Thunderstruck | Steve Harrington

CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-NINE: THE PEP RALLY

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Twenty-Nine: The Pep Rally

(The Hellfire Club, Pt. 2)

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Why did pep rallies have to be fucking mandatory?

That was the running thought in Rowan's head as she stood on the bleachers, arms pressed against her sides due to the crush of bodies and her body bearing some bruises from the elbows that jabbed into her from waving and cheering, said cheering nearly deafening her. If anyone saw her on the opposite side, she'd think she would stick out—dressed in dark clothes and scowling like she was plotting murder. And maybe she was if the pep rally didn't end sooner.

It didn't help that Rowan hadn't been able to snag a spot next to Eddie—if he hadn't found a way to skip it—and the others in Hellfire, or next to Valerie. They at least would make this bearable. But she couldn't, her companions being a kid who didn't realise deodorant was an actual necessity and not a concept and a girl who looked way too cheery to be healthy. So, she had to suffer.

An elbow rammed into her side and Rowan resisted the urge to electrocute the asshole as she tried to look at what was happening on the gym floor, arms now crossed and face scowling as she watched the Tigers cheer squad. Front and centre was Chrissy, smiling and in her element. She and Robin—who Rowan tried to hear performing in the marching band—were the only reasons she stayed here instead of trying to sneak away. That, and the other reason...

As voices roared in her ears, Rowan looked down, catching the backs of Alistair's, Mike's, Dustin's, Cami's and now Max's heads. She couldn't hear what they were saying and she knew they definitely couldn't hear her, any attempt of conversation drowned out by the din of the crowd around them, and the same could be said for trying to catch their attention. And while it was probably irrational, a sense of happiness curled through Rowan at seeing the gremlins still sticking together, with the obvious exceptions of Will and El, of course. And, of course, Lucas—but that was for an entirely different reason.

That reason made its appearance when the performance from the cheer squad finally ended and the noise reached a new volume as the basketball team made their grand entrance. Rowan grimaced at the increase in noise. God, how loud could it get before there was risk of permanent hearing loss? 

Rowan tried to ignore it and focused on the jocks running out into the centre of the gym floor, not sparing a second look to the asshole jocks like Jason Carver and his goons. However, for one, she maintained eye contact with, the one who would have her endure rallies and basketball games and bony elbows and concerningly loud noise like this along with Robin and Chrissy.

Lucas Sinclair, the new player on the team, smiling as he ran out along with his teammates. He'd been the benchwarmer, but Rowan knew he wouldn't have been on the team if he didn't have some skills—and if she was being honest, Rowan always had a feeling he was the more athletic out of the Party. And even if he never played a game, that didn't mean she didn't help him practice along with Steve—Rowan also knew it was because he was happy one of the kids had taken to athletics—doing mock-games and throwing hoops in the makeshift hoop in the Harringtons' backyard, shouting and jeering and arguing over who won and grinning. And always, Rowan made sure she came to his games, Steve sometimes at her side, for the same reasoning she came to watch events like these where Robin and Chrissy were involved in it, came to Eddie's campaigns and the games Steve was a part of before he graduated—to support those she cared about in the things they loved doing, even if she didn't really understand it or, in the case of organised sport, had a strong dislike for it.