teenage nightmare [ stranger things ] discontinued.

chapter twenty six.

TEENAGE NIGHTMARE
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX — PART ONE.
THE SNOW BALL.

It's been over a month and a half since Eleven 'Jane' Hopper closed the Gate to the Upside Down. Not soon after, a breaking news broadcast spoke of mysterious occurrences at Hawkins Lab. They were blasted all over the nation for their wild experiments and what they kept from the public, shutting them down for good, thanks to an anonymous tip. Barbara Holland's death was finally explained and admitted by several members of the lab and government officials who owned up to her odd disappearance and untimely death. JP attended the funeral alongside Nancy and Jonathan, and he was glad to see her parents get the justice they deserved, whether it was the outcome they wanted or not.

Life went back to a relative normal after that. The three Walker siblings sat down with their father and truly explained everything that had happened since the disappearance of Will Byers in 1983. It took them nearly three exhausting hours, but when they were finished, Joseph Walker just hugged his children and thanked God they were okay. There had been another revelation in the family, as Charlie finally decided to sit his father down and tell him that he had feelings for Will Byers. Feelings that boys usually had for girls and vice versa. He was hesitant, but, after hearing all the crazy shit they had been through, he decided that life was way too short for him to give a damn about who his son had a crush on.

" You could kiss a fire hydrant, for all I care! " Had been his exact words.

Charlie has also spilled the beans to the rest of the party, insisting that it wasn't fair for just Mike to know. He left Will out of the conversation, though, since he was still recovering when he decided to tell Lucas, Dustin, Eleven, and Max. Eleven seemed the least fazed, like she didn't understand why he was telling her that information. Lucas simply shouted 'I told you so!' in Mike's face, and Dustin cleared any worry he had about them ditching him and leaving him completely alone and friendless. Max insisted that she knew lots of gay people in California and insisted that she knew one of the party were bound to be gay. They had a tight group hug after that, solidifying their party once more.

JP told Nancy and his newfound second best friend, Jonathan Byers, that he was going to try to stop smoking and drinking. He'd kept his promise since he burned his pack of cigarettes at Merrill's Farm, and he hadn't touched a bottle or a lighter since. He also decided to drop out of school, seeing as he wasn't really getting anywhere with his poor grades and even worse attendance. He'd settled on wanting to travel the world, but he agreed to wait long enough to see his sister, Steve, Jonathan, and Nancy graduate. JP had also found himself a distraction to his old habits, which came in the form of a redhead girl with just as much sarcasm as freckles. He often drove Max back and forth from school so that she didn't have to ride with Billy, and he even dropped her off a few times at the arcade to join El and the boys. He'd never tell her in person, but he was starting to see her as a second little sister.