"All I wanna be,
All I ever wanna be yeah, yeah
Is somebody to you."
- Somebody To You, The Vamps ft. Demi Lovato
-*-
October 29, 1984
"MY Emotions, My Control." Naomi repeated her mantra a couple of times.
She stood in front of her car, clutching the straps of her bag as she looked at the school nearby.
"Are you going in or what?" Naveen, who has been watching her this whole time, asked. Naomi sighed then turned to look at her brother.
Naomi's breathing went fast. Her chest going up and down in a very fast pace. After seeing his sister in such state, Naveen immediately went beside Naomi and comforted her.
"Hey, you're fine. Look at me, look at me." He commanded. Naomi looked at the eyes that she shared with him. "You are going to walk in those halls with confidence and just be you. Because you...are awesome. They're gonna regret if they don't wanna make friends with you, it's their loss." He comforted her.
"I know it'll be their loss, but who's gonna make friends with me in the middle of semester anyway? I wanna make friends, Naveen." She admitted.
"I know and you are gonna make a lot of friends. A lot of people will want to talk to you." He said. Naomi looked at him in doubt.
"Really?" She asked in confirmation.
"When am I ever wrong?" He said smugly.
"I don't know. Everytime?" Naomi teased which Naveen answered with a slight punch in her arms.
"Now there's my sister. Now go and blow that place into a popsicle stand." He ushered.
"I don't wanna blow it." She mumbled as she began walking towards the building. She looked back at Naveen's direction which he answered with a two thumbs up.
She forced a smile and look forward to continue walking. She sighed heavily as she fixed her blue top and white pants, wearing her normal brown coat. Her black curly hair swaying with the wind.
Her attention turned to the blue camaro with his music playing loudly. She stopped walking, deciding if she'll talk to him. She decided against it anyway, she only got to talk to him once in a very short time. She sighed heavily as she continued walking towards the school.
Billy smirked at the direction of three girls and threw the cigarette that he was smoking before his eyes caught the sight of the curly haired girl. He bit his lips, watching her walk before started walking to catch up to her.
He even heard the girls talking about checking out his ass, sensing some eyes on him. He guessed that the girls is indeed checking out his ass.
"Hey." He greeted as soon as he caught up with the girl.
"Oh, hey." She said, absentmindedly. Billy's forehead creased.
"Are you okay? I thought you're excited about school?" He asked.
"I do. I'm just...worried." She admitted.
"Worried about what?"
"Everything." She said, then for the first time today, she looked at his direction. Billy almost stopped walking after seeing her blue eyes. It reminded him of California. Blue like the thunderstorm reflecting in the ocean, problematic yet beautiful.
"This is supposed to be a secret but..." She looked around before leaning in to whisper, Billy smelled her vanila cologne. It smelled sweet, "It's my first time going to school." She said before standing straight. Billy was baffled, he was silent for a while before shaking his thoughts.
"First time? Homeschooled?" He guessed. Naomi's eyes widened. Why did she say that? Now everything's weird if he found out it was really, really her first time going to school.
"Y- Yeah. Homeschooled." She lied, rather not smoothly but he seems to take it.
"Well, no worries. I'll be here for you." He flirted. Naomi's head shot up fast, he wondered if it makes her dizzy for a bit but seeing her smile, it seemed like she was completely fine.
"Like a friend?" She asked, eagerly.
"Umm..." Billy doesn't know how to answer that. He was actually thinking about something else but how cruel is he to put her mood down.
"Sure. Like a friend." For now, he promised himself.
"I've never had a friend before, it's nice to finally have some." She said while smiling brightly. Billy unknowingly smiled back.
"You'll make a lot of friends. With that attitude of yours?" Billy said. Naomi looked up at him.
"You think so?" She asked the boy.
"No, I know so." If possible, Naomi's smile widened more.
"My brother thinks the same too." She mumbled, looking down shyly. Billy's eyes stayed with her in confusion.
"Brother?"
"Yeah, I have one. He doesn't like going to school though. He likes his freedom."
"Lucky." Billy mumbled, envious about the girl's brother not going to school. Of course she had a brother. With that sunshine attitude of hers, there must be someone to protect her from all the dangers of the earth.
If only he knew.
