"Toni? Can you hear me, darling?" Toni let out a groan, rolling her head to the side as she barely managed to open her eyes. She found many faces staring up at her, one of them being Joyce Byers. "Are you alright?"
"Mm, what happened?" She breathed. "Where's Will?" She turned her head, finding she was at home some how.
"Will's at home, I... I need you to tell me what happened."
"It... it got him." She whimpered. "It got him, it pushed me out, I should've- I should've stopped it."
"What? What got him?"
"The shadow monster."
-----
The next morning, Toni wasn't sure where she was supposed to go. So she hid out in her car until she was due to first period. The last thing, the very last thing she wanted today was to deal with Billy Hargrove, and yet he just couldn't seem to take the hint. He knocked on her car window, and in annoyance she threw open the door and climbed out.
"What?" She hissed.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What is your problem? Don't you think you've done enough?" He scoffed, leaning against her car.
"What's the matter? Are you really upset about Harrington?" He sneered.
"This might be a foreign concept to you, but some people have feelings, and you're making it really difficult to-" She was cut off when he suddenly began leaning in to kiss her. She began leaning back, before she could lean no more and was forced to shove him away. "What is the deal?!" She fumed. "You can't just kiss people after you-"
"What? You're single now, what does it matter?" She shook her head, beginning to walk away from him.
"Steve was right about you."
"Where do you think you're going?" He hissed, taking hold of her wrist.
"Listen, woman-snatcher..." She began. "How about you take your half-grown mustache, your submisive-woman ideals, climb all the way to the top of the tallest building you can find, beat on your big ol' monkey chest, and then jump off." She said, tugging her arm away from him and wandering inside.
-----
Toni made her way down the hall, stopping at her locker. She couldn't help but feel out of place stood there all on her own. She seemed to have zoned out, staring at the lock, and she hadn't heard the bell chime. Only when there was a drop in sound and she was surrounded by silence did she come to, and look around to find she was alone. She shrugged her bag from her shoulders, throwing it to the floor in frustration. She let out a groan, leaning her head against the cool metal as she attempted to compose herself.
"Toni?" When she heard his voice, her heart sunk lower than she thought possible. She turned her head, catching his gaze that, understandably, wasn't as bright as usual.
"Hey, Steve." She managed to say.
"Are you-"
"Please don't ask me if I'm okay, I am so fucking far from okay right now."
"So..." He said, closing the gap between them. "What do you want me to say?"
"I don't know." She shrugged. "But I don't wanna do this right now." She said, about to walk away when he took hold of her arm. It gave her a hint of deja vu, but she had to remind herself that Steve was not Billy.
"Stop... doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Walking away from me."
YOU ARE READING
For Always.
Fanfiction"She's not coming, she's sick." "What do you mean by sick?" "I don't know. Maybe sick of your shit." [Book 2]
