Radical // Steve Harrington

Chapter 1

Holly Thompson's head was buried in her locker as she rustled through her textbooks in an attempt to find her favorite pink pen, which she had dropped in an attempt to get to class on time this morning. Holly had a tendency to miss her alarm in the mornings, and it left her late to school more often than not.

"Holly!" 

The shout came from across the hallway and caused Holly to shoot up with a start, slamming her head into her locker and letting out a light yelp in the process. She turned around to see her best friend, Nancy Wheeler, approaching with a bright grin on her face. Though Holly and Nancy were two very different people, they had grown up next door to one another and had been best friends since they were old enough to talk.

"What are you doing?" Nancy asked once she reached Holly's locker, peering in to see if there was something she was missing. Holly simply reached in and pulled out the pink pen that she had spent so long looking for, causing Nancy to roll her eyes. "You know, if you're locker wasn't such a mess you wouldn't have this problem, Holly."

"Look, Nancy, not all of us can be so totally neat all the time. What's got you so happy this early anyway?"

Nancy's eyes widened as she remembered exactly why she had come to Holly's locker in the first place. "Holy smokes, you aren't even going to believe it, Holly. I'm going out with Steve again."

"Steve Harrington?" Holly asked, to which Nancy nodded. "You mean maroon BMW driving, failing classes, friends with Carol and Tommy H., Steve Harrington? And what exactly are you going to be doing with Steve Harrington on a Monday night?"

"Studying," Nancy grinned as the two of them entered their Spanish classroom, "For Kaminsky's test."

"Oh," Holly nodded, "Studying. So the two of you will be getting horizontal tonight."

Nancy let out a light gasp and slapped Holly on the arm. "As if, Holly! You know I'm not like that."

Holly shrugged as she dug her notebook out of her backpack, a small smirk on her face. With a wink, she said, "Do what you want, Nance. You know I don't judge."

And that was true. Holly would never judge Nancy for her actions. If she was really being honest with herself, though, she knew that it was more likely that Steve just wanted to get Nancy into bed than actually date her. He had a reputation around Hawkins, and it was one that was well earned.

~~~

Holly and Nancy walked into Hawkins High the next day talking quietly about all that was going on around the town. Between Nancy's sideways studying session with Steve last night and the disappearance of Will Byers after being at Nancy's own house, it was the most drama the pair had seen in their lives.

"Hey, Barb," Nancy smiled as they reached Barbara Holland's locker. Barb was one of Nancy's other close friends, though Holly had never really been all that close to her. She was always a bit of a stick in the mud, in Holly's opinion. It was for that reason that Holly knew the conversation she and Nancy had been keeping up all morning was now done.

Nancy reached into the side pocket of her backpack and pulled out her chemistry flashcards. "Can you help me study a little more? Holly's absolutely no help."

"Hey!" Holly protested, giving Nancy a light push on the shoulder, "Not all of us can be in advanced chemistry with Kaminsky, you know."

Holly had never cared much about her grades, and wasn't all that great academically, but she got by pretty decently. While she was nowhere near straight A grades that Nancy had kept up her entire life, Holly bet that she would be able to get into an okay college.