𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 1
𝘚𝘶𝘻𝘪𝘦, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺?
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It was summer 1985, and our heroine had graduated, gotten into college, and spent one of the best summers of her life. Accompanied, of course, by her knight in shining armor, Steve Harrington.
Dustin had left for camp almost a month ago... And if Evelyn was being honest, she missed him like crazy, but, that wasn't going to stop her from having the time of her life.
During the summer, Evelyn found herself spending a lot of time with her favorite redhead. Although some may say it was weird for her to hang around teens, the bond these two shared was something no one could ever understand.
They thought of each other as the sister they never had.
In addition to that, a mall had opened two months ago in Hawkins, Indiana. Something Evelyn never thought to be possible, knowing the town's unusual history.
Another thing she really enjoyed about Starcourt mall was the fact that Steve had been working there for the summer. He had gotten a job at Scoops Ahoy, an ice cream parlor she now frequented daily.
Evelyn had also gotten herself a job for the holidays, working at Hawkins community pool wasn't glamorous, but her family needed the money for her college tuition. Her mom's wage being the only one in the household had been enough for the past eighteen years, but tough times were approaching and helping her mom was the least Evelyn could do.
While driving down the same road she had driven for the past two months, Evelyn sang along whatever song was on the radio, she could see Starcourt mall getting closer and closer. She sped into the parking lot and parked near the entrance, where she could see a few familiar faces waiting impatiently for someone to show up.
Waving her hand at the group of teens, she planted herself in front of the party. "Whoa!!? No need to jump of excitement for my presence!" sarcasm left her lips as she watched the disappointment in their expressions.
Max was the first one to answer her remark, "Mike and El are late again, they just told us they're going to be 10 minutes late".
El and Mike had been spending all summer together, and as much as Evelyn loved love, being late a couple of times was one thing but, this was getting out of hand.
The girl looked at the three pissed off teenagers in front of her, with a "you guys know what I'm about to say" look.
"Well if-" "don't worry Ev, as long as you meet us at the entrance on time, we'll be okay", her sentence was abruptly interrupted by Will, who, just like the other two people standing beside her, already knew what was about to come out of her mouth.
"Are you sure?" she reassured, feeling kinda guilty for leaving them there waiting on the young boy. "Yes! Just go see your corny boyfriend and go do corny things with him".
Lucas's disgusted expression was enough for her to make her way through the big doors into the ginormous building, making a beeline for the familiar ice cream parlor.
A mop of brown silky hair looked up at the sound of the bell ringing in his ear. "Jesus Christ, would you stop hitting that damned thing!".
Steve shut his mouth when his girlfriend entered his peripheral view.
"Nu-huh, I don't think so, you actually owe me some ice cream sailor" she walked closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Do I?.. Oh, I do! I do". Steve's voice cracked as he realized what she actually meant.
Grabbing his hand and laughing at his late realization, she dragged him towards the back room, where they would hang out in his breaks.
Seeing the bored expression of Steve's coworker, Robin, when they walked in the room, made her very eager boyfriend speak up.
"Hey Robin... I'm taking a five-minute break, those little kids that keep asking for samples are annoying the hell-" "Yeah whatever you say, but you owe me Harrington" Robin cut his excuse off, standing up and going to the front part of the store, but not before turning around and winking at us.
Not even three minutes after the door closed, a ringing sound echoed through the store.
"Hey lovebirds!! Your children are here!" Robin's voice made Steve step away from his girlfriend to open the back room window.
"Again? Seriously?"
Evelyn opened the door to the back room for the teens to come through and started leaving with them.
"Come on Ev! We haven't even-" Steve started to complain, not acknowledging the five other people in the room with them.
"Please don't finish that sentence" it was Lucas who spoke up, stopping Steve from scaring their poor little teen minds for eternity.
"Look, I'm sorry! I will see you tomorrow, okay?" the eighteen-year-old looked at her boyfriend while opening the door to the hallway and ushering the kids in. Steve knew his girlfriend was set on going to the movies with the party and would not break, so he just gave in.
