In The Mean Time: Stranger Things Fanfic

February

Hawkins, Indiana February 1984
Lucas fiddled with the lock on his locker, "Look, I'm not going to some sappy Valentine's Day Dance in the gym."
"Come on," Will urged. "It'll be fun!"
"Fun for who? We'll just be awkwardly standing around a smelly gym like everyone else."
Will looked to Dustin and Mike for support. Dustin just shrugged and Mike stared down the hall, lost in thought.
"Mike, did you see the new X-Men comic?" Dustin changed the subject.
Lucas spun the lock to the final number and the door swung open. An envelope with his name printed on the front fluttered to the floor.
Dustin snatched it before Lucas had time to get it. "Oooh look at this. Lucas got a love note."
Dustin made kissing noises. Will laughed.
Lucas yanked the note out of Dustin's hands.
"Bite me."
"Who do you think it's from?" Mike interjected.
"Don't know. Don't care. I don't like any of the girls in our grade."
Lucas crumpled the envelope into a ball and tossed it into the trash can. "There. Problem solved."
"I still think the dance would be fun," Will proposed.
Dustin, Lucas, and Mike shook their heads. "Let's watch a movie instead." Said Mike. "We can look at all the X-Men comics too."
"Return of the Jedi!" Exclaimed Dustin. "We can have M&M's, Twinkies, popcorn..." Dustin rattled off a whole list of snacks to eat.
"Yeah, whatever, anythings better than standing around the gym all night." Lucas said.
The group of boys sauntered down the hallway. Behind them, still standing by the lockers was Maxine. She watched the boys, frowning. As soon as they disappeared from sight she looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then she reached into the trash can and grabbed the Valentine Lucas had thrown away.
Gently, she unfolded it and smoothed out some of the wrinkles. The paper crinkled as she rubbed her hands across it. Then she put it in her backpack.
That night the boys prepared to watch "Return of the Jedi". Lucas lounged of the sofa. Dustin walked into the room carrying bags of food. Mike was in the kitchen watching his mom make popcorn.
Nancy flounced into the kitchen, "do they have to watch their movie tonight?" She whined.
"Steve and I were supposed to study."
"Yeah, 'study'." Mike snickered and made kissing noises.
Nancy pushed him.
"Nancy!" Mrs. Wheeler exclaimed.
Nancy growled under her breath.
Someone knocked on the front door.
"I'll bet that's Will!" Mike brightened.
"I'll get it—" Nancy interrupted.
She opened the door, but instead of seeing Will and Jonathan Byers there was no one. Just a small envelope on the welcome mat. Nancy bent over and picked it up. The envelop was bent and crinkled.
It had Lucas's name on the front.
Nancy walked into the living room. "Lucas, someone left a note for you."
The boys shot each other surprised looks. Lucas took the note from her.
"This is the same envelope I threw away at school today!"
"Someone has a crush on you." Nancy teased in a singsong voice.
Jonathan and Will came into the room, "The front door was open. Is everything okay?" Jonathan asked nervously.
"Everthing's fine. Someone sent Lucas a Valentine." Nancy smirked.
"Is that the same Valentine from today?" Will asked.
Mike and Dustin nodded.
"This person is very persistent." Will astonished.
Nancy grabbed the note out of Lucas's hands. "If you won't read it, then I will."
She opened the card and withdrew a red heart cut from construction paper lined in white lace.
"Ahem," she cleared her throat.
"Lucas,
Will you be my Valentine?"
"That's all?" Dustin asked unimpressed.
"It's not even signed." Jonathan said, reading over her shoulder.
"Weird."
"If she couldn't even sign it then it's not very important." Lucas exasperated. "Can we watch the movie now?"
"I'll walk out with you, Jonathan." Nancy decided.
The four boys started the movie.
"So, are we going to figure out who sent it?" Mike whispered to Lucas.
"Shh! I don't care."
"Fine."
But when no one was looking, Lucas took the card, read over it, and then put it into his backpack.
One by one the other three boys fell asleep, until only Mike was awake. For one moment, just a split second, he felt like someone was with him, watching him. Then Dustin woke up and the feeling was gone.