At first, Shannon Bishop was just the babysitter. It was convenient, living in the same neighborhood as the Hendersons, but it wasn't too much of a stretch to move to the Wheelers' house or even out where the Byers family lived to watch all the boys...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nancy was on edge the next day in school, startling at every little sound and staring at everyone who looked at her like she expected them to know something.
After watching the brunette give a cluster of girls a long, uncomfortable look, Shannon bumped her hip against Nancy's. "Is everything okay?"
"Hm?" Nancy glanced at her, then quickly dropped her eyes. "Yeah, everything's fine."
Shannon frowned. "That definitely doesn't sound like everything's okay." Tapping Nancy's shoulder, she leaned in closer and lowered her voice. "Is this about last night?"
"What? No." But Nancy's eyes were moving again, scanning the hallway.
Shannon's frown deepened. "You can tell me, Nance. If he hurt you at all-"
"No, no, nothing like that," Nancy rushed to say, finally looking at Shannon's face. She sighed, and her expression grew more unsure and downcast. "It's just... I feel like everyone's staring at me. Like they know."
"They don't. Steve wouldn't say anything like that. Right?" Now Shannon was the one who was unsure. "He wouldn't, would he? I'll ruin him if he did."
"Shan," Nancy scolded lightly before opening her locker that they'd stopped in front of. "He wouldn't. He's not like that."
As if he knew they were talking about him, Steve appeared, pushing Nancy's open locker door all the way against the locker bank to join them, which startled them both. "Hey."
"God," Shannon muttered, stepping back.
Steve smirked at her reaction, pleased to have caught her off guard, but at Nancy's less enthusiastic "Hey," he frowned. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, totally," Nancy told him, and it was obvious to all of them that everything was not.
"I didn't tell anyone," Steve said, sensing Nancy's hesitation and reassuring her. He cast a swift glance at Shannon, trying to gauge what she knew, if anything.
"Oh, I know," Shannon told him. "I was the one who got us home last night."
He winced a little at the jab. "What happened to Barb?"
"She left," Shannon told him, feeling a little bitter and a little sad about it. They had yet to see Barb today, so a lot was still unsaid between them.
"Okay, but what about, like, Tommy and Carol?" Nancy chimed in softly, hesitant about even asking.
Steve shook his head, smiling a little. "No, trust me. You're just being paranoid."
A silly, little smile spread across Nancy's face as she shook her head, too. "You're right, I am. Sorry."
"No, don't be. It's cute." Steve smiled a little wider, leaned in a little closer. "I had a good time."
