~November 9th, 1983~
It was the morning after at the Harrington house when Jessica groggily woke up, her head lying on Steve's chest. She lifts up the cover with her left hand and peers underneath. The two were still naked from last night's activity, which played through Jessica's mind as her cheeks suddenly turns red.
She lowers the cover down and looks back over at Steve who was still fast asleep, light snores escaping through his lips. She lets out a small giggle before leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. As she pulls away, she smiles as she watches Steve softly smile in his sleep.
Sitting up, Jessica slips out from under the covers and grabs her underwear, sliding it up her long legs before grabbing her jeans. She quickly slips that on and stands up from Steve's bed. She searches the room for her white lacy bra which Steve loved so much and finds it underneath her red shirt.
She clasps her bra and picks up her shirt but drops it when she spots Steve's grey sweatshirt, lying on the floor. Looking back at Steve, she figured he wouldn't mind if she borrowed one of his sweatshirt since she couldn't find her jean jacket from last night.
Grabbing the sweatshirt and feeling the soft material in between her fingers, she sits back down on the bed, slipping it over her head, pulling the sweatshirt down before glancing back over at Steve who was still asleep but now lying on his stomach.
"Steve?"
No response.
Reaching out with her right hand, she gently places it on Steve's bare back and rubs it up and down in a soothing manner. "Steve?"
"Mmm."
Jessica glances over at the alarm clock he had on his nightstand, reading the big red numbers. "It's five o'clock." "So?" he grumbles in his sleepy voice. Jessica rolls her eyes. "So I need to get home or else my mom will never let me see you again if she discovers that I'm not in my room this morning."
Steve rolls onto his back and groggily opens his eyes. He gives Jessica a sleepy smile once he realized what she was wearing. "Is that my sweatshirt?" he asks her, his grin growing bigger. Jessica's cheeks redden. "Maybe." Steve chuckles. "It looks good on you." "Well I'm glad because you're never getting it back now."
Steve grabs Jessica's hand and softly rubs his thumb over her knuckles as he gives her a tisk. "That's a shame because that's one of my favorite sweatshirts...," he trails off as Jessica playfully hits his chest and smiling when she hears his laughter. "I'm kidding Jess...," he tells her sitting up in his bed, still holding onto her hand. "You can keep it. I won't miss it," he tells her truthfully.
It was just a sweatshirt to Steve but now that he saw it on Jessica, it was now hers and he secretly hoped that she would never give it back to him.
Steve snaps out of his thoughts as he feels Jessica's hand slip out of his. "Come on, lover boy," she teases him, noticing the loving stare he had on her moments ago. "You gotta drive me home before my mom sees that I'm missing."
"I'll meet you downstairs," he tells her before she leaves his bedroom.
Jessica walks down the stairs and into the living room to see if Nancy was still here but she was met with an empty couch. Furrowing her eyebrows, she heads into the kitchen and spots a note on the counter.
Jess,
Went home. See you in school tomorrow.
-Nancy
Jessica crumbles up the note and throws it into the trashcan. "You ready?" Jessica spins around to see that Steve was now dressed for school. She nods and takes Steve's hand as the two leave his house and head to his car.
++++++
"Steve, I-"
Jessica sighs blissfully as Steve reconnects his lips to hers. The two were currently making out in his car down the block from her house.
Jessica pulls away making Steve let out a groan. "I have to go," she tells him turning around in her seat and opening the passenger door. She gets out and closes the door before bending down and leaning her arms on the window pane. "Remember the plan?"
Steve nods. "I'll wait here until it's 6:45 and then I drive up to your house to take you to school." he repeats making Jessica lean her head in and press a swift kiss onto Steve's lips making him happy.
"I'll see you soon," she tells him before pulling her head back out and starts running down the block, back to her house. Steve watches her go and when she disappears around the corner, he leans his head back against his seat and looks up at the ceiling of his car.
He was completely and utterly in love with Jessica Henderson and didn't know how to tell her.
++++++
Jessica sneaks around her house and stops in front of her bedroom window. She slowly opens her window up, trying not to make any noises as she pushes it up. Once her window was up, she hikes her leg up and climbs into her bedroom, landing gracefully onto her feet. She then closes her window and quickly gets dressed, noticing the time.
