𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 ➤ 𝑹. 𝑩𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆𝒚

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎

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"𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜, 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙮"

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𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟗𝐭𝐡, 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲

𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐑 by no means believed herself to be a model daughter. Pretty enough to be one? She certainly thought so, if it weren't for her short stature she'd been unlucky enough to inherit from her grandmother. 

Both her parents were rather tall in her opinion, though she took that with a grain of salt, since she had to crane her neck look up to almost everyone. But when it came to rules, or traditions, or just anything that felt marginally limiting, well, she didn't pay it much mind, and her mother, Aminah, quickly became used to the abundance of detention slips (backchat, school dress code, maybe a fight once or twice), and eventually, only on the worst occasions, the school calling to threaten suspension.

That never happened of course, not with Jim Hopper parading around as the town sheriff, which he was and never let Valerie forget it, especially when he would stalk into the Hawkins School, uniform and all, with the addition of a pair of tinted aviators and a firm scowl. It was a magnificent sight, almost as good as the Principal's fear-stricken face as her father ushered her out the door. Despite the stern lecture she'd always receive, Valerie knew he was somewhat proud of her trifling delinquency. After all, in contrast to his law-abiding career, Jim Hopper had never been a stickler for rules himself.

Yet as she headed for Melvald's General Store, with the intention of picking up a new lock to replace the broken one on her mother's back door, Valerie found herself playing the part of the obedient, thoughtful daughter quite spectacularly. Truthfully, she'd left the door in poor state for weeks now, turning a blind eye to the inconvenience out of sheer laziness, but Aminah had discovered it earlier in the morning and asked her to purchase a replacement. 

Melvald's General Store was easily the first pick. Joyce worked there, her mother did too, but only on the occasional afternoon or evening shift, her main employment was at the local grocery store.

Aminah and Joyce's friendship dated back to their early years in high school, starting when the latter had offered her mother a joint in exchange for class notes — Joyce was regularly missing from school — in the end, Aminah refused the proposal, but gave her the information she wanted anyway, sparking the beginning of something beautiful. The girl definitely wasn't complaining though, Joyce had done nothing but fawn over her since the moment she'd been forced out into the world. She'd never had a daughter, and with two sons taking up a large majority of her time, she never thought she would, but there was always Valerie.

Parking the car and killing the engine, Valerie slid out of the driver's seat, slamming the door shut before racing out of the car-park.

"Joyce? Your favourite human is here!" she chirped, entering the shop and weaving through the aisles to reach the counter where her mother's best friend was situated, deeply immersed in a conversation with a tall, solid man in a sheriff's uniform.

"Bold of you to think you're human," Valerie's father replied, a mocking smile on his face as he greeted her. She rolled her eyes at him. Trust Jim Hopper to address his daughter so bluntly.