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E R I N

ERIN CARVER NEVER SAW much of the sun. In fact, she spent most of her free time in a space that was farthest from nature's light. It was a place meant for quiet time, not middle schoolers. But, in the beginning of the school year, the girl was able to guilt Mr. Scott Clark into letting her spend her recess time there. And together, their excuse was the pursuit of extra credit that she would never really receive.

Erin's scheme only worked because she'd started with pleading her desperate case of simply having no one to spend recess with, and the kind teacher had easily taken that bait. And then the girl proceeded to beg him for a chance at exploring her curiosity in a space that was strictly meant for high schoolers, which finally reeled him in. This place had soon become the sole reason—besides genetics, of course—that the girl's awkward, lanky self was also accompanied by the skin of a ghost: the Hawkins High School darkroom.

While she could've been outside, like the other kids, the girl chose to spend her free time illuminated by the red lightbulb hanging from the ceiling of the lab. The girl preferred spending copious amounts of time exposed to the fumes of slightly harmful chemicals, alone, than to be playing alone, out in the courtyard.

But what started as a scapegoat to get out of recess, soon turned into a hobby of Erin's. She found the process of shooting film, developing it, and then printing it to be almost therapeutic, during a time when she definitely needed some alleviation. The girl even acquired a new best friend, the film camera that Mr. Clarke rented out in his name, just for the middle schooler's use.

Erin never managed to make any real friends, during her time spent in the darkroom. This was due to the fact that the only people going in and out of the lab were high schoolers, who were only able to offer their confused glances upon noticing that a middle schooler was in their designated space.

No one ever really said anything to her, as she wasn't much of a bother, and instead chose not to acknowledge her. All except for one high school student, Jonathon.

Erin didn't ever learn his full name. She'd only ever really gotten a peak at the older boy's name, due to the clips labeled Jonathon B. attaching the pictures she'd watched him develop, to the drying line.

The girl couldn't help but to become interested in the older student's artwork, considering he was the one who, so-kindly, taught the girl how the printing process worked, towards the beginning of the school year. Everything about photography seemed to come so easily to Jonathon, and Erin found herself in some sort of admiration over his photographs. She might have even considered herself to have a bit of friendly envy.

But Jonathon's talent wasn't the only reason that Erin held such an unrequited jealousy towards the boy. She was envious of the boy's life, more-so his friends or friend. And that friend happened to be the academic star of the junior class, Nancy Wheeler.

She'd sometimes see Nancy in the halls of the middle school, because the high schooler had a trouble-making younger brother that was around Erin's age. Other times, the girl would stop by the darkroom to visit her friend Jonathon, and she would never go unnoticed, as the Wheeler almost always opened the door, letting light in, and ruining the pair's developing prints. Jonathon and Erin would never really mind, though, because the older girl could easily sweet talk herself out of any trouble.

Something about Nancy Wheeler intrigued Erin enough to ask her older brother, Jason, about her, considering the two were both in the junior class. That's how the eighth grader, for the first time in her life, found herself somewhat in the loop of what was going on within the walls at Hawkins High. She didn't even know what was going on at Hawkins Middle, besides the obvious bullying problem. But almost anything that the girl knew about any of the other students was relayed to her by her older brother, who seemed to almost climb his way up the social pecking order. But at the tippy top of that hierarchy, in Erin Carver's eyes, was Nancy Wheeler.

She was the smartest in the junior class. Everyone liked her. She was even dating Steve Harrington, who, apparently, was the stud of the senior class. The girl seemed almost perfect. And Erin would never admit it, but she found Nancy Wheeler to be pretty—intimidatingly pretty.

Well, it wasn't the high schooler's beauty that intimidated the girl, but more-so how Erin felt when Nancy entered the room. She felt nervous—like a deer in headlights. The girl felt almost stupid. And, on a few occasions, Nancy Wheeler would offer the girl a nervous smile, as an apology for accidentally ruining her prints. Those innocent smiles were just enough to make Erin feel like a dirty sinner. The girl couldn't so much as blush without feeling guilty—like she was doing something wrong.

