She had fallen in love with roses, the small buds allowing her imagination to spread wider than ever before, even when her head was buried in a dusty book. As her delicate fingers caressed the rich petals, button nose lifting to smell the sweet essence of the air around her - she could allow herself to dream. If she tried hard enough, she could still feel the brush of soft fingertips in her hair, a smile twisting on her lips as she recalled the gentle tone of her voice. She could almost picture the flower crowns that they would make together, pretending that they were little princesses as they danced around the garden - watering the roses as they twirled. It was her safe place, her secret sanctuary where her father would sometimes find her after many hours, scolding her for falling asleep in her favorite corner of the garden. But nothing else gave her the same sensation, the feeling like she was dancing on the edge of something wonderful.
But standing there now, she was left with a muddy mess. The stems were twisted around the wheels of the bike, thorns digging into each tire, broken fence laying in a heap. The tender petals that were usually painted with natural strokes of red, white and pink - were torn and splashed with wet mud, nothing more than a dirty mess on the ground.
"I'm sorry, kid."
She sniffed, shaking her head, "It's okay."
He ruffled her hair, wrapping a solid arm around her shoulders as she kept her eyes on her ruined garden. "It's okay to be upset, kid. I know how much they meant to you."
"T-They will grow back, right?" she whispered.
Hopper grunted, "They better, it's that delinquent's fault anyway."
She nudged her father affectionately, giving him a soft yet steady look, "He crashed his bike, Dad. He didn't mean to do it."
The chief curled his lip. "I don't trust him."
"He's going to take care of the garden for us...a-and fix the fence."
Hopper let out a long breath, smiling down gently at his daughter who withheld all of the sweetness of the flowers she liked to grow, "I will make sure he does a damn good job too, kid. I promise you that."
She giggled as he kissed her forehead.
But in her mind, as she stared down at the muddy mess of roses, she couldn't stop herself from thinking back to that moment. She hadn't meant to watch, she knew that her father had instructed her to stay inside, searching for whatever crashing noise they had both heard. She hadn't expected to look at the window, seeing a body on the ground next to a broken bike with a dented wheel - blood dripping down his face.
The stranger reminded her of a deer caught in the headlights - practically shaking with fear as her father yelled at him. She couldn't help but giggle to herself, cute, she thought. His dark hair was practically a wet mop, dripping down his face and getting caught in his eyes, starting to twist into tangled curls at the edges. Her curious gaze trailed down to his soaked clothing, thin shivering body covered by a raincoat, looking smaller than ever as he cowered away from the terrifying man. For a split second, she thought that his eyes trailed over to her window and although it could have been the trick of light, she hid behind the curtain quickly. When she gained the courage to peek outside yet again, her button nose pressed against the cold glass, warm breath leaving patterns, she couldn't help but smile. He was stood up, seeming taller and larger than life itself, mouth spitting fire back at her father almost like one of the dragons that she had seen in story books - but a lot less scary. He had his own spark, lighting up the garden with his words like a firework, and she didn't want the marvelous display to end.
Her father had come back seething, grabbing the boy by his collar, a display that made her gasp slightly in worry. But the bright firework was hardly fazed, spending his free time making rude faces behind the chief's back and rolling his eyes. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of them struggling down the road, her nose pressed up against the window as she strained to watch them - intrigued by the strange, damp boy.
...
"Come on, don't be such a pussy!" his friend moaned.
"I'm not being a-"
"He just doesn't want to get his ass kicked" his other friend teased, toothy smile wide as he nudged their paladin.
"I won't-"
"He's not so bad, you know. My Mom said that they went to high school together or something...pretty close, I think-"
Mike threw his hands up in the air, "Jesus, I don't know how she ever put up with him. He's just some grumpy old man who hates joy!"
"I told you, just skip it!" Lucas encouraged.
Max smirked. "Yeah, don't get your panties in a twist, Wheeler-"
"Would you shut up?" Mike huffed.
Lucas sighed, "Just come to the arcade with us, you know that we've had this planned for weeks. Someone has to dry and beat Dustin's high score on dig dug-"
"I did-"
"-someone other than Max, then."
