WRITTEN BY LANEY
season one - season five

"I'M SAYING EVERYBODY LOVES 'EM, BUT NOBODY KNOWS 'EM."

A TRANSCENDING SPRAWL OF HONEY CURLS that had previously been wind blown from a mile and a half bike ride to Bradley's Big Buy were attached to BENADETTE STERLING, a precarious girl who planned to indulge in one too many red vines that evening as she sipped on her cherry cola Slurpee cooling her from the heat of a sticky summer night. She scrunched her nose at the lyrics of the obnoxious 70s ballad that described a band that coincidentally mentions her trio of friends but stops at their names, being the only commonality they have with the song.

"I think this is the seventh time I've heard this song today," her friend RONALD SINCLAIR groaned while he rubbed his eyes in annoyance. He sported a sweaty tank top that he had yet to change out of from his basketball practice earlier that day for the sports club he attended every Thursday afternoon before mowing Mr. Humphrey's lawn. To put it lightly, he smelled like any other teenage boy with a hint of work ethic and testosterone.

A spunky laugh came from the other side of Benny as CANDELA JIMINEZ fanned her face with a notecard flyer she found by the front sliding doors: "Lighten up, Ronnie. It could be Mr. Roberto. I think my dad has worn his cassette down so much the plastic is slightly melted." After scanning the shelf for a few minutes, she quickly grabbed the last pack of cool ranch Doritos.

The trio was going into their Junior year of high school, and as a tradition, they would spend their last night of summer in her mom's basement watching Animal House. It is a movie Benny's father left behind after moving in with his now wife in the spring, but the three found it when they were shopping through boxes in her father's office the summer after sixth grade.

Some would say don't let the youth slip away and count on growing up too fast. You will look back and miss the simplicity. Benny saw it as a ticking clock to leave Hawkins.

"Do you think we should get ice cream?" she asked, taking another sip and watching Ronnie move past her towards the processed pastries at the end of the aisle.

He looked back at her and smirked, "As long as it's not Cherry Garcia."

With a quick salute, she was heading toward the store's frozen section. Goosebumps scattered along her arms as she crossed over into the icy abyss, lit with a fluorescent glow and littered with colorful, great American packaging that caught any passing consumer's eye.

Her eyes landed on the display of gallon ice cream tubs stacked and stocked with the best flavors a small-town supermarket could offer. Benny was at a halt. She didn't want to have a repetition of July 5th when Candy found a specialty ice cream half off, not realizing it was a week past the due date and leaving THE JETS with a severe case of food poisoning.

A chill ran down her spine at the horrid memory of a perfectly good summer day. She opened the glass door to the freezer, letting the small puff of cold smoke surround her, fogging up the glass door.

The air felt good, and she wished she could stay in it forever. The crisp temperature reminded her that it would cool down in the coming weeks, and her soft sweaters could come out of the back of her closet again. It wouldn't be frowned upon to eat a bowl of homemade chicken soup steaming from her thermos or her mom's pumpkin bread. She could taste the sweetness of the fluffy pastry with the cream cheese frosting melting on top. Her mouth watered at the heavenly image her mind conjured up.

She scanned the flavors before her, reminding herself it was still August. Ultimately, she decided Neapolitan was the best concord between her, Candy, and Ronnie. Of course, it was on the bottom, and she hated grabbing the gallon.

Benny stood up, closing the glass door, and to her surprise, a jock with his infamous head of hair stood looking at the frozen pops in front of him and a pack of beer in hand. Maybe he heard the door close next to him or Benny's cartoonish gulp, but his attention was pulled away. Noticing her, there was a peculiar look in his eyes that Benny couldn't quite read.

"Nice choice."

His genuine tone caught her off guard, but she couldn't fathom him even noticing her. "Thanks?"

STEVE HARRINGTON was many things to the community of Hawkins High: jock, playboy, douche bag. But here, he oddly resembled someone who seemed to exist in the same dull town as every other teenager, and it was an intriguing change in character.

"Do you always choose the French guys?" he motioned towards the frozen tub in Benny's hand, which was now building icy condensation on the side.

The astute observations she made mere seconds ago were gone. He was trying to flirt, but he came off as awkward to her and failed at his lack of knowledge of ice cream and his ironically short history comprehension.

"French guys?"

"Yeah," Steve said, his tone still light-hearted, and Benny knew he wanted her to react to his statement. Neapolitan. Short guy. Always angry. Over through the French enemies."

Benny pressed her lips together, wanting to laugh so desperately, but taking a step back from Steve's perspective, she tried to sympathize with the easy mistake: "You mean Napoleon."

"Yeah, him," Steve said, as the tips of his ears reddened at his mistake. He brushed off his embarrassed composure, leaning against the cool glass. He had a glint in his eyes that Benny couldn't quite pinpoint. What's your favorite part? I'm a vanilla guy myself."

Of course, you are, Benny thought cryptically, noting his movements. He ran his hand hair through his hair two too many times, and his Hawkins High attire suggests he came back from a practice or two-a-days of sorts. Not the usual cool Steve everyone fought for the approval of. She gave him a polite smile, not quite reaching her eyes, "Strawberry."