But Erin didn't know why she felt so guilty. She really wasn't doing anything wrong. It wasn't like she liked girls like that. She'd never even considered it a possibility. She'd never even thought about liking anyone in that way. Except for Nancy Wheeler, of course, who was the perfect embodiment of all things feminine.

"That one's pretty neat." Jonathon nodded his head to motion towards the print that Erin was rinsing in the tray of water.

She'd somehow got lost in deep thought, before getting ready to place her freshly developed image in the bin of the fixer solution. The girl shook her head into focus, just after the junior boy's words cut through her daydream.

The two were standing side by side, in their typical silence, as they repeatedly tilted the trays of the liquids, containing their photographs. For the past few minutes, the only noise between the two had been the sloshing of the rinsing fluids. Erin used a pair of tongs to dangle her photo above the tray, letting the water drip off, before gently placing it into the fixer.

Her dripping, wet image was of a wall of decorative crosses, taken inside of the girl's own home. All of her pictures were of things in her home. It'd always been embarrassing to Erin that anyone who saw her prints, including Jonathon, was most likely aware that the girl didn't get out often—if ever.

Although the focus and framing of the photo was decent for a beginner, it was evident that Jonathon was just being nice to the girl, as her image came out a bit flat, lacking just a few levels of the appropriate contrast.

"Thanks." Erin muttered, embarrassed of the pity casted upon her. After staring at her image and looking a bit closer, the girl shrugged her shoulders. Using the tongs, she scooped up the photo and prematurely dipped it in the water rinse, before clipping it to the drying line. "I think that I need to start over, again. Maybe try a higher filter."

Jonathon offered her a slight smile, before squinting his eyes and looking at her dangling photo. "Try a three and a half."

"I thought you said I should take a look at it in the daylight before making those kinds of calls." Erin remarked, haphazardly ripping the photo from the line, and tossing it into the trash, along with most of the other rejected photos.

"You're right, I did." The junior boy playfully scoffed, turning his head away from her, as he used the tongs to relocate his perfectly printed photograph from the developer, and placed it into the water rinse. "But I think I also said something about using a test strip before you go and waste a whole sheet."

The girl rolled her eyes, all in good fun. She knew that she had no point to begin with, considering Jonathon was so skilled at printing photos, that he didn't need proper lighting to figure out which contrast to use.

"I probably should've kept that in mind." Erin sucked in a breath, glancing at the several failed copies of the same, exact, picture hanging from the drying line. Each of which all had varying levels of contrast, brightness, or just about anything that could've been tweaked by the girl. "I think I'll just scrap this print, all together."

"I don't blame you." Jonathon shook his head in slight agreement, without actually lifting his eyes from the tray of water that was underneath his fingertips. "I'd get tired of looking at the same thing for—" The boy lifted his hand from the tray of water, in order to get a glance at his wrist-watch. "Almost an hour."

The girl shrugged, allowing her eyebrow to twitch upward and a scoff to exit from between her parted lips. "I'd rather stare at a picture of the inside of my house than actually be there."

For a few moments, Jonathon said nothing. Erin instantly felt stupid for making such an uncomfortable comment about her life. She didn't know what could have possibly been running through the older boy's mind. The girl thought that it was now all said and done. That she'd tested her boundaries with her first acquaintance and she'd already managed to scare him off.

Erin quickly removed the older boy from her vision, and began to unclip each of her prints from the drying line. She decided to do what she was best at: staying quiet.

That is, until the older boy quietly chuckled to himself. "You remind me a lot of someone I know."

The girl subtly froze. Her arms remained in the air as her hands were actively unclamping a photo from the line. She looked over her raised shoulder, at Jonathon, allowing a sigh to release itself from between her lips. "Who?"

"My little brother." Jonathon shrugged, his eyes only paying attention to the tray of water sloshing before his fingertips. Erin returned her eyes to the drying line, as she proceeded to tear her photos down from it. "When our dad left—" The older boy started. The eighth grader's eyes widened a bit, though she didn't dare to look over at him. "He just spent all of his time drawing. I couldn't even tell you how long he'd go without lifting his eyes from the page."

