The Babysitters ♡ Steve Harrington

Episode 3

I waved to Steve as he waited for me to enter the house.

"How was the party?" Mom questioned when I passed by the living room. She was dressed as a cat, Mews specifically.

"Uh, it was great." I told her. She smiled. "Until I spilled red punch all over Nancy." Mom's smile dropped.

"Oh, Athy, it was an accident, right?" She asked.

"Yeah, but...I feel terrible." I groaned. "Is Dustin home?"

"Not yet-" Mom got cut off by the door opening and Dustin creeping by. "Dusty!"

Dustin looked over at us.

"Dusty, how was it?" Mom asked.

"H-How was what?" Dustin stammered.

"'How was what?'" Mom repeated.

"Halloween." I deadpanned. How could Dustin almost forget what today was...unless he was hiding something.

"Oh. Oh, yeah, it was...it was, uh, tubular." Dustin smiled.

"What's wrong with you?" I questioned, my eyebrows furrowed.

"Nothing!" Dustin denied.

"Did something happen?" Mom tilted her head.

"No. What? No." Dustin shook his head.

"Are you constipated again?" Mom asked.

I snorted with laughter and Dustin smacked me with his arm. "Ow!"

I smacked him back.

"No, mom!" Dustin shouted.

"Okay, you're acting weird." Mom told him.

"I am not acting weird!" He defended.

"Yeah, he can't act it if he's always been it." I shrugged.

"Athy." Mom scolded.

"Hey!" Dustin said, offended. "I am not acting weird, nor am I weird to begin with!" 

"Sure." I rolled my eyes.

Then his ghost trap thing made a noise. Mom yelped. Mews hissed. I stared at him questioningly and Dustin laughed nervously.

"Awesome, right? Yeah...I rigged the trap with, uh, a motor to make it look like I caught a ghost." Dustin told us. "Just like the movie."

Mom laughed nervously too. "Oh, Dusty."

They both laughed really loudly and obnoxiously.

I looked between them. Did I drink too much?

"Funny, look at that. Look at that." Dustin turned and walked to his room but I followed.

"Okay, you can fool mom, but you can't fool me." I spoke up, causing Dustin to flinch and spin to face me.

"What? What are you talking about?" Dustin said quickly.

"You're not smart enough to put a motor into a box on your own." I shook my head.

Dustin gasped at me. "I am plenty smart! And you are plenty annoying! Goodnight!" He shoved me out of his room and slammed the door closed.

"Weirdo." I muttered, walking to my own room and shutting the door.

The next day at school I was sitting in the gym, watching Steve play basketball. Billy, who neglected to wear a shirt, shoved Steve and threw the basketball in the hoop.

Billy was smirking at Steve when his eyes, once again, traveled over to me and he winked.

I gave him a dirty look in response.

"Athena." I heard Nancy call my name. I looked to the side and saw her standing near the door. She motioned me outside and we stood near the wall talking.

"Yeah?" I questioned.

"I want to talk about last night. I can't remember a lot of it but I woke up with my costume covered in punch and-" Nancy began.

"I'm sorry." I cut in. "You were already so drunk and I didn't want something to happen to you, okay? I usually would never cut in on how much someone drinks but I was worried about you. I was thinking if you were really drunk and something happened-" I rambled.

"I wanted to apologize." Nancy said. "Jonathan said I was shoving you away when you were just trying to help. I shouldn't have done that."

"It's okay, Nance. I just...I can't lose my best friend. Not again, okay?" I whispered.

She understood what I meant and nodded. "We cool?"

"Always." I smiled, hugging her.

"Jonathan drove me home?" She asked.

"Are you ever gonna confess your feelings?" I asked, walking back towards the gym.

"What? Me and Jonathan? I don't-" She began and I gave her a look. "Okay, maybe I like him, but I can't just...confess. What if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"Jonathan Byers went to a party to see you. He hates parties. I think that's love." I smirked.

"'Love'!?" Nancy gasped.

I looked up and saw Jonathan in the parking lot. I gave Nancy a push. "Go!"

"Okay, okay! I'll, uh, call you later?" She questioned.

"Yep!" I gave her a thumbs up. I turned and walked back into the gym.

"Everything okay?" Steve said and I turned to the side and saw him leaning against the wall.

"Yeah, everything's good between Nancy and I. Who won?" I motioned to the court.

"Who do you think?" He replied. "I gotta hit the showers, I'll see you later." He kissed me before walking off. 

It's clear the whole 'Billy situation' is getting to him.