Will to Survive

Hawkins Post

Nancy was walking down the street to get to the Hawkins Post. Her boyfriend, Jonathan, was working there as a photographer over the summer for some cash. She likes to visit from time to time while he was working so that way they could hang out over his lunch break. Keelan was also working there with Jonathan so it was extra company at the place.

Jonathan was looking through some of the photos he had taken when Nancy came in. Once he saw her, he waved at his girlfriend and smiled. He was always happy when she came to visit him during his work hours. He felt really lucky that he was dating the prettiest girl he had ever met in his life. He had always had a crush on Nancy since middle school, but he had always thought he'd never get a chance with her. Now that they were dating, Jonathan couldn't help but feel extremely lucky.

"Hey Nancy!" Jonathan greeted to her, smile still wide on his face.

Nancy smiled back at him. "Hey Jonathan! Since it's almost your lunch break, I figured that we could go hang out around town," she said, sitting in a chair by his desk.

"That sounds great. I just need to show these photos to my boss and then we can go out," Jonathan replied as he grabbed all his photos and stood up. Nancy nodded as she watched her boyfriend leave the room.

 A few minutes later, the door opened again, but it wasn't Jonathan. It was Keelan, holding some photos of her own. Once she noticed that it was just Nancy and not Jonathan, she groaned. "Ugh, where did he go? I need his help with these!" She asked Nancy, sounding annoyed at the fact that Jonathan had left.

"He's just showing some of his photos to his boss. Speaking of which, I never met the boss around here. Who is he?" Nancy asked her friend, sounding curious. Throughout her many visits to the post, she had only seen Jonathan, Keelan, and a few other workers. No sign of the boss of the place, just mentions of him.

Keelan rolled her eyes at the mention of the boss. "You are so lucky you don't work for him Nance. He's one of the worst kinds of people you will ever meet in your life. And that's saying something because we all knew Dr Brenner. I hope you never meet him. He insults everyone for everything they do," she said, lowering her voice a bit in case anyone was passing by.

As if on cue, Jonathan came back in with a blonde haired man. Seeing the look on Keelan's face made Nancy realize that this was the boss. The man took notice of Nancy and smiled at the sight of her. She grew a little uncomfortable of his presence, but ignored it because this was her boyfriend's boss. She had to be as nice as possible.

"Well hello there. You must be Byer's girl. It's nice to finally meet you. Name's Bruce. I've heard a lot about you from this fine young man right here," the man introduced himself, holding out his hand.

Nancy extended her hand and shook his. "Nice to meet you too. This is a nice place you're running here," she said in a polite tone.

"Thanks. It's better than what you could do anyway. You don't look like the type with a sense of design," Bruce said. "Anyways, Byers, you're on break. Sinclair, you're mopping the floors," he added in.

Keelan threw her hands up and gave her boss a look. "I'm a photographer, Bruce. I'm not the janitor," she said, trying to not yell. She didn't want to get fired from this job, even though she hated her boss.

Bruce shook his head. "I'm sorry. I confused you with the shit in the toilet. Take a shower for once in your life. You smell like hard liquor," he said before walking out of the room.

Once he was out of the room, Keelan turned to look at Nancy. "Told you he's the worst," she said.

Nancy definitely agreed with her. Now she was definitely glad that she didn't work there. Bruce was a horrible person, everyone would agree with her and Keelan on that. But from what Jonathan had told her, he paid his people well, so he couldn't quit. This was the only job that suited him anyway. No other job would hire him, so Nancy understood why he hadn't quit yet. 

"Let's just go, Nance. Keelan, I'll help you later with your photos," Jonathan said before taking Nancy's hand and leaving the room. 

...

Nancy and Jonathan were walking down the street, hand in hand. The couple stopped at a railing and stood there together while eating some sandwiches. They were quiet the whole time, because they were both thinking.

Nancy kept thinking about Bruce and how awful he was. And she had only seen a little bit of his crudeness. He was a horrible boss to both Jonathan and Keelan, especially Keelan, but they had to put up with him, which made her feel bad for them. The two loved photography and it was a good job for them. She just wished that they had a better boss to manage them.

Jonathan noticed the look on his girlfriend's face and squeezed her hand. Nancy looked up at him and smiled. "You upset about my boss? I'm sorry about what he said to you. He acts like that a lot, especially to the women. He pays well though," he said.

"Yeah, I know. And you don't have to be sorry," Nancy said. "I just wish you had a better boss. One who isn't so nasty all the time," she added in.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. It's only a summer job anyway. Only a couple of months. I'll live," Jonathan reassured her.

Nancy smiled and kissed him on the cheek. They both grinned as they continued to eat their food together. This would be a good summer for them. No monsters, no other dimensions, no one being possessed. Hawkins was normal again and now they would be able to cherish every moment they share together.

Unfortunately, their moments were going to be shattered.

A girl came up to them and waved. Nancy and Jonathan looked confused at her. The girl was acting as if they looked familiar to her, but they hadn't seen her anywhere before.

"Hey there Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers!" The girl greeted as she came up to them.

"I'm sorry, do we know you?" Jonathan asked, sounding confused. The girl looked around their age, so his first thought was that she could go to Hawkins High

"We go to school together. You probably don't know me. I'm one of those people who's always in the background anyway. No one really notices me," the girl said. "I know you guys though. You're one of the cutest couples of Hawkins High. I was just hoping that I can get to know you guys?"

Nancy couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course you can. What's your name?" She asked.

"It's Delilah."