𝐙𝐄𝐑𝐎 ✯ steve harrington¹

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗 : he said she said

WORD COUNT : 2.8k

Owen had gotten back home much later than midnight after walking home from the party. The house was quiet when she snuck through the front door, peeking around the room. Gordon was sound asleep on the couch, his soft snoring accompanying the sound of the television playing faintly in the background. She smiled faintly to herself, imagining that he had tried to wait up for her to make sure she made it home safely. However, he just looked so peaceful all sprawled out on the sofa that she couldn't bear to wake him up. So, she slipped her shoes off and padded towards her room, doing the best she could to avoid all of the creaky spots in their floors. Finally, she made it to her own room, shutting her door at a snail's pace to make sure it was as quiet as humanly possible.

Owen pressed her forehead against the wooden door, letting out a sigh of relief over being in the comfort of her own room. Her clothes were thrown into a pile on her floor as she changed into something warmer and more comfy before sliding into bed. Tears nearly flooded her eyes again at the feeling of her blanket wrapped around her snugly, every inch of her limbs relaxing. She nuzzled her face into her pillow in order to get more comfortable before sleep began to drag her under and she went along willingly.

✯

Fatigue hung heavy from Owen's limbs as she lumbered through the hallway towards her Chemistry class. For the first time since she moved to Hawkins, she was not looking forward to seeing Barb beside her in class. After everything that had happened at the party the night before, there was some tension in her chest regarding her only friend. It's not like they were the ones who had had a fight or anything like that, but some part of her still felt hurt by Barb. Perhaps Owen also felt shameful in a way for just leaving unannounced last night, potentially ditching Barb. Whatever the case, her footsteps were even more tedious than usual.

Strangely, when Owen rounded the corner and entered the classroom, Barb wasn't sitting at their lab table like she usually was. The pink-haired girl's eyebrows knitted together as she approached the table and cautiously slid into her seat. She could barely take her eyes away from the empty place beside her. Maybe she's just running late, Owen thought. It was rare for her chronically punctual lab partner, but still plausible. She distracted herself by getting out her notebook and pencil, busying her hands with her backpack. Although, her eyes continued to glance at the door, almost positive that Barb would rush in any minute now.

The bell rang just moments later, the seat empty nonetheless. And it remained empty for the rest of the class period, causing Owen to chew nervously at the inside of her cheek. Barb had never missed a single class in the entire time she had known her. Why was she missing class now? All kinds of thoughts and ideas ran through her mind as she looked for any sort of logical explanation for this truant student to break her likely perfect attendance. Maybe she needed to get stitches for that cut on her hand. Or she got in trouble with her parents for being out so late.

Or maybe she and Nancy weren't making up after all. The two girls could have easily had an absolutely astronomical fight after Owen had left. If the fight was drastic enough, Barb totally might've decided to just call it a wash and try to avoid Nancy as much as possible – even if that meant missing a day or two of school.

Clearly, she needed to go talk to the last person who had spoken with Barb in order to get the details on why she would do something as drastic as missing school for a whole day.

✯

Owen shoved books and papers haphazardly into her locker before lunch. After all, she had things to do now that she wasn't tethered to her class schedule for the next half an hour or so. She had already planned out everything she was going to ask Nancy the moment she tracked her down in the cafeteria. However, once she slammed her locker shut and turned to head towards lunch, the opportunity to talk to Nancy presented itself much earlier than anticipated. Just a few paces down the hallway, the girl in question stood at her own locker, accompanied by Steve Harrington, of course. Having to talk to Steve as well was not a part of her original plan.