𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘢𝘵𝘴 ~ 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧

Prologue

Prologue:
Circa 1983
・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Ramona tied her hair back, yawning as she leaned on the counter of the small diner she worked at. Jet City Café.

The small tv played in the corner above her, reporting a story about a missing boy.

Will Byers.

She used to babysit for him when Jonathan was busy. She thought of him like a little brother to her.

"Unbelieveable.." She mumbled to herself, continuing to wipe down the counters.

The bell rang, signaling some had entered. Ramona looked up, recognizing the boy from her chemistry class.

He sat two rows in front of her, and he never seemed to be paying much attention, too busy messing with his hair.

She didn't have a problem with the boy, but she didn't necessarily like him either.

"Steve Harrington in the flesh." Ramona commented, putting both hands on her hips.

He gave her a nod in reply, "Yeah, uh, can I get two cheeseburgers? One plain, please. That means just cheese and meat."

"I know what that means, Harrington." Ramona rolled her eyes, jotting down his order and handing it to the cook in the window behind her.

"That and.. one coke and a strawberry milkshake. Small shake, large coke."

Ramona nodded, picking out the correct cup sizes before continuing to make the strawberry shake, which she assumed was for Nancy Wheeler.

She knew Nancy Wheeler from her history class. Nancy sat one row in front of Ramona, and unlike her obnoxiously annoying boyfriend, she always paid close attention to what the teacher was saying.

"It's sad that that kid went missing. I mean, it'd be sadder if he wasn't that freak's little brother. But-" Steve started, leaning on the counter and looking up at the news story.

"Asshole.." Ramona muttered under her breath.

Steve glared at her, but allowed silence to over take the restaurant. The only sound coming from the T.V above.

Ramona yawned again, tired from the long day at school with work immediately after.

She was exhausted. Physically, but not yet mentally. Ramona was strong willed, she always had been. Some say she's hard to get along with. Most say that, actually. She talked to some girl named Robin sometimes when she was rehearsing for the play, but hardly ever outside of that.

But she was okay with that. She was herself and she wasn't going to change that for some narrow-minded assholes from a narrow-minded town.

Ramona handed Steve the drinks and food after the ring of the bell pulled her out of her thoughts.

He handed her the money and left quickly. "Wait, this isn't enough! Harrington! Get your ass back here!"

He had already left before she could finish her sentence.

"Ugh, damnit."

Ramona knew that the unpaid three dollars would be coming out of her paycheck.

She checked her watch, sighing in relief when she saw it was eight PM. She only had one hour left in her shift.

One long, long, long hour. Ramona let her head fall to the table. The background noise of the TV began luring her into a sleep.

"Ramona. Ramona. Ramona. Ramona!" A voice woke her out of her sleep.

"Hm? What? Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry Mr. Phillips." Ramona apologized, standing up straight and clearing her throat. "What time is it?"

"You can go home." He said dismissively, waving her off.

She nodded, awkwardly slipping past him and into the breakroom.

She pulled off her apron, folding it neatly and placing it into her locker.

Ramona slipped on her brown jacket, her eyes falling on a picture of her dad and her from seven years ago.

It was from Christmas of 1976. She was eight. She sat on her father's lap, a big grin on her face.

"Goodnight, dad." Ramona smiled briefly kissing her fingers and pressing it gently against the photo. "I love you."

Ramona closed the locker, pulled her backpack over her shoulders and left the room.

She waved goodbye to her boss, rushing out of the diner hoping he wouldn't notice the three unpaid dollars.

She needed that money. Her family did. Three dollars wasn't much to most people, especially that rich jerk Steve Harrington, but it went a long way for Ramona and her mom.

It could buy her and her mom breakfast for a few days. Ramona was only fifteen years old, yet here she was. Going to bed hungry some nights and working a job already.

It wasn't always like this.. She used to be middle class. Until her mom had to stop working and take care of her father.

The medical bills took most of their money. Now, her mom not only had to work one job, but two.

While her mom was working days, Ramona would go to school. At nights, she'd work and during the weekends, she'd babysit herr and there.

Ramona wrung her hands together, trying to get some warmth into them. She was always so cold. She hated the cold. She vowed that one day, after she turned eighteen, she'd move out of this town. Move somewhere warm and sunny. Somewhere like California or Florida. Hell, maybe even Greece.

Maybe she'd meet someone to fall in love with, though that wasn't a priority in her life right now. Right now her priorities were just getting through the rest of highschool and not dying in the process.

Ramona mounted her bike, pushing off with her right foot. The bitter November air whipped through her hair, kissing her skin harshly.

Chills shot down her spine, shivers shaking her body. Ramona regretted not listening to her mom when she said to bring a heavier jacket. Though, she would never admit it to her. 

Thankful that they only lived only a few minutes away from her house, Ramona turned onto her street.

Her house, though small, welcomed her. She slowed the bike down as she laid it against the side of her house.

She used her key to open her red door, breathing in a sigh of relief as the warmth enveloped her into a hug.

"Mama, I'm home!" She pulled her jacket off, hanging it up beside her. "Mama? Hello?"

She sighed, realizing her mom was working again. "She was supposed to be home.."

Ramona walked through the small house into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, wondering if Will would be found.

She certainly hoped so.

But then a thought struck her, sending chills down her spine.

What if he was found.. but dead?

Ramona didn't want that.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

{ Word Count: 1,102 }

{ A/n: hi ramona is perfect what }

{ Edited: No }