She throws on a new pair of underwear, bra and jeans, her mind not thinking of taking Steve's sweatshirt. She grabs her backpack and hurries down the hallway, into the kitchen where she was greeted with the mouthwatering smell of chocolate chip pancakes.
Claudia turns around as soon as she hears footsteps and smiles at her eldest daughter. "Good morning dear," she greets her as she serves Dustin another small stack of pancakes. "I didn't hear you get in last night."
Jessica walks over and grabs a chocolate chip pancake. She takes a bite and nods. "Yeah, I got in after ten which I know is past the curfew time which I'm really sorry about." she tells her mom who waves her hand. "You should have called but I trust you and I knew you would have gotten home safely."
Claudia pats her daughter's shoulder but her hand pauses on Jessica's shoulder as she saw a sweatshirt she was not familiar with. "Hey...whose sweatshirt is that?"
Jessica's eyes widens as she briefly glances down at it. She should have at least taken it off that way her mom or Dustin wouldn't question her about it. "Yeah, Jess, whose sweatshirt is that?" Dustin asks her with his mouth full.
"Uh, it's...Steve's."
Claudia raises her eyebrows, a smile tugging at her lips. "Steve, your boyfriend?" Claudia asks, poking Jessica's side.
"Yes," she admits making Dustin choke back on his pancakes. Claudia spins around. "Dustin! Are you okay?!" she asks him running over to him and slaps on his back. Dustin nods as he reaches for a glass of orange juice and gulps it down. "I'm fine," he tells her in a raspy voice.
Claudia rubs her son's back up and down and looks over at Jessica. "Why do you have his sweatshirt?" Her eyes widen. "Did you two-"
"God no mom!"
"Did what?" Dustin asks looking back and forth between his mom and sister. "Nothing Dustin," Claudia and Jessica both tell him. Jessica lets out a sigh. "Mom, I promise you we didn't. It was just cold, so I borrowed his sweatshirt. Now I have to go or else I'll be late for school," Jessica tells her as she turns around and walks out of the kitchen.
Claudia moves out of the kitchen and towards the windows in the foyer room. She shifts the curtain off to the side as she watches Steve's car pull up by the curb just as Jessica walks down the driveway. She opens the door and hops in.
Claudia could faintly see Jessica's head move towards Steve, the two probably sharing a kiss before speeding off down the street.
++++++
Jessica walks down the hallway, feeling everyone's eyes on her. She heads over to her locker, spinning her combination and opens it up. She starts putting her books away and jumps when she hears someone greet her.
"Hey!"
Jessica peers her head out from behind her locker and sees Steve, smiling down at her.
"Hey!" she nervously greets him. Steve catching the tone of her voice, looks at her in concern. "Is everything okay?" Jessica nods. "Yeah! I just..." she trails off and looks over at the sea of students walking up and down the halls. "I feel like everyone's...staring at me."
Steve's eyes widen. "Oh, I didn't...I didn't tell anyone." "I know," Jessica says immediately not wanting Steve to think he did. "I know you wouldn't," she tells him sincerely as he lets out a sigh of relief. "But what about, like, Tommy, and Carol and them?"
Steve shakes his head. "You're being paranoid." Jessica chuckles as she shakes her head. "I'm sorry," she tells him. "No, it's cute." Jessica cheeks redden as she shyly looks up at him. "Hey...I should have told you this morning but I had a good time."
"Yeah. Me, too," she tells him softly as the two starting leaning in. They press a soft kiss onto each other's lips, holding for a few seconds before pulling away, smiling at one another.
++++++
Jessica walks into her English class and sits down in her usual seat over by the windows. She glances behind her to see that Nancy wasn't there. She then looks over to the seat where Barbara usually sat and she wasn't there either.
The bell rings just as Jessica looks up to see Nancy walking in. The two girls sharing a brief hello as Nancy sits down behind her.
Nancy looks over to her right, expecting to see Barbara, but to her shock she wasn't there. Confused, Nancy leans forward and whispers to Jessica who turns her head slightly seeing as their teacher had just walked in.
"Hey, Jess. Where's Barb?"
Jessica furrows her eyebrows. "No. I thought you have," she whispers back at Nancy who shakes her head. "No. You haven't seen her anywhere...at all?" Jessica shakes her head. "Last I saw her was last night," she tells her as their English teacher silences the class before he begins teaching.
Nancy sits back in her seat and glances over at Barbara's desk one last time before opening her notebook to start jotting down some notes.
