𝗨𝗚𝗟𝗬 // 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻

008

We had taken so long figuring out the Russian translation that it was nighttime now and Scoops Ahoy was about to be shut, along with the rest of the mall.
But we did have the whole translation, which was a plus!

The week is long
The silver cat feeds
When blue meets yellow in the west

And now, as we walk through the empty halls of star court mall me and Robin admit we're starting to believe this kids crazy Russian theory.
"I mean it makes sense!" I admit, actually finding this quite fun, "it's totally a secret code, who else speaks like that?" When I get really excited I tend to let my guard down, I realise I've done this when I find Steve staring at me.
"You're buying into this now?"
He just has a way of making me aware of myself, so like always I retreat back into my shell and give him a surprised small nod.

We talk more and Robin and Dustin come up with theories, ones that seem so accurate I can't help but agree, "it would take a genius to crack it!" Robin exclaims before looking around the group, "wait.. where's Steve?"
I turn my head impulsively and notice him playing with an animatronic horse, trying to find coins to slot in, so I point carelessly at the boy and tap on Robin's shoulder to get her attention.

"Steve?!" Dustin shouts questioning the man digging through his pockets for change, "quarters! Have any of you guys got quarters?" Robin runs over and laughs, me following close behind, "you sure you're big enough for that Steve?"

"Would the three of you just listen to me!" He demands and plays the song on the horse, the three of us standing there and staring at him for a moment before a light bulb goes off in my head, "the- the music!" I can't help but smile brightly and jump up and down a little at the realisation. Steve Harrington had found a clue! A lead!

"Maybe they have horses like that in Russia?"
Robin questions rightfully so, just making sure to cover all bases, but Steve stares intently at the animatronic and shakes his head, "the Texas ranger? No.."

There's a silence as the four of us realise what this means, "this message came from here."
Dustin smirks, "great! Then all we have to do is find a secret Russian, how about some spy action?"

I can't help but chuckle, "Dustin you've watched way too many action movies," he gives me a puppy dog look which I can't say no to, "spy time does seem cool though!"

Steve rolls his eyes at how easily I gave in and scoffs, "sorry muchacho but I can't do that tomorrow."

"Muchacho?" Dustin whispers in questioning and Robin just shrugs, letting us know she doesn't like or know why he said that either, "I have the big charity basketball game at Hawkins, gross to go back during summer but, it's fun at least."

An epiphany flashes through me, "oh my god the charity game!" I nervously slam my hands to the side of my head and run them down my face, "I forgot choir is performing before hand!"

"You're in choir?" Steve questions, smug look on his face and eyebrow arched, a look that I can only nod to in confusion, not sure whether he's impressed or judging.

"Well when's the game?" Dustin questions to which me and Steve give each other a look before responding at the same time, "12pm."
That's the second time we've done that and it makes me blush every damn instance.
"Cool, then operation find the Russian spy commences afterwards."

"Well that doesn't roll off of the tongue," I comment causing Robin to snort, "woah woah Henderson I am not coming into work when I don't need to!" The popular boy is complaining loudly now, waltzing up to the kid who gives him the infamous puppy dog eyes. I physically see Steve cringe up, "ugh! Fine just stop doing that ew! Gross!"

***

I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before the big game, i was too anxious to know that Steve Harrington was going to be in the crowd watching me sing in choir, not only that but he was now aware of my existence.
Plus.. the choir kids were never popular, which is exactly why I joined, my parents told me I had to join an extracurricular in freshman year and choir had just enough people that I could mix in without being spotted and little enough popularity that the attention wouldn't be on me. Plus I like music and singing, gave me a chance to do something I like.

Oh and Robin was in choir for a while, but after Tammy Thompson graduated she quit, the two were good friends so it makes sense, now she was just in band, who choir kind of stole the slot for at the big game, (sorry Robin.)

We sang a couple melodies to hype the players up like 'Into the groove' by Madonna, acing the harmonies if I do say so myself.
But as I sung I felt eyes on me as I suspected and glanced over to see Steve Harrington sitting with the rest of the team on the bench, it would be his last time playing with them as he had graduated at the beginning of summer.
I didn't know why Steve was watching me, maybe because he knew I was there? But he seemed.. happy? Proud?
Did Steve Harrington see me as a friend?

It made me feel guilty seeing him so happy watching me, this was the boy that I had told I hated just a couple days before and now here I was questioning our friendship status.
Maybe I needed to spend more time with him before I knew any of that..

Wait, did I want to spend time with Steve Harrington?

The team played shortly after our performance and as choir and the basketball team walked past each-other, swapping who was in the court, Steve smiled at me and said with a smile, "nice performance White!" And then he raised his hand and hung it there for a bit.
I just stood there confused at what he was doing, usually when people like him raised their hands at people like me it didn't end well, but instead he rolled his eyes playfully and grabbed my wrist before pulling it up to his hand and making us highfive.
A jolt of electricity went though me as our hands touched and i returned his smile, maybe it was the excitement of Steve Harrington acknowledging me in front of people, or maybe it was how pretty his hair happened to look today.

Either way this jolt made me come out with an excited, "good luck!" Before we parted and I sat on the bench.

Now, we were ten minutes into the game and Hawkins were not doing well, Billy Hargrove just hadn't shown up for some reason and Steve was made to impulsively play his position, meaning he wasn't ready and had fallen over a couple times, a loud screech from his shoes dragging along the court being heard each and every instance.

They needed cheering up and ironically, the cheerleaders weren't doing anything, so, the next time Steve was pushed to the ground.. I started to clap for him. God it was embarrassing, having so many judging eyes on me but.. something overcame me. I knew that if I was in a situation like this I would want someone to do the same.
So I awkwardly smiled around the room as I clapped for the perfect haired boy who just stood up from his position on the floor and stared at me, a glisten in his eyes.
Steve smiled, and in that moment i knew I had helped him.

But then the doors flew open and a rushed Nancy Wheeler came through, notebook in hand as I suspected she was sent here by the Hawkins Post. Typical of those men to make her do their work. Heads turned towards her as she rushed in, standing at the side to watch the game and clearly looking frazzled. Had something happened?
I moved my eyes back to the court just in time for Steve Harrington to glance her way.

The way he watched her, the way his eyes softened at her appearance.. with everything going on I had forgotten about the boys history with Nancy Wheeler, a girl so perfect she made angels look bad.
A girl who seemed so naturally confident, so smart without trying, so popular without judgement. A girl prettier then I could ever be.

I scolded myself for letting my guard down as I looked back on the past couple days and realised I had slowly started opening up the stitches I wound in my heart two years ago, on the day that started all of this.
The stitches I had tried to convince myself never had to be placed because there was never a wound to fix. But I had to admit it.. when Steve Harrington called me ugly two years ago, I was in the middle of crushing on him.

And now.. in 1985, that crush was coming back..
and I was a fool.