stranger things imagines {slow updates}

𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏

SEEING BILLY FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS LIKE SEEING A GHOST.

he was so, so different, and you could tell just by the way he carried himself. billy had always been a bit of an asshole, but in that endearing, 'i'll insult you but only as a joke' way. he called you annoying, but drove you everywhere and always went to movies with you. he complained about your constant pranks, but bought you thoughtful and sentimental gifts for every occasion.

now, billy seemed cold. mean, and distant. he was leaning against his car, smoking a cigarette with his arm loosely around a girl you could tell he either barely knew or had little interest in.

you'd arrived in hawkins a few days before, and decided that the day before you officially began school, you'd surprise billy and max after their school day. now, you had lost all your confidence that billy would be happy to see you, and you were relying on max to tell you what in hell had happened.

"fuck it. she can ride her skateboard home," you heard billy mutter, finally getting into his car with the red head. you ignored the pain your chest that came with seeing him with someone else - just before he left, you'd confessed your feelings and spent a night together that you'd never forget. you hadn't stopped thinking about it since you last saw billy's face. now, here he was, acting as if he hadn't even given you a second thought.

"y/n?" your head snapped to the small voice, and you made eye contact with none other than max. a wide grin spread across your face and you rushed toward her, enveloping the girl in a big hug. max had been your close friend too, and she always told you that with you around, billy was much nicer.

"i missed you so much. billy's been such a dick," she mumbled into your shoulder. you laughed softly, and gave max's back a comforting pat.

"not for long. i moved here on saturday!"

max pulled away with a smile almost as bright as yours. "no way! this is so awesome. i finally have someone to go to the arcade with. can we go now?"

you ruffled her long hair and stood. even if you didn't want to talk to billy just yet, you still had max, and maybe that was enough for now. things between you and the girl were practically the same as it had been months ago.

"do you wanna take your friends over there? they seem pretty invested in our conversation," you whispered, pointing to a group of four kids around max's age. as soon as they noticed you motioning toward them, they hid behind a handsome boy who seemed about your age.

"kids. get out from behind your father and go say hi to the pretty lady," the boy said, ushering the four children out toward you. you blushed at his subtle compliment and turned to max as if to ask 'who is this guy?' max just grinned suspiciously and jerked her head to the approaching boys.

"uh, hi. sorry for staring. i'm lucas, max's ...boyfriend," the boy stuck his hand out for a handshake, and you gaped at your redheaded friend with a surprised smile as you shook it.

"wow. little maxine is all grown up," you joked, shoving her softly. she turned red and lucas chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "i'm y/n, by the way."

"i'm mike," a taller boy introduced. "this is will," a timid kid with a bowl cut waved shyly, "this is dustin," a more eccentric child smiled widely, "and this is..." he trailed off, as if waiting for the other girl to say something. she half smiled and stepped forward for a handshake.

"i'm eleven, but just call me el." you quirked an eyebrow at the unusual name, but you were intrigued by her and shook her hand slowly.

"what a cool group of friends you have, max. and please, do tell me your father's name," you joked, locking eyes with the boy. he was tall; taller than you, with a luscious head of dark brown hair that could rival even billy's. put shortly, this boy was extremely good looking.

he smirked, and instead of a handshake, he raised his fist. you cautiously bumped your fist against his, unsure why he would go for a fist bump instead of the classic handshake.

"i'm steve harrington, and these brats are all my metaphorical children. we're about to head to the arcade. i'm assuming you wanna tag along, and be their metaphorical mother?"

you laughed at steve's attempt to get you to come, and nodded. "yeah, i'll come. come along, maxine, my lovely daughter ...and whoever else wants to come in mother's car, instead of dad's." all the children raised their hands synonymously, and you let out an irresistible giggle. you felt steve's eyes on you, but someone else's too. ignoring them, you closed your eyes and choose two random kids from the bunch - dustin and will.

"alright! lucas, mike, eleven, come with me. your mother and your other siblings will meet you at the arcade." steve sent you a sarcastic salute, and you smiled mischievously back, sending him a wink. bold move, for you, but you could've sworn you noticed a blush on the boy's cheeks.

as you led the kids to your car, you finally turned toward those second pair of eyes you just knew were watching you. to your shock, you were suddenly staring back at billy, who had probably been eyeing you from his car for at least five minutes. the girl who had been with him was gone, replaced by an emptiness in the passenger seat.

"he's totally still in love with you," max whispered, once she realized you were still watching her brother even as you were in the car. you shook your head and focused on backing out of the parking lot.

"who? who's still in love with y/n?" dustin asked, intrigued. you shot max a glare and she closed her already open-and-ready-to-blab mouth.

"no one," you replied, vaguely. the two boys in the back exchanged looks and will fought a smile.

"you know who does like you? steve," he commented, causing you to break out into a wide smile just as you began to drive out of the school's lot. dustin beamed at your obvious happiness by the mention of his babysitter's name.

"yeah. steve thinks you're a total babe. maybe you guys can be our new parents, since our own don't seem to care about our whereabouts at any time," dustin joked, causing the other passengers to let out a stiff laugh. it was true, and you knew it was, especially for max. you hated to think about how bad the verbal abuse on billy had gotten since the move to hawkins, and if he'd started being mean to max as well.

"we'll see. y/n has a lot of guys on her tail." max spoke for you, being purposely unclear as to confuse the boys. you sent her a grateful grin and the rest of car ride was filled with jokes and unusual conversation topics. in all honesty, you already preferred hawkins to california. without billy and max, the beach home you'd treasured became bare, fake. boring.

if only you knew. your time in hawkins was about to be anything, everything but boring.