Erin would've smiled at Jonathon's honesty if it weren't for exactly what he was being so truthful about. He quickly made the girl feel less embarrassed about her standoffish comment. And, although she was only supposed to feel somewhat at ease, she felt nothing but honored to scrape away at the surface of her first real friendship.

But, the girl never really had a way with words, and had never found herself in such a condemning social situation. She was just thankful to be in any kind of social situation, for that matter. For a few moments, she just continued to keep her stare on the stack of wet photographs in her fist, before clearing her throat. "Who's your brother?"

"Will Byers." Erin's eyebrows immediately furrowed at the infamous name leaving Jonathon's lips.

Nobody in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana was a stranger to that name. It'd been repeated several times on the news, on missing person's flyers and—now that Will had long since been found alive and well—by all of the middle school spreading gossip about what could've possibly happened to him. Erin was never in the loop about much going on at her school, but the details of his disappearance were impossible to miss.

The year before, the boy had several vigils in remembrance of him, and even a funeral. And, now, he had to be escorted from school every day, and often even left early for his frequent doctor's appointments. But that sort of overprotective humiliation was nothing compared to what Erin would witness happening to him, in the hallways.

The girl turned to face Jonathon, a perplexed look smeared across her face. "Zombie boy?"

"Is that what people are calling him, now?" The high schooler tore his eyes away from the tray of water and looked over at the girl. Erin folded her lips inward, and reluctantly offered him a nod. In return, Jonathon shook his head, out of obvious disappointment. "He usually tells me about these types of things."

The girl instantaneously felt bad, once again, for making the situation uncomfortable. But this time, it was even worse, because she'd unknowingly insulted Jonathon's little brother, not realizing how crude the nickname was. Everyone—including Will Byers, himself—had become desensitized to everything that had been going on inside the walls of Hawkins Middle.

"I wouldn't blame him if he didn't mention it." The girl shrugged, offering Jonathon whatever she could of a comforting glance. "The whole thing kind of sucks. I wouldn't want my older brother knowing about something like that."

The boy's face tightened. Erin could see his every stress-wrinkle illuminated by the red light. "You may be an awful lot like Will, but I can almost guarantee you that I'm nothing like Jason."

A smile washed over the girl's face. Jonathon's words were true; the two junior boys couldn't have been on more opposing sides of the popularity spectrum.

Jason Carver was into cars, sports, and girls. And Jonathon Byers was interested in unpopular music, film photography, and pretty much no one other than Nancy. Whatever type of interest he had for the girl was unknown to Erin. And the observant middle-schooler was almost certain that Jonathon, himself, also had no clue what was going on between him and the Wheeler.

"What makes you say that?" Erin asked him, before ripping the last few photos from the drying line, and tossing them into the trash bin.

"What do you think Jason would opt to do on Halloween night?" Jonathon started. "Go to Tina's party? Or take four eighth-grade boys trick-or-treating?"

"Neither." Erin smirked. "He's staying late to practice for basketball every night this week. From what I've heard, that new senior is kicking some serious ass."

The high schooler scoffed. He seemed almost exhausted by the girl's stubbornness to answer his question. "Okay but what would he do if he had that choice?"

Erin knew exactly what her brother would do, in any scenario where he didn't have to practice basketball on Halloween night. But it wasn't because Jason would have much of a choice.

The two siblings were never allowed to celebrate Halloween. Their mother thought of it as satanic after nitpicking every tradition, and trying to make it seem like a night of practicing farfetched rituals. And even worse, for Erin, was that Jason would do it too. He didn't ever celebrate Halloween, or do a number of other things, all because he held on tightly to his mother's superstitions.

But the girl never told people about her family's distaste for the holiday, out of embarrassment, as she, herself, never found any problem with any aspect of it. Jason Carver never told anyone about it either, because he felt that he needed to maintain status as the care-free jock of the junior class. Thus, the boy would've obviously chosen to spend his Halloween night practicing shooting free-throws in a dark, empty gymnasium.

"You're right." Erin immediately surrendered, not wanting to declare how her family members felt about the holiday. "Jason would never volunteer to take me trick-or-treating."

