WELCOME TO THE LOSERS CLUB !
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JONATHAN AND NANCY HAD SET UP A PLAN THAT THEY HAD ASKED ALEX TO JOIN IN ON. Hunting down the monster. After some convincing, Alex had heard enough to know that this was the best option for not only herself, but everyone else that had lived in Hawkins. If the monster was dead, then she knew that Dustin could be safe, and that was what was most important to her.
A hunting and camping store had everything that they could need. They couldn't afford too much, but if they could get the right stuff, then they would be set for a kill. The three had spilt up, all coming together to share their small piles of what they had thought would come in handy for what they had planned. It wasn't much, but they were sure it was enough to work with. Coming out of the store, Jonathan had carried a box, Alex a bag, and Nancy a gasoline container.
"Monster hunting?" Jonathan laughed. Nancy's honesty inside the store had seemed ridiculous but it had allowed for them to easily get by on buying such strange things for a group of teenagers.
"That was the best answer in my opinion," Alex laughed, making Nancy smile along side them as she opened the trunk for them. Monster hunting had seemed as if all of this were only a game which had eased the three to even think to continue with such a plan.
Nancy placed the gasoline in the trunk when a strange smile had came to her face. "You know, last week, I was shopping for a top I thought Steve might like. It took me and Barb all weekend. It seemed like life or death, you know?"
"And now you're shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers and Alex Henderson," Jonathan grinned. Even to him, the thought of Nancy willingly hanging out with them had felt unreal. Today, she should've been at the movies with Steve, not even allowing the two to cross her mind.
"I mean, you're basically apart of the losers club," Alex laughed.
"I guess that isn't so bad," Nancy smiled. Now she had seen why Mike had actually liked Dustin's older sister and why Alex had spoken so highly of Jonathan. Even if people like Tommy and Carol had much to say about the two, it never came close to what they were like once she had been with them. Jonathan and Alex were far from unlikeable. In fact, Nancy had felt that she appreciated their company far more than anyone else at Hawkins High. However, her happiness for finding true friends would never have lasted. Tommy's warnings about those that hung out with people he didn't like never crossed Nancy's mind until today.
Riding down the street, a car had slowed down towards the group as it gave a honk to grab their attention. "Hey, Nance. Can't wait to see your movie." The tone of his voice was condescending. Alex furrowed her eyebrows, turning to Jonathan and Nancy for clarification but neither seemed to know. As Nancy had watched the car continue down the street, her expression had dropped as something had crossed her mind. Instantly, she had taken off in a run towards the Hawkins movie theater. Not thinking twice, Jonathan had shoved the box into Alex's hands as he took off right after her.
"Oh, shit," Alex whispered to herself. She quickly shoved everything into the trunk of Jonathan's car by herself. Attempting to hurry, she didn't bother to make sure everything had been placed in nicely before slamming the trunk shut and chasing off after the two to see what had been going on.
Alex ran until she saw the movie theater come into view, noticing the red spray painted words on it. All the Right Moves starring Nancy the Slut Wheeler was written right on the sign. Anger bubbled up quickly in Alex. There were only a few set of people that had it in them to want to do such a thing and even think that way about Nancy. Just this morning, she had listened to Steve's worry about Nancy, and it was only a matter of time before he had taken his worry straight to Tommy.
Yelling from the alleyway beside the movie theater had caught her attention. She managed to tear her eyes off of the sign to head in the direction, feeling her chest rising and falling quickly the more she had thought about the public humiliation they had put Nancy through.
"You came by last night?" Nancy questioned loudly.
"Ding, ding, ding! Does she get a prize?" Carol laughed, leaning right into Tommy. However, the moment she had seen Alex approaching, her smile had dropped, knowing that Tommy would not be so happy. When Tommy had spotted Alex come up beside Jonathan, he groaned as he pulled the cigarette away from his lips. "Oh, God. Henderson, get the hell out of here, would ya? Steve already heard your whole bullshit story on these two. Now he knows the truth thanks to me."
"Hey, watch it," Steve warned him, pulling his eyes off of Nancy long enough to look at Alex. Scoffing at Steve, she was stuck in disbelief. Of all people, he had chosen to listen to Tommy rather than hers. "Even after everything I told you, you believe this asshole?"
"I'm supposed to believe that he was just comforting her after whatever the hell happened last night? Because Nancy here told me they were studying, so something doesn't add up. Tommy says your lying."
