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May 24, 1985
AMARA ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT AUTUMN was her favorite season, but then spring would arrive and she'd think differently.
The sky was tinged a rich azure as she drove home from Robin's house, the two of them having studied for their final exams for hours. It was close to the end of May, and her life had reverted to normal once more in the absence of bloodthirsty Demodogs and parallel dimensions, but the world wasn't about to give her a break just because she had helped save it. On top of her exams, Amara also had three job interviews on Sunday, a prom dress to buy, and a surprise birthday to help plan for Dustin before he departed to science camp for the month of June. To say she was busy was an understatement.
But busy was good. It reminded Amara that unlike a year ago, she actually had a purpose and was more than just a girl with autism. She was a part-time babysitter to a group of misfit teens, a (hopefully) future employee, and a friend. Most importantly, she was a person of worth and she wished she'd realized that sooner.
She soon approached the familiar red brick house perched at the juncture where Cornwallis met Cherry, parking her car adjacent to Kevin's. They still hadn't cleared out the garage enough to fit more than one of their cars, but it was the next item on Eurydice's task list. Amara could only hope that she'd get a job before her mother insisted on her help in the matter. Even so, it was nice to only have to worry about inconsequential things for once in her life.
The scent of carbonara permeated the atmosphere as Amara shut the door behind her, hanging her backpack on one of the hooks in the front hall before seating herself at the kitchen table. Only Scott was there; Eurydice was finishing cooking and Kevin was in his room, undoubtedly talking on the phone he had raised enough money to install there.
"Hey, honey," Scott beamed, leaning forward so he could chastely kiss Amara's forehead. "How was today?"
"Pretty hectic," Amara replied, tucking a flyaway strand of burnt sienna behind her ear. "It's basically all about the final exams now at school, and all of my teachers are talking about college already when Nancy's probably the only person in our grade who's ready for it. Tomorrow I have to meet with Dustin's friends to plan his surprise party; Mike and his, umm, girlfriend and Lucas and Max are pretending to have 'couple time' tomorrow so he doesn't get suspicious, and Will's going to be pretending to write up a new D&D campaign," Amara made certain not to mention Eleven, who Hopper was still keeping under wraps even if he now let her spend time with the friends he'd deprived her of for a year. She was sure that not even Mike's parents knew about her.
"Glad to hear," Scott voiced, removing his reading glasses as Eurydice came over with the food. "Work's been busy as well, but I guess I should be lucky that we're one of the only businesses left running after Starcourt opened."