Jonathon paused after the girl's response, despite the fact that he'd won amongst their bickering. Something seemed to have caught him off guard about Erin's definite response. "Then what are your plans for Halloween?"

"What?" The girl furrowed her eyebrows towards the Byers boy.

"You know," He started, with a sly shrug. "Since Jason isn't taking you trick-or-treating?"

Erin's palms started to become warm, with a sticky sweat. The girl didn't know how to answer his question, because no matter her response, she'd still wind up embarrassing herself. And it didn't help that Erin Carver was a horrible liar.

The girl broke eye contact with Jonathon, before mustering up the courage to say something. "My mom has work, so I'll probably just stay home and shoot some more film. You know, since the roll I have now isn't working out so well."

Her words came out as a mere half-truth. Erin's mother did have to work on the night of Halloween, which would result in the girl being left home, all by herself. And although she wasn't intending on shooting film that night, Erin would be sure to snap some pictures, just for the sake of her story not being a lie.

Jonathon's entire playful demeanor dropped, and the girl knew exactly why. He visibly felt bad for her. And the boy's obvious pity only made Erin feel that much worse about not getting to celebrate the holiday.

"Then why don't you tag along with us?" The boy started. "Will and his friends know where to get the full-sized candy bars."

Erin's eyes widened, as she sucked in a breath and prepared to reject any invitation thrown her way. "Oh, I don't kn—"

"It'll be fun," Jonathon insisted. "You can even bring your camera—shoot as much film as you want."

The girl wanted to shut down the possibility, knowing exactly what she'd endure if her mother were to find out. But whatever fear of consequences Erin had, was soon overshadowed by a rush of adrenaline. She'd never been invited anywhere, by anyone. And Jonathon had quickly become the girl's role model. She deeply admired the older boy, although she'd never admit it.

"And, besides—" Jonathon hesitated, the teasing words dancing around on the top of his tongue. "I'm tired of staring at pictures of the inside of your house, too."

The boy left his words dangling with nothing but a comforting smile aimed towards Erin. The corners of her lips couldn't help but rise as she heard the same words she'd spoken, just a few moments ago, repeated by the high schooler.

Erin seemed awfully tempted by the offer. The flattery of the invitation was something she'd never experienced before. Deep down, the girl always wanted to experience the holiday of Halloween. She'd never gotten to pick out a costume or eat loads of sugar. And more importantly, before that conversation with Jonathon Byers, she never would've had anybody around to do those kinds of things with her.

The girl took a few hesitant moments to weigh her options. Her mother was scheduled for work, the night of Halloween, and wouldn't even notice if Erin wasn't in the house. Although, the girl had never even considered rebelling, let alone lying or even sneaking out.

The consequences would—with no doubt, to Erin—be catastrophic. Her mother would implode. The girl was always under strict rule at the Carver household. She was to walk straight home everyday, after school. And the girl never dared to disobey, considering the plethora of smaller matters that would often cause her mother to lose her temper.

But, in order for there to be repercussions to her actions, the girl would have to be caught first. And with her mother busy working all night, there was almost no chance that the woman would even notice. To the socially inept eighth grader, the risk seemed to be worth the reward.

"You know what?" A smile crossed the girl's face, which lit up as she came to her conclusion. Jonathon playfully awaited the girl's response with his eyebrows raised, in anticipation. "I think I'd like that."

☆

After what seemed like a glimmer of light was shined upon her dull world, Erin made the courageous decision to attend recess, the very next day. Well, her newfound sense of confidence was accompanied by the fact that the girl also needed a new roll of film to print. She'd already photographed every nook and cranny of her home, and Jonathon Byers was right; the girl was tired of staring at pictures of that place, for hours on end.

She figured that she didn't necessarily need friends, in order to comfortably participate in recess. All she needed for, was to look like she was busy—like she was doing something semi-important. So, that day, it all kind of worked out for Erin.

The girl brought her film camera and decided to find a spot underneath the metal bleachers that were alongside the courtyard. While the girl was feeling bold enough to challenge herself, she still found a way to conceal herself from eyeshot of the other children. Erin was feeling brave that day, but not brave enough to sit in a spot where she'd be noticed.

