One

Chapter Three: Holly, Jolly

   Phina woke up the next morning, an awful ache piercing her skull. She hadn't drank enough last night to cause a hangover, no, she had only had one beer, and she was definitely not a lightweight. The stress of the past few days must be getting to her, in the form of a killer migraine.
   She groaned and laid back down, knowing her mother would force her to school no matter what. Didn't stop her from trying though.
   "Phina, sweety, are you awake," Karen said through her daughters door.
   "Yes, doesn't mean I want to be," Phina groaned.
   Her mother opened her door and walked into the room, "what's the matter?"
   "Migraine," Phina answered, rolling over onto her side.
   "I'll get you something to help, get up and get dressed," Karen said, patting Phina's shoulder.
   As soon as Karen left the room, and closed the door, Phina stood up. As her feet planted on the ground the world began to spin, she almost falls backwards.
   "Great," she groaned, holding her head between her hands, "fan fucking tastic."

   Phina took the medicine that her mom brought her and went off to find her brother. He had some serious explaining as to why there was a girl in their house yesterday.
   She opened the basement door, and quietly walked downstairs. The boys were at the table, with multiple items. Phina looked over and her eyes meet the girls who was sitting on the couch quietly.
   The girls stared at each other for a minute, the boys not noticing them at all. Not until Phina shifted her weight and the step she was on creaked.
   "Phina!" Mike shouted, his voice raising in pitch.
   "Mike, who is she," Phina said calmly.
   Phina's eyes didn't break away from the girls.
   "Phina, this is Eleven, El for short," Mike introduced, "we found her the night we went looking for Will."
   "Eleven?" Phina asked.
   "Yeah, it's her name, she has it tattooed on the inside of her wrist," Mike said, he points to his own wrist, to show where the tattoo was
   Phina's entire body tensed up at that, but no one choose to notice. The connection she felt with the girl grew stronger.
   "Mike, why is she here? Where are her parents," Phina asked, worried for her.
   "We don't know. All we know is that she's hiding for someone, the bad men," Mike said.
   Phina stared deeply into El's eyes and saw the fear that spiked up when the bad men were mentioned. Her heart beat wildly at the mention too, and she didn't even know why.
   "Why would she have to hide," Phina whispers.
   This time Dustin answered, "because she has superpowers! She can move things with her mind!"
   He grabbed a spaceship toy and held it in front of El, trying to get her to make it hover. El doesn't even look at him, only continues to stare at Phina.
   "She's helping us find Will, she knows where he's at, we just need to get her a connection to him," Mike said.
   Phina believed them, something telling her that this girl would be the key to find Will.
   "Phina, you can't tell anyone about her, please, you can't," Mike pleaded.
   "I won't, I promise," Phina told him, "I have to go, whatever it is that you're doing, be safe."
   "We will," Dustin called out.
   Phina finally broke eye contact with El, and walkes upstairs. She leaves the house, not even calling out to her mom like she usually does. Her headache got worse as she drove to school, her mind on complete over drive.
   Will, the monster drawing, and now El? There was something strange going on, and Phina felt like it rested upon her shoulders to figure it out. How though? She had no idea where to even start, how she could help El, how she could find Will. Phina wanted to scream, to cry, to take her anger out on the nearest wall, but what would that do? Nothing, so she just wallowed in silent misery.
   She parked in her normal spot, quickly walking into the school, avoiding Carol and Tommy's snide comments as she did. As Phina made her way to her locker, she passed Nancy and Steve, not even sparing a glance there direction.
   Steve watched as she walked past, noticing the dark circles underneath her eyes. Her shoulders slumped, like she was carrying the entire world on them. It unnerved him to see her in such a state of, weakness? She usually walked around the school with her head held high, her eyes fiery, her smirk daring anyone to start something with her. Now, she kind of looked like a beaten puppy, hiding away from whatever was hurting her because she wasn't strong enough to fight back.
   "Hey, is your sister ok," he askes Nancy, cutting off whatever she was saying.
   Nancy followed his gaze towards her, "I'm not sure, we haven't talked since last night, before she left."
   Phina openes her locker, the screeching metal making her flinch as her aching head increased in pain. She shoves some of her things in her locker, and grabbed a few things out. Her heavy books felt heavier today, almost like they would make her tip over.
   "Steve, I gotta go," Nancy says, shutting her locker. 
   He finally takes his eyes off Phina and turns towards Nancy, smiling, "Ok," then he kissed her lightly.
   She walked away and Steve turned back to Phina, who had her head resting against the cool metal of her locker. She looked like she was going to be sick. His worry for her spiked when she lost her balance and falls slightly, she catches herself, but with the state she was in, he wouldn't be surprised if she actually fell soon.
   Steve walked over to her, "hey red, you all right?"
   Phina jumps at his voice, placing a hand on the locker to steady herself as the world spun. Phina takes a moment to let the spinning world settle, then she turns her head to look him in the eyes. He expected her to glare at him, say something snarky like usual, but she didn't. Her eyes were not fiery, but weary, and she looked incredibly pale.
   "I'm fine," she sighed, her voice quiet and cold.
   She closed her locker and walked away from Steve, slowly but surely. She kept a hand on the lockers for as long as she could, to keep from stumbling. He stared at her as she left, worry shining in his eyes. It wasn't like her to be this, dull. He was so used to her fiery nature, to her sarcastic comments and mean attitude towards him, he felt wrong not to have her snapping at him.
   "Steve! What are you staring at," Tommy yelled out, smacking Steve on the shoulder.
   Phina had already turned down a hallway, and he was staring into the space she left behind.

