𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 | stranger things

four

Gym class was the bane of Lauren Wheeler's existence. She was never a fan of it, even before she was thrown into a gymnasium with kids twice her height and three times stronger than her. She didn't enjoy team games that involved balls flying at her face nor the dreaded rope, which she would have to climb today.

She had tried to get out of it by faking sick that morning – it had worked for Mike a number of times – but her mother wasn't fooled. She considered forging a parent note to give to her P.E. coach, but that would just lead to more trouble if she got caught in the lie.

Coach Walker blew his whistle as he glanced down at the clipboard of names. "Wheeler! You're next!"

There were snickers from her classmates. Several whispered to each other behind their hands. Wren stood up from where she'd been sitting reading on the bleachers, forcing a grimace on her face as she approached her coach.

"I-I don't feel well, Coach Walker," she said, holding her stomach. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Cut the theatrics, Wheeler, this isn't drama class." Coach Walker blew his whistle again and jabbed his thumb towards the rope.

Wren sighed and dropped the act, her shoulders slumping. She grabbed onto the thick rope and jumped up off the ground. She grunted as her weak noodle arms struggled to pull her up. There were no knots tied on it to make climbing any easier.

"Just give up, nerd!" Tommy H. shouted.

"Go back to kindergarten!" another boy, Jason Carver, teased, the rest of the class laughing.

"Say goodbye to your straight-A average," Carol taunted, snickering.

"All of you shut your fucking mouths," Chrissy Cunningham snapped, sending them glares. She looked back to Wren, who was staring at her with furrowed brows. Chrissy was the last person Wren would expect to stick up for her, especially since she was part of the popular crowd.

The cheerleader sent her an encouraging nod accompanied by a soft smile. Wren took a deep breath and began to climb.

Her upper arms stung from keeping her up. She was terrified that her feet would slip out from under her and drop her onto the mat below, but she wasn't going to give up. She wanted to prove to her peers that she was just as capable of climbing this rope as they were.

And because she really wanted an A.

Wren reached the top of the rope with a grunt, her heart pounding in her chest. Coach Walker blew his whistle, and she came back down. The bell rang, and they were dismissed to their respective locker rooms to change out of their gym clothes before their next class.

"Good job, Wren," Chrissy told the girl with a friendly grin.

"Uh, thanks," Wren replied with a soft smile, still surprised that Chrissy Cunningham was being nice to her.

****

Wren was unfortunate enough to get to leave school early later that day. The police had come to Hawkins High to speak with everyone who had been over at Steve's house the night Barbara Holland went missing, and Mrs. Wheeler had been present when they questioned Nancy.

The tension was thick. They had barely made it through the threshold of their house when Mrs. Wheeler shouted, "You lied to the police!"

"I didn't lie!" Nancy snapped, a tremor in her voice as she made a bee-line for the stairs. Wren dropped her bag by the front door and hesitantly followed her mom and sister, not wanting to get dragged into the middle of their fight.

"How naive do you think I am?" Mrs. Wheeler threw her purse down on the kitchen table before continuing to storm after Nancy. "You and Steve were just talking?"