"Immy, sweetheart, are you going to get up for school?" The sound of her mother's voice awoken the pounding in her head making her groan in complaint.
She knew why she was feeling shitty, and it was because she had a lot to drink the night prior.
The realization only hit her making her sit up straight in bed," Holy fuck" She spat out," How did I get home last night?!"
Claudia tilted her head confused," That nice young man brought you home"
"Oh" She responded as her mom walked out to get ready to leave for work, Claudia didn't say a specific name, so Imogen assumed it was Jonathan who brought her home.
Imogen looked at her nightstand at the red digits in her alarm clock, seeing that 1st period was already in session.
She debated on staying home, but she fought it and got out of bed walking to the restroom, only for her to stop seeing her brother still sleeping as well but littered in his Halloween candy wrappers.
She walked into his room shaking him, which got him to snap up and slam his head on her own," Mother—"
"Shit!" Dustin groaned holding his head and looking at his sister who was grumbling and holding her forehead
"Good morning Duffin," She said under her breath fighting the pain on her forehead," Are you going to sc— She was cut off to a loud screeching making her freeze and Dustin gulp looking at his reptile terrarium.
Imogen did not look back a little horrified at the sound," I know Yertle does not make that kind of noise" She said slowly as she looked at her brother's posture that changed to panic," If I turn my head and look at the Terrarium, am I going to see something I'm not supposed to?"
"Uh" He gulped drumming his fingers nervously," Maybe"
"If I look, am I going to regret it?"
"Yes" He nodded slowly
She sighed not turning her head," I am going to regret this" She mumbled shifting her gaze and gasped falling on her brother's bed," For the love of, Duffin what on earth is that!!"
"I found—him last night in our trash," He said carefully
"And you decided to evict Yertle and put him in there?!"
"Uh—yeah"
Imogen looked to the floor that was littered with Three Musketeers, and candy wrappers and furrowed her brow," You fed him Nougats?"
"Yeah D'artagnan loves it"
"Wait—what did you call him?"
"D'—Just call him Dart"
"What is it exactly?"
"It's complicated, I thought it was a Pollywog"
"A tadpole? So, a non-aquatic one?"
"That's the thing, there are only two, Indirana Semipalmata and Adenomera Andreae" He opened the book he had marked showing it to her.
"Those are from India and South America," She read then turned up to him," How did it end up in our trash?"
"I don't know, but the thing is he hates heat"
"Well that's new"
"That means I've discovered a new species"
Imogen just sighed patting her brother's head," Okay my nerdy brother, I bet you want to show him off to the guys, so why don't you get ready and I'll drop you off?"
"What about you? Wait—why are you home anyway?"
"Partying last night" Imogen got up from his bed," You have ten minutes, and I should be ready as well"
"Thank you, sis!"
"No problem Duffin"
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"Holy shit babe" Tina walked over to Imogen who was at her locker," You look like a hot ass mess"
"Thank you for the unnecessary commentary Christina"
Tina scrunched her nose," Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?
"Hangover at its finest" Imogen shut her locker turning to her the female," Sorry for ditching last night, I didn't even know I was brought home"
"It's fine" Tina waved her hand," I kind of knew you'd leave with what happened"
Imogen furrowed her brows in confusion looking at Tina," What happened?" when she asked that she was only aware of the stares and quiet mumbling around the hallways, all she knew was that they were about herself.
"What the fuck did I do?"
"More like what Byers did" Tina started folding her arms
"What that he took me home?"
Tina looked at her letting out a laugh, thinking she was joking, but immediately saw that was not the case," Babe, Jonathan took Nancy home, not you"
"Wait" Imogen raised her hand," Are you saying someone else took me home?"
"Yeah, it was Steve" Tina smirked," Way to go, stealing your man back"
"Hold o—Steve?!" She whispered yelled to Tina," No, my mom said the nice young—"
"Your mom who literally calls everyone nice?" Tina raised her eyebrow
Imogen ran a hand through her hair and looked at two females whispering to each other," Hey" She walked over to them," Cathy and Sydney, right?" She looked at the two who nodded intimidated by Imogen.
"What rumours have you heard about me?" She looked at them folding her arms both females sharing looks.
"Come on now, I'm not going to blame you two for whatever you probably heard. I know you both weren't at the party, since you're what? Sophomores?" She asked both nodding their heads.
"Y-yes" Cathy stuttered
Imogen sighed reaching over and putting a hand on their shoulders," I'm not trying to scare you both" She said carefully and softly," I just like to know what these rumours are, and see which ass I got to kick"
"I-I don't know who started it since we just heard from our classmates, but—" Sydney looked at Cathy who bobbed her head to continue," People are saying the King and Queen are back together after Byers forced a kiss on you to make Steve and Nancy jealous"
"King and—" Imogen furrowed her brows," As in King Steve and Queen Imogen?" The pair nodded their heads again for who knows how many times at this rate.
Imogen groaned pinching the bridge of her nose," Well, no that is not true" She stated and then turned to look at them," Tell everyone that is not true, far from it—and that Byers thing just say it was a drunk accident"
Tina lightly hit her shoulder whispering in her ear," What are you doing?" Imogen motioned her hand dismissing her and looking at the young females," Can you do that for me?"
