𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 | 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐲

chapter two | 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐬

THE LATE JUNE AIR WAS KEEPING THE SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD UP, she was sat cross legged on her wooden single bed, her new walkman in her hands. the digital clock on her bedside table flashed the numbers 2:03 in red light. normally, by now she would be asleep but tonight she couldn't keep her eyes closed. there was too much on her mind as well as beads of sweat on her forehead.

times like this would remind her of sophomore year. she used to be up until the early hours of the morning crying hot tears. she used to hate herself, the way she looked compared to all the other cheerleaders and popular girls, the way she awkwardly murmured whenever someone would try making conversation with her, the way she would get comfortable and close with someone and then slowly drift away, how this would make her feel unworthy of friendship and she would always end up alone.

as pathetic as it sounds, polly was always desperate for some kind of love, platonic or romantic yet she never really got either. she felt unloveable and lonely. yeah she had a few friends, steve harrington, nancy wheeler, jonathan byers, but they weren't close. only really her friends because of their shared alternate dimension trauma. polly wanted to feel close to someone for once in her life. she had her family sure, but they were like her default friends. you weren't special if your dad and your sister liked you, thats what family is meant to do. she needed actual friends.

badly.

she looked over at the alarm clock once again, 2:16 it beeped. she sighed, the only noise that filled the small room was the humming of the old fan that stood in the corner and it was driving her crazy. she picked up the closest tape to her and slotted it into place inside the walkman, "everybody wants to rule the world" by tears for fears filled in the silence and she contently closed her eyes, laid back and tried to get some sleep.

"help me make the most of freedom"

"and of pleasure"

"nothing ever lasts forever"

she planned her day out in her head. tomorrow she would go to the mall to see steve again, she had spent all of last summer isolated in her room and she was not gonna do it again. she needed to live a little. she needed to be normal.

"everybody wants to rule the world"

~

she brushed out her long brown hair, no matter how hard she combed it still was wavy and frizzy. she sighed at this but continued her beauty routine. the makeup sponge on her wooden desk was picked up and dabbed on her slightly pale face, smothering foundation on. mascara was applied to her long eyelashes causing them to clump together slightly, she cursed at this and tried to thin them out again with her fingers. a little blush and pink tinted lipgloss were added too for a finishing touch. then she stepped forward to the full length mirror that was leaning against her wall, putting down the brush in her hand and admiring her outfit.