"Barb, pull over," Nancy instructed. "Pull over!"
Barb stopped the car and looked at Nancy, her face trying to hide her frustration. "What are we doing here?"
"His house is three blocks away," Kim pointed out from the back seat.
"We can't park in the driveway," Nancy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Are you serious?" Kim said, rolling her dark eyes.
"Yeah, the neighbors might see," Nancy said, fixing her makeup.
"This is so stupid," Barb shook her head. "I'm just going to drop you off. Kim, you want to go get ice cream or something?"
"I would rather do just about anything than go to Steve Harrington's party," Kim replied.
"Just calm down, you guys," Nancy said. "You both promised that you'd go, so you're coming. We're gonna have a great time."
"He just wants to get in your pants," Barb exclaimed exasperated with her friend's stupidity.
"No he doesn't," Nancy denied, even though everyone in the car knew Barb was right.
Kim sat forward, leaning over the center console. "Barb, Nance is a big girl, she can make her own decisions. But, Nancy, I know Harrington. He's just gonna do it with you and then leave you because he's a total asshole."
"He wouldn't do that," Nancy said defensively.
Kim sighed and plopped back down in the back seat, knowing she wasn't going to get Nancy to listen to her.
"And besides," Nancy went on. "Tommy H and Carol are gonna be there."
Barb scoffed. "Tommy and Carol have been having sex since, like, seventh grade. It'll probably be, like, a big orgy."
"Gross," Nancy and Kim said at the same time.
"I'm serious," Barb laughed at their scrunched up faces.
"You guys can be, like, my guardians, alright?" Nancy started wiggling out of her sweet, innocent sweater and something a bit more fitting for a party. "Make sure I don't get drunk and do anything stupid."
Kim rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, let's go to a party and be chaperones, sounds like so much fun."
Barb laughed at her friend's sarcastic comment before looking at Nancy and rolling her eyes. "Is that a new bra?"
•••••
The group of teens sat outside Steve's house by his pool. Kim had so many memories here from when they used to be friends. The two of them having contests of who could to the better cannonball, who could hold their breath longer, and stupid games of maco polo with kids neither of them had talked to in years.
Steve sliced a hole through his beer can and shotgunned it, trying to impress his friends. Kim and Bard traded a look before rolling their eyes, something they had been doing a lot since Nancy had started dating Steve.
"Is that supposed to impress me?" Nancy asked.
"You're not?" Steve asked. In the past, every girl had practically swooned after he did that.
"You are such a cliche, you do realize that?" Nancy laughed at him.
"You are a cliche," Steve replied, lighting up his cigarette. "What with your grades and your band practice."
"I'm so not in band!" Nancy giggled.
"Okay, party girl. Why don't you just show us how it's done then?" Steve said, passing a beer and a knife to Nancy.
"Okay," she smirked standing up so it would be easier.
"You gotta make a little hole right in-" Steve started to explain.
"I got it," Nancy smiled at him.
"Yeah, she's smart, you douche!" Tommy laughed, his arm wrapped around Carol.
Nancy poked a whole in the can before bringing it to her mouth and drinking as fast as she could. When she finished, she dropped the can to the ground and threw her hands in the air, surprising everyone that she had been able to do it.
Kim dug through her coat pocket for a lighter before remembering she had left it at home like an idiot. Steve, seeing her expression and knowing her all too well, tossed her his lighter. "Thanks," she muttered, lighting up her cigarette. She hated how he still knew her so well.
"Barb, you wanna try?" Nancy asked her friend.
"What? No," Barb said quickly. "No, I don't want to. Thanks."
"Come on," Nancy smiled, walking closer to her friends.
"Nance, I don't want to," Barb whispered, feeling embarrassed as the rest of the group started to jeer at her.
"Just shut up," Kim snapped after taking a drag. "She doesn't want to do it."
"It's fun!" Nancy encouraged, trying to ignore Kim. "Just give it a shot."
Barb rolled her eyes but felt like she had something to prove now. She stood up, hands shaking as she tried to poke a hole like Nancy had. The knife slipped and she cut her hand, gasping in pain.
