In The Stars / Steve Harrington 3

Chapter 2

The bell rings and I decide to go to Ms. Kelly's office before lunch. I walk down the halls, listening to my Walkman. I look over as I see a boy making out with a girl. I sigh, seeing his letterman jacket and blonde curly hair. I turn the corner to see Chrissy Cunningham walking out of Ms. Kelly's office.

I walk into Ms. Kelly's office and close the door behind me. I sit down and start to bounce my leg up and down and fidget with my headphone wire. Ms. Kelly waves her hands and points to her ears. I quickly pause my music and take off my headphones.

"Sorry." I say quietly. She looks through some papers as I continue to fidget with my headphone wire. "A C in English and a C- in Spanish." She says and I stare at her. "Yeah." I say awkwardly. "Well, that's not normal for you." She says as she crosses her arms on her desk. "If you say so." I say with a shrug as I look down.

"How's your step-mom and Max holding up?" She asks. "They're fine. I mean, they hate our new place, which, like yeah, it's terrible but they're fine." I explain. "Is your step-mom still drinking?" She asks, and I shift uncomfortably in my seat. "Like, yeah, a little but, well she's working two jobs, so it's not easy." I say. "Well, it must not be easy for you either with your dad gone." She says and I clench my fists at the thought of my abusive father. "It's kinda better, honestly." I say with a shrug. "Better how?" She asks and I get uncomfortable again. "He was an abusive asshole so there's less of that." I say and look down again.

"Are you sleeping better?" She then asks trying to change the subject. "Yeah, fine." I say with a shake of my head. "So, no more headaches?" She asks. I shake my head again and look out the window. "Nightmares?" She asks and I think about the nightmares I've had recently about Billy's death. "Nope." I say after several seconds of silence.

Ms. Kelly sighs and I look out the window again. "Bella." She says and I look over at her. "What you've been through, what you're still going through, it's a lot for anyone and it's okay to not be okay but I can only help you if you're truthfull, if you open up to me." She says and I continue to fidget with my headphone wire. "Yeah, I know. I'm being open." I say as I stumble over my words. She tilts her head to the side and sighs. "I'm being open." I say defensively.

I get my backpack and leave Ms. Kelly's office. "Bell, hey, you okay?" Corey asks. "Yeah, Ms. Kelly just wanted to talk to me." I say with a shrug. "Can we just meet up at lunch?" I ask her as I walk down the hallway to the girls bathroom. "Yeah, sure." Corey says with a nod. "See you later." I say as I open the door to the bathroom. "Bye." She says and walks away.

I grab onto the sink and try to get my breathing back to normal. I look at myself in the mirror and quickly take off my backpack and grab a bottle of Tylenol out of it. I take a pill and put the bottle back in my backpack. I hear someone throwing up and I turn around.

"Hey, are you alright?" I ask. "Ye-yes I'm-I'm fine." Chrissy responds. "Okay, um, are you sure?" I ask as I walk towards the stall. "Please just go away." She says quietly. I nod to myself and walk out of the bathroom.

I walk into the lunch room and sigh as I see Eddie on top of a table, making a face at Jason. He jumps down and scares one of the teachers. "After you, Hargrove." Eddie says with a smile as he holds his arm out for me to pass. I shake my head and give him a small smile. I walk past him and get some food. I walk up to the table Corey, Robin, and Max are sitting at. I give them a small smile which they return. I sit down and quickly eat my food.

The bell rings and I get up to go to my last class. Last period goes by pretty fast and school lets out. I walk outside towards the busses, but Dustin and Mike stop me. "Hey Bella, do you want to sub for Lucas tonight at Hellfire?" Dustin asks. "You two know I don't play DND." I say and they sigh. "Please Bella, we're desperate." Mike begs. "Sorry boys." I say with a shrug and walk past them.

"Henderson, let's go!" I hear Steve yell from his car. I turn around and look at him. Steve looks at me and I continue to walk away. "Bells, Bella hey." Steve says as he gets out of his car and runs up to me. "Hey Steve." I say as I turn around to look at him. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to come to the game tonight with me?" He asks and I sigh. "As friends, of course." He adds. "I can't. I have to watch Max." I say, trying to come up with an excuse. "Oh, okay, but we should hang out some other time." He says and I look over at the busses. "Yeah, totally, I gotta go." I say. "Oh yeah, sure." He says and I begin to walk away. "Bye, Steve." I say. "By-bye." He stutters and I smile.

I get on the bus right as the doors begin to close. I sigh in relief and walk to my normal seat. Max gives me a questioning look and I roll my eyes and put on my headphones and look out the window as we ride back to the trailer park.