++++++
"That's why Science doesn't make any damn sense to me," Tommy rants to Steve, Jessica and Carol as they were sitting down at their lunch table, eating.
Carol lets out an exaggerated sigh as she lifts her leg up and places her foot onto the table. "No, I swear. Look at this. It's totally frostbite." Jessica shakes her head at Carol's stupidity. "It's a heated pool," Tommy tells his girlfriend just as Nancy sits down next to Jessica. "Well, if it's not frostbite, then what is it?"
"Ugh, I don't care what it is, it's disgusting!" Steve tells her as Jessica agrees. "Get it off the table. We're eating here," she tells Carol who simply glares at her. A lunch tray appears beside Jessica. She looks up, giving Nancy a small smile as she sat down beside her.
"Hey, Tommy," Nancy begins. "When you left, did you see Barb?" Tommy stares at Nancy. "What?" "Barbara," she glances over at Jessica. "She's not here today." Tommy shakes his head. "I seriously have no idea who you're talking about." Carol snickers at her boyfriend while Jessica rolls her eyes.
Steve catching that shakes his head at Tommy. "Come on, don't be an ass, man. Did you...did you see her leave last night or not?" he asked in annoyance.
Tommy sighs. "No, she was gone when we left." "Probably couldn't stand listening to all that moaning," Carol states as Tommy chuckles. Carol then closes her eyes out and starts letting out some moans. "Oh, Steve! Oh, Steve! Oh, Steve! Oh, Jessica! Oh, Jess!"
At this point, Jessica was fuming as Carol continued to moan and shake the table. Jessica digs her spoon into her chocolate pudding and brings it up to eye level. She bends the spoon back.
SPLAT!
Carol lets out a gasp as she felt the pudding slide down her face while Tommy covers his hand with his mouth, trying to muffle his laughter up while a grin tugs on Steve's lips.
"Oops," Jessica sings.
"You b-"
"Okay, chill," Steve orders as Carol angrily takes a napkin from her tray and wipes the pudding off her face. Steve turns to Jessica and Nancy. "Listen...I'm sure she's fine. She's probably just...she's probably just, like, skipping or something."
Jessica turns to Nancy, the two girls sharing a look. Barbara had never skipped a day in her life and it was odd that she would start now.
Nancy nods. "Yeah, probably."
++++++
"Do you have any spare quarters?" Nancy asks Jessica as the two stood by a payphone on school grounds.
"What am I, a bank?"
Nancy sighs in annoyance. "Jess, I know you have rolls of quarters in your bag for the boys when they go to the arcade." Jessica sighs. "I hate it when you're right," she tells Nancy as she fishes for some quarters in her backpack. Finding a quarter, she hands it over to Nancy who thanks her. She deposits the quarter in to the slot of the payphone. She enters the phone number in and brings the phone up to her ear.
"Come on, come on, come on..." Nancy mutters to herself. "Is it ringing?" Jessica asks Nancy who nods.
"Hi. Hi, uh, Ms. Holland, it's Nancy."
Jessica leans against the brick wall as she listens carefully to Nancy as she talks to Barbara's mother.
"Good. I'm good. Um, I was just wondering, uh, is Barb there? But she did come home, right? After the vigil? Right, yes. She did, sorry. I meant, did she come home this morning? I think she left some textbooks and she was gonna go pick them up. Do you know what? I just remembered...she's at the library. Yeah, I will. Sorry to bother you."
Nancy places the phone back onto the receiver as Jessica leans off the wall. "Well?"
Nancy lets out a sigh as she shakes her head. Jessica runs a hand through her hair as she glances around the sea of students, hoping to spot Barbara somewhere in it but no luck.
++++++
As soon as the bell rang, Jonathan made his way to the parking lot, his bag slung over his shoulder. He looks up, spotting Steve, Tommy, Carol and Nicole all resting against his car. Feeling uneasy, Jonathan readjusts his bag on his shoulder.
As he approaches the car, Steve had smacked Tommy on the back causing the entire group to stand and eye Jonathan.
"What's going on?" Jonathan questioned.
Steve points at Nicole. "Nicole here was, uh, telling us about your work." "We've heard great things." Carol tells him. "Yeah, sounds cool." Tommy chimed in. "And we'd just love to take a look. You know, as...connoisseurs of art." "I don't know what you're talking about," Jonathan said quickly, trying to shove his way pass the group.
