PANDEMONIUM [ 2 ] ↠ STRANGER THINGS

1. MESS OF MINE

PANDEMONIUM
CHAPTER ONE

➝ MESS OF MINE

         HAWKINS HAD TURNED RADIO SILENT OVER THE COURSE OF THE PAST YEAR: No Hawkins Lab, No Man-Eating Monsters, and Hopper has been on a Top Secret Mission. Colleen stumbled into her house, the front door smacking against the wall which made her wince at the loud noise. She let out a drunk giggle as she shut it behind them, once Steve walked through the door. Steve placed his pointer finger over his lips and shushed her, which only caused the two teenagers to laugh even harder.

"Colleen?" A voice called out.

She shushed Steve, waving her hand out and she cleared her throat as she turned around. The mysterious voice entered the room, and Six was wearing a concerned look. "Again?"

She bit back a snicker as she mocked her uncle-cousin friend with a fold of the arms, "Again?" She shook her head as she walked further into the room and started to sift through the food cabinet, she was starving. "Really? Just get over it, dad."

Steve's face hardened once she mentioned him, knowing that he was going to be in for a long night of consoling his best friend. She had tried to seem strong, wearing a facade for almost the past year. But he knew that deep deep down, she was still hurting inside. But she was far too stubborn to show it, and especially to say it out loud.

"Hey, Col." Steve gently placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile, "Why don't we, uh- go upstairs and put a movie on?"

"Yeah. Yeah, okay. Sounds good," Colleen grabbed a bag of potato chips from the cabinet and nodded her head. She shoved a handful of the chips into her mouth before crunching loudly, making Steve chuckle at her childishness. Six shook his head as he watched them disappear down the hallway and upstairs. "Goodnight, Six!"

The two teenagers stumbled upstairs and into Colleen's bedroom, and Steve immediately threw himself on top of the bed. He let out a groan as he looked to see how late it was, reading the time off the clock, "School is going to suck tomorrow."

"Shh," Colleen pointed a finger in his direction as she reached underneath her bed for her bottle of Jack Daniels. She untwisted the cap and pressed it to her lips before taking a large gulp and sticking her tongue out as the alcohol burned her throat. "We don't talk about that god forsaken place."

Steve leaned his head against a pillow with his arms behind his head and grinned over at her widely, "We have to be up in three and a half hours. How does that sound for ya?"

Colleen flashed him the finger, "Screw you."

He grabbed a handful of VHS tapes from her collection and began to sort through them, but Colleen smacked them out of his hand. "I don't feel like watching another movie, Stevie. Come on, get up and dance with me!"