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow".
As the rest of the group started rushing towards the theater, Evelyn stayed behind and pecked the long haired boy in the lips. But in all luck, the moment was cut short by the girl pulling away and walking backwards to catch up with the rest.
"I swear, if anybody hears about this-" "WE'RE DEAD!" the unsuccessful warning was interrupted by the teens answering simultaneously. The blonde haired girl turned around to wink at her boyfriend.
"Love you!" Those words warmed the sailor's heart, and as corny as it sounds, he would never get tired of hearing them.
"Love you more!".
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THE MOVIE THEATRE was busting with people, and the party got there just in time for the start of Day of the dead. Evelyn sat in between Will and Max, trying to get all the snacks she had snuck in for everyone, without making a sound.
"See Lucas? We made it" Mike's whispers could be heard from one side to the other, trying to prove a point to Lucas.
The dark skined boy did not give up easly.
"We missed the previews" "still made it, fart face" Max fought Lucas's words back, and if the older teen was being honest they were getting on her last nerve.
"The three of you, shut up". A random stranger in the background shushed the girl, before she could turn around and shush them back, so instead, she stared daggers into the big screen.
As everyone passed the snacks Evelyn had brought, the lights and the movie turned off, making every person in the room groan. The atmosphere of the theater felt cold to the skin for about sixty seconds, which is how much time passed before the light decided to come back, turning the movie theater in to a cheering festival.
The audience kept cheering and clapping, but Will had started to feel a bit off, going to touch the back of his neck, he was stopped by a voice that brought him out of it.
"Will? You okay over there?" the concern and worry in Evelyn's voice was clear to the teen boy, so, not wanting to make a big deal out of a little weird feeling, he blew it off.
"Yeah, of course" he lied nodding his head along with the answer, but to Evelyn he didn't seem very confident about his response, so she just smiled back at him.
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AFTER DROPING EACH and every one of the kids at their respective homes, an exhausted Evelyn Henderson went home.
The next day, she woke up to sunshine in her face and a piercing noise ringing through her ears.
As she turned off her alarm clock, she recalled the events of the day prior to that one, Steve, the movie, the blackout, but something seemed to be very present in her thoughts.
Will.
She wondered what had happened to him or what had gone through his head, for him to turn that white.
She stared at her reflection in the mirror for a while, still thinking about what happened in that theater, when a knocking sound took her out of her trance. Turning to where the noise had originated from, she could see the morning face of one Steve Harrington.
Reaching to open her window, he climbed in whilst trying to make no noise, which knowing himself, had to be stealthy like a ninja.
"What are you doing here? It's like... 7 am, Steve." A yawn came out of her mouth right after she spoke, which proved that she had had the worst sleep of her life.
"Well, I'm going off to work, and I thought why not drop by and see my lovely girlfriend?" The girl looked through her stuff for her uniform as he talked, agreeing with everything he was saying, sometimes not even hearing what he was rambling on about.
"Aha!" Steve stopped his speech about how Robin was annoying and how she wouldn't stop mentioning Evelyn every chance she got, to look at the girl in front of him holding a red swimsuit and a pair of white shorts.
"So... What do you think?" If Evelyn was being honest, she didn't really know what in the hell he was asking about, only four hours off sleep do that to a person. "I think... That I should go to work, because I'm doin the morning and afteroon shift, and if I'm late again I won't be able to pick Dustin up from camp" he stared at her with a blank expression, as though he had been waiting for a different answer.
She looked back at him, feeling kind of bad that she blew his question off, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him close.
"And as for what I think about what you were rambling on about, I think you should relax and take a step back, Harrington" he suddenly felt surprised by the use of his last name, instead of his first name.
"Just talk to her and tell her she is way too cool and nice for you" hearing her laugh made him realize she was joking around and brought a smile to his face.
"If you think she's so great, why don't you date her?" a challenging grin appeared on Evelyn's face as he returned the joke.
