Twisted Town | Stranger Things FF

Chapter 3 | The Library

No ones P.o.V

Two weeks before summer break, 1985

"Is this serious?" the boy with the intimidating blue eyes asked, his voice sounding clearly annoyed. The rather old teacher nodded and put her hands on her hips "I'm afraid it is, Mr. Hargrove. You've been missing out on a lot of lessons lately and it's nearly impossible for you to keep track of everything on your own until next week" she explained to him, not letting herself feel small by his stare "And if you fail that test, you sadly will have to redo this school year"

Billy sighed heavily, his gaze now focusing on the white sheet of paper he was holding in his hands. This gotta be some kind of joke, right? Him? Having to get tutor lessons? From the nerd herself?

Sure, he skipped school here and there, but he managed to have good grades nevertheless. Why did it matter if he fails one class? And it's history, so it shouldn't be that important, right? At least it wasn't important for Billy. He almost always falls asleep when he attended the lessons - which didn't happen all too often, if he was being honest.

After a few more minutes of this back and forth, Billy actually gave up for once, realizing that there was absolutely no way out of this. He plopped back down on his seat, eyeing the black letters that informed him about his very first tutor lesson that would take place right after school in the school library.

But what Billy couldn't know was that his tutor, the 'nerd' or who we know as Marci Joans, wasn't as thrilled about the news either. 

Normally, she actually liked the tutoring classes she did. She enjoyed teaching her classmates or younger students, enjoyed seeing how they improved their grades. It was a great opportunity to see if she was cut out for the job of being a teacher. So far everything went great! She even got extra credit for it which will look great in her future applications. If she could deal with moody teenagers, she was sure she was going to be great as an elementary or middle school teacher. Besides, she loved kids - mostly because of her little sister and the friends she'd sometimes bring home with her. They were just so adorable in her eyes!

But dealing with Billy Hargrove was going to be a whole new experience.

Over the course of the year, Billy hadn't made himself very popular with Marci. He was friends with Tommy Hagan and his girlfriend Carol Perkins - the main culprits of her constant bullying. Though he never took part in it, she could always see him standing on the side, watching her being pushed around with an irritated look on his face. Why did he always seemed annoyed by her being bullied?

With a soft sigh, she took a pen into her hand, shifting her gaze to the front of the class and taking notes about everything important her teacher was saying.

Fast forward to after school. While Billy was in the men's bathroom to make sure that his hair still sat perfectly, Marci was already waiting in the library. She sat at one of the many wooden desks, her leg bouncing up and down in anticipation as she looked over the chapters they had to cover today in her history book. Her eyes shot upwards when she heard the door to the library open, but it wasn't Billy who got inside - it was none other than Alice Harrington. 

The girl with the strawberry blonde hair passed by Marci, shooting her a warm smile as she headed straight into the fantasy section of the library. Marci smiled back, trying not to look as nervous as she actually was in this very moment.

She never knew how to feel about this girl. Sure, she seemed really sweet and liked to hide behind her books, but she was the little sister of Steve Harrington, the former king of Hawkins High. He was trouble, and still is sometimes. What if Alice was the same? Marci did not want to risk falling into a trap that could ruin her. Enduring the daily bullying was enough for her.

Soon, the door swung open a second time and inside came - Eddie Munson, leader of the Hellfire Club.

Marci's shoulders relaxed seeing him. At least someone she knew was nice, but... what was he doing in the library? Shouldn't he be with his club at this time? Her eyes followed him as he looked around, gazing down every aisle that he passed by. It seemed like he looked for something, or probably rather someone.

"Oh, uhm, hey" Eddie awkwardly greeted Marci, only now noticing her small frame by the table. He not only looked but also felt out of place, everyone could see after taking a look at how he was presenting himself - his arms behind his back, an unsure smile sitting on his lips and his eyes looking around the room as if he's never been here before "Have you seen Alice Harrington walk in here?"

Immediately, Marci knew that Eddie had seen something in that girl, that he couldn't help but be curious about her and her lifestyle - he just never had the guts to properly approach her despite his high confidence that Marci took inspiration in.

In Eddie's eyes, Alice looked exactly like a fair elf maiden. She was beautiful, even mesmerizing, and Eddie wanted to know if her personality would be the same. You could say that he was praying that the girl he took interest in wouldn't turn out to be a total jackass just like her older brother - with whom he was in one and the same class. Though Steve seemed to have gotten a better person, Eddie remained skeptical, recalling all the moments when Steve and his little 'gang' would play pranks on him or call him names in front of the whole school.

Marci found herself to be slightly worried about Eddie, not having the best opinion on Steve either. He was such a pure soul, she'd hate for someone to break his heart out of cruelty "Y-Yeah" she answered after a few moments, putting on a small smile before pointing into the direction she saw her head to "I think she went that way"

Eddie followed her finger, his smile growing into a grin when he noticed that it was the fantasy section. Would there be a chance that she knew about Lord of the Rings? He looked at Marci one last time "Thank you" before heading right to where she was pointing. Marci's brown eyes followed him shortly and she couldn't help but whisper "Be careful"

Then, the door to the library opened a third time.