Trial By Hellfire

Chapter 2 - New Girl In Town

After what felt like an eternity of driving, we finally arrived at my cousin Steve's house in Hawkins. My parents had decided that while they decide which house they wanted and went through the buying process we would stay with our closest, and only, family in town. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be staying with my cousin Steve, not because of my cousin but because of his parents. My uncle was a grade-A asshole with a very short temper, and my aunt never stood up to him and never trusted him, but stayed with him because she didn't wanna give up her "lavish" lifestyle. Luckily, my uncle worked a job where he had to travel often and my aunt would always go with him so most of the time it was just Steve at the house. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case when we arrived.

"Hey little cuz!! What's up?!" Steve shouted while running up to our cars.

"Steve, I'm not exactly little anymore!"

"Yeah, but you're still smaller than me! Come here!" He pulled me in for a hug. I still remember that hug like it was yesterday. It was one of the longest and tightest hugs my cousin Steve had ever given me. Before, he'd give me a kind of "bro hug." You know, the kind where a guy throws one arm around you and doesn't pull you in very close and it maybe only lasts for a couple seconds. But now, I could tell that his hugs meant something.

After we had our little family reunion, and my aunt and uncle informed me of the house rules: no going out without asking, I''m not allowed to use my uncle's car under any circumstances, etc., my parents and I moved what we needed into the house and whatever we didn't need would go into a storage unit we were renting in town until we finally got settled.

"You know you're more than welcome to bunk with me Liz," Steve offered. He never used to be that nice. Anytime I visited before he always yelled at me to stay out of his room.

"And be sleeping on the floor while you have chicks over? No thanks, I'd rather sleep in the living room with my parents." We both laughed at that, mostly because we knew it was true.

"Have you talked to the boys recently?" I bet Steve was trying to see how much I was going to be hanging around him for the summer.

"No, not in a few years. We used to talk when Mom, Dad, and I used to visit more but since we haven't come out here in a while, and ever since you and Nancy broke up we haven't had much communication. I know Mike had, or maybe still has this girlfriend named El, but also named Jane who supposedly has these super cool powers, but that was back when we were kids! I always assumed she was someone he made up. Something to do with his D&D stuff."

"No, she's very real." I looked at Steve and he looked a little scared.

"Hm, okay, whatever you say. Now that you mention it, maybe I should call up Will and see if we can get the old gang back together."

"Will and his family moved to California, along with Eleven. Joyce kinda adopted her since she didn't really have any family.... It's kind of a long story."

"Oh shit! They moved to California?!? Really? When?"

"Last summer, actually."

"Huh. I wonder why I didn't hear from any of them. Maybe we've grown apart over the years." Steve took a little while to respond after that. I think he could tell that I was a little bit sad about not being as close to the boys as I used to be.

"You know, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Steve I swear to god if you try to set me up with one of your friends-"

"No way! My friends are all jack asses!" He cut me off. "Well actually, I don't really have those friends anymore."

"Thank god! They were terrible for you. The crowd you fell in after breaking up with Nancy wasn't the greatest."

"Hey! I had Henderson!!"

"Oh right!! You two becoming best friends was actually REALLY cute!"

"Hey!" I knew that would piss him off a little bit, but we both laughed.

That night Steve and I had a movie night together in his room, but we didn't really watch that much of the movies. We basically just spent the whole night catching up. He was telling me all about his adventures in this place called the "Upside Down." Really, how long was everyone gonna keep up with this charade. It was nice though, Steve was the closest thing I ever had to an older brother, and I was the closest thing he had to a younger sister. Even when I was younger we were always close; closer than cousins, that's for sure. I felt like I could tell him anything and everything. We both ended up falling asleep in his bed, heck it beat either the living rooms sofa or the floor.

I woke up the next morning to Steve still asleep on his side of the bed, his mouth wide open, snoring as if his life depended on it. "God, I can't believe I was able to sleep through that," I whispered to myself while getting out of bed. I made my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. There were notes left by both mine and Steve's parents. My parents were gonna be gone the whole day going between the two houses that they were torn between. My aunt and uncle were on a work trip into the city, and their note restated the rules of the house, as if my uncle hadn't made them clear enough yesterday. Today was Monday so I had to go by the school to see about registering for the upcoming semester. As I was making breakfast I heard Steve coming down the stairs.

"What's the plan for today, monster." He used to call me that as a kid. Probably because I pre actually lived in my dinosaur costume when I was 4.

"Okay, one, don't call me monster anymore, I'm not 4 years old running around the house in a dinosaur costume-"

"That hadn't been washed in... a while." He motioned his had under his nose as if he could smell something awful.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad!"

"Whatever you say."

"And two, I have to go by the high school to register."

"Alright! My old stomping grounds! Isn't late registration already closed?"

"I don't know, I guess we'll have to go and find out. They should be open, it's a Monday right before the start of the semester."

After breakfast we both got dressed, I just wore jeans and a baggy band t-shirt, and of course Steve had to dress-to-impress. Steve agreed to drive me to the school, it gave me chance to find my way around the town without worrying about being lost. After a little bit we got to the school, the place where I would decide my future.