troubled souls ~ Steve Harrington

*twelve*

A/N: Thanks for following Mattie's story this far, I am beyond flattered! I just wanted to address something in this chapter because it is one of the reasons I came up with Mattie in the first place. 

I have struggled with my body image my WHOLE life. I've always been a bigger girl, even in third grade. Dustin of course has a bit of chub, as does his mom, so I envisioned Mattie being the same way. Not super overweight, but she's curvy- ya know? 

Anyhow, in the chapter the term 'Clydesdale' is used and targeted at Mattie, which was slang for someone who is 'large and unattractive'. 

My goal in using this term is to bring awareness to the unhealthy expectations that society has for all women: whether it's their weight, or really anything with appearance, race, sexual orientation, the way they 'should' or 'shouldn't' act, who they should be, etc. 

It's all bullshit. 

Love who you are. 

But I also wanted Steve to eventually fall for a girl like Mattie, because I believe he's the kind of guy that would follow his heart and not his eyes. 

I'd like to believe I can find my own Steve Harrington one day, who can look past my appearance and see me for who I really am. 

SO: sit back, and enjoy chapter twelve! 

***

After the three of us contributed all the cash we could towards our 'killing an interdimensional creature' fund, we headed to the local hunting store. Lucky for us, not many Hawkins residence would want to be here early on a Saturday morning, so we have the place to ourselves.

There wasn't much of a discussion as to what we should buy, so the three of us added to our ever-growing pile. With only slight suspicion from the cashier, we gather up our items and head towards Jonathan's car.

As soon as the door clicks closed behind us, Jonathan laughs. "Monster hunting?"

He repeats Nancy's response to the attendant when he asked about our unique load of eight-inch iron nails, a propane tank, and a bear trap.

She grins, then shakes her head, "You know, last weekend we were shopping for a new top we thought Steve might like. You remember? It took us forever."

"Yeah," I scoff, "Because you turned down every single shirt we picked out."

"Barb was so mad," Nancy recalls with a longing smile. "And it seemed like life or death, you know? And now..."

"You guys are shopping for bear traps with Jonathan Byers," he finishes the sentence ironically as he slams his trunk shut.

Nancy shrugs, nodding her head. "Yeah."

"What's the weirdest part?" Jonathan questions. "Me or the bear trap?"

"You," I tease without hesitation, though there is more truth to the sentence than I would care to admit.

Nancy nods in agreement, "It's definitely you."

My body jolts at the sound of a car horn behind us. Simultaneously, the three of us turn towards where the noise came from.

One of the members of the football team hangs out the window, "Hey Nance! Can't wait to see your movie," he shouts with a chortle. The other jocks join in the chorus of cackles before they rev their engine and speed down the main street.

"What the hell was he talking about?" I exclaim. The car drives from my line of sight, so I wander out into the middle of the road to watch where they end up.