❝I think your stupidity is finally starting to rub off on me, Harrington.❞
In which the new girl in town earns a babysitting gig... though she doesn't remember monsters being in the job description.
↳extended summary inside
↳steve harrington x...
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ANNALISE HAD NEVER been so glad that she didn't stay in any town for longer than a couple months. Because if she had to face people after skating along after a kid on a bike, shoes swinging wildly at her side from the clutch she had on the laces, she might have considered feeding herself to Dart.
Her hair billowed behind her, no doubt tangling itself up in a mess of knots she would have to fight through later. But she would take that battle any day over one with the Demogorgon. She was still a little shaken from the one earlier, but forced herself to keep moving. That was the point of this whole trip anyway — to find someone with previous experience in this situation. Even if that someone ended up being another thirteen-year-old. God, she was starting to feel insane.
She had nearly been surprised after finding the blue and pink skates in one of the boxes in the still messy garage. They were old, as proven by the worn scuffs from the amount of times she had fallen when first learning to use them. Not to mention the fact that they were much smaller than she remembered. It had been a struggle pulling them on and she was paying for that now in the way her toes were tightly cramped. At least her balance was somewhat intact. While it was no longer as easy as it once was when she was fifteen, she held her pace pretty well.
She followed Dustin's lead, falling only a little behind as he brought her down roads and by forests full of trees that were clinging on to the last of their dying leaves. If there was one good thing about the timing of the day's events, it was that they had avoided rush hour; not many cars sped by. She had never been this far out before and had long since lost track of all the turns, so it was hard enough to follow without the added challenge of trying not to get run over.
Thankfully it wasn't much of an uphill journey, either. She was already fighting the burn in her legs even on the level grounds, breath coming out heavier with each passing minute. This was not how she had been expecting to get her grand tour of Hawkins.
"Over here!" Dustin called, just as she was wondering how much further away they could possibly have left to travel. He waved a hand to the left and made a sharp turn towards one of the houses in the estate they just entered.
Annalise rolled to a stop and caught her breath as Dustin got off of his bike, discarding it at the head of the driveway. Even despite the brisk chill, a thin sheen of sweat had formed on the back of her neck. She uncomfortably adjusted her jacket and trailed behind him slowly, just keeping enough distance to avoid having to awkwardly introduce herself to whoever answered the door.
Dustin impatiently hit the doorbell when he reached it, showing no mercy to whoever was inside to be tormented with the resounding ringing. Sure enough, when the door opened to reveal an older man with combed hair and thick glasses, he looked less than happy.
