bitchin'

Chapter 2

"Lindsay, get up...... time to get ready for school," Steve shakes his younger sister's arm. She groans as Steve pulls the covers off her face, exposing her to the light.

"Five more minutes?" she asks.

"No. You're grounded remember? So you're riding with me to and from school," he says. He pulls the covers off the girl completely, leaving her shivering in her T-shirt and shorts, "leaving in ten minutes."

"Ugh," she groans. Steve leaves her room as she gets up. She puts on a long sleeve and jeans, pulling her hair up into a bun before going to the bathroom. She brushes her teeth and examines her nose in the mirror, "Not broken."

She smiles, turning to the side to check the angle. She leaves the bathroom and puts her shoes on.

"Here, lunch," Steve says handing her a paper sack. She looks inside; a sandwich, granola bar, and banana.

"Thanks," she answers, sending a slight smile to him. He doesn't smile back. He turns and puts his coat on, grabbing his bag. Lindsay follows him out to his car.

Once again, the car ride is silent. Lindsay looks out the window as buildings and houses pass by on their way to school. She looks down to her bandages, which are a little messier now from sleeping with them. Steve parks in the high school parking lot and turns to Lindsay.

"Lindsay," he says before she gets out. She turns to her older brother, "make good choices today?"

"Uh, okay," she agrees, slightly confused. She expected him to lecture her, yell at her, say anything but that. She says 'bye' to the dark-haired teen before leaving. She walks down the sidewalk to the middle school, passing by three kids she used to hang out with.

Mike, Dustin, and Lucas. The three, plus Will, wherever he was, used to be her best friends. They met in elementary school and used to hang out every weekend. They would play on Mike's Atari and ride their bikes to the pool in the summer. That all changed after one day she got jumped by some older kids, beaten up behind the high school.

She changed after that. Started working out, learning how to fight. She stopped hanging out with the boys and after losing to Julia, became friends with her. Julia introduced her the Hawkins Hit List, a fight club where kids fight to win the title of Champion. Lindsay quickly made her way to the top and has been champion since the end of sixth grade.

"Who do you think would make more money in a freak show?" Lindsay hears a familiar voice say, "Midnight... Frog Face... or Toothless."

She turns around and walks around the back of the school. Troy and James, two of her rivals, make fun of the three boys.

"I'd have to go with..." James starts before meeting eyes with Lindsay. The three boys turn and stare at the girl, wondering what she was doing.

"What are you doing, Troy?" Lindsay asks. The boys turn back around and stare at Troy, whose nose is black and swollen. His eyes are puffy and black underneath.

"N-nothing," he quickly answers. James keeps his mouth shut.

"Are you sure? It sounded like you were bothering these guys," she suggests, raising an eyebrow, "should I ask them?"

"N-n-no!" he exclaims.

"No, we... we were just going!" James exclaims.

"Y-y-yeah! We're just heading to class," Troy explains anxiously.

"Oh, okay, why don't you get going then?" she smirks.

"Yeah, okay," Troy says, scrambling past the boys and Lindsay. James follows, nearly running into the girl. When they disappear back around the school, the three turn around and sigh.

"Thank you," Mike says.

"No problem," Lindsay answers turning, "later nerds."

She walks back around the school and heads inside for class. As she walks through the halls she feels eyes on her. Not only is she champion on the Hawkins Middle Hit List, but she also beat up Troy yesterday. Troy rarely fights, usually he wins in every match he fights in. Now, everyone knows Lindsay, either from her ranking or from Troy's injuries.

In her first period class she sits in the back of the class, next to the window. The light shines on her, warming the girl up. As the bell rings for class to begin she notices an empty desk next to Mike Wheeler. She wonders where Will Byers is, the boy that is supposed to sit next to Mike. It is unusual of him to miss school, but she figures he is just sick. She listens to Mr. Clarke lecture, her mind absent of anything else.

She migrates from classroom to classroom, mind empty and hands sore. Her friends, Julia, Anthony, Kimberly, and Joel are all in high school, so she doesn't see them. She sits with Daniel and Allison at lunch, but other than that, she's a loner.

"Hey," she says greeting Daniel and Allison. The two sit next to each other and Lindsay sits down on the other side of the table.

"Get in trouble last night, Z?" Daniel asks shoving a forkful of green beans into his mouth. Lindsay takes out her sandwich and takes a bite, nodding her head 'no'.

"Lindsay Harrington, you're the only person I know that can get out of trouble every single time you get picked up by the cops," Allison says in amazement. Lindsay smiles shyly.

"It's cause her parents are never around to take care of her," Daniel points out, chuckling. Lindsay's smile drops.

"Shut up, Daniel," she says emphasizing his name, "you know nothing about my parents."

"Oh yeah?" he scoffs, "where are they right now? Huh? Your mom's probably off screwing some guy while your dad works at his shop. Your dad doesn't even care, he just drinks the night away cause he doesn't want your mom to leave him."

Lindsay feels her face heat up at Daniel's comments.

"Bite me Daniel, at least I have parents," she retorts. Allison looks at her with a glare on her face. Lindsay knows it's shitty of her to bring Daniel's parents into the picture, but he opened his mouth first.

"You better watch your mouth, Harrington," he warns.

"Or what? I'm still the champion of the hit list if I remember correctly, and you're ranked 7th," Lindsay threatens. He slams the table with his fists, grabbing the attention of the whole cafeteria.

"You think you're hot stuff, huh, Harrington? Why don't you take me on? Huh?!" he shouts at her. This gathers the attention of other kids who aren't particularly fans of Lindsay, including Troy.

"Yeah! Take her on, Daniel!" Troy shouts across the lunchroom. Other kids begin to join in, Daniel smirking at her. Lindsay, face red, scans the faces of the cafeteria, finding the nerds from earlier. They look on in shock, nodding their heads at Lindsay to fight.

"You're on, Prescott!" Lindsay shouts. The cafeteria roars as she grabs her sack and leaves the table. Students watch as she exits the cafeteria to go outside. She goes to the field and sits down to enjoy her lunch, by herself. She didn't know what she had gotten herself into, but she knew one thing was for sure: she wasn't going to lose.