Me, Myself, and Her

Chapter Seventy-Six

Chapter Seventy-Six: Look What You Made Me Do

The group entered the store and almost immediately stopped to take in the sights around them. Banners hung from the ceiling, labeling different parts of the store. 'Knives', 'Guns', 'Ammo', and more.

"So much for avoiding angry hicks," Robin mumbled so only they could hear her. Annie nodded in agreement, Max sniffling a snort and settling for a simple nod.

"Let's be... fast," Nancy said.

"Yep."

"Definitely."

"Abso-freaking-lutely."

Without another word, they split up. Nancy went right to the guns counter, since she was the most experienced (Steve already told Annie no. Many times on the way in. Like, several). So, the other five went off in different directions, finding all kinds of things from other possible weapons to apparel.

If they were going into the Upside Down, they had to change. Nancy's torn and dirty outfit, Robin's messed up outfit, and Steve's bare chest and jean vest (not to mention the bare feet) would not suit this kind of mission.

Annie and Max were browsing jackets, Annie even thinking of grabbing one for herself. She pulled a black, leather jacket down and held it to herself while spinning to face Max. "What do you think?"

Max looked over and smiled. "You'd look like such a biker babe, although Steve would hate it. Put it in the basket."

The girls laughed as Annie placed the jacket on the growing pile. "Hey- oh, sweet!" Annie turned and saw Steve coming over to them. "Just the stuff I need. I'm gonna go ahead and..."

Steve started rifling through the clothes, grabbing the things Annie and Max picked out for him without even knowing. "Cool, thanks," he said, rubbing the top of Annie's head affectionately.

She pushed his hand off as he walked away, then tried to smooth her hair back down. "How rude, doesn't even know how frizzy it gets these days," Annie mumbled.

Max just smiled as she shook her head. "Hear, let me help," she said, and braided Annie's hair. "That way it can also be out of your way if shit goes down."

Carefully, Annie nodded. "Very smart, I like it."

Once that was all done, they continued to roam around the store. Each girl would see something, think it would be useful, then toss it in the basket. Annie had no idea how they were going to pay for any of this, let alone all of it, but she figured wither her brother or Nancy cover it.

Or at least, the emergency credit cards they both have would cover it.

Annie picked up a knife that had a really intricate handle. "Ooh, Red, look at this," she said, turning and showing off the handle.

Max smiled and shook her head. "Drop it in the basket, Barbie. I'm sure a little self protection would be okay. Plus, it works with your new leather jacket."

Smiling even brighter, Annie did drop the knife in the cart and started pushing it again when she accidentally ran into someone. "Oh my god! So sorry!" she instinctively called out.

But then she looked at who she ran into and noticed a couple things.

For starters, they were facing the cart, with their hands on the top of the basket. So she didn't run into them, she was stopped by them.

Then, she noticed as she kept going up that they were wearing a letterman jacket. A Hawkins High letterman jacket.

When she got to the top, she recognized the obstacle as one of the players from the basketball team. Not only from seeing him at practice, hanging around Jason all the time, but he constantly wolf-whistled her if the cheer squad and basketball team ever crossed paths.

Which meant he would do so at games, practices, pep rallies, so on and so forth.

"Well now, this is quite the cart of items," he said, his eyes roving over everything in the cart. There was a nice cushion of clothes and jackets, with an array of weapons sitting on the top. He picked up a random knife that had been tossed in. "Not what I'd expect Harrington's little sister to be carting around."

Annie didn't know how to react at first, so she went with a friendly smile and a shrug. "What can I say? Scary times, you know? I just... wanna be prepared," she answered.

Carefully, Annie tried to use her peripheral vision to keep an eye on Max. The redhead was taking slow, deep breaths, and had one hand on the cart. The other was holding a knife, one that she had been in the process of putting in the basket when the interaction started.

The player, whatever his name is, let some air from his nose, a weird little laugh of sorts. "Makes sense. Especially when your parents are never in town... and you're home alone..."

The way he spoke had goosebumps appearing on Annie's arms, thankfully hidden under her sweater. But the discomfort was evident on her face the way she started rapidly blinking and trying to keep her jaw from quivering by clenching it.

On the other side of the store, Nancy was facing off with Jason. At another, Erica was trying to hide from the letterman jackets that kept popping up.

Closer to where Max and Annie were, Steve and Robin were also taking note of the familiar faces around the room. Steve's eyes went searching for Annie, and he nearly choked when he saw her being confronted.

"Shit," he whispered, loud enough that Robin heard and followed his eyeline.

She saw the same thing and felt her body go stiff. But her eyes kept roaming, and she saw Nancy with Jason next. "Double shit."

"How are two girls like you going to manage to get all this stuff on your bikes?"

Annie tried hard not to run him down. "We'll manage," she said, her reply short. The awkward politeness was done. Now, she just wanted to get out of here. Even if it meant her stealing a cart full of at least one thousand dollars worth of merchandise.

For a tense few seconds, no one moved. It was silent between the three of them until Annie shook the cart enough for it to rattle, and to get her intentions across. "We still have some shopping to do," she said quietly, but as evenly and forcefully as she could.

The player smirked, then finally let go of the cart and dropped the knife back in. "Stay safe out there," he said as the girls hurried off.

Max didn't even get a chance to talk to Annie before Steve was hurrying to them. "Come on, we're checking out now."

No protests were brought up. The crew quickly and carefully got all their goods purchased and hurried out into the parking lot. Max chanced a quick look back and noticed none of the basketball players looking at them.

At least that meant their getaway wasn't jeopardized.

They hurried outside and to the RV that they had parked along the side of the building. Steve was the first one in, dropping bags off and hurrying to the driver's seat.

"What happened?" Lucas asked.

"Gotta go." Steve's short reply got the other three on edge.

Erica hurried in and sat by Lucas. "Your old friends are here," she said, and Lucas swore under his breath.

Everyone was yelling at once- Dustin was trying to get Steve to go and Steve was getting there and wanted to make sure they knew that. Annie didn't waste a second getting back to her place on the couch in the back, Max and her going through all the chaos as quick as they could.

The girls were barely sat down when Steve hit the pedal. "Not too fast! We can't go tearing through the parking lot," Nancy said.

Steve slowed down and calmly made his way through the parking lot, not hitting anything or anyone on the way.

Annie peaked through the curtains and could make out Jason's figure standing. Watching. She didn't lose sight of him until they were long gone down the road.

A/n: bro, on this chapter, once my fingers were going they were not stopping

I am aware of how that sounds but I stand by it.

See you tomorrow