ABDITORY [stranger things]

➝ suzie, do you copy

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each time we have a quarrel
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sunday, june 30, 1985

🅵or Victoria life actually felt pretty good. She had a boyfriend now and she and Max hung out quite a lot. Though she chose to follow one rule, nobody talked about what happened last year.

For Ben life had been pretty bad. Eversince Victoria agreed to dance with Toby that night last winter, he saw them together everywhere he went.

A lot had changed about the boy too. He grew even taller and with the summer sun heating up Hawkins the last few days, little freckles had sprung up all over his face. Besides his appearance, his personality also changed. He became grumpier and out of nowhere he just started cursing (never around his parents though). Maybe Dustin had been a bad influence after all.

"Ugh," Ben sighed. "You've got to be kidding me."

He rode his bike around town towards the store. His mom sent him to go and fetch some groceries. Unfortunately for him, right next door was a little ice cream shop. Since the mall had been built right outside Hawkins, nobody went inside town virtually ever anymore. But of course on that specific day when Ben was forced to bike past, his two favourite people were sitting there enjoying a little date.

Trying his best to ignore Victoria and Toby, he placed his bike against the wall. He stormed inside the store only to be greeted by none other than Will's mom.

"Hello, Mrs Byers," Ben tried his best to greet her as politely and friendly as he could. She noticed quickly that something was up. The boy couldn't help but sneak little glances outside of the glass. Each time he saw how Victoria was sitting comfortably laughing with her boyfriend. She was wearing a striped blue shirt with some jeans shorts. Her black converses swung back and forth as Toby told her another joke.

Ben rolled his eyes, turning around towards the cash register. How funny can he be?

Joyce couldn't help but to look at what was grabbing her son's friend's attention. When he placed everything on the counter, he looked at how she gave him a little sad smile.

"Did Susan send you?" She asked when she noticed how his gaze wandered towards the window again. She wanted to redirect the boy's mind. She had seen how the two had interacted when everything went down a few months ago. Plus from her son, she had also heard about how Ben had a crush on Victoria.

"Uhh," Ben quickly looked back, his hand in his pocket reaching for the money his mom had given him. "Yeah. I thought, better to do it now otherwise she might have sent me out tomorrow."