"Actually I've tried... But I have this big smiley boy stuck to me, you know?" Steve smiled like a fool at her words, getting distracted enough for her to grab her back and head outside to her car.
Just like a lost puppy, Steve sprinted after her to say his goodbyes.
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THE FIRST THREE HOURS of the day Evelyn spent at the pool were the worse hours of her life.
She had to sit on a chair, under the morning sun, watching old people get burned, kids fall and cry, and to top it off she had to go help them.
Actually, if there is anything worse than all of those things, it might be a minor, insignificant detail that does not at all affect the narrative.
Billy. Fucking. Hargrove.
Billy had had started working at Hawkins community pool three weeks after Evelyn got hired. If she had known he would be her new coworker, she would have applied for a job at the Gap, which now, seemed like the right choice.
But unfortunately, Evelyn and Billy would cross paths sometimes even several times a day, which for Evelyn, was a silent torture.
Just like that morning.
As she collected her things from the lifeguard stand, she could feel everyone turn to look at something, which is why, even though she knew she would regret it, she turned her head just like the rest of the people present.
"Morning, Henderson" Evelyn was met with the grinning face of Billy right as she turned around.
"Hi Billy, how is working for the devil going?" That joke had been brought up all summer by the eighteen-year-old lifeguard, in all honesty, Billy was starting to warm up to it.
Staring each other down, with very different purposes, Evelyn could feel a bit of hope in him, she could see in his eyes that at least he was trying to be nice.
Which, after what happened the year prior, was very much strange.
She walked past him towards the staff changing rooms, but her name being called made her stop and looked at the caller.
"See you later" Billy nodded his head in a friendly way, which in all possible ways, blew the girl's mind.
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EVELYN'S YELLOW CAR traveled the road back to Hawkins from her first destination with a familiar passenger by her side.
"This is gold leader, returning to base, do you copy? Over" Dustin repeatedly spoke to his walkie, recieving no answer from the other end.
"This is gold leader, returning to base, do you copy, over." The silence in the car grew thick, as the curly haired boy scoffed angrily at the lack of response from his friends. Evelyn looked at her little brother from the side of her eye, trying to not take the damned machine and throw it out the window.
"I repeat: this is gold leader, returning to base, do you copy? Over".
Still. No answer.
"I repeat: this is goddamn gold leader-" "Dustin!" The teenage girl rose her voice at the sound f her brother's angered words, cutting off stopping whatever was about to come out off his mouth.
"What?!" Dustin abruptly turned to stare at his sister, who looked back at the road as if nothing had happened.
"Relax! For goodness sake" Evelyn wondered why her brother was being so aggravating about this stupid little thing. Dustin was an expresive person, but sometimes he over reacted to miniscule isssues.
In fact, that awareness of the world around him, had saved them several times before.
"I'm in range. They should be answering" The hope in her brother's voice, made Evelyn's heart sink. "You've been away the whole month Dusty. Maybe, just maybe, they decided to have fun and not wait home for you to call".
The girl's conclusion wasn't reasonable enough for the teenage boy to calm down, so she turned she could feel his dumbfounded expression staring daggers through the side of her face as she drove downn the smooth road.
A tiny smirk grw on her face, knowing that he had no clue off what was waiting for him at home.
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AFTER DROPPING HER ANGSTY BROTHER at their house, Evelyn drove herself to the mall, impatient to see one Steve Harrington once more that day.
"Ooh Purdue! Fancy" As she walked towards the ice cream parlor a familiar voice rang through her ears.
Unable to avoid listening in the akward conversation, she saw a brown head of curls standing in front of her boyfriend, one she very much recognised.
"Yeah, you know... I considered it, mostly because my girlfriend is going there in the fall".
The two girls, looked at him feeling kind of bad for the guy trying to lie to their faces. "Purdue, but then I was like, you know what? I really think I need some real-life experience, you know, before I hit college, see what it feels like. Kinda like, uh, I don't know... See what is like to earn a working-man's wage , you know, uh...".
