𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐄! ✽ 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

10

𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 sheridan's rocky driveway, the sound of the rain had nearly silenced sherrie's favorite song off the album: "heart and soul".

the boy parked his car, all while dani hummed along to the tune. he figured she could use a break from her life at home. he wanted to keep her here as long as she wanted to be here. and his seventh-grade self was trying desperately to crawl out, screaming at the sight of sheridan in the seat next to him. this had been his plan all along, unbeknownst to anyone; even nancy.

"and if it got hot and hec-tic," steve began singing the song to dani, holding a fake microphone to his lips. the red-haired girl giggled as the boy's hair moved with him as if it was its own entity.

"i know she'd be elec-tric," sherrie sang back. she nabbed the flashlight out of her backpack to use as a microphone. "i'd let her take her chances with me!" the two sang in unison, their faces nearly meeting at steve's center console. luckily, dani couldn't notice, as she was so immersed in the song that her eyes had naturally shut.

the pair had made the song into a full-blown duet, up until the moment it ended. steve and sherrie let out hasty, heavy breaths. they both managed to steal a glance at each other at the exact same moment, dani then spitting out a howl of laughter that caused steve to laugh, as well. "i never pegged you as a huey fan, shaffer," steve piped up after a moment of silence.

"who isn't a huey fan?" the girl questioned, beginning to exit the car. steve got out with her. he raced to the backseat of the car to grab the bike before she could. sherrie's face fell into astonishment at steve, watching as he carefully tugged will's bike from between the seats and wheeled it towards her. she took the handles from the boy, trying to think of something to say. "thank you, steve. really." she gawked up at the boy's brown eyes. the moonlight cast the perfect shadow over his silhouette. he ran his fingers through his wet hair from the pouring rain, glancing up at the sky and earning a few drops on his angular nose; it was one of the many features of his that sheridan had always adored. he shook his hair out a bit, and dani's mouth went completely dry.

"don't mention it," steve replied, giving a quaint smile. silence filled the space between the pair as their eyes were locked. the boy was the first to shake himself out of it, dani's face warping into nancy's and instantly tearing him out of the trance. "i-i'll see you around." steve gave a small wave before getting in his car and heading home, leaving sherrie stranded in her own driveway.

what the fuck is happening.

✽

𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐇𝐈𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐑 to get ready for the long day ahead, she nabbed a joint she had rolled the night before from her nightstand drawer, as well as a lighter. she lit the cigarette, and took a large puff before placing the needle on blondie's parallel lines vinyl record. the ginger-haired girl danced around her bedroom as "hanging on the telephone" bounced between her wood panel walls. she tidied up her bed, smoothing out her orange bedspread and neatly placing her navy blue pillows against her headboard. she kissed her pointer finger and placed it on stevie nicks's lips—well, the large poster that hung above her bed. dani flung open her curtains to let the morning sunrise in before picking out an outfit for the day. she navigated around the vinyl records that were scattered around her floor, as well as the plethora of music magazines. creem, rolling stone, pulse, you name it.

sheridan tossed her pin-ridden denim jacket over a white turtleneck and struggled to tug on her orange corduroy pants. she plopped into her orange egg chair to tie her combat boots. she curled her hair, making sure to tousle out the curls a bit and give it a generous coating of farrah fawcet hairspray, and she swiped on mascara in her mirror; all while still shuffling around the room to debbie harry's melodic voice.

dani turned off the machine before placing her books back in her backpack and heading out to betsy, through the beaded curtain that hung in front of her bedroom door. she placed a pair of thick, black sunglasses over her eyes and screeched out of her driveway onto the main road. her usually monotonous morning routine had been refreshed, renewed, repurposed. and exactly how, sheridan didn't know.

✽

𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐉𝐎𝐘 came crashing down the moment she entered hawkins high school. she pushed her sunglasses into her hair, holding her red hair out of her face, and instantly noticed jonathan hanging up will's missing posters.

tears nearly spilled from her eyes the instant she nabbed a paper from her brother. "HAVE YOU SEEN ME?" was printed in bold letters at the top, with a picture of will to accompany it; a picture dani had taken. she didn't even know jonathan had made the posters and had them printed. it went to show just how much she paid attention.

the girl shook it off, taking a smaller stack of papers and thumbtacks to help out a bit. "oh, look," carol said a few feet away, standing with her gaggle of bullies, which included steve.

carol and her boyfriend tommy, as well as nancy, barb, and steve, shifted their attention toward the pair of siblings. they snickered watching them plaster the papers to the cork; nancy and steve stayed silent in solemn. "why the hell is she helping him?" tommy questioned with disgust.

"they're brother and sister," nancy declared, in her usual quiet tone.

"they're related?" carol asked, the harmful tone laced in her grotesquely high voice.

"explains a lot!" tommy hollered, smacking steve's shoulder to prompt him to laugh. the harrington boy shot him a stern look.

"then why's her last name shaffer?"

"they have different dads," nancy answered, staring ahead at her former best friend. "dani's dad died when we were freshmen. i was there, the night they got the call."

the group fell silent. they were surprised that the word had never been spread, considering it happened merely a few years ago. the question had crossed steve's mind, sure, but even he knew that's not something you openly ask about. and last night, she knew will was missing. that's why she was at mike's. and he had picked on her for it. regret washed over him like a tsunami.

"how much do you wanna bet jonathan killed him?" tommy inquired through a smirk.

"read the fucking room, man," steve stated, slapping the boy's chest with the back of his hand. and with that, he knew what he had to do.

steve pushed between nancy, barb, and carol, and jogged up to sherrie's side. the girl was startled by his presence, but shot a smile at him nonetheless. she hastily nabbed a sheet to hand to jonathan, a gold tack between her teeth. "hey, dani," steve uttered. "mind if i...?" he motioned to the stack of papers in his hand. sheridan's eyes flitted from steve to the papers, then back to steve. her eyebrow raised. "yes, i'm serious," harrington answered, like he read her mind.

the ginger-haired girl split the stack in half, giving the tack from her mouth to jonathan. "steve and i are gonna go hang up the last of these papers." she placed a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder, and gave him a warm smile that he did not reciprocate. instead, he gave steve a weary look. sheridan dragged steve down the hall with her before it could escalate any further.

✽