weird ass stuff || stranger things x female reader

nine - hating on the french language

Wednesday, November 9, 1983

"Byers' body was found in the water of this quarry by state police earlier this evening. It was discovered by state trooper David O'Bannon, just after dark. The state police are mounting an investigation to determine Byer's cause of death, but an initial inquiry..."

You sit on your couch, blankly staring at the screen in front of you.

You ended up coming home before Steve. He had decided to hang out with his friends after the game and stay out late. You even had the time to drop Eleven back at Mike's: the girl absolutely wanted to check up on him, and you agreed, so she hopped on your bike and you drove her there.

Luckily that was where he went after leaving you at the quarry. Part of you was anxious he would have wandered into the woods, too shocked by the news about Will. But he opened the back door after a few minutes of you talking alone in your walkie talkie, and you were able to give him a big hug. He said he'd take Eleven back in, after all she kind of had settled in his basement. So you left them together and pedaled back home.

When you arrived, there was, as always, no car in the driveway. You had taken a shower, cried, worn you pajamas, cried a bit, and made yourself some hot chocolate, then felt like crying as you snuggled into a blanket on the couch, but your eyes stayed dry.

In the words of a famous singer that was not born yet, you had no tears left to cry.

After that, Steve had came home a bit drunk, crashed on the couch and mumbled some nonsense while turning on the TV. That's when you heard the news of Will's death and how they found his body in the quarry.

You didn't have to act as if you didn't know that already. Steve was not looking at you but at the screen, eyes narrowed and mouth slightly open, trying to decipher the words of the news reporter.

"Wait... they found Byers?"

"Yeah," you breathe out tonelessly.

"Ow, man... that's..."

"Is ‘sad’ the word you're looking for?"

"Yeaaaah," he falls back into the couch, closing his eyes to rest. "Poor kid. His brother's a perv though."

"Your emotional range is truly mind-blowing," you say dryly and stand up, leaving your brother to fall asleep in the living room as you walk to your room. "Goodnight, Steve."

"Yeah..."

It was hard to fall asleep, despite how exhausted you were. You kept thinking of the kids, how you had left them, and Will. You only talked to him a few times, but he was always so sweet. It was hard to accept he was gone.

You couldn't imagine what Dustin, Lucas and Mike were going through, even less Joyce and Jonathan Byers.

___

Thursday, November 10

You didn't know why you had chosen to study French back when you were in 7th grade, but you regretted every second you had spent in class listening to the teachers talk about the pronunciation of 'croissant' that was different for each of them, the difference between tutoiement and vouvoiement,  and the every little exception of this exhausting language.

You were sure there were more difficult languages in the world, but you wished you had taken Spanish like Mona. There was a reason there were only thirteen students in your French class: it was fucking hard.

You were the best student in your class nevertheless. Not to brag, but after years of learning it, your efforts were starting to pay.