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( HAWKINS, INDIANA 1984 )
ACT ONE: CALL ME A PRINCESS, BUT I GET
WHAT I WANT AND I WANT YOU!
⤷ CHAPTER ONE  ⎯  MADMAX

HOPPER'S WORDS  CONSTANTLY  ECHOED THROUGH  HER  MIND,  especially at this moment when Artemis' longing gaze couldn't look away from how happy Steve looked to be with Nancy.

Her locker was down the hallway, decorated with drawn-on stars and pink hearts, and a movie poster for Sixteen Candles taped to the backside, but the number was scratched out and replaced with "17." Her books were still covered in sparkles from the glitter bombs Tina and Carol had hidden for her to find.

Students, both under- and upperclassmen, strangers, and friends, popular like Jason Carver and freaks like Eddie Munson, have wished her a Happy Birthday all day long. But all she really wished for was to go home and watch 'The Shining' for the seventh time this month. Like she does every year since the horror movie came out.

Yet she couldn't even do that, because she was the "Guest of Honor" at Tina's Halloween party. The bright, almost neon orange-colored flyer lay flat against her class organizer. The large, black letters spelling "Get Sheet-faced!" and next to it, a last-minute, red ink of "You might get lucky with the Birthday Girl!"

Suddenly, a loud but short-lasting toot next to her eardrum startles the girl from her thoughts. She jumps, quickly shuts her locker, and begins cursing out Tommy Hagan, another childhood friend.

"Jesus Christ, Tommy!" She jumps, pressing the notebooks closer to her chest as if to catch her heart from flying out of her body. The crinkling sound of the party popper flatlines softly as it rolls back into its starting position.

Artie's eyes are still closed, trying to calm herself down as she turns her head, waiting to hear the boy's usual obnoxious laughter or Carol's classic side snicker. "You fucking scared the shit outta"— when her eyes opened, she was expecting to be almost eye-to-chin with a pale freckled face and a goofy grin.

But instead, she's faced with a denim-covered chest. A hearty chuckle feigns above her, obviously calling for her attention. Her nice, blue eyes sent laser beams as they practically burn through the thin tee, crisping the ends of his long hair until they reached the final destination. "Oh, you're not Tommy."

The boy rolls his tongue over his teeth, the corners of his mouth turning up into a sly grin. Shamelessly checking out the pretty girl in front of him. A toothpick perches upon his bottom lip as if it is pink and full, purely for that reason. His accent piques her interest as he finally speaks, "Fortunately, no. I'm not."

He watches as Artie nods her head, almost too pleadingly and all-knowing. Her big, doe eyes pour into his glassy grays, the apples of her cheeks folding into dimples as a soft giggle slips.

Billy Hargrove is a complex human being, but he's still a boy in the simplest terms. A boy who likes when a pretty girl smiles. A boy who knows that Artemis Kline is one of a kind, and he just had to have her.

Especially since quote-unquote King Steve Harrington had her first and didn't pursue it. Like an idiot.

"Does the Princess of Hawkins curse out every one or just people new to town?" The Californian asks as his arm droops off the locker above her head and reaches out to wipe some pink and silver glitter stuck on her face.

          The blonde flinches away just as his fingertips graze the skin, but he doesn't draw them back like a gentleman. Instead, they harshly hook around her jaw and the back of her neck, and the callous pad of his thumb carefully wipes away the sparkles.

          Usually, Artemis would've to slap his hand away, but there was something comforting in his eyes like she could trust him if she really wanted to.

          When he pulls his hand away, she realizes how close their faces were just then. She might've been staring into the windows of his soul, trying to figure out his fears and motives. But Billy, he was just admiring her beauty.

          He smiles, swallowing away the bitter taste of unfamiliar nerves, and shows off the glittery thumb in all its glory. "There, still a goddess. Been wanting to do that since last period."

The girl's eyes widen, her hand quickly reaching up to her cheekbones and wiping away any excess. Embarrassed that she had glitter on her all day, none of her friends said anything on purpose.

Covering the apples of her cheeks, she burrows her brows at the mullet boy. "You in Miss Egghead's class? Last period we had an exam, I didn't see you take it."

"Wow," Billy scoffs sarcastically, shaking his head in shame. His voice is laced with so-much seriousness that Artie has difficulty deciphering which is joking. "First, you curse me out, then you admit to ignoring the new kid. You disappointed me, princess."

He begins to turn around, but Miss Hawkins reaches out and grabs him without hesitation. "W-wait! I'm so sorry about before."

The dirty blond spins back, his lips forming into a straight line and his arms are crossed over his chest as he awaits for her full explanation.

She begins, dropping her hand from his denim jacket to squeeze her books tighter. "Tommy—he did it to me earlier today, but I didn't have the chance to express myself clearly because we were right next to the Dean's, and I cannot afford to get an unnecessary mark on my perfect record for something stupid like unladylike language. And—" She looks at his face for real this time, finding it bordering on amusement and exhaustion. "And I'm rambling, sorry."

"Relax, doll," he mumbles, the toothpick toying on his tongue. "You're kinda cute when you ramble." He shrugs nonchalantly, watching how a single compliment continuously affects her demeanor around him. He likes his influence.

"So, you forgive me?" Her bottom lip quivers out, batting her mascara-coated eyelashes for a pleading effect. It's one of her talent-show acts— and it works every time.

