𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 | 𝐬.𝐡

024. The Rebound

MAVIS PLANNED TO SKIP SCHOOL TODAY. She even "forgot" to set her alarm.

Mavis hadn't had a good night's rest in quite some time. The events of last year hung heavy on her.

She'd often wake in the night in a cold sweat after slipping out of a nightmare. Last night's nightmare consisted of the usual. She was back at that night. Sat on the pool chair, cigarette in her hand, and tears streaming down her face. And just like every other night, the pool was empty and the world was dark. She was in The Upside Down.

She knew what was coming as she carried herself to look over the pool edge. She sealed her eyes shut, hoping to escape the nightmare that sat in the pool before her. But just like every other night the whispers telling her to open them got the best of her.

This morning though, when her eyes opened at the time her alarm would normally go off, she closed them, refusing to accept the day. Except she couldn't cozy again. She accepted her fate and got up for school.

Jonathan and her sat in the school parking lot. "I was gonna skip today," Mavis said leaning back in the chair. "You say that every day."

"But I meant it today, I even closed my eyes."

"I just don't want to be here today," she said as she sunk further down in the chair. Noticing this Jonathan attempted to find a way to make her feel better. "Here, how about this? After school we can go eat at that diner you like, my treat?"

"Let's go," she quickly said before opening her door and stepping out.

He grabbed both of their bags from the back and began to walk over to Mavis to hand hers to her, but Mavis just kept walking. Attempting to avoid being given her bag. The two of them laughed as he attempted to chase her around the car and then across the street.

Unbeknownst to them, the two had captivated the eyes of Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler. Both of them attempted to continue their conversation as normal, neither willing to acknowledge their attention shift.

Now at Jonathan's locker, the pair chatted about their Halloween plans. "So do they expect us to dress up or what?" Jonathan asked. "It's Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas. They're gonna bully us if we don't," Mavis said.

"You can get bullied into dressing up. If anyone asks my costume is a traumatized babysitter," he said closing his locker.

Now at Mavis's locker, the two were eyeing the new kid, who was at his own locker. "Rebound?" Jonathan said leaning in.

"You can't rebound when you didn't date the person Jonathan. Plus he's not my type."

"Uh yes he is, he's tall and looks like an asshole. Sounds like a match made in heaven."

"Shut up," she said shutting her locker.

They continued down the hall next to each other. "You know, I don't comment about your type," Mavis said annoyedly.

"Ever consider that might be because my type doesn't consist of tall assholes?"

"God will you give it a rest? That's not my-" her words were cut off when something else caught their attention. The alleged rebound had pushed between two people walking in front of them, letting out a scoff of annoyance. Almost as if he hadn't been the one to bump into them.

As they walked off Mavis whispered, "see definitely not my rebound."

Nancy pried her way in between the two, linking arms with both of them. "What is this I hear about a rebound?" she asked. Shit, she heard them.

"Oh it's nothing, we were just talking about Greg and Elizabeth," Mavis said. She listed two random names, hoping Nancy wouldn't notice.

"Yeah, they're totally rebounding with each other," Jonathan said, trying to make it sound more convincing. "Oh yeah, they totally are," Nancy cut in. She wasn't really sure who they had been talking about but she didn't want to feel left out, something that was hard to avoid when around Mavis and Jonathan as their friendship ran so deep.