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.*･｡. A DEAL WITH GOD! .*･｡.
————MADMAX
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003.
CAT GOTCHA TONGUE?
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Ashley slammed the car door.

    "Love you too!" Her father yelled, sarcastically.

   She scoffed and stalked away with a scowl on her face. Needless to say, she was still annoyed.⠀⠀

The fact that her dad had booked her an appointment was more than irritating, but at Hawkins Lab? The creepiest place ever? He had to be going senile or something, because what the flying fuck?

Ashley made sure not to turn around and look back at his squad car as her father groaned and peeled out of the parking lot, feeling like the worst parent in the world, even when doing the right thing for his daughter. Stanley Miller had failed her once before, and not been there for her when she had needed him most. He didn't want to make that same mistake again. But by aiming to be a better dad this time, he just seemed to be pushing Ashley away from him. She didn't want his help.

Maybe that was his fault.

Once she was confident her father was gone, Ashley fell to a halt and sucked in a breath. Chin up and jaw parallel the sky, she let an air stream through her nose and hummed.

Ashley could finally relax a little, for the first time that morning, now that his prying eyes weren't boring into her back. She knew he was concerned, but it was frustrating — if he just listened to her when she said there was nothing wrong, then all the tension would dissipate. Maybe it was a lie to say that she was okay after the strange experience she'd had last night, and the lilac bags under her eyes did her no favours, but this wasn't something that a doctor could fix; they wouldn't find anything wrong with her when there wasn't anything wrong to find.

   No matter how many tests they ran and no matter how many scans they did, they wouldn't be able to find the cause of her episodes. Doctor Owens could try as hard as he wanted, but Ashley was the one who would emerge victorious. It wouldn't be long before they gave up, just like the last time. Owens was just a doctor, after all.

What could he have that the others didn't?

Was he some sort of like, miracle doctor or something?

Admittedly, he seemed pretty determined to figure it out, as well as her father and Jim, and Ashley wished him good luck in his new voyage for answers. He wouldn't find anything. She had nothing to even worry about.

Rolling her shoulders and placing a smile on her face, Ashley let herself relax. She brushed out any possible creases in her skirt and adjusted her cheer jersey in attempts to look as put together as possible. Hands slicking back her ponytail, recurling the baby hairs that framed the curves of her face, Ashley continued through the parking lot. She smiled at a few students and sent a couple others kind waves that went reciprocated.

There was a reputation that Ashley had at Hawkins High— one that weird nosebleeds and unexplainable episodes didn't merge well with. At school, Ashley Miller was pretty darn perfect. Or that was how she tried to be, at least.

It was just something she had fallen into.

Ashley had always held herself to high expectations and she had a lot of aspirations— have a good reputation, go to a good college somewhere far away from Hawkins, get a good career that ensured her a good life. Her childhood had been a bit rough (very rough) and maybe Ashley felt she had something to prove, if only to herself.

   Was that a crime?

   She certainly didn't think so.

"Ashley!"

The girl peered around, squinting against the morning sun.

   When she spotted who called her, her smile fell.

    "Tina!" Ashley frowned, beginning her way over to said girl — whom leant up against her car casually, Carol and Vicky at her side. Truth be told, Ashley didn't like Carol or Vicky at all. Not even slightly. They were two mean girls who wished they'd stayed popular after being ditched by King Steve, and Carol's asshat boyfriend, Tommy H, wasn't any better. Ashley wasn't a fan of them but she was also hardly a fan of Tina, despite the girl being on the cheer team. She gossiped too much and all her moves were sloppy. "Why aren't you wearing your uniform?!"

    "This looked better," Tina said.

   Carol and Vicky snickered.

    "You're on the cheer team," Ashley criticised.

    "And?"

    "So you should—"

    "Ashley!"

   Ashley squealed, just jumping out of the way of a blue Camaro as it sped towards her, engine revving.

   From across the lot, Steve Harrington watched closely as Ashley stood there, clearly shocked from almost being mowed down like a long strip of tarmac.

    "That guy nearly killed her!"

   He leant against the door of his car, eyes flitting to Nancy. Steve nodded at his girlfriend's statement, reluctant to admit that Carol's yell had saved Ashley Miller's life, but it was true. That asshole in the Camaro had almost flattened Hawkins High's beloved Ashley Miller. And, if he had, Steve knew there would have been a lot of hell to pay.

   His gaze held on the girl.

   She looked stunned, but it lasted a second before she gave the car a heavy whack on the trunk as it passed her by and parked.

    "Hey! Watch where you're driving, asshole!"