         "Sure." Billy shrugs, pulls out the pick, and fiddles it around between his fingers before flickering it off to the side. He watches as Artemis carefully watches the tiny wooden stick fall and bounce off the tile hallway— smiling to herself as if the act worked.

          "If."

           It works almost every time.

          "If?" And just like that, her bright eyes shift into something dark, mysterious, and skeptical. Artemis tilts her chin up to meet his mischievous smile, her tongue gliding along the ridges of her pearly whites— waiting for the stupid ploy he has to say, the one he had all the long.

           "If . . ." the Californian bats his eyes this time around, stepping impossibly closer to the golden girl of Hawkins, just as his peripheral vision spots Steve Harrington and Nancy Wheeler watching them interact.

           His smile never falters, instead, it widens when he lifts his left hand to put Artie's hair back behind her decorated ear. There's an audience, he must perform. It's the least he could do. "You come as my date to Tina's tonight?"

           Artemis laughs uncomfortably under her breath as a blush creeps up on her cheeks. She usually favors callous hands on her smooth skin but never from a stranger.

          Not one who has other motives. Because obviously, they all do. Every, single, time. She has to stop getting her hopes up for the wrong people. Especially strangers.

           Subtly backing away, she respectfully declines in the sweetest way possible. "Well, what's your costume? Because I've planned mine for a long time and I'm not changing it last minute because you're my date."

            "So, that's a yes?" He persists, recognizing that he might've crossed a boundary he didn't know promiscuous girls like herself had, but now he's trying to save the moment. He steps closer, inhaling her perfume's sweet feminine, flowery scent. His pupils dilated at the ravishing smell.

            Blondie scoffs under her breath, her teeth biting down on her bottom lip as she tries to contain her heightened emotions. This conversation has gone on long enough. Steve warned her about Billy Hargrove for this reason.

             Tilting her head, an angered sigh escapes from her nose, she lifts her chin to remain seemingly unfazed. One thing he'll soon learn, Artemis Kline knows better than to back down from a fight.

           "That's a no, Billy. I think you need your ears cleaned." She sends him a tight-lipped smile, plastering on her dimples and lifting up her hand to finger-wave him a smug goodbye.

           "Well," Billy clicks the roof of his mouth, gently pushing her hand back towards her side. "I think you need your attitude checked."

           "Oh, really?"

            Oh, fuck no. He. Did. Not.

           "Yes, really," the boy nods. "It's kinda bitchy."

             Oh, fuck. He. Totally. Did.

             "Kinda?" Artie giggles evilly, reaching out and patting him on the chest. Almost too mockingly. "Babe, that was a slice. You really wanna see more?"

             This time it's Billy who has to push Artemis away from his personal space, quickly grabbing onto her wrist and yanking her arm away. "You didn't let me finish, smartass." The insult rolled playfully off his skilled tongue like it was his second native language. "It's also kinda hot."

              Rolling her eyes, the girl quickly checks her surroundings. Noticing Steve's brown puppy dog eyes on her, she couldn't help but lose her balance between her thoughts and forming the words. "Sorry, um, aren't you gonna leave?"

             "Why me?"

             "It's my locker." She shrugs as if it's obvious. Because it was obvious, Billy knew that. He just wanted to hear her talk. He meant it when he said she was cute when she rambled. "You approached me. I'm dismissing you now. C'mon keep up, like I know Californians are dumb but not like this."

             "Gonna add that to the list," he chuckles, finger-pointing her sentence. Also, the truth is that it's getting very mentally straining.

              "List?" Artie tauntingly laughs back, her eyes mischievously glinting under the hallway light. She cannot resist. It's just too easy. "Are you sure you can count?"

             "Keep going, your Highness," Billy bows his head, conforming along to the royalty act Tommy had told him about. It really gets under her beautiful skin. And he'll do anything to live rent-free in her mind, as long as it's not King Steve. "You're gonna have to beg for my forgiveness, sooner or later."

             "Maybe later," Artemis shrugs, eyeing as the playboy dips his head and then slowly lifts back up again. Her eyes watch him as he not-so-subtly checks her out a third— or maybe a fourth— time.

              She likes being appreciated, especially with a side of insulting banter. She just has to add her personal zest, something she's known for. Something like teasing.

              Just as he shifts his body weight back onto the balls on his feet, Artie grabs the neon flyer from her books and smacks it flat onto his upper chest. The impact startles him for a moment, making it difficult for Billy to completely register what she says next. "'Cause, I like to be on my knees for that."

             "Pick me up at eight. . ." Her fingernails clawing through the delicate fabric of the white tee, she pushes him back harder, sending him away from her locker and with a spiteful wink. ". . . Dickwad."

              And just like that, she was gone before Billy could watch her walk away and admire her backside to the fullest potential.

             Smiling to himself, he clutches the flyer, quickly locking eyes with a certain dark-haired boy across the hall— who happened to watch everything go down. Billy winks at him, chuckling at Steve who rolls his eyes and quickly walks away with his girlfriend in the clutch.

    BILLY BALLS UP THE FLYER & THROWS IT INTO THE NEAREST TRASH BIN. "ONE POINT GOES TO ME, HARRINGTON."

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fez speaking!!

billy's playing a dangerous game of chess,
and artemis isn't just going to be a pawn.

she's a princess for fucksake.

happy rapid-fire?? update!! <33
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