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chapter one / under pressure
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Lucy Andrews was in deep shit.
See, it only began that summer—the summer of '85—because her workaholic dad told her she "needed" a job. A real-life, looks-good-on-college-applications, paid-by-the-hour job. Even Steve had a summer job, and he wasn't even going to college anytime soon—facts contradicting both Lucy and Mr. Andrew's arguments on the matter, so eventually Steve was dropped from the equation altogether, but still. Paul Andrews' biggest point: if Steve 'The Hair', 'Dumped-by-Lucy-and-managed-to-get-her-back' Harrington was able to get a job, then anyone could do it. (And the world was going to shit.)
First, Lucy tried Scoops Ahoy—because duh. Any time she couldn't be with Steve was due to the fact that he was at work, so the issue would be eliminated entirely if she got the same job—but Robin Buckley was the first to apply, and therefore the first to be accepted. It was a totally fair outcome, but still one that disappointed Lucy greatly.
"Sorry, kid," said the owner, Milton Myers, whom had known Lucy since she was in diapers and was still able to look her in the eyes to deny her a job. He at least had the decency to shrug in an apologetic manner. "Ain't no room at the inn. Best of luck finding a job, though; I know plenty of kids your age are in the same market."
So Lucy turned to the next best option of a summer job: Lifeguarding. Once she was trained, it proved to be decently easy, it paid well, and she knew Heather Holloway pretty well. At least, well enough that she knew she could somewhat enjoy her time at work.
That, of course, was before she knew who her other coworker was.
"Well, well," said Billy Hargrove, as he swept out of the break room and into the belly of the beast—he was shirtless, wearing nothing but a pair of red swim trunks and a gold whistle around his neck. He eyed Lucy without the usual sense of seduction and attraction he regarded girls their age with; instead, he seemed repulsed, sizing her up from afar.
Which was fair; last time they'd encountered each other, Lucy had beat his ass into the ground and left him half-dead on the floor of the Byers' household. She'd broken her hand in the process—still had the scars on her knuckles to prove it—but it was still regarded as one of her finer moments, by not just herself; Steve, Lucy's little brother Leo, and all of his tweenaged friends thought so, too. Which was saying something.