Evelyn knew how much not getting into college had affected her boyfriend, but not to the point where he felt like he had to prove himself to random strangers. As she watched him struggling to stop the beeping register, she decided to step into the scene and stop him from the further embarrasment he was putting himself through.
"Anna! Hey, how are you?" the brown skined girl turned her heard to be met by the smiling face of the blonde she had seen during a campus visit at Purdue.
"Oh my god, Evelyn! I'm great! How's everything?" Steve's eyes went wide at the sight of his girlfriend greeting a girl he had never met before, and totally had just embarrassed the hell out of himself in front of.
Standing there while the girls chatted, Steve thought about the future, and how things were gonna drasticly change when the summer was over.
Not noticing the two girls walking away from the register, Evelyn broke Steve out of his trance, with a worried look in her eyes.
The girl wanted to say something to reassure her boyfriend that everything was going to be fine, but before she could say a word, the window to the back room opened wide, and a proud Robin stood there with a drawn in whiteboard.
"And another one bites the dust." The board read you rule/ you suck, and little lines were drawn into each of the sides. "You are oh-for-six, Popeye".
Evelyn was left standing there looking more confused than ever, moving her eyes between the two coworkers.
"Yeah, yeah. I can count".
The blonde's feet moved to stand behind the counter nex to the boy, who honestly looked kind of insulted.
"What the hell are you guys doing?" Both of their eyes darted to the voice coming from besides them, at a weirded out Evelyn.
"I have been recolecting really important data for the last twenty-four hours" Robin's input to the situation diddn't really add anything to the equation. Seeing the still puzzled expression on the other girl's face, she explaiened further along.
"I have been counting how many people Mr. Hair, here, can scare away just by one conversation"
Evelyn stood there, understanding the situation but wondering why these two idiots chose to spend their time this way.
"Humph." The sailors looked back at the bewildered girl, in expetance of more than just a shrug of shoulders.
"Humph?" Steve questioned his girlfriend's answer, trying to break her for her opinion, wich is exactly what he wanted in the first place.
In all honesty, the blonde enjoyed their undenied attention, and their want for her judgement, which was very flattering in a way.
"I mean I get it. But, a white board, seriously? You could fill up like... like a diary or somethin" The girl looked at the two underpaid workers, realizing she had started rambling, which knowing her could carry on till' the sun was down.
Robin decide to break the silence, with a thud of the whiteboard hitting the cold marble.
"Anyway.. You know that means you suck" she concluded, directing her statement towards the brunette boy in front of her.
Turning from his girlfriend, Steve reluctantly eyed the board. "Yeah, I can read too".
"Since when?" Rolling his eyes at her snarky comment, he walked forward and rested his hands on the white counter. "It's this stupid hat, I am telling you It's totally blowing my best feature".
Their voices suddenly became mumbles as Evelyn started to drift off from the conversation, watching a group of teenage girls approach the ice cream parlor Steve lowered his voice as he spoke to Robin, not realizing that his girlfriend wasn't listening to the conversation anyway.
"Hey, twelve o'clock". The sudden movement of the pair looking over to the front of the shop, broke Evelyn out of her trance.
"Oh God". Realizing they were actual costumers, she stepped aside leaving the actual workers to do their job, when a sailor hat was placed upon her head.
"You know what, screw company policy." Steve felt more forward than ever, so he grabbed his girlfriend by the waist and planted a kiss on her cherry lips.
A stunned Evelyn was left standing, as her boyfriend turned around to greet the costumers. She took off the hat and threw it like a Frisbee for Robin to catch it in the air with two hands.
Walking backwards towards the exit of the store, she looked at thee short-haired girl, and winked her goodbye "bye Robin". The blush creeped upon the younger girl, as Evelyn turned her feet to face the door.
Not forgetting about her boyfriend, she stooped right by the exit, and smoothly turned her head.