He let out a surprise 'huh,' "I pegged you as a chocolate person."

"Not every girl likes chocolate; besides, it's too rich," Benny scrunched her nose in disgust.

In a playful defense, Steve threw his free hand up, "Not assuming, usually pretty ones like chocolate."

Benny realized he assumed this exchange would end in him getting another number to add to his 'Girls of Hawkins phone book.' No one had ever made a comment about her appearance; she was mildly average in the eyes of society. She thought her curt answers and monotonous pitch would give him the hint of her uninterestedness. Her eyes shifted to the beer in his hand, and she wanted to shift the energy to something that didn't lead to whatever Steve intended: "Celebrating back to school, I see?"

His eye followed where hers lingered. Holding up the cans proudly, he smiled, "Why do you want to join?"

Shoot, Benny, way to walk right into that one. Entertaining him for just a moment wouldn't be the worst thing. Candy and Ronnie aren't far away. "As intriguing as that sounds, I don't do high school stereotypes."

"You don't mean you don't party," Steve said matter of factly, "Understandable, but my cop uncle doesn't stop me. Wouldn't want you to narc anyone out anyways?"

The playful tone that had settled between the two of them dissipated quickly, and Benny hoped her eyes wouldn't permanently roll back into her head. Why would she think a decent conversation would come out of King Steve?

"At least don't flirt with cashiers to find validation and a cheap drink," she walked away but almost ran into Jackson Hughes—a jock who happened to be a part of the newspaper staff and had a buddy-buddy friendship with Steve.

"They didn't have the regular keggers, but this," Jackson said, too focused on showing his friend but not realizing his cart was about to run into her. "Oh, Benny didn't think you would be here."

She cleared her throat and looked back at Steve. "Hi, you know me; I'm always the least suspected."

He had a tiled smile, one you would see in all the heartthrobs of Hollywood. "I think that is what makes you the most intriguing. I'll see you in the staff meeting tomorrow, yeah."

Benny had to be blushing. She was happy she wasn't facing Steve, and her focus remained on the senior in front of her: "Yeah, I wouldn't miss it."

They had met before through passing, but Benny made it onto the journalism staff at school. When she came to the meetings, she was ready for articles and interviews, but she was surprised to see Jackson sitting at the desk close to the editor and chief, Jessica Stokes.

When she talked to him for the first time, he was kind and magnetic. The conversation seemed easy despite her lack of admitting she had never talked to a boy formally other than Ronnie. Jackson was different, and it was the first time she genuinely could feel herself do what any girl she had observed in the halls interacting with the opposite gender does: swoon.

"Maybe you could come to Benny's Burgers with me for lunch; sophomores have study hall, right?"

She didn't have the chance to answer him because Candy was impatient, pulling her away from the two boys. The ice cream could have melted, but Benny didn't care. She gave Jackson a timid smile, telling him that she was game. Her eyes shifted to Steve, who seemed more confused about the interaction. She was praying that was their first and only exchange during the school year.

IF ONLY SHE KNEW THE UNIVERSE'S PLAN FOR THEM WOULD FALL UPSIDE DOWN.

Haley Lu Richardson as Benny
Chance Perdomo as Ronnie
Kiana Madeira as Candy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

act i
benny and the jets

act ii
holding onto a hero

act iii
the power of love

act iv
edge of seventeen

act v
dear god

GUESS WHOS BACK

hello everyone,

i sincerely apologize for my lack of presence on this app. and the pure abuse i have towards my books. i realized i put so much pressure on myself for something i do for fun and a hobby. i decided to tackle this book, which is  3/5 written, but how i wrote some of the first seasons gives me the ick.

i am my most prominent critic and will forever struggle to be satisfied with my work. one thing i can confidently say is that benadette sterling is a character i hold near and dear to my heart. she has been in my drafts since 2016 and deserves the love of a writer that cares for her story line.

please enjoy the revamp of this story there are a few things i changed:

1. benny is in a relationship in the first season and it's an important part of her story. the more i've grown and matured the more i realized the first time we see them she doesn't seem too crazy about him. well, that definitely is changing. as someone who had a similar experience as her i want to fully encapsulate her story.

2. i'm cutting down the stranger things story line meaning this is rewrite in a way. there are so many things left undiscovered in this universe and i intend to uncover them one season at a time. bennys story being tangled among the world of the upside down.

3. this is a slow burn. sorry i'm a sucker. but will feed my audience accordingly, steve is a good boyfriend to nancy and loved her. i will not take away his relationship to further the plot. no, steve harrington is an amazing character and i'm not going to contradict his growth. but tw season one steve will be season one steve.

4. updates will vary but I am aiming towards weekly. all of the first season is written it just needs to be touched up and half of the second. i love this story i just was not satisfied with the first season its hard to write when i was only focused on when benny and steve really start to interact, but at last i came to a compromise.

thank you so so much for the support and i hope you enjoy what i have planned for this book.

love you all lots
-laney:)

here's to the ones who dream and happen to love steve -sweetestpromise quicksilvrs whimsywitchess duaIism solarisfinity fawnsite velvetkissscs_ taIktoomuch -Mionesgranger sunIoves GirlPotterheadXx mothstarz