"Shit," Kim whispered, stamping out the cigarette and rushing Barb to where she knew the bathroom would be. "You didn't have to do that, you know," she told her friends as she put pressure on the cut.
"I hate this," Barb muttered, wincing as her friend whipped away the blood. "We should just go home."
"Yeah, okay," Kim nodded. "I'll go tell Nance. Try and stop the bleeding, okay?" As Kim started to walk back down the hallway, she bumped into Steve.
"Hey, is she okay?" he asked, sounding actually worried.
"Yeah, she's fine," Kim said, trying to push past him. "Could you move?"
He sighed, moving out of her way before realizing he wanted to talk to her. He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her back over to him. "I'm sorry, Kimmy. About everything that happened. I shouldn't have just ditched you like that."
She rolled her eyes, trying to ignore how close they were. "You think I'm still mad about all that? I'm not. I'm over it," she lied.
"Oh," he said, letting go of her and not knowing what else to say. "Cool." He stood there for a second, watching her walk back outside.
"Barb and I are gonna leave, okay?" she whispered to Nance, trying not to let Tommy and Carol hear.
"Oh, okay," Nancy said, surprised that they weren't having as much fun as she was.
Kim tried to smile, wanting Nancy to know she wasn't mad at her. "If he doesn't ask for consent, I'll beat his ass."
Her eyes went wide as she laughed. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind. See you and Barb tomorrow."
The two girls smiled at each other again before Kim went back inside to check on Barb. "You haven't bled to death in there, right?" Kim joked as she knocked on the bathroom door.
"Oh no," Barb laughed. "Definitely dying in here."
Kim chuckled as she walked into the bathroom and helped Bard finish wrapping her hand. The two girls had just made sure they had everything they came with and were about to leave when they heard footsteps on the stairs.
"Nance!" Barb called out to a soaking wet Nancy. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere," Nancy said quickly. "Just upstairs to change. I fell in the pool. You guys can go, Kimmy told me you wanted to leave. I'll just-I'll get a ride or something."
"Nance—" Barb started to say.
"Barb," Nancy said back, a large smile on her face. "I'm fine."
"This isn't you," Barb said quietly.
Kim didn't want to say it, but she thought Barb was right. The Nancy Wheeler she was friends with would never had stayed with a stupid boy after her one of her best friend had sliced her finger open.
"I'm fine," Nancy repeated. "Just go ahead and go home, okay?" Nancy ran up the stairs to Steve's room, leaving her two best friends in the entryway.
"Come on," Barb sighed. "Let's go back to the pool now that it's just the two of us. I don't really want to leave Nancy here alone with them."
The two friends sat in comfortable silence on the edge of the heated pool, their bare feet dangling in the warm water. Kim looked up at Steve's window and quickly looked away when she saw Nancy without a shirt on. Kim hated how Steve could make her feel different than any other boy ever had. She shook her head, reminding herself that he was Nancy's boyfriend and that Nance deserved to be happy.
"Hey, I'm going to go to the bathroom," Kim said. "You want to leave after that? I don't think Nancy will be coming back any time soon."
"Yeah, sure," Barb nodded, splashing her feet in the water. "I guess we should probably head home."
Kim stared at herself in Steve's bathroom mirror, trying to make her face look like she was fine. Unable to force her features into a convincing smile, she sighed and went back out to find Barb. Her brow furrowed as she looked around the pool area, Barb nowhere in sight. "Barb?" she called out. "Barb are you still here?"
Not getting a reply, Kim sighed and decided to just walk home. As she walked down the dark street, she kicked at the rocks on the sidewalk, seeing how far she could kick it before it landed in the road. She sighed as she looked down at her favorite shirt, now stained with Barb's blood in some spots. As she continued to walk home, she started feeling like something was watching her, the same way she had felt when she had found Eleven in the woods. She hoped the poor kid was okay and that Mrs. Wheeler had helped Eleven find her parents or someone who cared about her.
The sound of crunching leaves across the street made her stop in her tracks, listening for the sound again. Her heart started to pound in her chest as she started walking, faster than before. She mentally screamed at Barb for leaving her at Steve's without a way home. She heard a small growling sound from across the street again and broke out into a run, knowing she was close to home.