Stay With Me ꩜ steve harrington

Chapter Two: Barb

Chapter Two: Barb

Chapter Song: Kids by Kyle Dixon

꩜꩜꩜

Danielle's first mistake was not second guessing it when Barb hadn't shown up for school.

She had shrugged Barb's absence as no big deal, just attributing it to that fact maybe Barb had gotten sick or had just flat out skipped from embarrassment following the events at the Harrington house. Nancy, on the other hand, went into a full blown panic the second she found out Barb never showed. The Wheeler teen had begged Danielle to go back with her to Steve's house and to help find Barbara, but Danielle politely told Nancy to kick rocks. Danielle had made it clear that she believed Barb needed space from Nancy after how the nights events unfolded. Hell, Danielle was the one who needed space from Nancy.

Oh how wrong she was.

Reality hit Danielle like a truck as she was escorted into an empty cafeteria, two police officers awaiting her arrival. She had felt her heart drop into her stomach. She knew something was wrong. That feeling had got even worse when her mother showed up.

"What time did you leave the Harrington house?" Officer Callahan repeated the question for the umpteenth time. Danielle crossed her arms over her chest, anxiously tapping her foot against the ground.

"I told you a hundred times already. Sometime after eleven." Danielle snipped back. She bit down hard on the inside of her gum, questioning if this was reality.

"Danielle!" Her mother barked. "Be nice to the gentleman."

"You were the last one to see Miss Holland. These questions are important to our investigation so please be patient with us." Officer Powell stated dryly. Danielle's chest tightened. She had been the last person to see Barb alive. Officer Callahan cleared his throat, tapping his pencil against a notepad.

"And why did you leave?" He asked.

"Because..." Danielle started, ready to rat on Nancy. "Because I was tired. I ended a shift right before I went to Steves and I had school in the morning."

"And why didn't Miss Holland leave with you?"

"I tried to get her to leave with me. She was waiting on Nancy."

"Who was..." The officer suggested.

"Upstairs."

"Without the two of you? Who was she with?" Powell questioned. Danielle shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"We stayed downstairs. Nancy and Steve went upstairs." Danielle quietly admitted.

"Oh, Jesus." Claudia sighed as she ran a hand over her face. The two officers gave each other a look.

"Were you and Barb engaging in any...illegal activities?" Powell questioned.

"Excuse me?"

"Drinking. Drugs." Callahan elaborated.

"No." Danielle said a little too quickly. "Barb doesn't do any of that...I don't do any of that." She lied. Callahan jotted a note in his pad.

"Miss Wheeler mentioned there was beer supplied at this party." Busted, Danielle grimaced. She knew the second she walked out of the room, her mother was going to have her head.

"Oh, yeah. There was but...we didn't have any." Callahan wrote another note.

"Miss Wheeler also mentioned she had an argument with you two. Was it over the beer?"