(I changed the week Billy came to the school, so pretend like he's been there for like a while. 🙏)

An alarm shook me as I bolted up in my bed. I slung my hand over the top of the clock to silence it. A groan came out of my mouth as I rubbed my eyes. I pulled off the warm sheets off of me and shivered and plopped my feet on the cold ground

"Thank the Lord that Washington can freeze your ass and I can just use the clothes I brought from home," I sighed to myself as  I slipped on a black long sleeve with a big red and black windbreaker. I paired those with some bell bottoms my mom had given me a couple years ago. I slipped on some socks and my well-kept Adidas's.

As I sit at my little desk in the room, I stare into my mirror. My eyes are tired. Tired from the tears and the pain I've suffered these past few months. Dad died, mom fell into addiction because she blamed everything on herself, and me- well I suffer the consequences of events that aren't my fault for, like my douchebag boyfriend cheating on me. 

Don't get me wrong I miss my mom and especially my father, but the world keeps spinning, I guess, and the days are still the same. The sun sets and still rises, the rivers still flow, and my life is still long. And for my ex, he can keep his STD.

I brush my soft  blonde hair out slowly as I listen to the birds chirp outside. They sing their sweet songs as they fly to find twigs for their nests and go to their children. I watch as one resides on my windowsill, cleaning itself as dew drips off the roof. A soft smile comes onto my lips. I look back to the mirror and see that smile, a reflection I have not seen in so long. Seeing myself makes the smile widen.  

I dabbed a beauty brush into my blush and applied it to my cheeks, giving soft rosiness to my pale skin. The concealer I placed hid the circles under my eyes, making me appear brighter. Mascara coated my lashes, giving them the look of being longer and darker. I pressed a gloss applicator to my lips and popped them before smiling again. The smile isn't the same- it's forced and noticeably at that- but it would be my superpower for that first day, and probably longer.

My hands ran through my chestnut hair, the strands engulfing them. I looked in the mirror one more time before I hear my name called out by Joyce. My ears perk up and I respond. 

"Yes?" My voice rings out in my empty room.

The door cracks open and an eye peers in before opening the door fully, revealing Joyce. "Good, you're ready," she smiles. "I have your bag for school with a couple books. I grabbed some notebooks and such from the store this morning."

I smiled. "Thank you, Aunt Joyce," I said, standing up and hugging her.

Aunt Joyce pulls away but her hands linger on my shoulders. "You look just like Donna," her eyes searched me as she spoke about my mother.

 My face melted into one between a smile and gratefulness, my brows softening. To be called my mother would offend me, but to look like her was the best thing that could ever be said to me. "Thank you," I spoke to her softly as I placed my right hand on hers on my shoulder.

She stayed put before nodding and removing her hands and clasping them. "Okay, well I'll let you go now. I put some money in your bag for you in case you need to pay for lunch or anything like that."

I nodded and smiled as I walked to the kitchen to see Will eating some cereal and Jonathan stuffing a piece of buttered toast into his mouth. "Ready?" He muffled through the toast.

I chuckled. "Yeah I am."

I spotted my backpack and slung it on my shoulder while also grabbing my car keys. "Hey Jon, we can just take my car if that's okay with you."

He emerged from out of the kitchen, his bag in hand as he snatched a notebook from the table in the hall.

"Sure, why not," he said as we walked to my car.

He put his bag in the back with mine and I started the car. As I pulled out, he gave me directions to the Hawkins High School. An awkward silence arose in the vehicle before he blurted out.

"So uh, did you have a boyfriend back home?" Jonathan asked awkwardly and he played with his hands in his lap.

A mix between a chuckle and a scoff came from my lips. "I did, until he cheated on me."

He sunk into his seat and instantly regretted what he said. "Shit- I'm sorry for asking-"

I smiled reassuringly. "It's fine, really, he was a dickhead."

He smiled before looking out the window. "Speaking of dickheads," he said as he pointed outside of my car to the right as I parked a couple spaces down, the other empty

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dark blue, 1979, Chevrolet Camaro. I whistled. "Well that dick has got taste," I chuckled and looked at Jonathan and he chuckled too.

A small, redhead girl, got out of the passenger, side with a skateboard and red backpack in hand. Out of the driver spot came a boy, my age, with a blonde curly mullet.  He yelled something to the girl, who I assumed was his sister. It was inaudible to me from the distance I was at. 

"Yeesh, looks like a dick too."

His acid washed attire and boots made him look like a major playboy. I won't lie to myself and say that the boy was ugly, because he was quite the opposite. I pretended to scowl, but in reality, I was aweing.

