the paper girl ⌲ stranger things { on hold }

{ ii: lovely }

"Hello, Mrs. Henderson," Steve smiled, turning up the charm as he retracted his hand from the doorbell.

"Steve!" She beamed, revealing teeth stained with bright pink lipstick. Her voice raised in both volume and octave as she turned her head and yelled into the house. "Dustin! Steve's here!" Another sweet smile. "Come on in, Steve, we were just about to sit down to dinner with-"

The creaking of floorboards was the last thing Steve remembered hearing. He wasn't stupid, despite the declarations of some of the boys' bathrooms that were frequented by Billy's crew; he knew that the Earth never really stood still. But in that moment, just a little bit... He would've sworn that the whole rest of the universe had settled into a soothed silence.

"Hi." A soft voice. Hair the color of the sky at dusk.

"Hey," he breathed.

Eyes like little gray moons set back in milky skin. "You must be Steve." Lips like-

"Wait, what? I mean, well, yeah, Steve, that's me but, how do you know that?" Steve stuttered, ruffling his hair, crossing his arms then uncrossing them again.

An airy snicker came from behind him.

"Steve," Dustin said, walking across the entryway and taking the much taller girl by her pale arm, "this is Cassie. Cassie, meet Steve." Then he stretched up onto his tiptoes and held a hand between his mouth and her ear. He whispered something, and Steve frowned as the girl's lips curled into a sly grin.

"What'd you say?" Steve said with faux coolness.

"Nothing." Dustin smiled wide at him and tugged Cassie in the direction of the dining room.

"Isn't she lovely?" Mrs. Henderson beamed at Steve before trailing after them.

"Yeah," Steve said softly. His palms were a little wet, and there was a strange tugging in his stomach. He could vaguely recall feeling something a little like this before, but... past pains felt entirely weightless now. "She is." 

a/n: please please vote and comment, it motivates me ! so the more of that there is, the sooner the next part will be up, and i love to hear what you guys think of the story. thanks so much :)