In My Blood

Episode 7 - A Heart To Heart

"I need to talk to you." I looked up in surprise from the bike rack I had focused on, Nancy Wheeler standing next to the school wall with her arms crossed against her chest. I had left home early again, not wanting to deal with my father or Eleven after their blowout. I assumed I would be the one of few to have arrived at the high school campus yet, but Nancy's presence wasn't one I was expecting. The girl bit her lip for a moment as we just stared at each other, glancing briefly at the ground. "... Hi."

"Hi," I greeted her back, my voice quiet. I hadn't pulled my hair into its daily ponytail yet, and the injury Eleven gifted me the night prior gave a throb as I ran my fingers through my dirty hair awkwardly. There was a chill in the air, and my arms weren't protected due to the uniform while Nancy watched me from the comfort of her blue knitted sweater. "What's up?"

There was a silence again, and this time, I was the one to glance to the dying grass under our feet. I was waiting for her to ask about Steve, about my disappearance after Christmas, or anything really besides-

"Jonathan and I called Barb's mom," she told me, and my eyebrows raised in shock. Nancy gave a little nod as she paused, rocking back and forth on her feet. "We're gonna tell her about it... the truth. We... I just thought it would be good for her to know. I don't like lying to her."

"That's good of you," I congratulated her, and she gave me a quick, small smile. "That's... you aren't meeting her here though, right?"

"I was thinking you should come with us," Nancy blurted, and my jaw dropped slightly. "I can't be the only one who's felt uncomfortable about all of this. It'll give closure or something. I'd say it would be like old times, but we never really... went Demogorgon hunting... together." She rubbed her hands against each other, trying to work through the tension. "I've missed hanging out with you, you know. It hasn't really felt the same. I didn't know you were the cheering type..." Nancy's nose scrunched up, and she gave a sigh. "You know what? It's all good. Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you." I stood there stunned for a moment, and it wasn't until she started to walk away that I came to my senses.

"I'm not," I called out to her, and the girl stopped in her tracks. "I'm not really... I'm not really the cheering type." Nancy turned around to face me again, and I shrugged my shoulders as I chuckled. "I mean, I pick it up at a decent pace, the theatre background definitely, um, helped with that. I do miss wearing, like, normal clothes?" I gestured with my hands at the short skirt I was clad in. "I don't know if you noticed, but it's, like, really cold?"

"Yeah," Nancy gave a laugh, a smile creeping back up on her face. "Yeah, it is." I kicked my bike stand down, taking a breath of the cold air. "It's kind of cute though."

"Oh, I know, right?" The two of us laughed, and my smile began to fade. "I've missed you too. So... are we meeting her at a diner?"

"The park," she told me. She gestured for me to follow her with a small jerk of her head, and I fixed the straps of my backpack before doing so. The two of us headed toward the school's parking lot, and I could see Jonathan standing outside his car on the other side. "We needed somewhere public- more public. I think the phone lines are still being tracked." Her statement brought light to something I hadn't even considered. I had assumed the lab had been abandoned, but after my father's statement last night, there were clearly things I had overlooked.