Outraged that he had chose to believe Tommy of all people, Alex took a step forward and slapped him hard across the face. Steve closed his eyes in response, not only hurt from the sting of the slap, but the fact that he knew Alex was standing up for two people he didn't trust when she should've trusted him.
"We were just..." Nancy began quickly.
"You were just, what? Finish that sentence." Steve pressed as he brought his attention back over to her. Instead, Nancy couldn't find the right words. There was nothing she could say that would allow for him to believe her and if she did tell the truth, the only one's that wouldn't laugh are the ones that stood at her side. So Steve gave a nod to her silence. "Go to hell, Nancy."
"Come on, guys, let's just leave," Jonathan begged, grabbing each girl before they could lash out on Steve. Nancy was more reluctant to follow Jonathan but Alex was beyond that. Knowing of the terrors that were hidden in Hawkins, this was an instance that had pushed her too far.
"You're a complete asshole, Steve Harrington," Alex spat, pushing his hard on the chest, sending him stumbling back a few steps. "You don't know anything so learn to keep your damn mouth shut."
"You're not apart of this, Alex! Funny how both of you can bail on me for Byers!"
"Bet he's been having pervy photo sessions with both of them," Tommy laughed, wiggling his eyebrows. He knew that this would only get Steve further amped up to continue the fight. And even so, he knew it would push Alex's buttons to make fun of Jonathan. Never more did he love seeing Alex Henderson and Steve Harrington fighting with one another.
"Maybe we hang out with Jonathan because he's not a complete dipshit!" Alex yelled in response.
"Come on, Alex. It's not worth it," Jonathan pleaded, both him and Nancy grabbing her by her arm and pulling her back to them. Letting her anger go, she finally let them pull her away from the fight but Steve was far from done. He walked a few steps towards them before they could leave and shoved Jonathan hard.
"You know what? I'm kind of impressed by you Byers. I always took you for a queer but I guess you're just a little screw up like your father," Steve said, shoving him once more.
"Just keep walking," Nancy whispered to both of them, holding each of their arms. She had begun to realize that the fight truly wasn't worth it as long as she could walk away with people that cared for her, but Steve kept it going.
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that house is full of screw-ups. You know, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. A bunch of screw-ups in your family. I mean, your mom..."
Nancy felt Jonathan's arm tug out of her grip, making Alex stop walking too. Turning back, she had attempted to plead with him to come with her, but this was over the line.
"I'm not even surprised what happened to your brother," Steve laughed, shoving Jonathan's shoulder harshly. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the Byers, their family, it's a disgrace to the entire..." His words were instantly cut short as Jonathan scrunched up his face, spinning around and punched him square in the jaw. There was a brief moment of shock from Steve that he had actually been hit, then he launched himself right on top of Jonathan. Both had hit each other whenever they could, wrestling on the ground.
"Kick his ass, man!" Tommy yelled, tossing his cigarette in case he felt he needed to jump in.
"Shut the hell up, Tommy!" Alex yelled.
"What are you and princess gonna do about it? Slap me too? Oh, I'm so scared," he laughed in his mocking tone. Seeing as she began to approach, he held up a hand towards her with a bored expression. "Listen Henderson, I don't need a freak to rub off on me so don't actually touch me."
Thinking about how she managed to escape a monster, she knew Tommy was nothing. She brought her arm back and swiftly punched Tommy right in the nose, making him bleed instantly. The pain in her hand was quickly wiped away from adrenaline, only making her want to do it all over again.
"Oh my God, Alex! Stop!" Nancy yelled, rushing over to her and wrapping her arms around her before she could punch Tommy again.
"Cops!" Someone from Steve's group yelled as soon as they heard sirens and a police car pull up into the alleyway. Nancy screamed for Jonathan to get up while Tommy and Carol tried to get Steve up before they all ran off when the cops tried to chase him.
Alex was way too angry with Tommy and Steve to even care that the cops were there, still trying to get out of Nancy's arms to finish what had happened. Instead, one of the cops slammed Jonathan down on a car, handcuffing him while the second cop tried to get Alex out of Nancy's grip.
"Hey, she kicked me!" Officer Callahan yelled. The other officer-- Officer Powell-- had put his full weight onto Jonathan's back to keep him in place as he sent a glare over his shoulder. "She's a kid! Get over it!"
Taking a stand back, Nancy frantically paced as she watched the officers start to take full control. All she could do was stand and watch as both of her friends had gotten in trouble for something that the others had caused. She couldn't help but feel a sting of guilt as they were the ones that were standing up for her in the first place.