However, before he could break through, Tommy had grabbed a hold of him and yanked his bag clean off his shoulder. "Please, give me my bag." Jonathan pleads but Tommy tosses it over to Steve who catches it effortlessly.
"Man, he is totally trembling. He must really have something to hide." Setting the bag onto the trunk of Jonathan's car, Steve opens it and pulls out the photos. He leans up against the car, flipping through each one with a fake amuse expression.
"Look, there they are," Jessica tells Nancy as they make their way over to Steve who was by his car with Tommy H, Carol and Nicole. "What's Jonathan doing with them?" Nancy asks as Jessica shrugs her shoulders as they finally made their way over to the group.
"Oh man," Tommy chuckles, taking half the stack from Steve and flipping through it with Carol who scoffs. "Yeah, this isn't creepy at all." "I was looking for my brother," Jonathan tells them, but Steve was fed up. "No. No, this is called stalking." Steve clarifies to him.
Making their way up to the car, Jessica and Nancy were confused as to why Jonathan was there. "What's going on?" Jessica asks them. "Here's the starring lady," Tommy sings as Jessica becomes lost. "What?" "This creep was spying on us last night." Carol tells her. Jessica glances over at Jonathan who suddenly became interested in his shoes. "He was probably gonna save this one for later." Carol hands Jessica a photo. She hesitantly takes it, her eyes widening at it. The photo was of her undressing. Her back was to the window, her bra on display to Steve. Jessica looks up to Jonathan who hesitantly meets her eyes. He was feeling guiltier by the second.
Steve clicks his tongue. "See, you can tell that he knows it was wrong, but..." Steve pushes himself off his car and stands in front of Jonathan. "Man, that's the thing about perverts. It's hardwired into 'em. You know, they just can't help themselves." Steve kept his eyes on Jonathan as he rips the photos up. "So...we'll just have to take away his toy."
"Steve..." Nancy says sternly while Jessica looks back down at the photo of her. Steve takes the camera off the hood of Jonathan's car. "No, please, not the camera." Jonathan steps forward but Tommy places a hand on Jonathan's chest, pushing him back. "No, no, wait, wait...Tommy, Tommy." Steve stops him. Tommy lowers his hand down from Jonathan's chest. "It's okay." Steve holds the camera out with his right hand towards Jonathan. "Here you go, man."
Jonathan breathes out a sigh of relief as he reaches out with his right hand only for Steve to smirk at him and drop his camera down purposefully. Jonathan flinches as he hears his camera cracking as it hit the pavement. Tommy lets out a laugh.
"Come on, let's go. The game's about to start." Steve tells his friends as he walks over to Jessica and tries to take her hand, but she steps back. "Jess," Steve begins but he closes his mouth when she looks up at him, her eyes watery.
Jessica turns to Jonathan and his eyes soften as he saw how he made Jessica feel with the photos he took of her and Steve's friends. "Jess..." Jonathan begins but he flinches as he felt more torn up pieces of his photograph thrown at him. He watches them fall down onto the pavement before looking back up at Jessica who shakes her head at him. "Let's go, Steve. Your game's about to start," she informs him as he places his arm around her shoulders, the two turning around and walking off towards the school.
Tommy gets in Jonathan's face and whispers. "Boo," before following after Steve and Jessica. Carol, holding the remaining photographs in her hand, rips them up and throws the pieces at Jonathan. "Bye!" she tells him as she and Nicole take off toward the school.
Once the group expect for Nancy had left, Jonathan immediately bends down and starts gathering the torn pieces of his photographs up. Nancy kneels down, her eyes catching a torn piece of Barbara. She was sitting on a diving board with her feet in the water. She picks it up and shoves it into her bag. She looks up to see Jonathan's eyes on her. She scrambles up and heads off towards the school.
++++++
Jessica, Carol and Tommy waited for Steve out in the hallway. Jessica leans against the rows of lockers while Tommy and Carol settled down on a bench across from her.
Tommy makes himself comfortable while Carol scoots down and lays her head on his lap. Jessica looks up and smiles when she sees Steve come out of the bathroom. The two sharing a quick kiss before he sits down on the floor, tying his shoelaces.
