Shatter [Jonathan Byers] Stranger Things II

LVIII: Shock

shock

verb

cause (someone) to feel surprised and upset.

School was busy with people who had no idea what happened over the weekend. The hum of the fluorescent lighting overhead was familiar, welcoming even. In the cafeteria, where Emilia rarely had lunch, she found herself surrounded by people she loved, people she really wanted in her life. At her table, sitting across from her was Jenny, telling wild stories about her weekend that could never compare to what the rest of them had been through.

Jonathan sat beside Emilia, their feet just touching under the table, the electric presence between them acknowledgeable. Steve sat beside Emilia and Jenny, poking at his cafeteria food with a plastic fork, an obvious distraction clear on his face. He didn't laugh when Jenny cracked a joke, he didn't glance up at all. Emilia noticed right away.

Nancy walked by in the distance, thin hands clutching a grey tray with a salad, apple, and juice atop. Emilia shot her hand in the air and waved her down, catching her attention and beckoning for her to come sit with them. Last time they fought the Upside Down, they had all gone their separate ways and did nothing more than the occasional smile in the hallway. It was time to change that; they wouldn't all be the best of friends, but Emilia knew Nancy didn't have many people anymore. Barb was gone -it was official that she had died now, the blame on Hawkin's Lab for covering something up- and there was going to be a funeral at the end of the week. But Nancy had Steve last year, and now she had no one.

She cautiously came over, sitting beside Jenny and Jonathan, across from Steve, and placed her tray down. Steve glanced up for the first time and offered a small smile in her direction. Things would certainly be tense for some time now, there was no doubting that, but that was what high school was all about. Emilia wanted to make sure that they powered through it, instead of abided to the social norms of avoiding people who wronged them, people who broke up with them. It was better to face it head on and get over it than it was to brood and whine about it.

"And so that's when we got kicked out of the bowling alley," Jenny finished with a hearty chuckle.

Emilia and Jonathan laughed along with Jenny, though Nancy and Steve only chuckled lightly.

"What did you get up to this weekend?" Jenny asked the table, a generic question anyone could answer, but no one at that table wanted to answer honestly.

"I babysat," Steve said.

Nancy smirked across the table.

Emilia piped in, "I spent most of the weekend with family and friends, nothing exciting at all."

"Same," Jonathan replied.

Nancy was still smiling, "I had a really restful weekend, you know, one of those 'destressing' weekends to myself."

Everyone was bursting at the seams ready to laugh and spoil everything. And for a moment Jenny was suspicious of their smirks and their eyes meeting one another's. Then, she shrugged and dug into her salad, "I guess I win for most exciting weekend, eh?"

"Oh totally," Nancy chimed.

Suddenly Steve rose from his seat, the wonky metal limbs scraping across the scratched-up cafeteria floor. He grabbed his tray and departed from the table, no laughter in those eyes. Emilia stood up then too, less forcefully, and shot a glance at Jonathan to silently let him know that she was going to follow Steve to see if anything was wrong -because something clearly was. He took off through the door -after dumping off his tray- that led out to the side of the school, where there was nothing much to look at except forest and weeds popping through the cracks of the ancient concrete.

Jonathan sat at the table with Jenny and Nancy, feeling slightly unsure of himself in that position. He didn't know Jenny enough to start conversation, and things were definitely still awkward between him and Nancy. He looked across the table and wondered what Jenny knew, for she was eyeing him slightly -not in an accusatory way, but close enough. He shifted uncomfortably, looking at the door and wondering when Emilia would come back through and diffuse the tension.

"So, you're not going to be the jealous boyfriend now, huh?" Jenny inquired, stirring the pot.

Jonathan smiled gently. He shook his head. "I don't have to worry about Emilia, she's allowed to be friends with whoever she wants."

Jenny smirked, "Correct answer."

"Steve!" Emilia called softly as she followed through the door. He was about four metres ahead of her.

Her voice brought him to a halt, but he didn't turn around, not right away.

"Steve, tell me what's wrong," Emilia asked when she arrived to where he was standing. She pressed her arm to the back of his elbow.

He dropped his head, then turned to look at Emilia. Then he gestured to the school in the background, towering over them. "Just like last time, everyone just went back to normal!"

"What choice do we have? We've done the best we can... Nancy and Jonathan have shut that lab down, for good. We shut the gate- El shut the gate. We're allowed to go back to normal, for once," Emilia explained. As she said the words, they calmed her own thoughts and fears too. She hoped they would help Steve.

"Oh come on, do you really think that will keep them quiet? They've been working under Hawkins's nose for years! They stole El from her mum, what else do you think they are capable of doing? They killed people, Emilia, they wanted us dead. Ever since this happened last year... It's like I've been living in a state of constant shock."

Emilia dipped her head, "I know what it's like."

"No, you don't! You had Jonathan to talk to. You had Hopper, and El, Joyce and Will! You had everyone around you to listen." Steve turned around and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up. "I had no one. Nancy never talked about it to me, when she finally did something about it, she went straight to Jonathan. It's like no one cared that I saw it too, that I was there that day a monster came walking into Jonathan's house... Why do you think I carried that bat around in the trunk of my car for eleven months? Because I was terrified, Emilia."

Emilia walked up to him and hugged him, tight, firmly. "You have me now, Steve. Call me anytime you need to talk, I don't care if it's three in the morning. I'll go drive out to meet you, we can talk, we can say nothing... None of us should go through this alone, okay?"

He sighed, then hugged Emilia back. "Okay."

Okay, early update because.... I have finished writing this story! I just finished this second, and as I always do, I will be posting once a day until completion! 

Dedicated to BluesGansey for bringing to light the PTSD that Steve endured and no one talked about, including me. It was something that was overlooked in the show and by me, but once brought to my attention became obvious. 

Question of the Day: What do you think will happen in season 3?