She slightly shivered, toggling her camera around in her grip, before bringing the viewfinder up to her eye.

The chilliness of the fall day was exaggerated by the shade from the bleachers. Erin Carver was not used to spending her time outside, and, subsequently, had not prepared an outfit equipped to handle any conditions besides the warmth of the familiar darkroom.

With a sudden, whitening brightness pouring into the lens, the girl had to pull the viewfinder from her vision, and quickly adjust the manual aperture and shutter-speed. Even the girl's own camera was not used to seeing the light of day. Erin found it almost comical, as she scoffed to herself, continuing to curve her fingertips around the small adjustment nobs.

Once the girl was done dealing with the few camera settings, she, once again, squinted one eye, and used the other to peek through the small viewfinder. She began moving the aim of the camera around, exploring her surroundings through the confinement of the lens.

It was in that moment that Erin was forced to deal with yet another one of her compromising traits: her indecisiveness. The girl could not choose what to photograph. And the fact that she'd loaded her camera with a strip of film that could only fit around a dozen photographs, made each choice seem that much more permanent.

The eighth grader furrowed her eyebrows, studying everything that crossed her vision, through the small lens. There was the set of doors to the gymnasium that were repeatedly opening and closing, several of the other kids running around with their friends, and, unfortunately, nothing that was being still enough for Erin to safely snap a picture.

That was until the girl anchored her camera lens to her left, and it landed on a group of children standing—almost frozen in their places, as they all had their gaze locked on something in the middle of the courtyard. After she stealthily increased the zoom, and put the children into focus, the girl instantly recognized these kids to be Will Byers and his friends. One of them was even the little brother of Nancy Wheeler. And, from what Erin gathered, he seemed to be the leader of their little pack—or their party, as the girl had overheard the boys refer to it as such, quite a few times.

The four boys were on the opposite side of the wire fence, cowering behind it, as if it would somehow conceal their obvious staring. Not realizing that Erin, herself, may seem to have the same sort of staring problem, she quickly indulged in her own curiosity and traced their gaze along the courtyard.

It took a few moments for the girl to adjust the camera to reflect a clear image of the blurry, red blob that was zooming around the courtyard. The sight was strange, considering that no person inside of Hawkins was unfamiliar to Erin. Though the girl was never really included in the word that seemed to easily float around small town, she'd surely recognize such a memorable face. Maybe even the same way she remembered every detail of Nancy Wheeler's, because her face was the same kind of memorable.

The face of a pretty girl.

Involuntarily, Erin leaned farther into a hunch, as if she was inclined to move even just an inch closer to the girl on the skateboard. She was intrigued, to say the least. She'd even forgotten about the four boys that were staring at the same girl, just from the opposite side of the courtyard.

It was almost as if the eighth grader was in a trance. The only thing in her sight was the red-headed girl in the distorted lens of her camera, which continued to slowly follow her every move, as she skated around. Erin's lips were parted, and her open eye was squinted, as her every, momentary concern dangled within the hands of a complete stranger.

That was until a loud, skidding sound startled Erin. The girl jumped, alleviating herself of her hunched-over position, and straightening her back. Her eyes frantically looked around, only to land upon a soccer ball rolling underneath the bleachers, coming straight toward her.

The girl had no idea what to do. The ball had obviously come from someone who'd accidentally kicked it under there. And someone would probably follow after it, and find Erin in her awkward hiding spot.

Surely enough, the girl heard the distant voices of a few other children, making their way toward the bleachers. Out of panic, she frantically kicked the ball, using the outside of her foot, sending it rolling out the same way that it came in. Erin hoped that they would assume that the ball just bounced off of a metal bar underneath the bleachers, and not question its immediate return.

She ducked her head, peeking in between the bleachers and looking at the other children walking towards it. The girl let out a sigh of relief, after the group of kids swiftly collected the rogue ball, and began making their way back to the other side of the courtyard.

The sound of Erin's jittery breaths was the only thing she could focus on, besides her tightening grip on the camera in her hand. If she was to ever drop it, she'd have to somehow cough up money for damaging school property. That meant that the girl would have to tell her mother about her scheme to get out of regular recess. And Erin Carver's worst nightmare was having to face the repercussions of upsetting her mother.

