𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑰𝑿𝑻𝑬𝑬𝑵

❛ Bye, Hargrove. ❜

❦

Malia Garcia feels like she's going crazy. She's seeing things. Horrible things. Terrifying things. Last night, she awoke to a raging storm outside her window, but when she threw open her curtains, the sky was flickering red and the roads below were cracked and destroyed, and veins writhed they way through the neighbourhood for as far as she could see.

With wide eyes, she stood motionless in front of her open window just staring at the strange sight. Then it hit her, that wasn't her universe. It's somewhere else. Somewhere evil. Somewhere she recognised. A shaky hand goes up to her mouth and she whirls around quickly in realisation. The Upside Down. She squeezed her eyes shut, burying her hands in her head.

But, when she opened her eyelids once more, and turned slowly, the outside looked normal. Cars zoomed through the smooth roads, and the sky was cloudy, not flickering and it was no longer freezing.

And not only that, but Malia never did drawings of any type. In fact, she hated it. So that didn't explain why she had scribbled all over several pieces of paper the night previous while she had been listening to music in her room. None of its makes sense. In the morning, she struggled to figure out what the dark scribbles resembled.

So, in her opinion, she's going crazy.

But, now she stands in front of Hawkin's Middle School laughing her head off at the sight in front of her. Dustin, Lucas, Mike and Will are stood in a line dressed in their ghostbusters costumes.

"What are you laughing at?" Dustin snaps, "It's not funny!"

"No, you're right, it's not. It's hilarious." She snorts, but quickly dampens her happy emotions after noticing their stern glares, "Sorry, sorry. It's not funny, or hilarious. But you guys really should've checked whether or not it was dress up day."

Mike clenches his jaw, "We did check."

"Clearly not," She smirks, "Look, you all look great and I'm sure everyone else is gonna be jealous."

"Jealous of what? How stupid we look?" Lucas groans.

"No. I—"

"Malia, I called you over here to help us," Dustin sighs, "Not to make fun of us."

"You didn't even let me finish!" She snaps. She walks forward, leaning done so her face is in front of Dustin and she slowly makes her way down the line, smiling at each boy, "You all look amazing, and you've had literally the worst year ever so far, so just fuck it. People are always gonna talk, and mumble about what happened a year ago, so you doing this will make them talk about something else."

Dustin glares at her, waving her away, "Just go. Just go to your school."

"I— Dustin—" She laughs.

"Go!"

"Okay, okay!" She smirks, throwing her arms up in a surrender and backing away from the boys, "I'm going. Have a great day at school, boys."

Will offers a wave and Lucas does the same but rolls his eyes in the process while Dustin pulls them towards the middle school, grumbling under his breath.

"Fuck you!" Mike yells, as Malia disappears from their view and she smiles to herself.

Pissing off the Wheeler siblings will forever be her favourite thing to do, and sheMs going to makes sure she does it until she dies. So, when she sees Nancy Wheeler in some sort of trance next to the pencil sharpener in the library, she makes her way over.

Malia shakes the girl's shoulders, snapping her from whatever trance she was in, "Hey, Wheeler. You good?"

Nancy takes a deep breath, grabbing Malia's wrist and dragging her to an empty back room. The two girls stand in silence for a few moments and Malia's eyebrows furrow.

"So. . ." She begins, but Nancy is quick to take over.

"I can't keep doing this," She rushes.

Malia tilts her head, her heart starting to thump in her chest, "What? You and Steve?"

"No. I can't keep pretending that everything's okay," Nancy bites her lip, watching as Malia's face contorts into further confusion, "Barbara. It's like everybody forgot. It's like nobody cares. Expect her parents." She sighs, "Steve and I went to talk with them about Barb. I did call to ask if you wanted to join, but you never picked up."

She was at Hopper's cabin playing a board game with Eleven that night. Malia nods, "Shit. Sorry. I was busy. I'm still trying to find a new job." She lies through her teeth, sending the girl opposite her an apologetic look.

"It's okay." Nancy forces a smile, "But her parents are selling their house. And they're going to spend the rest of their lives looking for her. They were so sure that she's alive, and it's destroying them." She runs her hands over face, "We can tell them the truth."

Malia's mouth drops open and she begins to shake her head, "Wheeler, there's nothing we can do. We can't just break the news to them that their daughter was dragged into a horrible place by a blood thirsty monster."

