𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 ; 𝘛𝘦𝘥 𝘹 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯 ✗

𝟒.

1986
( Nancy )

Personality wise, if Mike was a good liar with a bad attitude and Holly was a manipulative spawn of Satan, then Nancy was the slutty free-spirit of the group. Her only priority being to have a good time whenever she could. With this new carefree attitude, Nancy became extremely rebellious to make up for the years of Karen trying to keep her as the perfect role model for her siblings.

Her excessive affection was nice at first, their relationship blossoming into something beautiful. Something open and honest. However, it quickly became about her. Karen not being able to decide between wanting Nancy as her second sister and wanting to live through her.

So she chose both.

Whenever Nancy would be doing her homework, Karen would be right on top of her, gushing about how smart she was and trying to get her daughter to teach her things she hadn't remembered, way too pretty to be the smart girl in high school. Whenever Nancy wanted to go out with her friends, Karen would always tag along. Pretending to be one of the girls and wanting to know all of the gossip. Whenever Nancy would go to school, Karen would be there holding her hand, walking her inside. She even had the audacity to talk to Nancy's classmates, asking them how Nancy behaved. And no matter how many times Nancy told her to stop, that she was humiliating her, Karen would overstep even more boundaries, until one day, Nancy couldn't take it anymore.

It was homecoming, Nancy somehow getting a date despite her overbearing mother. His name was Jonathan Byers, a quiet kid who was decent looking, although once upon a time, Nancy would've thought she could do better. But now, her mother had ruined all of her chances at popularity. She was a loser, Jonathan was a loser, they were perfect for each other.

Of course Karen had to chaperone the school event, dressing up as if she was actually attending it. Her outfit and makeup completely outdid Nancy and most of the girls there, gaining a lot of attention from the male audience. Hearing that your mother was hot every five minutes wasn't ideally how Nancy wanted to spend her time. At least Karen hadn't done anything embarrassing, until in true Karen Wheeler fashion, she did.

The homecoming court ballots were being counted, the winner being announced a few moments later. As a joke, some of the jocks decided to put Karen in the running, and she ended up winning Queen out of 20 girls. Nancy could feel her blood boil as they placed the crown on her mother's head, Karen smiling wide. And her speech was the worst of it, the woman speaking into the microphone with glee. She said, 'Nancy, I know you probably wanted to win this but it's ok, not everyone can be popular. At least I got it! After this we can go to the store and get you another crown and even a sash! How does that sound?'

The entire gym burst out into laughter, Nancy officially mortified. She ran away, her heart beating rapidly with betrayal. This event caused the girl to have a week long mental breakdown, cutting her hair, destroying her room, tormenting her mother in her sleep, self harm, even a full fledged suicide attempt. All because of Karen and her antics, Nancy felt like the only way to get Karen out of her life was to end it. And when she didn't die, it had the adverse effect, her mother suffocating her all the time. Trying to protect her from her triggers even though she was the trigger.

So now, Nancy hid her life from her mother, avoiding every conversation Karen tried to strike with her, staying out late without letting them know where she was, getting a new group of friends and giving everyone a new image of her. She was no longer Karen's daughter, she was finally Nancy Wheeler. A badass.