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❛ sᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ʟᴇᴛ's ɢᴏ ᴄʀᴀᴢʏ ꒱


❝ IN THIS LIFE YOU'RE
ON YOUR OWN ❞

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On Halloween evening, Jessie returned to a silent house. This wasn't anything unusual; her mother was gone most of the time (and honestly she was better off for it) and her father hardly ever made noise. There was only one light shining inside when she unlocked the door; it came from the living room where the older man was comfortably ensconced in a majority of their cushions.

The small TV was playing quietly in front of him and his dark eyes were focused on the moving, brightly-lit pictures of children's cartoons. Jessie silently made her way over to him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek in greeting. "Hi, dad."

She was unsurprised when he made no reaction to her gesture; he'd been still and soundless for several years now. They'd thought that he could escape the Vietnam draft but at the tail end of the war, he'd been called in for duty and come out worse for it. The soldier who had dropped him off hadn't explained much about his state except that he'd gone into shell-shock while still in the field. He hadn't even been honorably discharged like other soldiers; all he'd been given was the bare minimum and then abandoned.

Her mother's drinking had gotten worse after that and she'd come home less and less until her appearances were as frequent as a blue moon, leaving her only daughter to keep house. Jessie worked odd jobs where she could and tried to do many of the repairs herself, but anyone could see that the house was sorely in need of renovation.

They'd always been outsiders in Hawkins; first because of Andres' heritage and second because of her mother's religion. Their low income and rather dilapidated living quarters only added to the list. They lived past the junk yard on Randolph Way at the edge of the forest. (It was ironic, really, that the best street in town, Loch Nora, was directly parallel to theirs.)

Jessie stood from her father's chair and went to the kitchen to turn on more lights. The bare bulbs that hung from the ceiling cast shadows over the cabinets when she moved as she pulled out frozen dinners for them. Her father's was put in a blender once it was warmed so she could carefully feed it to him while hers went into the microwave.

After she ate, she completed chores around the house until it was time for bed. Because they lived so far away from town, they never received any trick-or-treaters. It was all well and good since they couldn't afford to waste money on candy or anything frivolous that went with the holidays. Besides, her childhood had been over before it began and there was no reason to try and change the past. The only thing to do was move on and look to the future.

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

At school the next morning, Jessie kept her head down as she walked to her locker. Her hands were shoved in her coat's pockets, one of them clutching the Walkman that rested inside. Her headphones perched on her head playing their traditional silence to keep the air of being busy while also being aware of her surroundings in case anyone decided to jump her.

Her ears caught on the familiar roll of wheels and she was unsurprised when a flash of red entered her vision. Max slowed to a stop next to her and did a fancy trick with her skateboard that popped the front in the air so she could catch it.

"Hey, kooky," she said. "It's nice that you didn't attack me this time."

"I was expecting you," Jessie answered simply. She kept her gaze focused on the floor. "Your wheels make a lot of noise."

"Think of it as a personal announcement that I'm coming for you," the redhead teased her. They fell into silence after that until she spoke again a few moments later: "so. . . aren't you gonna ask me how my first Halloween in Hawkins went?"

"No."

Max stopped for a second in surprise before she resumed walking. "What? Why not?"

"Because I don't care," the brunette answered simply.

". . .ooo-kaaay," she said slowly. "I scared your friends, you know. You should have seen the looks on their faces, it was so funny." She smiled slightly at the memory. "Mike screams like a little girl."

"That's nice."

There was more silence after that as they approached their lockers. Jessie went to hers without further conversation and opened the metal door. The small space was basically empty because what Will said had been true: she did the bare minimum in schoolwork— just enough to scrape by. She stuffed two heavily-used textbooks (not by her, though; she'd gotten them from the school's lost-and-found) into her backpack before she closed the door. She jumped when the action revealed Max on the other side.

"We've got Clarke first," the girl told her rather unnecessarily. "Since we're going in the same direction we might as well walk together, right?"

She gave a noncommittal noise of agreement and began to move towards the class. Jessie did her best to ignore the way her heart sped up slightly from the redhead's proximity (their hands were almost brushing as they walked down the hallway) and the way Max's red hair swished against her shoulders as she moved. She was almost relieved when the other girl spoke: "so, what music are you listening to?"

Jessie frowned slightly in confusion and her voice rose in question as she answered, "none."

". . .but you have a Walkman?"

"Uh-huh."

"Why?"

"No reason."

Max let out an impatient sigh and reached out to grasp the other girl's wrist to bring them both to a standstill. "Alright, what is your problem? Every time I try to talk to you all I get are vague, one-word answers. If you don't like me I'd rather you just say it to my face."

The brunette's gaze remained on the floor. "It's probably for the best that you believe that."

The redhead stared at her. "Why do you keep saying things like that?"

