Andy Hopper had enough to deal with. She hated her mom's new boyfriend, she was still grieving the death of her sister, and she hadn't seen her dad in years. The last thing she needed was to be packed up and shipped off to the small town of Hawkins...
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IT WAS HOT.
And, yes, it was summer and it was always hot, but as the Fourth of July gradually approached Hawkins was having the heatwave of the decade. It seemed every resident had been enjoying the sun, even though the moment you stepped inside somewhere without aircon you felt like you were going to explode and that a comfortable night sleep was almost impossible. But in their free time, they all made the most of the high heat. In particular, Andy, who was finally thankful for some decent weather in Hawkins that she could enjoy. Especially as this meant the climate could no longer punish her with the bitter cold as she would undoubtedly forget to bring a jacket wherever she went.
Lounging across a chair with the scorching heat bearing down on her Andy could barely hear the loud sounds of Hawkins Community Pool. With her arms flung over her head, eyes resting peacefully shut and music blasting through her earphones from the cassette tape Jonathan had made her, she had almost completely blocked out any disturbances. That was until she felt droplets of cold water dripping onto her from above.
She opened an eye, squinting up through her red-rimmed sunglasses that gave the world a yellow tint, to see Mike Wheeler glaring down at her. Water dripped from his hair and body as he had got out of the pool and a scowl enveloped his face. "I don't even know why you're here. We're fourteen, we don't need a babysitter anymore."
Andy removed the earphones to hear the boy better, then tilted her head down to peer at him over the top of her glasses. "I'm not your babysitter." She drawled. "I'm just here to watch over El, make sure nothing bad happens."
It was true. It wasn't so much babysitting anymore, more casual supervision. Eleven was free to roam around most places in Hawkins unattended with her friends, as long they weren't too public. Unlike Hawkins Pool. And the one place that was completely forbidden, supervision or not, was Starcourt Mall. It was the compromise they made with Hopper to allow the telekinetic girl some freedom. So while Andy was enjoying her sunbathing at the pool, it was done with Mike, Eleven, Will, Lucas, and Max surrounding her. The younger teens would swap between messing around in the water and lounging on the chairs together.
Just as Andy was about to blissfully lay back in her chair and put her earphones back on, Mike spoke again. "Are you really just going to lie like that in the sun all day?"
She took a deep breath, settling back into the seat and keeping her composure calm. She wanted to enjoy her day, not bicker with a middle-schooler. "As a matter of fact, I am." She answered. "I'm not leaving this chair until I'm a bronzed, golden goddess."
"You do know that the sun emits rays of ultraviolet that is extremely damaging and that prolonged exposure can lead to skin cancer, right?"
Andy flung the sunglasses from her face, hastily sitting upright to face the boy who now wore a smug satisfied grin. "Is it your life's mission to ruin my happiness, Mike Wheeler?"
