slay 'em dead//Steve Harrington

1

I sit outside of my house on the front porch smoking a cigarette. My dad doesn't like it when I smoke in the house. Really, he doesn't like that I smoke at all. To compromise I promised to do it outside.

I see Will Byers and Dustin Henderson coming down the street on their bikes. Will is the younger brother of my closest friend, Jonathan Byers. I stand up so the two of them can see me.

"Isn't it a little late for you two to be out?" I ask.

Will and Dustin stop their bikes at the curb in front of my house.

"Uh... Hi. Hi, Candice," Will says, fumbling over his words.

I smile widely. "How many times do I have to tell you, Will, you can call me Candy just like everybody else."

Will smiles slightly. "Okay."

"It's pretty dark out," I state. "Did you two want a ride?"

Will shakes his head. "No thank you. We're almost home."

"And you're going straight home, right?" I ask.

Dustin nods. "Yeah."

"Alright then," I say. "I'm not gonna keep you any longer."

"Night, Candy," Will tells me.

"Goodnight boys," I tell them.

As I stomp out the rest of my cigarette Steve Harrington pulls into his driveway. I've lived right next to him my whole life. He's a jerk and he knows it. Still for some reason the two of us have never had any issues. We're not really friends but he's less of a dick to me then to everyone else.

"It's a school night," I remind him.

"Shouldn't you be inside then?" Steve asks.

"But it's so nice out here," I tell him.

Steve steps closer to me crossing my front lawn. "I mean I am pretty nice to look out," Steve remarks.

I laugh as I shake my head. "Does that work on most girls?"

"Usually," Steve tells me.

"Did it work on Nancy Wheeler?" I ask.

Steve leans on the post across from me. "Are you jealous?"

I laugh obnoxiously loud. "Jealous that what you kissed her?"

Steve smiles. "Wasn't just a kiss."

"So, you made out with her?" I ask.

"Yeah," Steve tells me. "We made out a couple times."

"We made out a couple times," I mock. "Did she hit her head before? Maybe she was sick."

Steve shakes his head. "You find it that hard to believe that Nancy Wheeler might like me?"

"I find it hard to believe that a goodie goodie like her would want anything to do with you," I admit.

"Every girl at our school likes me," Steve insists.

"Do you like her?" I ask.

"She's a great kisser," Steve tells me.

"Not what I asked," I tell him.

Steve looks at me before smiling slightly. "Yeah. I think I do."

I gasp. "Has Steve Harrington gone soft?"

"Not a chance, Sugar," Steve tells me.

I make a face at the nickname. Everyone has called me Candy from the time that I was a little kid. Everyone but Steve. Steve thought that he deserved to call me something no one else does. He just wants to annoy me. He thought Sugar would do the trick. I hate to admit it, but it did.