Jessie shrugged. "I'm surprised you haven't heard the rumors yet. Usually they go around like wildfire."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I'm Jewish, Max."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Uh, have you ever paid attention in history class?" she demanded. "Besides, everyone else here is a Christian of some other denomination. And, in case it's escaped your notice, there's a distinct lack of respect for anyone who isn't white."

"Well, yes but—"

Jessie talked over her: "and since you're going to find out about it anyway, I might as well say it now so you save yourself the trouble of wasting time trying to be my friend. I'm gay, Max. I like girls— why are you smiling?"

"That's what you're worried about?" the redhead asked, almost amused. "Kooky, that's nothing! I thought you were going to say that you murdered someone or something."

"That-that's nothing?" she repeated incredulously. "I literally ostracized myself at Emily's third birthday and—"

"It's nothing to be ashamed about," Max said with a shrug. "You're different, that's all. So am I."

It took a moment for the girl's words to sink in. "Oh. Well, if you don't want the whole town to know you better not tell anyone else."

"Thanks for the advice. Come on, let's get to class."

Jessie took a moment to follow her, shocked at how well Max had taken that. Once the other girls at Hawkins Middle had found out, that had been the end of her making a female friends. Perhaps there was still hope for them after all.

.・。.・゜✫・.・✫・゜・。.

"His name is D'Artagnan," Dustin announced later that day during lunch. "Dart for short, obviously."

The six of them were crowded in the AV room after the curly-haired boy had whisper-yelled at them in class about a discovery he'd made. They were now staring down at a slimy, chubby, reptile-like creature that had a long tail and tiny legs. Jessie watched it curiously as it used its invisible nose to sniff out its surroundings.

"And he was in your trash?" Max asked. "Doing what?"

"Foraging for food," Dustin replied cheerfully. "Wanna hold him?"

"No, no, no."

"He doesn't bite! Don't worry," he told her, heedless of her complaints. He picked up the creature and handed him to the redhead.

"N— oh, God, he's slimy!"

Lucas took him from Max and his face scrunched in disgust. "It's like a living booger!"

Will also let sounds of complaint when it was his turn before he passed the animal to Mike, who held him up to his eyes curiously. "What is he?"

"My question exactly!"

Jessie took the creature from the dark-haired boy. "Neat," she declared, copying Mike by fearlessly holding the animal up to her eyes. "Is it a Skink? It has a long tail like one."

"Good guess, but no," Dustin said. "At first I thought he was actually some kind of pollywog."

"Pollywog?" Max echoed.

"It's another word for tadpole," he explained. When she showed no reaction, he continued: "a tadpole is the larval stage of a to—"

"I know what a tadpole is."

"Alright. Good. Then you know that most tadpoles are aquatic, right?"

"Right, most," Dustin agreed as he took Dart back into his hands. "Not all."

"Well, Dart isn't. He doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic pollywogs?" Lucas offered.

"Terrestrial pollywogs, yep."

"And you're sure he's not just a Skink sorely in need of a diet?" Jessie asked.

Her question earned her a look from Dustin but he ignored her otherwise. "There's two species to be exact. There's Indirana semipalmata and Adenomera andrea. One's from India and the other is from South America," he explained as he slammed a book down on the desk.

"Maybe some scientists brought it here and it escaped?" Max offered, though she made an effort to hide her sarcastic tone.

"Do you guys see that?" Mike chimed in. He pointed to the creature. "It looks like there's something inside of it."

Jessie leaned forward and poked her finger on its body. "Neat," she said again.

Dustin moved closer as well and shifted the lamp to get a better look at it. The animal let out a shriek and tried to scramble off the table, prompting him to reach his hands out quickly so he could catch it. "It's okay, it's okay. I got you, little guy. I'm sorry, I know you don't like that. I'm sorry." He turned his attention back to the group. "And there's another thing; he's a reptile, right? And reptiles are cold-blooded! They love warmth. The heat, the sun, they love it. But Dart? Dart hates it. It hurts him."

"So, he's not a reptile."

"Exactly. And if he's not that and he's not a pollywog, that means I've discovered a new species!"

The bell rang, jolting them out of their discussion. Dustin quickly hid Dart in his Ghostbusters compartment and they left the room hastily. As the group drew ahead to talk about their next steps, Jessie noticed that Will fell behind them, his brown eyes wide as he stilled. She slowed her own steps to come to a stop next to him. Resisting the urge to reach out and touch him reassuringly, she stood in front of him instead. "Will?" she asked in a warm and firm voice. "Will, are you okay?"

Her words seemed to pull him from whatever thoughts he'd been lost in and he took a shaky breath. "Ye-yeah. Yes."

She gave him a look that clearly showed she wasn't convinced but she knew better than to push him. "Alright," she agreed. "Are you ready to go to class?"

"I-yes," he said. "Thanks." 

[edited jul. 2022]