Over the years nightmares have been a frequent friend in the Hopper house. Chills and a scream lodged in the back of her throat is the only way that Christine Hopper knows how to wake up. Her father tries hard to believe his daughter has a handle on...
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Christine wakes from her nightmare-fueled slumber to the sound of her father rustling around in the kitchen. He and Joyce Byers are bickering about some nonsense. She lifts her head, curls unruly, like a fiery mane around her head.
"Hey, sweetheart," says Joyce in a sweet, motherly tone. It's not something Chris hears often. "Sorry to wake you." Joyce throws a look over her shoulder at Hopper, who is dressed in jeans and a weirdly patterned button-down. Something so civilized, Chris wonders if she's still dreaming.
"What are you wearing?" she croaks. After a beat, she notices the deep gasp along her father's forehead. She sits up, scrambling down the bunk. "What happened to you?"
With wide eyes, Chris's attention snaps between the two of them. Confusion and alarm courses through her. "The lab—what? Why—" she begins.
"Don't worry about it," he replies. It isn't meant to be soothing. It's meant to be a warning. Do not get involved in her father's business. Every time that happens, they get caught up in something bigger than it should be. Hopper starts walking toward the front door, gesturing for Joyce to follow.
Throwing a fleeting look over her shoulder, Joyce opens her mouth to say something. She huffs, trailing after Hopper. She starts talking fast, "Everything's just fine. Oh, Steve stopped by, but he—he seemed in a hurry. He said something about work, an-and—"
"Joyce!" Hopper shouts from outside.
With her hand on the door handle, Joyce pauses, giving Chris an assuring look. "I told him you'd find him later?"
Chris nods, standing in the middle of the cabin wearing an oversized Pat Benatar t-shirt and a pair of silly Halloween boxes she got Steve that he refused to wear.
"Love you," says Joyce, a sweet, gentle smile gracing her lips.
"Joyce!"
"You too..." Chris trails off as Joyce shuts the door behind her. The wheels are turning in Chris's head. She bites the inside of her cheek, a plan of action coming together in her mind. She hurries toward the landline on the wall. Joyce is right, Chris will find Steve later, but right now he's gonna have to wait.
As Ronda gets ready on her morning off, she runs into her step-mother, Missy, feeding her little sister, Poppy, in the kitchen. Although she doesn't show it, Ronda can tell Missy isn't in the best of moods. Ever since the Starcourt Mall opened up, tensions have been high across town with a lot of the older locals. People in town have been attempting to boycott the mall, demanding that Mayor Kline do something to support the small businesses in downtown Hawkins. People's livelihoods have been deeply impacted by this, and Melissa Jones agrees wholeheartedly.
