STRANGER THINGS 3 [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 2: A Flash Of Remembrance (Part 9)

It was 9am when El woke up in the Hopper household, with a bed head and slight dark bags under her eyes. The girl spent her night studying because her teacher was going to give her a test this afternoon. Slowly stretching, El walked out of her room and into the kitchen where she saw some Eggos on a plate previously prepared by her dad that left not long ago. She sat on the chair and munched on her beloved food. Before walking off to do her daily routine of taking a shower, brushing her teeth, getting dressed for the day and brushing her wild now up to her shoulders hair, El washed her plate and resumed.

As soon as she finished, she grabbed her book and walky talky from the night stand and kept it on as she browsed her history book making sure she remembers everything for the test later on. But, something kept the girl quite distracted and that was the thought of Mike. So, without thinking too much, she grabbed the nearest cloth and slid it over her eyes and concentrated on the static coming from the radio next to her. Not long after she was in the black void surrounded with nothing. She heard a faint bell ringing; knowing to whom that bell belonged, El turner to the direction where the sound was coming from. She saw Mike on the bike with a girl on the back of it. She watched as Mike parked his bike and talked to the girl, throwing her all sorts of random information while the girl stood and listened to him while occasionally looking around to get familiarised with the surrounding. Before hearing someone else come in the picture, the phone rang which got El out of the void and into the living room. She took of her blindfold and wiped the trail of blood from her nose. The girl quickly hurried towards the phone and answered it without saying anything.

"El, its Hopper!" – The voice said over the phone. "I have some good news! How would you like to go to school from next week?"

-

Steve ran through the halls of Hawkins High, making sure he wasn't really late to his first period. The reason being that he grabbed some breakfast on the way over, a bagel precisely which he planned to eat in that class. As he passed the rows and rows of lockers, he finally got to the classroom door and busted in without a knock, nor greeting. "Steve, late, again!" – the teacher reminded the student as he hurried through the classroom in order to get to his seat located on the opposite side of the door.

"As I see you don't seem to care to give me a valid point into why you are late, I'll use my pen over here to write you a little slip for detention. I hope that will give you time to think about why you were late for the last 3 consecutive weeks in order." – To that, Steve just gave a muffled "good God" and proceeded to eat his bagel, not knowing that a set of eyes were glued to his head filled with jealousy. A jealousy that wasn't envying Steve from his "don't seem to care attitude", or his famous perfectly styled hair, not his popularity, but jealousy for having the attention of a certain someone that that person liked and wanted their attention to be on them. As Steve munched on is bagel, a set of eyes started to slightly tear up because of the jealousy filled in them, and the pure envy for the popular jock.

Nancy, on the other hand was thinking about what Darlene said this morning. She got a job at Hawkins Post. She looked to all the options there were for a summer job, and an internship at the very same place Darlene was talking about popped up, one for an assistant, and another one for a photographer. This was the perfect opportunity for her and Jonathan to gain some experience before heading to college to pursue their passions and at the same time be close to each other during the whole summer. It seemed perfect! What could possibly go wrong?

-

On the other side of school, Dustin was in science class doing an experiment with the new girl by his side. He met her just this morning when Mike came paddling down the road with her on the back of his bike. Julia June was a lovely girl, Dustin thought. She was smart, despite being down a grade or two and was the perfect lab partner because her cautiousness and previously acquired skills were perfect. "What are your plans for the summer, JJ" – He asked the quiet girl as she was writing down all the steps they did earlier, her handwriting resembling calligraphy. "I was thinking of going to a camp, but I'm not sure that my parents would allow me to go." – That was probably the longest sentence said by the girl. For the first time in a while, Dustin started thinking about the camp that his mother suggested him to go to.

She taught that her little genius could tremendously benefit from it and spend the summer of his life! Maybe getting away from Hawkings could benefit the teen because it would mean he would get away from the place that gave him the awful nightmares he was experiencing.

"I was thinking the same thing. Summer camp can be refreshing and my mom really wants me to go!" – The curly haired boy smiled towards the focused girl with her head slightly bent to look at her writing, making sure there is no spelling mistakes or any imperfections in their notes. "I like the forest." – JJ slowly said. "I used to like it, as well. But, after our friend Will disappeared in the forest and got caught by the Department of Energy, I'm not the biggest fan of it." – This statement made the girl pause and not lift her head from the notebook. She processed everything Dustin said. She tried to not think about her past as much as she tried so the boy next to her won't notice her worried expression. Instead, she gave a silent hum to signal to the boy next to her that she hears him. Of course, her slight fear and paler than before face didn't go unnoticed by the smart boy, but he decided not to question her, instead to try and take a better look of her left wrist.

"Hey, JJ. Can you please pass me that chemical over there?" – The boy pointed to the tube that was closest to the girl's left hand. The girl looked up in the direction he was pointing at and with her right hand grabbed for the bottle in order to pass it to the boy. What she didn't know is that her new found friend noticed how she tugged her left sleeve of her lab coat further down as in trying to hide something from him. This kept the curly haired boy's mind racing till it was lunch time where he had to share his recent discoveries with his party!