Salt To The Wound (A Stranger Things Story)

Season 5-Chapter 20: New Years Day (Troy's POV

It was now the next year, and it was a miracle for Troy. He managed to finally repair his body to how it was formally. He needed additional physical therapy to be able to do extra athletic stuff and all that but otherwise he was good. The group decided to stay together for new years and maybe have a little bit of alcohol, not too much though, like a shot.

He walked down the hallway, the first time he has for a long, long time. He wobbled a bit and used the walls as support because he just wasn't used to it. "Struggling?" Dustin asked and Troy nodded. "Yeah, and I'm not as fit as I used to be, I need to head to the gym," Troy said and Dustin rolled his eyes. "The doctor said to not do too much with your legs or you could revert your recovery," Dustin said, helping Troy down the hallway. "I know you're right, but still," Troy said and Dustin smiled. "In time Troy, in time," Dustin said Troy rolled his eyes and the two kept walking, slowly.

Troy and Dustin arrived at Will's house, mainly because it was the biggest, but Holly wanted to be a part of the fun too and they decided just doing it at Will's would be the best idea. Troy and Dustin were in charge of picking up the drinks for them and a drink for Holly, they were told to make both of them look extremely alike so Holly couldn't tell the difference, and they had the perfect drinks in mind. They stopped by the store and picked them up, they then drove over to Will's house for the big night.

When they got there, everything else was set, they had the TV ready, snacks, and food in the kitchen, and they were just chilling, laughing on the couch. It seemed as if everyone was trying to enjoy the few months that they had left together, the last few months that they'd be kids. They put the bags down and sat with the group to see what they were laughing about.

They ordered some pizzas as no one felt like cooking, Joyce and Jonathan joined the group for their little mini-party. The clock was nearing midnight and then the end of this horrible, misfortunate year. The group played games, talked, and enjoyed the time together, like a true family.

It was now time for the 10-second countdown and everyone had drinks in hand. Most were just excited to finally put an end to the year, as it was damaging to almost everyone there. And then the countdown hit zero, making the new year official, and everyone was excited to start fresh but Troy was excited about one thing in particular, his acceptance letter. They would send them on January 5th and he was just hoping that'd he'd make it but he wasn't so sure.

It was now the day they'd send the acceptance letters and Troy set an alarm. He opened up his laptop and went to his email and continuously reloaded it to see if the email was sent, but it didn't show up yet, which could be a bad sign. He went downstairs and decided to make some breakfast to pass the time, but he was stressed out by it. He needed to make sure that he made it, it was a necessity. This was his dream college that was on the line. He quickly finished his food and headed back upstairs and there was the email.

Dustin and Dustin's mom went into the room to see if Troy made it or not. "Countdown?" Troy asked and they started counting down from 10. When it hit 1, he opened the email. He skimmed it and saw that he made it, he made it into his dream college. "Holy shit," he said standing up, and he was shocked. The other were happy for him but didn't scream or anything, considering how early it was. "I told you," Dustin said and Troy chuckled. "Let's go out to eat," Dustin's mom said the other two agreed.