𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙥! 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙤𝙣

SCENE ONE. the morning squawk

in editing.

the house was warm today, the early morning sun filtering through the whispy white curtains. the house was still a mess. and it was a void, piper sleeps soundly on her bed. the bookcase still slanted to the left. the picture frames still cracked. but unlike many previous years, the house didn't smell of the cooking chocolate pancakes. the radio didn't play the soft tunes of her mother's music. and the faint smell of lily and cotton perfume no longer filled the air. her mother had gone, she had evacuated when the 'earthquake' hit 18 months ago and had still yet to return. but had left the red car parked up on the street. so piper had long started to wonder if she had even made it out of hawkins to begin with. was her mother's body one of the many bodies pulled from the cracks before they were sealed with metal? and piper shakes that thought off as she awakes. her alarm clock which would have once awoke her that long since been smashed to pieces, and now sits in her slanted bookshelf. she rubs her eyes, stinging slightly from the early morning light. when the landlines rings. a smile lifted onto her face as she scrambles out of the piel of sheets.

"good morning beautiful." she hears the second the phone reaches her ear.

"hi steve. an hour till broadcast? make sure robins on her best behaviour."

"mission impossible. are we still on for tonight?"

"yes sir. the pizzas in the freezer and the cola is in the fridge."

"okay baby, i have to go now. have a good day." and the line disconnects, but her smile doesn't. in fact the big grin stays planted on her face as she readied for the day. thankfully after her barely graduating from hawkins high. the head teacher had offered her a assistant teacher role whilst doing college however due to the quarantined nature of hawkins. she was unable to enroll in college but was able to continue her assistant teacher role. and she enjoyed it. sure, working in your own highschool was a bit of a downer but it's not like she had a choice. many people had ran from hawkins before the gates and military had rolled in. leaving many job opportunities to nil. plus working in the school meant she got to keep her eye on the kids. they would often hide in her classroom after school for clubs, or sometimes even came to sit with her at lunch. one vanilla scented shower and a quick change, piper found herself in her mothers mustang driving to the highschool. the stack of graded papers, her lunch box and water bottle in her bag in the passenger seat. the radio on the car switched on. yet swqk hadn't started yet. still had 10 minutes till robin usually started. so she took the longer route today as the school bus pulled up to streets with waiting kids.

"good morning ms parker." one of the sweet old maths teachers spoke as she passed. the younger teacher, piper waves as she passes with a smile upon her face. the school was bustling with life, kids from morning clubs littered hallways. kids who were shoving books into lockers before class. teachers gossiping and drinking their cups of coffee in hallways. and as she walks into her temporary classroom she hears the radio spark go life with robin's voice.

"good morning, hawkins! This is WSQK, the squawk. it's looking like a regular day in hawkins. fifty five degrees, low chance of rain. medium chance of arrest and high chance of helicopters. but generally banality aside, it's an exciting day for me. your friend, entertainer, and dj. robin buckley. nice to meet you. aka rocking robin."

the smile on piper's face only grows as robin speaks. when there's a small knock at the door. and she doesn't have to question who it is. because it's him. everyday. at the exact same time. like clockwork. he doesn't smile. but his face twitchs slightly like he would like too however he doesn't feel like he can when he's around her. he holds a bottle of cola in one hand. and his bag in the other. he slides a random plastic chair to sit at her desk with her.

"hello lucas." she smiles. he nods as he sits. he doesn't stay long, never speaks. never longer then 10 minutes. just enough time to eat one bag of some dey fruit that his mother buys. but he comes everyday. and sits whilst she sips on the bottle of cola.

"how is max doing? did you visit again last night?" she tries to spark conversation. his lips move as if he is about to speak. but he doesn't. instead he just sits quietly. and like clockwork, ten minutes later he silently stands and leaves. but something is different today. there's loud banging coming from the corridor after he leaves. and she gets up, the teacher instinct kicking in as she followed the sound.

"remember that time my sister kicked your balls so hard, you limped for a week? yeah? if you touch dustin again, i'll kick em so hard they'll pop like water balloons." she hears lucas speak.

"i say kick away. stop this meathead from reproducing and further infecting the world with his unique brand of idiocy." mike joins.

"hope you brought a change of clothes henderson. no one wants to see that shit." she hears one of the football bullies speak. and shes round med the corner out her door. to see he was harassing dustin.

"and i hope you're ready to miss training tonight. as now you'll be serving detention." piper speaks as she forwards. holding the slip of yellow paper between her fingers. mike laughs slightly as she does. some people making an ooh sound.

"good morning dustin." she speaks soft to him. her eyes dart to his shirt and her smile falls slightly. hellfire. he stares blank at her for a moment before turning back to his locker. not even bothering to give a slight indication of a thank you. nothing. and she disappeared back into her classroom after will mouths a thank you to her which she returns with a little sweet smile.