   Steve's brow shot up to his hairline in his surprise.

   Usually, Ashley Miller had a good temper— he didn't know her very well, but he knew that much, at least. The most they had ever interacted was during pep rallies, when they were often paired for presenting the basketball team. Each boy was equipped with a girl from the cheer squad and since they were the captains of both teams, they were shoved together by default. Other than that, he'd only known her from a couple classes he was retaking in hope that at least one college would accept him.

   Even in their few interactions, Steve got the impression that Ashley Miller was sorta perfect. She was always even-tempered, at the very least. So, naturally, Steve hadn't expected her to square her shoulders and show that driver who was boss. His eyes glistened in a pleasant, newfound respect.

    "Can't you see I'm walking here?!" Ashley huffed, crossing both arms stubbornly as she marched over to the Camaro. She knew it had to be new, seeing as she hadn't seen it before, but she couldn't care less who might've been driving it. Ashley'd had an awful night and an equally as awful morning, and the last thing she needed was to be nearly run over in the school parking lot.

   Ashley narrowly avoided a short redhead who'd emerged from the passenger seat and slinked off towards Hawkins Middle on her skateboard. She rounded on the drivers side with an angry scowl.

    "You nearly—"

    "You were in my way."

   Stumbling slightly, Ashley backed up from the door as it swung on its hinges and a boy stepped out, almost whacking her shins as it did. Ashley went to scold him again, but words failed her as her eyes met his face — his very attractive face.

    "Don't stand in my way, sweetheart," he shrugged.

   Ashley blinked.

   Amused by her sudden silence, the boy dragged in his cigarette and blew the smoke in her face; "What?" He teased, "Cat gotcha tongue now, ponytail?"

   Her face twisted in offence.

    "No," she frowned, hand absently smoothing out her ponytail. Ashley shook her head, "You nearly killed me."

   His head fell back, an arrogant laugh passing his lips as he gave her an entertained clap of his hands, as if she had made a joke to purposely tickle him. That attitude didn't bode well with Ashley on a morning like this one, and she resisted the urge to lose her rag; it seemed the new boy was full of it.

    "I'm sure you coulda done a cute little cartwheel over my bonnet if I had— right?"

   As he spoke, his eyes raked over her bare legs and his lip arched at the corner. Suddenly uncomfortable and lacking any more bark and bite, Ashley cowered back an inch, tugging at her skirt to hide some of her upper thighs.

Steve squinted, watching closely as Ashley shifted awkwardly. It seemed that she had lost her fight in seconds, and he couldn't figure out why— he couldn't hear much now that she wasn't shouting, but his eyes narrowed as the new boy stepped closer. It was predatory, like a lion hunting an innocent gazelle in the wilderness, and it rubbed Steve up the wrong way and gave him a thorny bristle, hair stood on end. He pursed his lips and his jaw flexed, prepared to intervene if necessary. But before he could, a head of pink hair and a pair of sunglasses stalked their way onto the scene with glares of pure ice.

    "Piss off, Brooke Shields."

   Cindy James.

   That one didn't have Steve too surprised.

   She was a moderately unhinged British exchange student who'd moved to Hawkins a year prior, and it seemed like she never really intended to leave.

   Cindy had immediately fallen in with Ashley Miller when she'd tried out for the cheer team as a joke, and did an entire routine of rude gestures and sarcastic grins. Apparently she'd then set fire to a set of pompoms in the girls bathrooms by Thompson's class, but Steve didn't know if that was just a rumour Carol had made up to cause some drama. He wouldn't have doubted it, considering he'd only ever received mean glares from Cindy in hallways unless they were smoking together in silence behind the gymnasium.

   She had been hostile from the moment she had shown up in their deadbeat little town, which was why Steve still couldn't fathom how she had found herself in a trio with Ashley Miller and Linda Pendle — the preppy head cheerleader and the girl who always wore the same set of purple sunglasses and neon hopped earrings. Linda looked like the future had vomited on her, but somehow made it work. Steve's old group of friends used to mock her style behind her back, but it never happened to her face.

Not when she had been best friends with Ashley Miller since they were kids. Carol and Tommy wouldn't dare.

The new kid chuckled, "Original. That all you got?"

"I wouldn't test her," Linda said, though it sounded a lot more like a threat to Steve.

"Why not?"

"'Cause I'll chop your manhood in half and set it alight with a zippo," Cindy deadpanned, which took the new kid aback for the briefest of moments. Before he could recover fully, Cindy hooked an arm through one of Ashley's while Linda hooked the other. "It wasn't nice meeting you; your haircut makes me wanna kill myself in terribly graphic ways."

