"Are the communists behind this?"
"No."
"So our government lied?"
"Our government is behind this!"
Did Scarlett think she would be involved in a huge...
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"Keep on growing up kid. Don't let me stop you. Make mistakes. Learn from them. When life hurts you, because it will, remember the hurt. The hurt is good. It means you're out of that cave." - Jim Hopper ｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡* ∞*⍋⋆*❅｡
Small sleepy towns like Hawkins were black holes of sorts. They had gravitational pulls that no one could escape for long. The two branches of the Henderson family had left, but had all returned. Even Bill Henderson's body had been exhumed, so he too, could lie 6 feet under in Hawkins. Hawkins was a living cemetery; the living people were just decaying and awaiting their turn.
Jim Hopper had dreams of leaving Hawkins, he'd take Joyce with him and they'd never return. But a letter, drafting him for the Vietnam War, changed his life. Hopper returned and left for New York, not daring to linger. Sara Hopper was born and she died. Then Hopper divorced and returned to Hawkins to drink himself to death, a better fate than living without his daughter.
But then the gravity of Hawkins lured in a horrible mystery and a young girl. And so, Jane 'El' Hopper came into Hopper's life. Joyce and her sons stood by his side. Maybe being stuck in Hawkins wasn't so bad.
When Scarlett worked at the police station for the summer, Hopper had been snappy and gruff towards her. She had known of the man ever since she was little, her grandfather had worked with Hopper's father. Not to mention that Scarlett had thumbed through the graduation books from her parents. She had loved and missed Hawkins when she lived in Montauk. She wasn't made for beaches.
Whilst Hopper didn't care much for the teenager at his station, Flo had loved Scarlett. The woman would bring baked goods and slap Hopper's hands away, and shove apples in his hands.
Scarlett spent a night in the hospital by herself. She couldn't stomach food, no matter how much the night nurse tried to force broth down Scarlett's throat. She was clamped shut. Even drawing brought no peace.
The next morning Scarlett was wheeled to her mother's car and driven home. The injury was explained away with the Starcourt fire, and Claudia didn't ask too many questions. The woman babbled on about what a tragedy the fire was and how Scarlett had been so lucky and Hawkins would miss Jim Hopper, the best chief they ever had.
Scarlett arrived home, and Tews refused to leave her side. The cat would follow her everywhere in the house and eye her carefully. Maybe Tews could sense how she had nearly died. Maybe Tews knew Scarlett would be leaving soon, a desperate attempt to escape the sickening gravity.
The Henderson donned a Peter Pan collar shirt with shoulder pads. It had a grey flower print and belonged to Claudia. Scarlett added a long black skirt and a thick black belt from her own wardrobe. A dreadfully warm outfit for early July, but she owed her life to Hopper and she needed to be presentable. The dress she had worn to Will's fake funeral no longer fit so she had to do something. To combat the warmth of her outfit, Scarlett pinned her hair up into a loose bun and went sockless in her heels.
