with her voice shaking a little.
"better how?" ms. kelley curiously asked.
"well.." y/n trails off, with her eyes watering a bit. "he was an asshole. so there's less... assholery."
"are you sleeping better?" ms. kelley asked, with a small smile, changing the subject.
y/n debates on her response. "yeah, fine." y/n replied, not telling the truth.
"so, no more headaches?" ms. kelley asks y/n, not convinced.
y/n shakes her head no, as she looked away from ms. kelley, and at the wall.
"nightmares?"
y/n zoned out for a bit, getting flashbacks, to that nightmarish day.
she could still hear his scream as the tentacle impaled him, haunting her.
"nope." y/n replied to ms. kelley, trying to get the image out of her head.
y/n looked away, bouncing her leg, and fidgeting with her hands.
"y/n.." ms. kelley begins. "what you've been through, what you're still going through, it's a lot for anyone. and it's okay to not be okay. but i can only help you if you're truthful, if you open up to me."
"yeah, i.. i know." y/n stuttered. "i'm.. i'm being open."
ms. kelley stares at y/n, in sympathy.
"i'm being open." y/n repeated.
-
y/n exited the counselors office, and tried putting her headphones back on.
"y/n, hey." mike called, causing y/n to turn around for a split second.
y/n took off her headphones again, and looked behind her, to see mike, annoying her even more.
"what, are you following me around or something?" y/n harshly asked mike as she continued walking.
"no," mike denied. "i just wanted to ask you something.
"what?" y/n asked, as she continued to walk.
"i just- i wanted to ask if you wanted to maybe hang out tomorrow." mike calmly asked her, not knowing what she was going to say.
y/n turned to mike for a second, in confusion.
"i know you never want to talk to me." mike explained. "but, i just thought-"
"okay, mike, just stop it." y/n cut him off. "i have a lot of homework to catch up on anyway."
mike sighed, preparing himself with what he was going to say.
"y/n.. you're just- it's like you're not even here anymore." mike explained. "it's like you're a ghost or something."
this caused y/n to turn around, confused and curious on what he was trying to say.
"a ghost?" y/n asked, in offense. "really?"
"y/n," mike began. "i know something's wrong."
"yeah, right, something must be wrong with me because i broke up with you." y/n sarcastically said.
"no." mike shakes his head. "no, that's.. that's not what i meant."
"mike, look," y/n snaps, wanting him to go away. "people just change, okay? i've changed. that's it. it's that simple. i don't even know why you're asking to hang out. we're broken up. i don't wanna see you right now."
y/n rolled her eyes as she turned around, walking into the girls bathroom, swinging the door open.
that, leaving mike there. mike stared at the door, still processing everything.
a tear slowly flew down his cheek, but he quickly wiped it away, and continued with his day.
y/n walked into the bathroom, feeling another headache, which hurt like hell for her. she so desperately wanted them to stop.
y/n unzipped her backpack and took some medication to help the headache.
y/n went swung her backpack over her shoulder, and went into the stall, sitting on the cold, hard floor.
y/n just sat there for a moment, crying silently, tears flying down her face, but her making no noise.
she used to sit down, or lay down on her bed, wishing something bad would happen to billy, since he was always such a dick to her.
but now, y/n was wishing that something bad to her would happen.
-
y/n was on her bed, later that night, she sat there, looking at her skateboard.
y/n heard a knock on her door, and then the doorknob twisting.
max walked into y/n's room. "hey." max said, as she walked into the room.
"hi." y/n replied, as she slightly looked down.
max sat down on the bed, next to y/n, max examined y/n's face, and could tell that she wasn't okay.
"you okay?" max asked y/n, as max slightly nudged y/n's shoulder.
"yeah." y/n simply replied, and then looked
over at max. "just had a fight with mike, that's all."
max nodded her head, as she sighed. "listen, i know you probably don't want to talk about it. but, you've been kinda distant."
y/n looked down for a moment, realizing that max was right.
"yeah, i'm sorry. i didn't really mean to push you away." y/n apologized. "i just needed some space for a little bit."
"y/n, you can talk to me." max assured her. "i know what you're going through, i'm here for you."
y/n smiled at max, she pulled max in for a hug, to which max hugged back.