Jeopardy- Stranger Things

Chapter Three

September 6th, 1983

Nicole woke up earlier than her own mother that day. Or she assumed she did. Truth be told, she hadn't seen her since yesterday morning. She didn't even know if she'd come home. Nicole tried to push that thought out of her head as she got on with making breakfast. She put two slices of bread in the toaster, one for each of them, and set a packet of rice krispies and a bowl and spoon on the table incase George wanted some.

He slunk out of his bedroom as silently as he could but Nicole still heard the shuffling of his feet on the carpet. She smiled at him as he took a seat at the table and immediately grabbed a spoon and started pouring cereal into his bowl. Nicole brought over two plates of toast and sat opposite him at the small, plastic kitchen table.

Nicole looked at him throughout breakfast. Occasionally he would look up and meet her dark brown eyes but would almost immediately look back down at his lap. His blue eyes kept flickering back up at her and then back down again. Nicole sighed and slammed her spoon down onto the table, satisfyingly watching as George's shoulders rose as he jumped at the sound.

"What is it?" She asked, getting straight to the point, as was her way. George stoically stared at the floor, refusing to look up at her. "Don't play dumb with me. What's wrong?" Nicole coaxed, her voice returning to her usual soft tone.

"Will you sit with me at lunch?" George asked timidly, raising his gaze to look her eyes, eyes wide and glistening.

"You want to sit with your sister at lunch?" Nicole asked questioningly, raising her eyebrows. George nodded sheepishly and returned his gaze to the floorboards. "It's the first day of school and you want everyone to see you sitting with your sister?"

"Please, Nick? I don't have any friends there." George asked quietly.

"And you're not going to get any sitting with your sister. Trust me, you'll make some friends, no problem." Nicole encouraged and returned her attention to her toast.

George still looked gloomy during the car ride to school. Nicole was happy to drive George to school, it made sense seeing as they were both going, but she had to draw the line at sitting together at lunch. It was going to be hard on her to make friends too, she had never been the social sort.

"What if I don't make any friends though?" George whined, his bottom lip pouted out. Nicole sighed and flicked her gaze to him briefly before looking at the road again. They were approaching the turn off into the school grounds. Children were flocking in now. Nicole was aware of all the eyes following them, even in England it wasn't everyday a kid drives into school. It was sort of a right of passage. Learning to drive would earn you a bit of respect but Nicole figured that wouldn't work for her. She could see all the girls stop staring when they realised it was a girl at the wheel.

"What if no one here likes playing D&D?" George exclaimed in horror although Nicole guessed he was just looking for her sympathy because he was scared. She knew as much as she was feeling the same way. "I'll have no one to play D&D with." He complained as Nicole parked and they got out of the car. Nick stared at him motionlessly until George frowned at her. Once she knew she had her attention, she dramatically placed a hand to her heart and pouted.

"What's wrong with me? You don't want to play with me anymore?!" She exclaimed in mock horror. She couldn't keep it up long though as a wide smile quickly spread across her face. George looked away in embarrassment but Nick could see the faint smile on his face.

"No, No! It's just- you can't really play with only two people..." George reasoned as he collected his school bag from Nick's trunk.

"Like I told you at breakfast," Nick began while locking up her car, "You'll make friends. Or should I put it in words you'll understand- you'll find a new company."

Nick waved after George as he disappeared into his homeroom. Nick felt a little helpless after George had disappeared off and she was left alone to find her own homeroom. She suddenly felt vulnerable now she didn't have George to look out for. Now she didn't have a reason to be ant-social.

George was hoping that his homeroom tutor wouldn't notice him and that he would just be able to slip into a desk and hide his face in a text book before anyone could awkwardly introduce him to the whole class. But alas, he was wrong.

"You!" The teacher called out and reached out to tap him on the shoulder as he passed the desk. "You must be George." The teacher said patronisingly cheerfully and George slowly turned around to accept his fate of forthcoming embarrassment.

"Yes." He replied glumly. The teacher smiled in satisfaction.

"Right. You just wait up here then until the rest of the class arrives and I'll introduce you."

George watched from the front of the classroom as the other students filled the room. He watched everyone and studied their faces, wondering which ones would become his friends and which would torment him. It wasn't long before everyone arrived and the teacher stood up, coming to stand next to George.

"Welcome back to school, class! I hope you all had a nice, relaxing summer but now it's time to buckle down and get back to school work." The teacher said cheerfully. He clearly hadn't been teaching for a long enough time to realise that these kids just didn't care. Well, most kids. George saw a group of boys sat at the front that seemed to hang onto his every word.

"Now then, class." He continued, placing a hand on George's shoulder. He suspected, for encouragement but it just made him feel even more singled out. "We have a new student this year, his name is George Harper and he has recently moved from England!" The teacher exclaimed, expecting excited murmuring but he was met with silence.

"Right then...okay George, you just sit down and well get on."

George passed the group of boys at the front as he took his seat at a desk behind them. They leaned in and were whispering together. George was sat close enough to them to catch snippets of their conversation. He could have sworn he heard one say "George, like George and Nick at the arcade. He's the one who stole out championship!"