Mike blew out a long breath, looking back at the small house before him. The chief didn't take great pride in his home, the path unclear and dirty, leading up to the front door that had many scratches. It was more of a cabin in the woods, old and complete with creaky steps leading up to the porch, a place where Mike often spotting him smoking. The house stood out in the neighborhood, more of a shack compared to the others, no visitors. The chief simply left every morning for work, slamming the door loudly behind him until it practically snapped off its hinges, before returning late every evening with a bag of food. The rose garden was different : neat and clipped to perfection, flourishing despite the common storms - as if someone was taking great care of it. He sighed before turning back to his friends, all waiting impatiently on their bikes for their monthly trip to the recently installed arcade.
"I don't know..." he mumbled, kicking the ground stubbornly, "I mean, he will get on my parent's backs if I don't turn up and start."
They all sighed, exchanging glances.
He sent them a strained smile, "The sooner I start, the sooner I get it over with...right?"
"Right" they echoed, "...see you."
A frustrated huff left his lips as he unlocked the back gate to the garden, finding the gloves and tools where the chief had described. He rolled his sleeves up, cursing at how stupid he looked with marigold gardening gloves, nose wrinkling at the smell of fertilizer. The roses looked as though they had been stomped into the ground, covered in soil, complete with ripped petals. He almost felt bad for a moment, but then his lip curled up at the thought of the asshole chief with the precious little rose garden - part of him tempted to ruin it further. But the morals that his mother had stitched into him overruled, a forlorn sigh escaping him as he started to dig up the ruined flowers, finding broken pieces of wood to put into the nearby red wheelbarrow. A throat cleared behind him and he rolled his eyes, turning around with a sigh to face the chief, the man hiding a shit-eating grin at the uncomfortable teenager covered in dirt.
"Glad to see you started" he nodded, lighting a cigarette.
Mike looked away, not replying.
"Well aren't you a chatterbox" Hop commented, sitting on the edge of the wheelbarrow to watch the struggling teenager, taking a long drag, "I'm glad you turned up at least. I wasn't sure if you would, knowing how you are."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mike snapped.
Hopper ignored his tone, standing up and stomping on his cigarette until it was laying on top of the dirt by Mike's feet. He smirked up at the teenager, "You missed something."
He gritted his teeth.
"Oh, and Wheeler?" the man turned around one last time before walking away, an amused smirk playing on his gruff face, "I wouldn't wear such nice clothes next time."
Mike looked down at his striped t-shirt and khaki trousers, frowning at the soil that was stained down the front, splattered on each item of clothing. He groaned quietly, his glove-covered hands starting to wipe down his clothes, the dark patches only getting worse. He looked up to see the chief salute him wickedly, before whistling under his breath on his way back into the house. He glared at his back, huffing as he gave up on the stubborn pieces of dirt.
"...asshole..." he muttered under his breath.
Something caught his eye - perhaps his very own inciting incident. All of his life, it felt like he had been waiting for something to happen, the plot twist in the story of his life which had been pretty uneventful so far. His friends could all have their own stories with multiple genres, all with their unique excellence within - but it felt as if Mike's own story hadn't even begun. The first time he got a glimpse of her, it was by accident. She was standing by the window but it took a while before he could even properly make her out, her height barely reaching past the wooden pane as if she couldn't be an inch over five-foot. Her own expression was frozen with surprise, doe eyes wide and lips parted, lips that were just like the rose buds beneath his feet. It was just a glimpse : a glimmer of curly hair with blonde tips like splashes of sunshine, a flash of her nose pressed against the glass before she spun behind the curtain to hide. He couldn't help but squint his eyes further, waiting for a moment as if she would appear again and before too long, she timidly returned. It had never felt like he had been searching for something until he found her, when it felt like the entire universe was finally slotting into place for him. He shivered at the warmth inside of his chest, wondering if she truly was his own inciting incident.
They just looked at each other for a moment, a sheepish smile on her face as if she was saying - you found me. Mike couldn't help but grin back at the pretty girl as if to say - yeah, I did.
xxx
This chapter was a bit more interesting - but next chapter is where they meet for the first time! I hope you're as excited as I am, so stay tuned! I wanted to upload the first couple of chapters at once so you could get a feel for the story, and then it will be continued as soon as possible, I promise! I'm super excited so far, and I hope you are liking it - please leave some feedback so I know what you think of it <3
~Jodie