It's been a month since you agreed to moving. You have a new room, a new house, and, most dreadfully, a new school. You haven't seen much of Hawkins, because your parents insisted you stay and help unpack. It didn't bother you much, because your not really a people person, so you didn't really want to go anywhere. Plus, you would rather have air-conditioning, because August has been hot. Hotter than you've ever felt before.
But now you're getting curious. You think you should know a little bit about the town before you start school the next month. Your parents have finally agreed to ride your bike around the town.
Your first stop is obviously the diner. You need to make sure Hawkins has restaurants that can satisfy your monster appetite.
Next is the drugstore down the street. It takes about five minutes for you to get there. Maybe it'll be useful in the future.
Now all that's left is to ride around the town and get used to the streets. You notice there's a park about twenty minutes away from the drugstore. It has a playground and a forest path to walk. You decide to ride your bike along it. You take in the sights, wind, smells, and the whole feel of Hawkins. You think it might not be so bad.
You have a great time just relaxing, (it is your favorite thing to do) but now your parents must be getting worried. You ride home, taking note of the landmarks, and making sure to remember where to turn and which streets to take.
Three weeks until school starts. You shudder at the thought.
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On one particularly hot day, you decide to go for a walk. You know the small town pretty well, and you head to the pool. While you're walking, a horrible thought comes to you. Friends. People. What if you don't fit in? Well that's nothing new, you think. And how are you going to make friends? You shake the thoughts from your head. Later.
You decide to get ice cream at the pool and dip your feet in. There are families everywhere. Kids whining, parents shouting, people pushing each other. Ah, the pool.
You sit by the pool for some time, wondering what will happen when school resumes. You hope you meet someone decent.
You're staring at the water, when you see the reflection of two troll-like boys "sneaking" up on you in the water. You start to panic when you realize what they're trying to do. They're trying to push you in. You do a pretty good job at pretending to be clueless. Just before the smaller one pushes you, you slide aside and he loses his balance, and falls face-first into the water.
"Troy!" the bigger one squeals. "This isn't over!" he snaps at you, while helping his friend out of the water.
You look at them, slipping and scrambling, and feel pretty proud of yourself.
"Yeah, I'm thinking it is."
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While walking home that day, your eyes drift over a newspaper on a lawn. You slow down, praying that what you saw wasn't true. When you get a closer look, your heart practically stops.
The date was August 28.
School started in three days.