TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN, or in Benadette Sterling's case, life's fun when you're having flies. Flies being the crumbling interest of Hawkins, Indiana. From its ever-so-inviting ambiance of a basic town square to the super luxurious recrea...
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WRITTEN BY LANEY season one - season five
"I'M SAYING EVERYBODY LOVES 'EM, BUT NOBODY KNOWS 'EM."
A TRANSCENDING SPRAWL OF HONEY CURLS that had previously been wind blown from a mile and a half bike ride to Bradley's Big Buy were attached to BENADETTE STERLING, a precarious girl who planned to indulge in one too many red vines that evening as she sipped on her cherry cola Slurpee cooling her from the heat of a sticky summer night. She scrunched her nose at the lyrics of the obnoxious 70s ballad that described a band that coincidentally mentions her trio of friends but stops at their names, being the only commonality they have with the song.
"I think this is the seventh time I've heard this song today," her friend RONALD SINCLAIR groaned while he rubbed his eyes in annoyance. He sported a sweaty tank top that he had yet to change out of from his basketball practice earlier that day for the sports club he attended every Thursday afternoon before mowing Mr. Humphrey's lawn. To put it lightly, he smelled like any other teenage boy with a hint of work ethic and testosterone.
A spunky laugh came from the other side of Benny as CANDELA JIMINEZ fanned her face with a notecard flyer she found by the front sliding doors: "Lighten up, Ronnie. It could be Mr. Roberto. I think my dad has worn his cassette down so much the plastic is slightly melted." After scanning the shelf for a few minutes, she quickly grabbed the last pack of cool ranch Doritos.
The trio was going into their Junior year of high school, and as a tradition, they would spend their last night of summer in her mom's basement watching Animal House. It is a movie Benny's father left behind after moving in with his now wife in the spring, but the three found it when they were shopping through boxes in her father's office the summer after sixth grade.
Some would say don't let the youth slip away and count on growing up too fast. You will look back and miss the simplicity. Benny saw it as a ticking clock to leave Hawkins.
"Do you think we should get ice cream?" she asked, taking another sip and watching Ronnie move past her towards the processed pastries at the end of the aisle.
He looked back at her and smirked, "As long as it's not Cherry Garcia."
With a quick salute, she was heading toward the store's frozen section. Goosebumps scattered along her arms as she crossed over into the icy abyss, lit with a fluorescent glow and littered with colorful, great American packaging that caught any passing consumer's eye.
Her eyes landed on the display of gallon ice cream tubs stacked and stocked with the best flavors a small-town supermarket could offer. Benny was at a halt. She didn't want to have a repetition of July 5th when Candy found a specialty ice cream half off, not realizing it was a week past the due date and leaving THE JETS with a severe case of food poisoning.
