the nice things | ronance

one. friends (not)

FEBRUARY 20th

Robin never expected to fit in anywhere, whether it be with the jocks to even the geeks. She got adjusted to being so alone that it felt suffocating having any kind of conversation so casual and light-hearted with another human being. Something about Steve and his peculiar gang of traumatized teenagers made it easier for Robin though. So much easier.

After the Starcourt Mall experience, the group was fragile for a while. Robin knew barely anything about the events that lead them to that moment, for she just happened to be thrown in last minute for the grand finale. She didn't even bother asking Steve about what had happened to Will, details about Eleven, and where the hell those monsters were coming from. All the questions of course nagged her and buzzed around in her brain, but she never bothered to ask. She didn't want to hurt any of them, and that was a feeling she never thought would've stopped her.

Maybe she wasn't the only person trying to survive Hawkins. Everyone had their own monster.

Eventually around November, the group lightened up a bit. Steve was sharing more stories about hanging out with Dustin. The kids were stopping by the video store a lot more, sometimes even engaging in conversations with Robin like she was never a stranger to begin with. Robin still kept her questions to herself though, even when they burned and simmered in her mind. Sometimes the kids would murmur about it to each other only for another one to shush them. They all wanted it to be a thing of the past.

School was still such a dull atmosphere though and Robin couldn't be thankful enough to be a senior. With Steve gone, newer, sweaty, rambunctious boys fought over girls and paraded for who could make the most swoon over them. New fights broke out in the halls and new gossip lingered. None of it intrigued Robin aside from the words some spoke in reminiscence of the Mall events.

Nancy was known to be in the Mall at the time of the events. She was questioned until people gave up as she never offered an answer. People then started to conspire. They made rumors about Hopper, theories about Will, and always speculated on why Nancy was there. No one had known of Robin's presence there for which she was grateful, but she could admit she felt a prick of guilt for the Wheeler girl.

Robin shared her final class with Nancy, a rather boring one. The class was filled with seniors, most of which were gossiping shits who always had whispers to share amongst one another. Robin had to witness a few 'sluts' thrown Nancy's way in reference to the gossip from a year or two ago as well as other boys flirt with her consistently. It was the only thing Robin paid attention to in that class - not at all because she cared about the misconstrued life of Nancy Wheeler, but because it was the only mildly interesting thing happening. Just another showcase of the Hawkins monster taking to its prey.

She would sit in the seat closest to the back of the classroom, flicking her pencil between her fingers and lost in her thoughts. Whenever there wasn't any commotion, she found herself thinking about the events of the Mall. She thought about the confined, seemingly endless halls in the ground, flashing lights and the sound of their footsteps echoing as if the ambience was trapped around them. Sometimes it made her head spin and ache. She recalled the wretched pain from the needle in her neck and the violence showcased towards her and Steve. Her grip around her pencil tightened, and she would hold onto it as if clutching onto the edge of a cliff and attempting to pull herself back up.

"Hey Nance."

The call of Nancy's name from the boy in front of her was enough to snap Robin out of it. The boy was leaned up against his desk, glancing at Nancy who was in the middle of the next row. Robin only watched as the brunette simply ignored him, but that wasn't enough to stop the boy.

"Hey Nannccee. Yoohoo? I have a question for you," the boy continued with a light snicker, a few of his friends turning to observe.

Robin bit her lip and Nancy twisted in her chair to glare back at the boy. "What do you want?"