PANDEMONIUM [ 2 ] ↠ STRANGER THINGS

6. NEW OUTLOOK

PANDEMONIUM
CHAPTER SIX

➝ NEW OUTLOOK

COLLEEN PASSED OUT ON HER FRONT STEP AFTER GETTING HOME AROUND 11PM, Billy had dropped her off to go pick up his step sister, Max, but she didn't want to go inside to face the wrath of Amelia. So she laid on her porch until she fell asleep, she woke up at the crack of dawn. The little orange sun illuminating the vacant streets of Hawkins. There were smashed pumpkins littered around the streets from the drunk teenagers walking home from Tina's party. She leaned up on her elbows, feeling the hangover that was already clouding her head. But she noticed a blanket draped around her body, which she knew wasn't there when she fell asleep. She looked closer and noticed that it was Steve's.

She picked up the blanket and walked into her house, shutting the door quietly behind her. She wanted to quickly sneak in there without drawing an audience to shower and eat some breakfast before heading to school.

Even if Steve left her a blanket last night, she wasn't expecting him to drive her to school. So she walked up the stairs as quietly as she could and went into her bedroom. She grabbed her clothes for the day and stripped out of her ridiculous Halloween costume. Throwing it all in a pile in the corner and excited to never have to look at it again. She grabbed her towel from behind her door and made her way into the bathroom. Quickly turning the shower on and letting the warmth rinse away all the filth from last night.

Once she was ready for the day, she made her way back downstairs to find Six sitting at the kitchen island. He was eating some eggs with bacon and she noticed a second plate beside him. She offered him a grin, "Is that for me?"

"No, that's my second plate for when I get hungry later." He deadpanned, and her mouth fell open but let out a small laugh as he pushed the plate towards her, "Of course it's yours. I thought you might need some food in your stomach after last night. You were really drunk," He laughed.

She shrugged, "No worse than usual. But I got into some really bad fights. Not just with Amelia, but with Steve and... Jonathan."

His eyes opened wider, "Jonathan?"

"But I doubt he'd ever wanna see me again after last night— I probably ruined any chance of fixing that relationship. But I'm starting to wonder if it would even be worth it anymore, I'm not the same person from last year, a lot has changed. And he might not even like the new me. He might hate the new me," She explained as she poked at the food on her plate, but there was something different about her today. She felt different, more clear-minded.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I think the new you is still pretty cool, Col. She's meaner," Six nodded his head with pursed lips that made her chuckle, "But I think you're still you... just stronger now."

She gave him a weak smile, "Thanks Six."

There was a rapid pang of knocks coming from the front door and Colleen turned her head around in confusion. Who would be knocking at her door this early in the morning? She stood up from her stool and made her way to the door when she noticed a tan police truck parked in her driveway. She opened the door to find Hopper and Deputy O'Connell standing patiently on the other side. She stepped out of her house and greeted them with small smiles, "Hey. What are you doing here?"