Suburban Legends

chapter 1: end of beginning

📍Wednesday
September 9th, 1981
Hawkins High School
Hawkins, Indiana

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Grace Sinclair sat in the second row of Mrs. O'neill's biology class, waiting for the bell to ring so she could get out of there as soon as possible. Of course the class had just begun but that didn't stop her from counting down the minutes to freedom.

To waste some time she was looking around at the different people in her class which was something she never use to do but her boredom was eating at her. She glanced towards the other side of the room and noticed Steve "The Hair" Harrington eating a bagel on his desk and couldn't help but being totally disgusted by the way he was eating with his hands and talking with his mouth full to Tommy Hagan. Ugh. Just as gross.

She scanned her eyes and noticed half the girls in the class were gawking at him even so. She scanned her eyes to the back of the room where the derelicts and freaks were, throwing crumpled up notes at each other back and forth. Occasionally they would accidentally hit some other people in the classroom earning stares and mouthings of "I'm going to kill you" from all the jocks.

Now just to preface, Grace Sinclair was definitely considered royalty at Hawkins High. She was a track star and prom queen in the making. Even when she was just a middle schooler, she quickly made a name for herself with her outspoken personality and confidence. But her life was far from perfect.

While Grace had many "friends", she never actually had someone she could truly count on or trust. This was mostly due to the fact that she scared absolutely everyone away. Even the people who wanted to be her or be with her were terrified of her. She wasn't exactly classified as a mean girl but definitely someone you didn't want to cross. Ever.

Grace wasn't the type of girl to walk around school smiling and waving to people like a Disney princess at a float parade. And she certainly didn't gain her popularity from being some kind of America's sweetheart. She gained it through fear.

If any of the other girls in her grade or anyone for that matter tried to boss her around or mistreat her in any way, she would tear them apart with her words. And sometimes, when warranted, with her fists. She would threaten to kick anyone's ass and had even done so a few times. Some boys just don't understand no means no.

On occasion she would go on dates but it always had to be very hush hush because she didn't like other people knowing her business. That, however, didn't keep everyone from gossiping about her. Even her so called "best friends" on the cheerleading squad, Tina and Jennifer. They were both jealous of her and often spread nasty rumors about her to stir the pot. But it somehow made Grace more sought after, especially by the jocks. To her dismay of course because she absolutely despised those mouth breathers.

Secretly, Grace was a huge nerd. She loved school, especially science and english. Ever since Mr. Clark's 7th grade class she's been fascinated by the subject. He used to be her favorite teacher and because of him she was so sad to leave Hawkins Middle. She loved to learn in any capacity and she also read comic books in her free time. Sometimes she wished she could turn into Green Lantern and fly far away from Hawkins.

While she would never admit it to anyone, she felt very lonely in her little hostile bubble. She longed to be able to open up to someone, anyone who cared to listen. And she longed even more to just enjoy life with a person or people. She wanted people. Friends. Real friends.

As Grace got lost in thought, she began to think of how sick and tired she was of feeling so lonely. And how sick she was of this town and how it never changed. Nothing was ever different, new or exciting. She just wanted something, anything to shake things up. Or even get away somehow.