Hey Jude | A STRANGER THINGS Story

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

At the revelation that four extremely underage kids were left unattended in a closed middle school, Jonathan took him and Judy back, and Steve brought Nancy. Coming up to the school, there were already ambulances everywhere, sirens blazing and lights flashing.

Stepping out of their cars, the older youths looked around for any familiar face. Judy found Dustin instantly. Of course, he'd been blabbing the poor paramedics' ears off as he was being evaluated. Judy walked up to him and made it clear he shouldn't be sharing such stories. The paramedic was quick to notice the visual signs of concussions so he sat Judy down next to Dustin.

The two of them talked until officer Powell stood in front of them. They shut up about how El stopped a crowd of suited agents and disintegrated the demogorgon, but unfortunately disappeared. I wasn't anything they would disclose with Powell unless Hopper had instructed otherwise. Powell informed the two of them that - one; her father was at the hospital, and two; her father was watching over Will Byers alongside Joyce.

No sooner had everyone run into the hospital to see where Will was. Only he hadn't woken up yet, and only Jonathan and Joyce were able to see him in such a state. Everyone was okay though. Will was home and that was good enough for now. Waiting was all that had to be done.

Judy sat between her father and Dustin, who was sitting next to Lucas and Mike. The three boys had managed to fall asleep in the stiff chairs, each of them leaned against each other somehow. All the older kids and the adults sat there awake. Judy struggled to keep her eyes open, but looking around and observing seemed to help pass the time.

When that didn't work anymore, she resorted to the next best thing. "Hey, I'm gonna get some coffee. Does anybody else want some?" she asked, standing up, looking around. She only received a few head shakes and a couple grumbles.

Standing at the coffee vending machine, the low buzz of the lights nearly lulled Judy to sleep. She rocked back and forth slowly with her eyes closed, breathing slowed and mind empty. Only a minute was all she needed. Just a minute.

"Hey," Someone said, surprising a vulnerable Judy. It was Steve, all battered and bruised and leaning against the machine in his typical nonchalant fashion. "Sorry about, uh, falling on you."

Judy almost laughed at the memory. Given the shit she'd gone through before that moment, it was pretty funny. "Don't worry about it," she said in her own nonchalant way, looking back down at the cup that still had no coffee in it.

"How's your head?" he asked, and when Judy looked back up at he, he looked around her head slightly, as if trying to see if there was any damage. Judy subconsciously brought her fingers to the back of her head, feeling the tender bump that had started to form. "Yeah, I have a concussion but if I wake up tomorrow I'll be fine."

Steve shook his head in disbelief and Judy watched him closely in order to read his reaction. She didn't know much about him, but he was more intriguing the closer she looked. "So you've all known about this monster thing?"

Steve kept his eyes closed as he spoke, leaning his forehead against the machine fully. Judy pursed her lips thinking of a way to simplify the last few days. "Not as long as you might think."

Steve looked back at her, listening intently. "Everything happened really fast. We thought we were the only ones who knew, so we kept close. Me, Nancy and Jonathan, I mean."

Steve looked through the glass window that separated him and Judy from everyone else who were waiting, including Nancy. Judy knew exactly what Steve was looking at, she didn't even have to turn her head to know. "Which is why Nancy and Jonathan were together that night. We found it, but things didn't work out the way we planned. We were just sticking together, you know?"

He nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"Thanks for coming back in the house. You probably saved us. That's pretty admirable for a guy like you," she tried to joke, nudging him with her elbow, lightly. He smiled only a little, but turned very serious suddenly. "I only came to talk to Jonathan. Not save your lives."

"I know... but you did. And I'm just saying... Tommy and Carol wouldn't do that for you."

He scoffed and pushed off of the vending machine, running his hand through his hair, and looking up at the ceiling, revealing his Adams apple as he swallowed. "I'm not friends with them anymore."

"Well then," Judy picked up her finished cup of coffee, "welcome to the light side, Harrington."

She walked away casually sipping the hot drink and Steve watched, perplexed by the way she could go from despising him so fervently then accept him without a second glance. She was definitely an odd creature that Judy Hopper.

"Star Wars, right?" Steve wanted to clap back, but Judy was actually being nice to him for once, and he wasn't going to mess that up. She turned around with a wave of her hair over her shoulder.

"Yeah," she nodded shortly before going back into the waiting room and sitting down next to a curly headed kid. He leaned his head on hers. Steve could only say he'd ever been truly stumped by two girls in his life; Nancy Wheeler and Judy Hopper. Of course they had to be best friends. Never one without the other.

So that's how it went for the next year, Nancy and Steve stayed together with Judy and Jonathan following closely behind in the shadows, always in the back of each other's mind someway.

That strange week in November stayed in everyone's minds though. Everything was back to normal now, but no one could forget what they saw, or the fear they had felt.

Every time Nancy would first see Judy during the day, she'd still wait for Barb to show behind her. Anytime Jonathan saw Nancy, he was waiting for Steve to be next to her. Anytime Steve saw Nancy, he was waiting to see Judy. Everything was so strangely connected now.

Walking back through the halls of Hawkins High, the four teenagers who had fought against a second dimension monster walked with this invisible string tied to them. They'd each helped save each other's lives in a way. And they all knew what happened to Barb, something that Hawkins would never find out.