"We don't have to tell them everything," She lowers her voice.

"This isn't a fucking game. You know it isn't. If anyone finds out we had something to do with that motherfucking monster, then everyone is in danger." Malia clenches her jaw, "We won't just go to jail, okay? We'll be killed, and so will our families and friends." Malia throws the room door open, "Look, Wheeler, I'm beyond sorry about Barb, I really am. But there's nothing we can do to make her come back. Realise that." And with that, she left.

She trudges towards Steve, who is still placed at the table next to Nancy's belongings. She sits opposite him, causing his head to raise from his college application.

"Mal?" His face softens and a smile works it's way onto his lips, "Hey."

"Hi," She mumbles, "You should probably go talk to Nancy," She motions towards the room she just exited from, "Comfort her, or something."

Steve's eyebrows furrow, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything." Malia states, "Just told her the truth."

Steve slowly slinks up from his chair, but doesn't take his eyes off her face , "We really should have one of our movie nights again. I miss them."

She smiles gently, nodding, "Yeah. I'd like that." She waves him off, "Now, go."

Steve Harrington pushes the door open gently, revealing his girlfriend leaning against the table in the centre with her back to him. He bites his lips, dreading the upcoming conversation, but as he makes his way over, he's grateful that he doesn't have to start the conversation.

"Why is she so horrible to me?" Nancy mumbles, raising her head to meet his gaze.

Steve sighs, "Look, Nance, Mal may seem scary and mean, but I promise you, she isn't always like that. You'll grow on her. . . eventually."

She shakes her head, pushing off the table and staring up at him with a saddened expression, "I doubt it."

❦

Malia sits on the closed trunk of her brother's car, waiting patiently for him to exit school. She pulls a cigarette from her back pocket, sliding out her lighter and placing the poison between her pursed lips.

Every since the crazy visions started, she felt the need to start smoking again to hopefully reduce the amount of times she saw this. In reality, it isn't working, but she has managed to trick her mind to think it is.

"You mind?" A low voice inquires from beside her.

She turns her head and watches as the new boy, holds his cigarette out to her, waiting for it to be lit. She stares at him for a moment with a raised brow but his position doesn't falter. She hums, leaning slightly closer to him to light his cig before turning away again, shoving the fire starter into her jacket pocket. He stands still for a few moments, watching her carefully as a cloud of smoke is blown out from between her lips.

"You want something else or are you just staring for the fun of it?" She grumbles at him, not bothering to look over at him.

His jaw sets, "So, what's your name, druggie?"

She runs her tongue over her teeth, "I ain't a druggie," She finally glances over at him, "And I'm Malia. Malia Garcia."

"Really? Well, shit. I've heard some things about you." He smirks, turning his head to the side as he exhales.

She raises an eyebrow, "Already?"

"The girls here love to talk," He nods.

"Oh. Believe me, I know." She mutters, "How you liking it here?"

"It's a shit hole," He spits, trying to show some kind of hostility and roughness.

She doesn't even bother reacting to his harsh tone and flicks her cigarette to the floor once she sees Thomas exit the school. "You can say that again," She agrees, jumping down from the trunk, "What's your name, druggie?"

"I ain't a druggie either," He rolls his jaw, clearly not appreciating her attempt at light humour, "I'm Billy Hargrove."

Thomas watches the pair talk as he unlocks the car, not bothering to enter the conversation before sitting down in the drivers seat.

"Will I be seeing you at the halloween party tonight at that chick's house?" Billy questions.

For the whole day, Malia had been bugged about the party by several people. First it was her brother, then Steve wouldn't stopped poking her in english. He handed her the leaflet and wouldn't stop pestering her about it, but she continued to put it off. Then Jonathan Byers and her were walking the school halls between lessons, and he mentioned how he would be going but only for a short while, and that's when Malia realised why Steve wanted her to go so bad. He wanted her to desperate Jonathan and Nancy, so he didn't have to do it. So, Malia agreed.

"I'll be there, but I definitely won't be making an effort to talk to you," She throws open the car door at her side, "Bye, Hargrove." She slips down into the passenger seat, slamming the door closed and Thomas begins to back out of the parking lot, and Malia locks eyes with Billy for a split second before he turns to talk to his sister.

"That looked thrilling," Thomas snorts.

"He called me a fucking druggie," She grumbles.

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not proof read in the slightest