"So, I told Mr. Mundy...the solution of ten plus y equals...blow me," Carol tells them as Tommy laughs at his girlfriend. Steve shakes his head at her. "Bull, if you did that, you'd be in detention right now." "Saturday," she tells him as Tommy leans his head back against the wall. "I bet Mr. Mundy's still a virgin." Carol scoffs. "Oh, he's so a virgin!"
An idea strikes Tommy as he looks down at his girlfriend. "Maybe you should blow him, Carol. Help your grades a bit." Carol smacks Tommy's chest, making him laugh.
Having enough of this conversation, Jessica storms off, making Steve notice. "Whoa, Jess, where are you going?" Jessica stops and turns around. "I totally forgot I told my mom I would walk Dustin home from school today," she tells him before taking off down the hall again.
Steve scrambles up and catches up to her, placing a hand on her arm, stopping her again. "Well, what do you mean? The game's about to start." "Steve, I'm sorry. You'll do well, I know it," she tells him pressing a kiss onto his cheek before heading towards the school doors.
Steve sighs as he places his hands on his hips, watching her go. "What the hell's wrong with her?" he asks his friends. "Maybe she freaked out when you went all psycho on the psycho." "Oh, give me a break. She did the same," he tells Tommy.
Carol shakes her head. "All she did was tear up the photograph of her undressing in your room." "Still..." Steve trails off as Carol rolls her eyes. "What'd you expect, dating Miss Perfect?"
Jessica pushes the doors of the main entrance open. She could fee her breathing quicken. "Not here, not here," she mutters as she attempts to regain control of her breathing.
"Jess!"
Jessica turns to the right to see Nancy running up to her. "Everything okay?" Jessica asks once Nancy reaches her. "Look what I found," Nancy tells her, holding out a photo. "Do me a favor, if that's a photo of me naked, tear it up. I can't look at it-" Nancy frantically shakes her head. "No, no, no. It's of Barbara."
Jessica's head snaps up at the mention of Barbara. "What?!" she exclaims taking the photo out of Nancy's hands. Jessica gaps. There was Barbara sitting on the diving board of the pool at Steve's house. "This must've been after I went upstairs with Steve."
Nancy nods in agreement. "I thought the same thing since none of us are in the photo. We were all inside at that point." Nancy grimaces. "Well...except for Barb." "She was inside tending to her hand but...after she caught me going upstairs with Steve. She didn't want me too but I told her..." "Told her what?" Nancy asks her.
Jessica sighs. "I told her to go home."
Nancy places a hand onto Jessica's shoulder. "It's not your fault." "Then why does it feel like it is? If I had just listened to Barb, the three of us would have left the party and gone back to her car to drive-"
"That's it!" Nancy exclaims.
"What?"
"Barb's car."
"Barb's car," Jessica said in realization as she and Nancy took off.
++++++
Jessica and Nancy both march down the empty road, their minds on finding Barbara's car.
"There it is!" Nancy tells Jessica, pointing at the car down the road from them. Jessica and Nancy both break out into a run but slow their pace down just as they reach the car. The two girls lowering their heads down and peering inside, hoping to find Barbara but no luck.
"She would have gone back for her car," Jessica tells Nancy who backs up and looks around the area. "Barb?! Barb!" she cries out but no answer.
Jessica steps away from the car. "Maybe she's still at Steve's?"
++++++
Jessica opens the gate leading into the backyard where the pool was. She and Nancy walk in, hearing the gate close behind them. It was eerily quiet as they scan the area around.
"Barb?" Nancy calls out.
Jessica cups her hands over her mouth, "Barbara!" she yells but still no answer. Jessica opens her mouth again but closes it as she hears faint rustling coming from the woods to the left of her.
Jessica turns around just as Nancy does, the two keeping their eyes on the woods. Jessica exhales and furrows her eyes when she noticed her breath become frosty. She lets out a small shiver, noticing how colder the air had just gotten. Nancy takes off towards the woods, Jessica following close behind since she didn't want anything to happen to her friend.
"Barb?" Nancy calls out. Jessica stands still but spins around when she hears the rustling noise again. "Barb?!"
Suddenly, a loud growling noise startles the two of them as they run towards each other clinging onto one another. "What the hell was that?!" Jessica exclaims as she saw something run by.
"I don't know but let's get out of here," Nancy tells her as the two girls run out of the woods with even more questions racing through their minds.
++++++
Jessica flips through a magazine while sitting on the couch. Her and Claudia were eagerly waiting for Dustin to return home. Never in his life has he ever stayed out this late. Jessica hears a noise and jumps, clutching the magazine to her chest.