"Sure" Cathy nodded walking away with Sydney who was pretty much fangirling over the fact that 'Queen Imogen' talked to them. A title that she despised.
"Imogen" Tina whined turning the girl to face her," Why did you do that? Don't you want Steve back?!"
Imogen scoffed," Says who exactly?"
"Says everyone and specifically you"
"Not a chance Tina, I am leaving this town, and I want nothing holding me back"
"Even if you love him?" Tina narrowed her eyes
"I don't" Imogen raised her voice unconsciously making her headache get worse," Sorry Tina, just—drop it okay?"
"Yeah—okay" She mumbled," I'm not really cut out for this whole mushy stuff"
"You're not, which is why I never talk about these things. I like going to you for the brute honesty, not for the sugar coating"
"I'm honoured?" Tina said confused making Imogen chuckle," Thanks for the effort Tina"
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"He left?" Imogen deadpanned at the random male she called out to from Jonathan's class
"Yeah, he was eating lunch with Wheeler and suddenly they both got into his car and left"
"Really? Steve just let her?"
The male tilted his head," You didn't hear? The both of them broke up, or well that's what people are saying, Marcus, saw them arguing in the alley next to the gym"
"I came late to school actually, so no I didn't hear it" She mumbled, "Thanks for letting me know, and if you see Jonathan, let him know I'm looking for him"
"Yeah sure thing"
"Well, I did tell him to make a move—but I still need to kick his ass later" Imogen mumbled to herself walking through the hallways.
"Do you usually talk to yourself?" The sound of the voice made her frown immediately wanting more than anything to block it out.
She only had some recollections of the bash, and she did remember Billy being extra persistent when she said no many times.
She looked up to Billy leaning on the lockers with his sunglasses over his eyes. She wanted to smack that smirk off his face," Hargrove" She stated in a hostile tone
"Blue Eyes" He reached out to her but she stepped back away from his hand," Touch me, and I will kick your ass Hargrove, and I mean it"
His amusement fell at her tone and turned to a scowl, he hated being rejected, and publicly as well," Don't do this to me Blue Eyes"
Imogen felt the chills run down her spine, feeling her skin crawl at his sudden mood change. She knew he was an asshole from the start, and she knew the mess of playing with something dangerous.
"We both knew that this" She motioned her hand to the pair of them," will never happen"
"So that's it? A kiss and run?"
"I'm not running Hargrove" Imogen narrowed her eyes," I'm just stating facts"
"I decide when I am done with this" Billy stepped forward," Not you" He reached over again, but his arm was smacked away making Imogen's eyes widen at who was standing in front of her.
"Well if it isn't King Steve?" Billy mocked stepping back," Taking your bitch back or what?"
"Excuse me—" Steve gently put her behind him more," Don't you dare call her that"
"Steve" Imogen hissed quietly placing her hand on his back
Billy laughed leaning on the lockers," What? Prefer me to call her the slut? I mean, I heard she sleeps around, even with that Byers guy"
She felt Steve flinch at the last part making her take in a breath, she pushed him to the side and glared at Billy," Who the fuck told you that?"
"Blue Eyes, the way you two were kissing last night, everyone could see you two know what lays under the clothes" Billy looked at Steve who had an unreadable expression, much to his satisfaction he took that as his cue to leave.
"Seems pretty boy here doesn't know huh? Well shit, that sucks" Billy laughed walking away feeling accomplished with leaving them in a mess.
"You and Jonathan?" Steve's voice cracked making Imogen tighten her fist
"Don't even start with this shit, Steve"
"It was true then? The argument years ago, you two weren't just friends" Steve glared at her
She let out a bitter laugh running a hand through her hair," No, that happened after you broke it off Steve, From the beginning, there was nothing between us when we were together. I never cheated, not once—but your trust in me was so slim that you would think so low of me"
"I couldn't help it Imogen" Steve lowered his hands he had folded," How could I trust you when you kept your pregnancy from me?!"
Imogen took in a breath folding her arms," How did you hear about that?"
"Carol told me—"
"Figures that bitch told you"
He looked at her lowering his voice "Was it a lie?" Imogen looked to the ground and bit her lip; it was not a lie. It was all true.
"We were only 16, Steve! How was I going to just tell my boyfriend that he got me pregnant?!"
"I could have helped!! I could have been there! But you kept it from me and only told Byers! How was I supposed to react to my girlfriend not telling me?!"
"How was I going to tell you that I foolishly lost our child?!" Imogen blurted out the words she never wanted to have to say again. She felt her chest tighten and her heart felt heavy. Even if she was not ready to be a Mom, it still damaged her entirely.
The deep secret she kept from him was not choosing to tell him she was pregnant—it was hiding the fact that her body rejected the baby.
"Imogen" Steve whispered," Immy" He watched her let out a breath, the start of her sobbing which soon enough, he had pulled her into his arms, guiding her to the empty audio room in the library.
He didn't speak for the first half-hour, letting her cry it all out. He was not sure if she ever had a moment to break down and let it all out," I should have been there from the start"