"I love you" Those three magical words made his attention on the costumers he was currently attending disappear, making him drop the change all over the floor. He stopped and stared at the girl walking out of the parlor with a look that could melt every single sundae in the store.
"Love you more".
The girls in front of him watched the interaction with dove eyes, thinking the moment was too sweet to break, and making the sailor tremendously blush at their reactions.
"You girls want anything else? Maybe... banana boat? Four people, four spoons? No, anybody?".
And just like that, the moment was gone.
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AS EVELYN DROVE her car onto the driveway, a bunch of teenagers barged through her front door.
"Hey Ev, very convenient that you're here. I need a favor". Dustin opened the passenger door and jumped in the car before his sister could utter a word.
"Dustin, I have to get back to work. What do you want?" The simple thought of doing anything crazy, made Evelyn feel as if a train had ran her over fifty times, in a row.
The rest of the party climbed to the backseat, Lucas joining Dustin in the front seats. "Ugh! Guys, please be careful I just cleaned the car!".
"Okay mom!" Looking back at the back seat, she slapped Mike's foot of the front seat.
Turning back to her brother, she stared daggers into his eyes, 'till he finally got the message.
"Just drive!" Stepping on the gas pedal, all the passengers in the back seat screamed bloody murder for her to slow down.
"That's what happens when you piss me off".
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TURNING A CORNER leading to a big open field that turned into a hill, the older girl stopped the engine and kicked everyone off the vehicle. The group stared at her as if waiting for her to make a move or something.
"Oh, I'm not driving you up there." All eyes went wide at the realization that they would have to walk under the hot summer sun. Lucas went to speak, when the blonde interrupted him.
"And! Before you guys start yelling, I am NOT, I repeat I am NOT hiking all the way up there, to speak to some girl that Dustin has probably made up, no offense Dusty." The Henderson boy looked at his sister with offended eyes and an exaggerated expression.
"Here's what's gonna happen; I'm gonna go to work and I'm gonna try to not drown myself in the pool by the hour" Nodding their heads along to her statement, the teens didn't dare to speak a word, in fear of being murdered by their older friend.
Taking a deep breath, Evelyn turned the radio on, as The power of love, from that new movie that was playing in the mall, started playing in her car.
"You guys are gonna climb this damn hill, and if you need anything, and by that I mean someone braking their arm type of situation, you can reach me on the walkie, copy that?" There was a silent group agreement, as Evelyn turned the engine back on.
"Have fun, and don't die!". The party stared as the car drove away in direction toward Hawkins community pool, where, as always she was running late.
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FROM WHAT SHE HAD LEARNED in her 18 years of life, Evelyn had gathered the three most disgusting things one could ever witness. A big flower faced monster that feeds of people, a herd of rabid dogs that attacked her boyfriend on a Thursday night, and the worst of them all.
Billy Hargrove flirting with Karen Wheeler, forty-something, mother of three and last but not least, married.
It was quite the sight to see, Evelyn could sense the sexual tension between the teen and Mrs. Wheeler from the other side of the pool, where she was teaching some kids how not to drown.
As Billy looked around the pool blowing his whistle a couple of times, he found himself watching the young lifeguard instruct her swimming students, he thought about how maybe, if he hadn't been such an asshole to her, they might have ended up being friends.
Feeling the presence of someone looking at her, Evelyn gave the pool a quick scan, before landing her eyes on Billy, who immediately looked away from her. She wanted to let it go, but her gut told her that it wasn't something she could ignore.
As she finished the class, she dried herself with the intention of speaking to him, but his intention was rather opposite to hers. He focused his energy on walking towards Karen Wheeler, who was just getting out of the pool.
Evelyn gathered her stuff and headed to the staff's locker rooms, but unfortunately for her, she had to go through what seemed to be a very intense conversation between the odd pair first.
Tapping Mrs. Wheeler on the shoulder, was not the way she would have ever approached this, but let's be honest, this was a weird exception.
