Time After Time {Steve Harrington x OC}

6

"So...what? You don't have a license?"

Sadie shrugged, "I have one, I just don't have a car. My mom's at work like...all of the time, so I can't really use hers."

Steve looked over at her in the passenger seat. It was weird having his lab partner in his car. There was too much casual domesticity about it...like they were friends. And yet, it felt comfortable, like she was supposed to be there. And he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"What does your mom do that keeps her working weekends?"

"She's an accountant." The answer was clipped and short, making Steve think that was a cover. 

"And she accounts over the weekend?"

"Numbers won't crunch themselves, even over the weekend. It's crazy, I know. Let me see this essay."

Steve produced a couple of different copies from his coat pocket, deciding not to ask more about her mom's career. What did he care anyway? "I don't have a full draft yet."

"That's fine, as long as you have something and know where you're going with it."

Steve had no idea where he was going, "Hey, where the fuck am I taking you?"

"Anywhere I can get a job."

"Don't you lifeguard?" When Steve had first met her she'd been wearing a "Hawkins Aquatic Staff" shirt. 

"I did over the summer, but indoor guarding is boring as hell. Plus then I'd be working with Tommy H again."

"Mm yeah. Don't recommend."

"Hate that guy."

"Yeah."

"Let's stop at the coffee shop first. I want a muffin."

"Am I taking you between every stop?"

"If you want me to look at your essay, absolutely."

"Jesus Christ."

"Okay so I think the basketball game is a really good idea, but you need to use it as a metaphor for something. Like another experience that went similarly, one where you might've learned something about yourself or something. Colleges want to know how your story affects you, not just what happened."

"Okay...a metaphor."

"Or just connect the game to yourself. Maybe you let a teammate take the winning shot, maybe you came up with the winning strategy. What did you learn from it?"

"uh...that I'm awesome at basketball?" In truth, Steve had made the winning shot, but anyone could've, it was wide open. He hadn't come up with a  strat or anything heroic, he'd just basked in the glory of taking it. 

Sadie rolled her eyes as she took a sip of her second coffee of the day. The cafe wasn't hiring. Neither was the diner, or the record store, or the hardware store, or the florist. She was starting to think she would have to crawl back to Mel. The last stop was the General Store, which they were walking to now.

"Okay. Can you think of any moment in your life that changed its trajectory? That changed you and how you thought or perceived the world? You need nuance here man."

Steve looked away from her uncomfortably. "Yeah. But I can't write about it. Colleges don't want to hear about that."

"They will if it really shows introspection and identity." Sadie's suspicions were running high. He had to be thinking about whatever happened last fall with Will Byers. Why couldn't he write about it? Had he signed an NDA or something? "What about last fall? Didn't you used to be friends with Carol Perkins and Tommy H? Talk about the age-old realization every teen has that their friends are dicks."