When everyone else got the chance to be a teen, Alexis Reed had to be an adult. When everyone else got movie nights, Alexis got closing shifts. When everyone else got late night drives and parties, Alexis got bills and nightmares.
She didn't ask for this. No one ever would. She was still a kid, just like the rest of her classmates. But she tried not to complain because "It could have been worse." She grits her teeth in a tight smile because life doesn't always go the way you want. So she does what she has to. She works. She studies during slow periods and on her breaks. She learned to cook more than just mac and cheese and frozen pizza. All for her little brother.
Eric Reed was the single most important thing in Alexis' life. She doesn't care if she doesn't get out of work until 12:30 in the morning because she knows that means the lights are on for one more day. She doesn't care if she's tired everyday because it means that Eric got a good night's sleep. She doesn't care if she's up until two in the morning to finish homework because it means that Eric got his done after school. Alexis' life was no longer lived for herself, no. It was lived for Eric. So every late night, every rude customer, every electric bill that they were just barely able to pay, every five minute nap she got in English class was worth it.
It had taken all of summer break but Alexis finally got into the groove of taking care of Eric. Almost everyone knew about what happened to the Reed family at the end of the previous school year, and it seemed like that was all anyone wanted to talk about. Alexis got used to the whispers and the stares, and the pointing. She kept her head held high and toughed through it.
As upsetting and selfish as it was, she was a tiny bit glad when everyone started talking about the disappearance of the one and only Will Byers. Of course she was heartbroken, she loved the kid with all her heart, but it did feel kind of nice to not be the subject of everyone's whispers. That didn't stop her from trying her hardest to help the Byers family while keeping an eye on the other three boys that Will spent all his time with.
With everything that had happened to her in the span of a few months, she didn't think things could have gotten any more confusing. But to her misfortune, life had other plans. Not only did those plans include a monster from an alternate dimension, a girl with super powers, a gang of small kids, and Christmas lights, it also included the one person who knew just how much chaos was in Alexis' life to start stirring up feelings that neither one acknowledged at the time.
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𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬~ˢᵗᵉᵛᵉ ʰᵃʳʳⁱⁿᵍᵗᵒⁿ (on hiatus)
Fanfiction"Ya know Harrington? For someone this pretty you sure are dumb." "So you think I'm pretty?" ---------- In which a girl who's life is turned upside down in a couple of weeks later encounters the actual upside down. or in which Alexis Reed deals with...