   Phina sat in her first class, staring down at the monster drawing in her sketchbook. The mystery of what it was, terrified her. Looking at the drawing certainly did not help her bad feelings, or her migraine, but she couldn't stop. It screamed at her, demanding her attention, almost as if saying, I'm important. She didn't know what to make of it.
   All of a sudden, a hand reached over her shoulder and grabbed her book. She jumped and tried to grab it from them but they held it away from her.
   Phina whirled around, using the table to keep her steady, finding the culprit. Steve Harrington of course it had to be him.
   Steve stared down at the drawing on the page, although horrific, it was an amazing drawing. It was so realistic, almost so realistic that he wanted to ask if it was a real animal.
   "This is really good," he complimented her.
   "Thanks, now give it back," she snapped, her unnaturally pale face gaining a bit of color back.
   "I didn't know you were an artist red," he said looking at her, seeing that emerald fire in her eyes.
Good, he thought, she's back.
   What he didn't see, was the fear. If he were to just turn the page, he'd see a drawing of him. Phina didn't want him to label her as a stalker, a freak, that she was obsessed with him. She wasn't, no, she didn't have control of what she drew, she would've never drawn it if she had.
   "Give it back Steve," she snapped, reaching out to grab it.
   He pulled back, "calm down red, I'm just admiring you work."
   She stumbles forward and he goes to grab her, but she smacks his hand away. Phina didn't need his help.
   "I don't want you to, give it back," she growled.
   He chuckled at her, grabbing the page, slowly turning it, almost tauntingly slow. She panicked, looking at the book like a scarred animal, and he hesitates. The look she was giving him didn't settle well with him.
   Then, she was lunging at him, her hand grabbed the book, her body hitting his. She jerked the book away from him, and they fell. Steve wrapped his arms around her waist, putting himself below her to keep her from getting hurt, and they hit the ground.
   "Shit red! Are you ok," he asked, groaning in pain.
   She pushes herself off of him, rolling to her feet, the world spinning, "I'm fine."
   The teacher finally came to inspect what was happening, "what's going on here?"
   Phina glared harshly at Steve, who was still on the floor, "I tripped."
   "Are you Ok Ms Wheeler?"
   "I'm just peachy," she snapped, turning on her heel and leaving the class.
   "Ms Wheeler!"
   Steve, again, watched her as she left. Though this time, she was angry with him, and he didn't know why that felt bad.

   During lunch that day, Phina was about to go outside to sit by herself, when Nancy stopped her.
   "Hey, Phina, have you seen Barb at all today," Nancy asks.
   "No, I haven't seen her since last night, why," Phina asks, her head pounding.
   "She isn't here, and Barb never really misses school," Nancy shrugs, "I don't know, I'm just a little worried is all."
   "Understandable, maybe she is just sick? Have you talked to her mom yet," Phina asks.
   "No, I was just about to go ask Tommy and Carol if they saw her leave last night," Nancy told her.
   "Ok, I'll check around the school to see if anyone knows where she could be," Phina says, smiling at her sister.
   Nancy nods, a forced smile on her lips, and she turns into the cafeteria. Phina turns away and shakes her head. The weight of the all of this pressed down on her shoulders even harder. Now Barbra was added to the list of things she felt responsible for. Phina wondered how long that damned list would grow.
   She groaned loudly, sick and tired of all the bullshit that was happening in this stupid town. Phina turned her glare on the lockers, they would be perfect for blowing off some steam. She clenched her fists, no, she breaths, she had suffered way to many bloody knuckles from these lockers, and they wouldn't help her anyway.
   She turned around and noticed Jonathan, and he was staring into the cafeteria, she walked over and realized he was staring at Nancy, and she was staring back.
   She grinned at Jonathan, behind his back, momentarily forgetting all the wrong that was happening at the moment. She was still grinning when he turned and walked away, not noticing her. She knew Jonathan was developing a small crush on her sister, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

-1956 words-