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___________ c h a p t e r t h i r t y - t w o
A few hours pass, and nearly all of Hawkins High's students come back to the school to witness this year's championship game.
Steve opens the door for Bianca as they search for seats, quietly discussing her Mike issue.
"He's such a jerk about it too! It's like all of us are only allowed to sit in his basement for the rest of our lives and play D&D," she rants.
"I thought you liked D&D."
"I did, that's not the point. The point is that it's not the only thing I like. Why is that a bad thing? Sam likes cheerleading and art, yet no one bats an eye."
"Eh, the art kids once glared her out of the art room sophomore year," he retorts. "Practically banned her."
"Not helping. How am I supposed to deal with an entire week of him and his snide comments? Last Friday, I told the boys I couldn't make movie night because I had soccer practice and he practically had a temper tantrum."
"Okay, okay, relax," Steve calms her. "Mike's not exactly the most mature friend of yours. He'll grow out of it."
"But it's not fair. If he came up to me today and said he wanted to join a rock band, I wouldn't be treating him like a traitor. Lucas was so excited."
"I know he was, I could tell when I drove him home yesterday," Steve agrees, eyes locked on Sam as her and the cheer team run onto the sidelines.
"Exactly. We're his best friends. They're supposed to be here and they're not," she groans as the horn blares, signaling it was time for the game to begin.
Bianca watches on as the principal walks on the court, but quickly gets distracted by the throbbing in her head, clutching her head in response.
Steve notices this, turning to her in concern. "Bumble? Hey, what's going on?"
"I'm fine," she winces, still feeling the aftershocks of the headache. "Just a headache."
"You been having a lot of those lately?"
"No, just the past couple days. I think it's an allergy thing," she shrugs.
"Are you sure? Because Sam looked like someone lit her brain on fire the other day."
"I think Mom's using a new air freshener or something," she waves him off. "Have you noticed Sam's nightmares lately though?"
"Seems like they're getting worse," he shakes his head. "Has she been acting weird to you?"
Bianca immediately clams up at that, knowing Sam probably was acting weird around Steve because she was too focused on her acceptance to Pratt to really enjoy being with him.
