𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖆𝖑 || 𝘀. 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

S1E3: Holly, Jolly

"Hey, um, have you seen Barb today?" Nancy asks, stopping by the lunch table.

"Never would I have thought I'd see the day Nancy Wheeler stops by my table," Eddie Munson says from the far end of the table, sitting at the head like a king.

I ignore him. "Not since last night, sorry."

"Oh, okay. She's probably fine," she says in a way that sounds like she's trying to convince herself of that. "She probably just, decided to skip or something."

To me, Barb doesn't seem like the kind of person to skip. She seems very introverted and studious, a girl who wouldn't take risks or cause trouble.

"Yeah... probably," I say, trying to ease Nancy's nerves. "Wait, was she at Steve's house with you guys?"

Her brows furrow. "How did you know...?"

"I biked past Steve's on my way to John's last night. I could hear you guys from the street."

Her cheeks redden. "Oh. Um, yeah, she was at Steve's with us. Why?"

"I was just wondering," I say, but my mind keeps flashing back to the thing I could've sworn I saw.

She turns to leave. "Thanks anyway."

I feel Eddie's eyes boring into me. "Yes, Eddie?"

He holds his fork of Mac and cheese hovering above his plate, too focused on me and Nancy to eat the bite of food. "I didn't know you were friends with Wheeler."

"Yeah, well, we aren't that close anymore." I jab my fork into my peas. "Her little brother plays Dungeons and Dragons with my kid neighbor, that's how we met."

He strokes his chin, lost in thought. "Dungeons and Dragons, you say?"

I swallow my bite of food. "Yeah. I sometimes play with them, and Nancy used to. Why?"

He shrugs. "No reason. How old are these kids?"

I raise my brow at him. "If you're wanting to recruit them into your little club, you're going to have to wait a couple of years. They're only twelve. And before you ask me to join again, the answer is still no, sorry."

"And why's that?"

I look him in the eye. "I have way too much going on in my life right now."

✶

A body slams into the locker next to mine and huffs. I shut my door to find John leaning against the lockers, pouting. "You promised you'd come over last night."

I look at him apologetically. "I'm so sorry. You wouldn't believe what happened to me."

"No, you wouldn't believe what happened to me." He jabs his thumbs at himself. "I stayed up til midnight waiting for you."

"Really, I'm sorry, it's just...."

"It's just what," he spats.

I can't tell him the truth about why I didn't come over, that's for sure. "I really wanted to, but an emergency came up. I couldn't. I'll make up for it. I will—"

Robin runs over, pink in the face and panting heavily.

"Woah, Robin, breathe," I say.

She leans against my locker. "Fight. Parking lot. Thought you'd like to see it."

"Fight?" I question. "Who?"

"It's not really a fight yet, but Jonathan Byers, you know him? Him and Steve Harrington's gang are having a confrontation in the parking lot and when you have the loner and the jock together a fight is bound to break out," she rushes out, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from John.