With that, the two girls carted Ashley away from the new boy's beady eyes and towards the school entrance. Steve's eyes lingered on the trio as they went, and Cindy flipped him the middle finger without even needing to look.

————

"What the fuck was that?"

"Was it really that bad?" Ashely frowned.

"Total car crash," Linda informed her, to which Cindy scoffed out a humourless laugh.

"Pun intended?"

Ashley let out a groan and slumped against her locker.

"Talk to us," Linda encouraged with a pat to her head. Ashley's eyes flitted to her briefly, already feeling awkward without needing to utter a word. She knew she couldn't tell them that she had been to see a doctor at Hawkins Lab that morning, seeing as they didn't even know that Ashley needed to see a doctor. It wasn't like she publicised it, was it?

    "It's nothing," she said. "I just had a terrible morning and that asshole almost fast tracked my death seventy years too early! I saw my whole life flash before my eyes," Ashley told them, "I can't go before all the girls perfect their back handsprings, can I? That'd completely ruin this week's pep rally!"

   Cindy snorted, "Tragic."

    "I saw Tina wasn't wearing her uniform!" Linda ignored her as the trio started their way through the halls in a row, "Who does she think she is?"

    "She said her outfit looked better," Ashley pouted.

    "I bet bitch-face Carol got a hoot out of that," Cindy quipped, glaring at the redhead who was conveniently passing by. Carol hadn't heard, though she proceeded to fire Cindy a nasty look anyway. As soon as Cindy arrived in Hawkins, she and Carol had formed an immediate feud. Once they had finished shooting daggers, only because they couldn't see each other anymore, the girl with bleach blonde and pale pink hair rolled her eyes. "What a dick," were her next words, "Kick Tina off the team. Easy."

    "I can't do that," she denied.

    "Why?"

    "'Cause we want invites to her Halloween bash," as if it was as obvious as ever, Linda shrugged once.

    "We do?"

    "Yes and no," Ashley heaved a sigh, "I'd also have no one to fill her spot on the squad. We need all our numbers for our pyramid, or I'll fall flat on my face."

    "And that's a bad thing?" When Cindy's brows wrinkled in her attempt of being funny, Ashley just looked offended. She sighed at the missed joke — Cindy often still forgot that Americans had bad senses of humour, what losers! — and gave Ashley a nudge. "I guess I could always step in until you find someone,"

   This time, Ashley laughed.

    "I'd rather fall."

   Linda giggled, "You would fall with Cind on the team."

    "I'm a natural," Cindy's words were too light to be genuine. It wasn't hard to tell that she was messing with them both. "When I cheer I'm on fire," she paused and sent them a slippery smirk. Her eyes glinted green, "Literally."

    "I still haven't forgiven you for that!" Ashley pointed one finger at the Brit, although she wasn't able to contain her smile. She had a very clear memory of the scent of smoke and singed pompom. It replayed in her dreams most nights.

    "Sure you have," Cindy waved her off.

   Fondly shaking her head, Ashley felt her shoulders lighten. They always managed to brighten her mood even if she'd had the worst morning in the history. She'd nearly forgot about that terrible appointment with Doctor Owens and the strange experience she had the night prior.

Well, until her eye caught sight of Jonathan Byers across the hall, slinking in and out of the groups of teenagers with his head down, as always. Ashley felt herself tense up again and she couldn't quite pull her eyes back from his quickly vanishing body. Her neck strained as she watched him go, stumbling in her steps as Linda and Cindy continued their way to class. When they noticed her sudden falter, they both threw her confused glances.

    "Ash?"

    "You okay?"

   Hardly.

   One thing Ashley had grossly underestimated about school was the likelihood of running into Jonathan — which was guaranteed.

   Exhibit A, for instance.

   It wasn't that she didn't want to see Jonathan. He was actually a good friend of Ashley's. They both had worked at Hawkins' local, and only, convenience store for a couple years, and that friendship had been built on a foundation of: boredom, reducing sales items, and questionable music tastes.

   That was, however, before she had woken up in his little brother's head. Now, Ashley wasn't sure how to feel.

"I'm fine..."

"You don't sound too sure about that," Linda told her.

"And you look pale as shit," Cindy.

"I, um— I just gotta talk to Jonathan," she said.

"Byers?" Linda asked, although she and Cindy both knew who she was talking about; he was one of the only kids in Hawkins High who wasn't a total asshole.

"It's about the new work schedule," Ashley lied right through the skin of her teeth. It had become an unhealthy habit through the years, lying, but Ashley didn't think she had any better choice.

