EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE | Stranger Things.

XII. Nothing's Ever Perfect

THE SILENCE IN THE ROOM WAS TENSE AND DAISY SWORE SHE COULD HEAR HER OWN HEART THUMPING FRANTICALLY.

They watched Joyce hold the picture they had given to Hopper, trying to detect any emotion in the two adults.

"You say blood draws this thing?" Hopper asked skeptically.

"We don't know."

Nancy shook her head. "It's just a theory."

Daisy chimed in. "We would've gotten the answer today if you didn't lock us up in here."

Hopper sighed at her retort and kept his eyes on the picture he held, trying to detect if this was some sort of joke but after all they'd been through.. it was a long stretch if they were messing around and they seemed set on what they were talking about.

Daisy tried to act like she didn't hear the worrying argument that Joyce and Jonathan were getting into when she dragged him outside. She pursed her lips and tried to ignore Chief Hopper's lingering stare until she finally burst.

"Jesus Christ - what?" She snapped at him and saw Nancy's eyes widen from the corner of her vision.

"Did you tell your parents about any of this?"

"No," Daisy shook her head. "Why would I?"

"What about your sister?" Hopper continued with his questions, leaning back into his desk.

Daisy and Nancy shared a look and after a pause, the Hugo girl shook her head.

"And.." He cleared his throat, pointing between the two girls. "Which one of you found this picture?"

"The three of us," Nancy replied. "We went to the.. red room?" She turned with an unsure look to Daisy.

"The dark room — the one at school." Daisy nodded. When she gulped it sounded pretty loud and made her look at them. "That it?"

He stood straight and was preparing to ask his next question when a shrill yell came from outside, more muffled but still sounding like a woman. She was yelling at someone and Daisy could guess it was probably Callahan — he was the most yellable and punchable with his remarks.

Hopper's footsteps were loud as he walked towards the door and stopped, turning to look at them with his finger diverting between the two girls.

"Wait here until I come back."

Daisy and Nancy nodded in agreement, the latter adding, "Yes, sir."

He slammed the door behind him and left both of them with pretty much nothing to do besides slump in their chairs and look around awkwardly.

Daisy looked around at the things littering his desk, her eyes scanning like some sort of robot trying to engrave these objects in her mind.

The collar of the shirt she was wearing let some air in which quickly bothered her and caused her to pull the back of it and instead let it irritate her back. She sighed, her foot tapping down on the floor and looking at the closed blinds. Nothing was more fun than being stuck in the chief's office.

"So.." Nancy whispered. Despite her and Daisy getting close over just a few days she couldn't help but feel that the latter didn't like her. At all. "Did I do something?"

"Huh?" Daisy whipped her head over to look at Nancy more clearly. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, it just seems like you're mad."

"I am." She replied blankly. "More so that I didn't get to punch Tommy more and maybe that.. that everything is going to shit so quickly — more specifically me."