/ "and i have to speculate that god himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay" /
Michelle "Mickey" Hopper has a lot of problems. An alcoholic father ignoring the loss of his youngest daughter, her sister, Sarah...
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...Wednesday, October 31, 1984... paper thin walls - modest mouse
As Mickey quickly stormed away from Tommy, Brad, and Billy, she passed a lineup of tall bottles of alcohol. She stalled momentarily, her hand reaching halfway out to a vial of vodka. Her fingers itched to wrap around the hilt and tip it up until the last drops slid down her throat.
Mickey winced at her own weakness and pulled her hand back, storming off towards the bathroom. She pushed through the dance floor where Steve and Nancy now stood moving to the music.
When Steve saw a head of blonde curls rush past, he immediately ran towards her, leaving Nancy alone in the middle of the dance floor. "Mick. Hey, Mick! Slow down, slow down. What's wrong?" he asked, grabbing her shoulders and holding her still.
Mickey bit her lip and pushed back a strand of hair. "I'm fine, Steve. Please. I just need everyone to leave me alone." She shrugged off his hands and continued towards her destination.
Nancy's dancing a few feet away had slowed as she watched the confrontation. She also watched her boyfriend worriedly stare after Mickey's retreating figure. Nancy groaned and stomped off towards the punch bowl. Steve's attention was finally pulled back as he ran off after Nancy.
The Wheeler girl stumbled through the crowd and dipped her cup into the punch bowl to fill it with more "pure fuel", but Steve pulled her arm away. "Get off," she slurred.
"No, you've had enough, okay?" Steve tried, pulling her away from the kitchen.
"Screw you!" She pushed off of him and finally succeeded in scooping up another cup of alcohol. Steve kept trying to pull the cup away from her.
"Nance, put it down."
"Steve! Stop. Just go drop everything for Mick like you always do!"
"What?" he said, momentarily losing his grip on the red cup.
The drink sloshed over the edge of the cup, back on Nancy, leaving a nasty red stain down the front of her white sweater. She gasped at the sudden rush of cold. "What the hell?"
...
Mickey made it down to Tina's basement that she'd visited a hundred times. Hardly anyone knew Tina even had two bathrooms so the second one was rarely in use, making it a perfect place to retreat when things got to be too much. In the past, it's where she'd go hide while she got high.
Mickey closed the bathroom door behind her, sinking down to sit on the tile as unsavory memories flooded her mind of that very space. All the emotions of keeping secrets, hiding her grief, and pretending like she was perfectly fine came to the surface.
All of this was interrupted by a gruff voice saying, "Fancy seeing you here."
Mickey jumped, her eyes darting around the bathroom before landing on another blonde. This one happened to be lounging on the ceramic of the bathtub, a mostly-empty bottle of alcohol in her hand. "What the hell?" Mickey murmured. "You scared the shit out of me."
