Complicated • Stranger Things

12 - The Pollywog and Will the Wise

The next morning I had a killer headache that I would probably have to deal with for the rest of the day. Despite that, I still had to drive myself to school. I couldn't let my dad know how drunk I got, or that I got drunk at all, so I had to just suck it up.

When I was walking through the hall to my locker, I saw Steve talking to one of his friends and I instantly remembered what happened last night. He glanced at me and I quickly looked away and sped up my pace, hoping that he would just leave me alone.

"Hey, Jordan." He greeted as he started walking next to me.

Shit.

"Can't talk." I told him as we approached my locker.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I don't want to." I said as I glanced at him to see him staring at me confusedly.

"Was the kiss really that bad?" He asked and I shot him a look of disbelief before slamming my locker and pulling him into an empty classroom.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I questioned.

"What?" He asked, seeming genuinely confused.

"You can't just say something like that around all those people." I told him.

"Why not?" He asked, which made me want to hit him.

"I don't want people to know what happened." I stated.

"Why?" He asked again and I rolled my eyes.

"Because I wish it hadn't." I said.

"You're the one who kissed me." He pointed out.

"I was drunk!" I defended.

"I've been around drunk you many times and you've never kissed me." He stated.

"It didn't mean anything, Steve." I said as I stared at the ground. He was probably pouting like a child and I did not want to deal with that.

"Can you at least answer the question?" He asked and I finally looked up at him.

"What question?" I asked.

"Was it bad?" He asked. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at the question. It was silent for a while as I thought of what to say. I started walking towards the door and stopped once my hand was on the doorknob.

"No." I said loud enough for him to hear before leaving the room.

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After school I had to work at the arcade so I didn't get home until late. When I got inside I saw that the place was trashed. There were bookshelves knocked over, shattered glass all over the floor, and I noticed that the cords from the TV were pulled out.

"Dad, what happened?" I asked once I saw him sitting in his chair, drinking a beer.

"Eleven threw a fit." He replied.

"What'd you do?" I asked and he sighed.

"I was just trying to show her that there are consequences to her actions." He told me. "It's late. You should go to bed."

Without saying anything I headed towards my bedroom, but I stopped in front of El's door. I hesitated for a moment before knocking.

"Hey, El. It's me. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here if you want to talk." I offered. I waited there in silence for a few moments before deciding that she wasn't coming, so I just went to my room.

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The next day at school while I was at my locker I saw someone approach me out of the corner of my eye.

"I told you, I don't want to talk to you, Steve." I said, but when I looked over I didn't see Steve. It was Billy.

"Well it's a good thing I'm not Steve, then." He stated with a smirk.

"Oh, Billy, hey. What's up?" I asked.

"I was wondering if after school you'd like to finish what we started the other night." He said as his eyes scanned my body.

"Can't. I have work." I gave him a tight smile as I looked past him at other people in the hallway, not wanting to make eye contact with him. My eyes landed on Steve, who was glaring at Billy.

"I can wait." Billy stated as Steve's eyes met mine. Billy seemed to notice that I was looking behind him and he turned to look at Steve before turning back to me. "Unless you already have plans with Harrington."

"What? No." My eyes darted to him at the assumption and I sighed before continuing. "Listen, I'm sure you're a nice guy and all, but I'm not interested. At the party I was really drunk and wasn't thinking straight."

Despite what I said, I knew he wasn't a nice guy. I've seen the way he talks to his sister and how he treats other girls, or just people in general.

"Really? Because it didn't seem that way." He said as he stepped closer.

"Well, it was, so I would really appreciate it if you would leave me alone." I told him, which he didn't seem too happy with. Before he could say anything else, Steve stepped in between us.

"I think she just told you to leave her alone." He stated.

"This is none of your business, Harrington." Billy snapped.

The two of them argued back a forth until I finally had enough and pushed myself between them.

"Stop it, both of you. I don't need you bothering me, and don't need you to defend me." I said as I turned to Billy and then Steve. "So, both of you can just leave me alone."

Thankfully, it was the end of the day so I grabbed the rest of my stuff and quickly went out to my car. I sighed as I rested my head on the steering wheel for a minute or two. As I drove to work remembered that I need to call Nancy and Johnathan afterwards to ask why the hell they haven't been at school.