After taking a few moments to soak in the relief of avoiding the accident, Erin made an attempt to return to what she was doing, before. She lifted the camera back up to her face, and began scanning the area where the skateboarding girl once was. But, instead, all she saw was empty space, until she witnessed the four boys dashing across the courtyard. In the momentary stutter, Erin'd lost sight of the stranger and, apparently, so did they.

The girl let out a sigh, lowering the camera from her vision. For a few moments, she sat up straight, trying to find the girl, without the help of her camera's zoom. After having zero luck spotting the stranger, Erin realized how sidetracked she'd gotten over something that seemed so minuscule.

Clearly, the whole recess thing was a complete bust. The girl couldn't even make it work for herself, even though she had the aid of a hiding spot and her camera.

She sucked in a breath, bending down and placing the film camera in its open bag, that was lying on the ground next to her chair. Erin zipped the small bag, and then hoisted the strap over her shoulder, readying herself to stand from the seat. That was until the girl saw that her shoe was untied, and haphazardly rolled her eyes before tending to the loose laces.

"Geez," An unfamiliar voice started, from behind Erin's back. The girl's eyes widened, tearing their gaze away from her shoe-laces. "It's like you people are lurking around every corner."

The unprepared eighth grader shot straight up from the seat, standing to her feet and facing the source of the voice, that was clearly aimed toward her. There she stood, the pretty stranger, just across from Erin, skateboard in-hand. Erin fastened her grip on her shaky camera bag, clutching it against her body, with the use of her forearm.

Erin couldn't help but to furrow her eyebrows at the red-headed girl's words. The nervous girl seemed to stop breathing, as she sent a gulp down her own throat. "What?"

"Stalkers." The red-headed girl started, tilting her head to accompany the rolling of her eyes. "I try to run away from a whole flock of them, just to find another one." She used her hand to motion across to Erin. "Is this something that you people—just do here?"

Erin was embarrassed. She'd been caught, and she wasn't even aware of it. And the fact that the girl holding the skateboard was so shameless about letting Erin know, was even more humiliating. She felt her face growing warm, and silently prayed that the blushing heat wasn't visible on the surface of her cheeks.

Her mouth hung open, as she stumbled around her own words. Those of which, only came out as rushed fragments. "I—I d—"

"Hold on," Amidst the few moments of Erin's nervous stutters, the stranger took her time to glance around the courtyard, squinting her eyes as she searched for something. "The coast is clear."

The new girl's words were the only thing that could stop Erin's growing embarrassment dead in its tracks. She watched as the girl placed down her skateboard, propping one foot on it, and preparing to kick off.

But before the red-head left Erin to bask in her own confusion, she swiftly turned to face her. "Next time take a picture," She started, teasingly raising her eyebrows and nodding her head towards the camera bag clutched tightly to Erin's side. "It'll last longer."

With those snarky words, the wheels on the girl's skateboard hummed as she kicked off, heading back towards the courtyard. And Erin Carver was left to dwell on the idea that there, somehow, could possibly be a next time.

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5073 words
August 9th, 2022
11:23 PM

A/N

AAHHH!! chapter 1 is finally here !! I'm so excited and I love how it turned out omggggg

this chapter def goes out to all of my film nerds bc I def used to spend my lunches in the darkroom in high school even though I had like a bunch of friends and a bf :,) it was just better than dealing with ppl. me 2 Erin, me 2.

Erin is def giving jonathon vibes by stalking max with her camera from far away LMFAO ! i guess she really does take after his techniques !!

i have so many plans for this book, and so many things to keep in mind for when I'm up to date on season 4, so it might take a few weeks in between updates! (sorry :,,)) but I'm trying to make this book as detailed + as similar to the show as possible to provide you guys with quality sapphic content!!

if you're reading this, I love you and I'm so glad that you're here + I hope to see you stick around!!

- disturbedia

☆please leave a vote to celebrate this chapter taking three whole weeks!! WOOOH!☆