"Sweetie, it's just Dustin coming home," Claudia tells her. Claudia then studies her daughter for a moment. Jessica had a panicked expression on her face. "Sweetie, are you okay?" Jessica tears her eyes away from the winnows and gulps. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
The front door bursts open and Dustin comes running in. "Dusty!" Claudia cries out but he ignored his mom and ran straight to his bedroom. Both Claudia and Jessica jump when Dustin's bedroom door slams. Mews jumps and runs into the kitchen.
"Mews, come back!" Claudia pleads as she chases after the cat. Jessica tosses the magazine onto the coffee table and stands up from the couch. She makes her way to Dustin's bedroom. She stood in front of the door and gently taps her knuckles against the wooden door.
"Dusty? It's me, Jess."
"GO AWAY!" Dustin sobs into his pillow.
Jessica sighs and pulls out a bobby pin. She kneels and inserts the bobby pin into the doorknob. She twists it around for a few seconds until she hears a click. She takes the bobby pin out and opens the door.
"You know I can't do that," She tells her brother who lifts his head up from his pillow. Instantly, Jessica becomes worried at the state her younger brother is in. "Dusty, what happened?" she asks, standing up and stepping into the room. Dustin jumps up from his bed and wraps his arm around her waist, crying onto her. Jessica immediately wraps her arms around him.
"They found his body," Dustin cries. "They found Will's body."
Jessica gasps and tightens her hold onto Dustin. Tears welled up in her eyes.
++++++
Light snores escape from Dustin's mouth as he lied in his bed. Jessica pulls the cover up, gently lying it down onto his body. She tiptoes out of the room. She shuts the lights off and closes the door, careful not to wake him up. Dustin had cried himself to sleep which broke Jessica's heart. She hated seeing him like this. He was too young to lose someone.
Byers' body was found in the water of this quarry earlier this evening.
Jessica's ears pick up on the audio of the news. She walks back into the family room to see her mom watching the news. Jessica leans against the wall.
It was discovered by state trooper David O'Bannon, just after dark. The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Byers' cause of death, but an initial inquiry...
Not being able to bear it anymore, Jessica pushes herself off the wall and heads to her room. She closes the door and leans her back against it. She let out a sob and sank to the floor. She along with the entire town had hoped that Will was only missing but he was truly gone.
Oh, God, Jonathan.
Jessica wipes her tears away before standing up. She grabs Steve's sweatshirt, slipping it on along with her sneakers and heads over to the window. She opens it and slips out into the night.
++++++
Should I stay or
Should I go now?
If I go, there will be trouble
And if I stay it will be double
So come on and let me know
Tears fall down Jonathan's face as he presses the headphones harder onto his ears. It was official, his little brother was gone. He wouldn't be able to give him rides anymore or show him the newest rock song that had come out.
No, instead he would be picking out a casket.
Jonathan suddenly hears tapping. Confused, he slips his headphones off and looks over at his window. There stood Jessica. She gives him a little wave. Jonathan climbs off his bed and walks over to the window. He opens it, allowing Jessica to climb in. He closes it as soon as she was in, not wanting the chilly November air to sneak in.
Jonathan turns to face Jessica, only to be met with a hug. Jonathan stands there as Jessica wraps her arms around him. "I'm so sorry about Will," she tells him as Jonathan broke down and sobs into her shoulder. He shakily wraps his arms around her.
Jessica could feel that her shoulder was becoming wet from Jonathan's tears but in that moment, it didn't matter. What mattered was being there for Jonathan, even if she was angry with him about the photo incident.
Remembering that Jessica was pissed at him, Jonathan drops his arms and steps back. "Why are you here?" he asked her a bit too harshly. "You made it very clear you were pissed at me at school." "That's all water under the bridge." she tells him. Jonathan stares at her. "Really?" Jessica nods.
Jonathan walks past her and lies back down on his bed. Jessica joins him, the two teens staring blankly up at the ceiling. Jonathan takes the headphones off his neck and turns the right ear cup outwards. He holds it out to Jessica who takes it and holds it against her left ear while Jonathan holds the other ear cup to his right ear.
They laid there in silence, listening to The Clash on repeat until both teens fell asleep.
[Published 7/21/19]
[Edited 5/31/22]