Naomi stopped at the entrance and breathed heavily, closing her eyes. Billy, also, stopped right behind her.
"My emotions, my control." She whispered before opening her eyes. She smiled and entered the school. She can feel the stares of other students probably wondering who is she. She gulped down the nervousness and gathered her confidence to atleast smile at them. Which she did.
That they gave back!
The smile that they gave back at her certainly made her day and made her confident.
"Your smile, love, makes other people smile back." He whispered in her ears before surpassing her and walk away
She felt her cheeks heating up. She almost forgot Billy was with her. She watched her retreating figure confidently walking in the school halls. She just took notice about him not having a bag. Bag is needed in school, isn't?
She walked to the direction of the registry office -- after she asked a random student politely -- and knocked on the door. She heard someone shouting to let her come in. She twist the knob and opened the door. She peeked inside seeing an old lady signing some papers and a younger one printing some papers.
"Hello? Good morning." She greeted. The two ladies look up abruptly at the sound. She stepped inside and looked at the old lady straight in the eye.
"Hi. Are you Naomi..." she trailed, squinting her eyes to the paper she's holding. "Snott?" She asked. The other lady snorted at the mistake of her name.
Naomi took a quick glance at her before correcting the old lady.
"Scott, actually. Naomi Roselle Scott." She introduced politely.
"Oh, what a beautiful young lady." She complimented Naomi which she accepted with a thanks and a rub on the back of her neck. She took a seat in front of the lady when she instructed her to sit.
They talked about her schedules and the school rules for a while before she found herself saying goodbye and making her way to her first class.
Chemistry.
Once she found herself in front of her classroom, she knocked. The teacher inside stopped talking and excused himself. He walked towards the door and opened it.
"Yes?"
"Hello, sorry for interrupting. My name Is Naomi Scott. I'm the new --"
"Student. Come in, come in." He cut her off and ushered her inside. She entered the classroom and walked in front. The teacher closed the door and started walking fast in her direction.
"Class, I would like you to meet our new student. Introduce yourself." He told her. Naomi looked around the room, feeling conscious about the stares of the other student. She gulped before smiling at them.
"Hi. My name is Naomi Roselle Scott, 17 years old. I lived in Illinois, Chicago before I moved here." She introduced.
The class clapped as the teacher pointed at the empty chair at the corner of the room. She hurriedly went to it and sat quickly. She sighed heavily when the teacher started talking again.
Great start.
-*-
Will, Mike, Lucas and Dustin watched the new girl skateboarding in the school grounds. Debating if the new girl is indeed MadMax.
"So, how many Maxes do you know?" Lucas argued.
"I don't know." Mike shrugs.
"Zero. That's how many." Lucas pinpoint, not leaving his eyes on the redhead and watching her play tricks with her skateboard.
"Yeah. She shows up at school the day after someone with the same name as her breaks our top score. I mean, you kidding me?" Dustin said, breaking his stares with the redhead to look at Mike behind him before looking back, not wanting to let her out of his sight.
"Exactly, so she's gotta be MadMax. She's gotta be." Lucas agreed with Dustin, also breaking his stares to look at Mike.
"And plus, she skateboards, so she's pretty awesome." Dustin added.
"Awesome? You haven't even spoken a word to her." Mike argued. Dustin finally broke his stares to argue with Mike properly.
"I don't have to. I mean look at her." Dustin looked back, only to see the redhead gone. "Shit, I've lost the target." Dustin complained.
"There." Will said, looking at the door of the school and leaving his position in the fence that they stood to watch their new classmate.
They saw the redhead threw a crumbled paper to the trashcan before entering the school. The four looked at each other and ran towards the trashcan. Dustin leaning in to find the paper that the redhead threw.
A group of girls looked at their direction, weirded out by them. Will waved first, followed by Mike and Lucas. Dustin stood straight after seeing the paper and opened it.
"Stop spying on me, creeps." They read together out loud.
"Well shit." Dustin said. Silence enveloping them before someone broke it.
"William Byers." They turned around just to see the school's principal standing behind them. Will's brow shot up in question, wondering why the principal was asking for him
"Your mother's here." He announced. He went cold. Hands clammy and started to become sweaty. Will looked at him in silence before following him.
-*-
EDITED