CONFUSION| steve harrington x oc| BOOK 1

chapter 6-regret

Phoebe woke the next morning with one of the worst hangovers she'd ever had. She slowly sat up in bed and replayed the previous night's events trying to recall why she had such a headache. She only remembered having a couple drinks, well within her usual limits, but then she remember what happened after she stopped drinking. It all came flooding back to her. Getting out of the pool, going up to Steve's room, them kissing...a lot. Then the worst part- her leaving after she told him she didn't want to be with him, even though deep down she wanted to so badly.

She dragged herself out of bed and got ready for the day. Deciding to keep it simple, she was ready in a matter of minutes, leaving her plenty of time to eat something before school. Her mom had left a note on the fridge saying that she had left early for work with a reminder for Phoebe to wake up her brother in time for school. At least I can eat breakfast without Mom questioning why I look and feel like absolute shit she thought to herself as she ate in silence. Soon, the Henderson siblings were out the door, ready to face the day. Dustin had been off the last couple days, ever since his friend Will went missing. Phoebe tried to comfort him, but he was always with his other friends so she didn't see him much. The ride to school was silent, the only noise emanating from the hushed music playing on the stereo. Her brakes squeaked as she pulled into a spot, her brother soon rushing off to the middle school across the lot with his bike. They had decided to be slow this morning so both siblings were almost late to class. Phoebe kept her head down as she raced through the halls, worried that she might run into Steve. She thought it would be best to not face him until she had to.

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Lunch was the first time that day Phoebe and Steve would see each other. Phoebe held her tray close to her as she weaved through the mass of bodies to get to the table with her friends. Normally she would sit next to Steve with Tommy and Carol opposite of them, but today she wanted to be as far from Steve as possible. She sighed thankfully as she saw Nancy sitting next to Steve, so it didn't seem too weird when she slid in next to Carol. Phoebe quietly greeted her friends and then directed her attention on her food. She heard them talk faintly as her mind wandered, but when Nancy mentioned Barb, she jumped into the conversation.

"Wait, you said you haven't seen her this morning?" Phoebe asked.

"No, I haven't seen her since we all went in to dry off from the pool. She wanted to leave so I told her to go ahead without me, that I would find a way home. Why, did you see her?" Nancy's last few words were filled with desperation. Phoebe shook her head, "No, I saw her last night sitting on the diving board after we all came in, but the next time I looked outside she was gone. I figured she'd just gone home." Nancy's head dropped, her eyes focused on her lap. Phoebe felt bad for the girl seeing her obvious worry for her friend, but her sympathy dissipated when she saw Steve's hand shift to her hand. Phoebe's brows furrowed together as her and Carol shared a questioning expression. Nancy soon made some excuse and left the table.

"Thank God, I thought she'd never leave," Tommy said as a sly grin spread on his face.

"What do you mean, man? I thought you guys were all cool with her hanging out with us?" Steve asked, almost sounding upset.

"Oh, well I mean she's great, just different," Carol quipped. "Plus...we didn't really want to talk about this with her around." As she said "this" her finger moved between Phoebe and Steve. The two looked at each other, worry and confusion on their face.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asked as calmly as she could.

"Come on, you're really gonna play dumb right now? We heard you last night. I'm surprised we didn't get a noise complaint from the neighbors..." Carol trailed off seeing the confusion deepen on Phoebe's face. Carol looked back at Tommy, who was looking at Steve, who was almost blushing. Tommy started hitting the table rhythmically as he and Carol started mimicking the noises they had heard last night.

"Oh, STEVE!" Carol moaned quietly, Tommy making similar noises beside her. Phoebe nudged her, making the noises stop. Tommy looked at Steve was as red as Phoebe and scoffed before he spoke.

"Fine, whatever. Don't tell us then, but we know what we heard." He chuckled as he left the table, Carol starting after him while winking at Phoebe. Phoebe quickly realized what had happened and stared ahead silently, rage flowing within her. She slowly looked at Steve, who met her gaze with embarrassment in his eyes. As soon as they locked eyes, she stood up and walked away.

"Phoebe, can we please talk about this? Pheebs!" Steve called after her.

"Don't!" she seethed. Angrily, she walked through the halls out to the parking lot. She headed to her car, ready to drive away from everything in that moment, but before she could grab the door handle Steve's hand caught her arm and turned her so the two were facing.

"Can I please talk to you? Maybe explain myself?" Steve pled.

"Explain yourself?! Explain, please! Explain how mere MINUTES after you basically told me you were in love with me you turn around and SLEEP with NANCY WHEELER?" She was screaming at this point, her anger reaching a boiling point. Her volume had caught the attention of a few students who were eating outside, but she didn't care. Apparently neither did Steve because he matched her volume.

"Yes, exactly! I don't even know how it happened. I was angry at you, at myself, and I wasn't thinking!" Steve tried to explain, but the more he talked the more angry Phoebe was with him. Nothing he was saying was helping his case. He stopped talking at one point and just looked at Phoebe, who was using every ounce of her energy not to react and do something she would regret later.

"Well I hope you at least able to think long enough to use a condom!" Phoebe spat at him before getting in her car and flipped him off as she drove away, tears streaming down her face.