"Do you have to talk to him right now?" Cindy arched a brow, trying to figure out why her friend was so odd this morning. They hadn't seen her like this in a long while. She wanted to blame the off behaviour on the important bio test coming up, but that didn't feel right. Ashley put far too much pressure on herself, yes, but her stress over grades was never like this. "We've got that bio test and I'm totally ready to fail."

"Go without me," Ashley assured them, already turning on her heel. "I'll be quick!"

"Ash—"

But the girl was already gone.

She hurried through the masses of teenagers, smiling politely at them although she was confident that it looked more of a grimace than a smile.

Ashley kept going until she spotted the back of Jonathan's head, recognising the slowly growing-out bowl cut he's had since he was a kid and the camera in his hand. She sucked in a deep breath for her nerves.

Admittedly, Ashley wasn't really sure why she followed him, nor what she intended to say, but she just had to speak to him. Even if only for a minute.

Wait— what was Ashley going to say?

This was a bad idea!

"Jonathan!"

His name had already tumbled past her lips before she had the chance to stop it, and she had no time to panic because Jonathan definitely heard her. He peered over his shoulder, looking hesitant to see who had called his name when nobody talked to him other than Nancy, but he relaxed when he spotted her close behind him and sent her a side smile— the best you tended to get from him at school or any place that made him constantly uncomfortable, and that was a lot. Most places, really.

"Hey Ash," he didn't seem to notice her stiff posture.

"Hi," she breathed.

"What's up?" Jonathan asked politely, waiting for her to catch up with him.

"Um," what the hell did she say?

He waited patiently, because Jonathan Byers was nothing if not patient. It actually worsened Ashley's nerves, and she debated the odds of him noticing if she dashed to the bathroom and threw up her bodily organs.

"I was just..." Ashley's lips pursed together briefly. "Well, I just wanted to see how you are? And how your family are?" She managed to spit out some words, but she couldn't say she was too fond of the ones that left her. "I know that it's coming up to a year and I wanted to check in?"

It sounded more like a question, like it wasn't what she wanted to say, deep down. When Jonathan found no response that deemed appropriate, Ashley cringed at herself. It was totally odd to say that, wasn't it?

    "I mean— I'm sure you're all doing great. Well, maybe not great, but better—" this just kept getting worse. She sighed, shaking her head. "I know this is outta nowhere, but I'm thinking of you, you know? Of Will," she eventually settled with, hoping it wasn't too on the nose. "Anniversaries can be kinda weird, but it gets better."

Jonathan blinked.

"Wow," he soon breathed out, "Um, thanks. I— I didn't really think anyone would say that..." he cleared his throat, hoping his words sounded as genuine as he intended them to be. "Thanks. I really appreciate that, Ashley. Like, really."

Ashley nodded, "I mean it."

"I know," Jonathan's lips quirked, almost forming one of those rare smiles that were few and far between. It was then he noticed the way she rocked on her heels, and how her fingers fiddled with the hem of her skirt. She looked like she wanted to say something more, something she wasn't sure how to, but he didn't get a chance to ask. Their conversation was interrupted by the bell. "I gotta get going," he sighed.

"Me too," she forced a smile at him. "Bio test,"

"That sucks," he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. If she wasn't so preoccupied on what she was going to do about her recent field trip into his brother's mind, Ashley might have found it amusing. Even after forming a friendship, Jonathan was still mega awkward around her sometimes.

"Yeah. Sucks."

"I'll see you later?" He asked her.

"Sure," she nodded.

"Cool," Jonathan started walking to whatever class he had to be in, but stopped after a few steps. "Ashley?"

The girl paused, "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

Another fake smile.

"You're welcome."

She watched him hurry away, cursing herself for every possible reason she could think of, and slowly turned to head to class. Her test was about to start and she knew they would fail her if she was too late, so Ashley tried to move quickly.

Though, she found herself falling to another pause when one of her tennis shoes kicked a screwed ball of papers. Curious, Ashley's eyes darted around to find an owner. The halls were mainly empty so she couldn't decide who the papers belonged to, but she knew it was frowned upon to litter in the hallway — after all, she had been a creator of that rule — so she picked it up and headed over to the nearest trashcan.

Her hand froze just shy of throwing it in.

With another glance around, Ashley decided to unravel the ball of papers and take a peak.

APPLICATION ESSAY
CANDIDATE: STEVE HARRINGTON

Her brow furrowed.

The score is 64-42. It's the championship game against
Northwestern, and we're trailing by two...

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

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