𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐖.
❝ you act like you're all alone out there in the world, but you're not. you're not alone ❞
Valerie Monroe was, in every sense of the word, a freak. Her hair never curled quite right, and it was always riddled with clumps of frizz. She hadn't the slightest idea on how to keep up with the trends that other girls her age did, and it didn't help her case that she didn't even know how to converse with those girls, much less how to be one of them. Of course, if she had grown at least a few inches past her fifth grade height, that might've helped. She hadn't. At fifteen years old, she remained a mere four feet and ten inches tall.
In addition to her outward imperfections, her inward form never quite matched the standards of most teenagers, either. Every minute of her free time was spent entrapped by words. She often wondered if the linings of her soul had been imprinted on with the rules of grammar and the vibrant strokes of creativity, for every yearning of her soul reflected this. And her classmates had realized this rather quickly. It hadn't taken them long to notice the dollar store novel that was always tucked under her arm, or the scribbled words on her desk that never pertained to the class content, and were more closely related to the dragons and forbidden lovers of some faraway land.
This was how Mike Wheeler and his friends had found her. One afternoon, when she'd almost been through her shift at the local comic and games store, they had walked in: four boys and one girl. Greetings led to conversation and high-pitched pleadings, and before she knew it, Valerie had agreed to write adventures for the group's Dungeons and Dragons games. Week after week, she would attend their sessions to play as their Dungeon Master. Of course, when her high school peers discovered this, it only added to the grounds for the insults and shriveling glares that would be thrown her way. Even Jonathan Byers would hardly talk to her because of the fact that she was friends with his younger brother.
However, Valerie's suffocating need to be accepted is swept to the side when Will Byers disappears and a little girl appears in his stead. With the little girl comes a loss of sanity for many in Hawkins, strange habits boiling to the brim of her parents' behavior, and a newfound closeness between her and the boy she used to be ignored by. As strange as it is for Jonathan Byers to finally speak to her, stranger things will come for Valerie and the entire population of Hawkins.
( featuring... )
haley lu richardson as VALERIE MONROE
❝ i really need to learn how to stop saying everything i think ❞
✧
charlie heaton as JONATHAN BYERS
❝ you don't have to try to conform, val. they should like you for who you are, not for who they are ❞
✧
hailee steinfeld as GEMMA REYNOLDS
❝ it's a classic 'enemies to lovers' cliche, and val, you know how much i love cliches ❞
( belongs to -beewrites- )
✧
joe keery as STEVE HARRINGTON
❝ would you just shut up? gemma is not out of my league, i'll get her to go out with me within the week ❞
✧
jenna ortega as JODIE REYNOLDS
❝ i'm going to do whatever it takes to get will back. he's my best friend ❞
( belongs to -beewrites- )
✧
paul rudd as DANIEL MONROE
❝ what are you talking about? i'm totally a cool dad ❞
✧
sandra bullock as KRISTINA MONROE
❝ valerie, get a hold of yourself! will is gone, end of story ❞
( & the rest of the 'stranger things' cast as their respective characters )
( a part of the 'fright night' series )
author's note. so since the trailer dropped for st season 4, i have not been able to get this story out of my mind. it was originally published back in 2019, and then unpublished when i simply didn't have time for it anymore, but it's back and i am determined to make it a priority this time, because the story is just so so special to me. also, this story is part of a series that i'm writing with bee so i highly suggest that you go and read her stories when they're posted! there's gonna be fics for steve harrington, will byers, dustin henderson, nancy wheeler, etc etc, so there's going to be a lot of content!
disclaimer. the format being used for this book is of my own creation, meaning any similarities between it and the formats of other books are completely accidental and coincidental. that being said, please don't steal this format. if you really want to use it, simply ask permission and i will most likely say yes.
dedications. i'm not gonna do the whole list of dedications this time bc i always leave someone out but!! i've met a lot of awesome people on here and made a lot of friends, so this fic is dedicated to all of you! you guys are the reason i love writing & i'm so grateful to know you.