Nova Peters was a snarky girl with overbearing parents and a reputation as someone not often confrontational but still with a penchant for getting into trouble in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana, but despite her shortcomings, she was the kind of person you trusted to watch over your kids for an evening out. She was the kind of hardworking kid you thought could go far if she applied herself correctly with a strong dedication to whatever she set her heart on. When Will Byers vanishes on November 3, 1983, she sets her heart on helping the Byers family and finding Will, which comes with a lot more trouble she bargained for, unfathomable information coming to light, and losses she couldn't comprehend bearing to go through.

After her father's death at the hands of the Demogorgon, Nova Peters couldn't adjust to the way of life she once knew. She could tell a little white lie and sneak out to go to a party, but with the guilt that came from the unfortunate time she had, lying and pretending was something she decided she couldn't do very well anymore. She couldn't pretend like everyone else who acted like the things that happened a year ago were simply a footnote in their lives and not this horribly tragic event. Pretending like an event in time never existed or that it was a one-off tragedy that was bound to never happen again was a way of denying history, and history had this funny habit of repeating itself.