I Know The End ✸ Steve Harrington

i. mad max

chapter one .  .  . mad max

     THE FAMILY VIDEO STORE WAS A VERY popular place amongst the small town of Hawkins, especially on a weekend. As the evening went on, after a very busy afternoon, the store had become quieter as closing time came closer and closer. Josie Henderson stood behind the counter at her new job, stacking and organising cassette tapes, ready for her shift to end after a long day of staying in the same place for 5 hours. 

"Okay, Henderson, Carrie or Nightmare on Elm Street?" The curly headed boy asked, peeking around the Halloween section at the front of the store, his ring littered hands holding up two VHS tapes.

Josie had known Eddie Munson since middle school, before she became friends with Nancy and Barb, they had their own D&D club that they would hold at recess with a few other people. The two had many things in common so Josie wasn't surprised when Eddie looked for temporary employment in the same place as her.

The girl brought her attention away from what she was doing, looking at the two options. "Nightmare on Elm Street." She replied.

"Okay..." Eddie tilted his head in thought, "What about Halloween and the Shining."

"The Shining. No questions asked."

The boy scoffed, "No way, Henderson. Halloween's a classic."

"There's been three Halloween movies and the dude is still alive. It's boring and predictable." Josie stated as she finished tidying the tapes onto the shelf, as the two began to lock up the store.

"How is your college essay coming along?" Eddie wondered, seeing as he'd catch the girl working on it at the counter instead of paying attention to her shift.

She grunted, "I've had no trouble doing essays for class assignments but with this, it just feels like my brain is mush." Josie sighed. "What about yours?"

"'t's a waste of time. I'm failing."

"I can always tutor you again." Josie suggested.

"No, it's okay." Eddie stuffed his ring clad hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. "I better get back to Wayne or I'll never hear the end of it, catch 'ya later, Henderson."

"Bye, Eddie." Josie called out to the boy as the two teens parted their ways for the night.

Entering Palace Arcade, a grin spread onto Josie's face at how busy it was. Everyone was huddled with their friends at different video games, taking full advantage of their left over change they probably had to dig up in their piggy banks, as their faces were decorated with nothing but joy.