"Evelyn! So nice to see you! How are you? How's your mom?" A smile appeared on the older woman's face, as her shoulders visibly relaxed, from the sight of the girl.
Billy, locked eyes with the girl in a "worst timing ever" way, and plastered a fake smile on his face.
"We're great! I was just reminding you that Holly is done with the class and I'm pretty sure she went that way" It seemed that this awkward conversation was full of forced smiles and fake laughter, considering the face Evelyn made as she pointed in the other direction.
The woman went on her quest to find her daughter, waving the girl goodbye. Evelyn turned her head to find a standing Billy still in the same place he was a minute ago.
"Look, I don't know what that was, but It's probably not right. You should be careful with what you do Billy, it could ruin people's lives." She walked past him with her previous destination in mind, not realizing that he jogged up to her side.
The boy thought about his earlier contemplation, and the words he just heard come out of her mouth. "I know you're a good person or whatever, but what I do, is non of your business".
It would be a lie if Evelyn said that she didn't expect his reaction, in fact she didn't expect anything else, she just hoped that somehow, in that asshole brain of his, there was an ounce of humanity left. She was wrong, there wasn't.
Ignoring Billy, Evelyn reached the locker room door. "You know what Billy, I'm too tired today to even try to pretend to stand you, so if you don't mind, I will be going." The look on his face didn't say much, but a part of him saddened at her words.
"Enjoy yourself".
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WHEN EVELYN LEFT Hawkins community pool it started getting dark outside, and all the families left along with her. She sang along to the words of We built this city by Starship, as she drove home in her beat up yellow Toyota.
Lying down had never felt so good for Evelyn, she felt exhausted, and she just wanted to sleep. Just as she was starting to drift off to sleep, the sound of a telephone interrupted her good night's sleep.
Reluctantly standing up, she brought the red chunky phone to her ear. "Hello?".
"Hey Ev, It's Steve" Her brain started working again as she heard the boys voice, suddenly remembering that it was indeed her boyfriend who was disturbing her resting time.
"Why are you calling me, I was trying to sleep!" A scoff was heard from the other line, making her comment sound a little rude. "Well, I don't know, maybe I am a caring boyfriend that cares about his beautiful girlfriend, and was wondering how her day went".
Hearing the sarcasm in his tone, she realized that she might have been a bit to harsh at first, but who can blame her, engaging with a tired Evelyn was like walking into a room full of wet Gremlins.
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'm tired, alright?". Steve knew his girlfriend very well, therefore he was fully aware of her lack of sleep crankiness. He also knew, that a rant was coming his way.
"And about my day, it started off great! But then, Dusty made me drive him and the rest of the kids to High top, meaning I had to drive double, which made me late, again. And then Billy-".
"Woah, woah, woah, slow down tiger, you're gonna suffocate" Steve stopped her impressively fast ranting, leaving him wondering what actually happened with Billy.
"Look, I really need to go to sleep. Tomorrow's my day off, so why don't I stop by the mall, and I give you full details and all that jazz".
Even though he was still curious, he agreed with the girl to let her have some rest, cause God knows how she gets when she's sleep deprived.
"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, love you" The blondes yawn let him know that she was falling asleep as she spoke. "Love you more".
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ABOUT HALF AN HOUR LATER, Evelyn slept soundly in her bed, unaware of her radio going off like a firecracker.
"Ev, Evelyn! Code red, I repeat this is a CODE RED!" What Dustin didn't know was that his sister wasn't waking up anytime soon.
He was gonna need some backup.
HELLO! I am back from the dead, and the new season has inspired me to rewrite these first few chapters and continue posting as much as school lets me.
I have a few drafts that need finishing, and I'm rewriting the ones that are already out as I speak, but know that I'm going to try to at least finish this book.
Just as a side note, I'm changing this book to be in 3rd person, because I felt the 1rst person didn't really fit my style of writing no longer. I have worked really hard on this first chapter, that's kinda why it took so long to update.
So... I hope you stay safe, are healthy and enjoy the book!
April <3