Me and Jonathan got out of my car and grabbed our stuff. I locked the car, and with a beep, we began heading for the doors. While we walked through the doors, chatter filled my ears. Voices of high-pitched girls squealing  and pubescent boys all laughing crammed the walls of the school.

After the visit to get my schedules, I located my first class. Thankfully, it was with Jonathan. At least somebody I knew would be there. I put my stuff down in my assigned seat and grabbed sheet with my locked number and code and walked to it. Jonathan followed me around the corner and began talking. "So, what'd you choose for your, like, elective."

"I chose PE," I responded, unlocking my designated locker. He looked confused. "Well, more like volleyball," I specified, grabbing my calculus book supplied by the school.

"Oh, okay," he dryly said.

"What're you in?" I asked as we heard the 5-minute bell for class. I shut my locker and we began walking to the class.

"Photography," he responded, excitingly.

"Nice," I jokingly said as we walked into the classroom.

Right as I walked in, the teacher, Mrs. Rhodes, called me to her desk. I got up there and she began explaining something about work from the previous week. She asked me if I could stay for about 10 minutes to go over the material with me to see if I knew the calculus we were learning. I nodded and smiled.

After the tardy-bell rang, she silenced the class. My stomach knotted inside of me as she told the class my name. "Everyone! This is Adeline Byers. She moved here from Washington state, and she will be here for the rest of the year. Please, give her a warm welcome."

Everyone said 'hi'. Some boy at the back of the class made a joke and got a laugh out of some of the other kids back there. "Would you like to share that with the class, Tommy?" she sternly asked.

I awkwardly stood at the front, shifting from one leg to another.

The boy settled down and his expression changed. He cleared his throat. "No ma'am," he responded.

"Alright, then calm yourself back there please," she said.

"Yes ma'am," he said quietly.

"Well then, let's begin with today's lesson.

The period went by fast. Thankfully, Jonathan's friend Nancy Wheeler was located right next to me. She introduced herself and helped me with anything I struggled with, which was surprisingly not a lot. She was really sweet, and I picked up the feeling that Jonathan and she might like each other or something of the sort. That idea got shut down when we were heading out of the class.

The bell rang and we three walked out. There was a girl handing out flyers to everyone. She stopped me to hand me one. "Hey," she said. "I'm Tina, you're Adeline, right?"

"Yep," I said forcing a smile. She giggled as if it were funny.

"I always throw this big Halloween party every year. You should come. It's always really fun," she said handing me a bright orange paper.

"Okay," I took the paper and glanced at it, then responded. "Thanks, I'll think about it."

Nancy asked for two and gave one to Jonathan. "You should go," she insisted.

"I dunno," he responded. " 'Come and get sheet-faced'? I might just take Will trick-or-treating."

"Come on!" she enthusiastically exclaimed, drawing out the 'n'.

"Maybe," Jonathan said.

"Well, if you do then-" Nancy was cut off by a boy grabbing her from behind. She squealed. "Steve! Stop!" The boy didn't listen and still held her.

I could see Jonathan getting uncomfortable. "What if I go?" I asked turning to Jonathan.

"I kind of wanted to go with Will," he admitted quietly as he looked at the ground. Nancy began talking again. "Jonathan? It will be so much fun, and it could take your mind off things."

Jonathan just shrugged and began walking away, I was about to follow him when the boy stopped me.

"Wait," the boy who I assumed to be Nancy's boyfriend, Steve, turned to me.  "Who are you?" 

"Oh, I'm Addie Byers. I'm new here," I smiled at him.

He smiled back. "Yeah I noticed."

He laughed at himself and Nancy giggled. "Just joking of course, I'm Steve, Steve Harrington." He extended an arm

"Nice to meet you, Steve," I shook his hand that he had extended.

My hand lingered as he examined me, and I the same to him. Nancy coughed and I let go, blinking and nodding. Steve awkwardly took Nancy's hand. "Well we better go now, huh?" Nancy smiled at me.

"Yeah," Steve looked down at my other hand and reached for my paper. Steve's fingers lightly brushed my hand as he looked at the paper looked at the paper. "Oh, you're going to Mr. Hauser's room. It's the one to the right of your locker, I think."

"Thanks," I muttered, as I began to feel a tension in the air. "I'll see you two around."

I turned and walked off to my classroom leaving the couple behind.

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The smell of sweat filled my nose as I walked into the girl's locker room. "It smells almost as bad as the boy's," I mumbled to myself. 

I changed into my PE clothes which consisted of a gray Hawkins's Tigers shirt with skintight green shorts. The coach was stern, but greeted me with enthusiasm. He explained that this was a free period for anyone but you had to be doing something. I nodded respectfully and the coach split kids equally to scrimmage.

I served the ball over for the eighth time. The tall girl in the middle finally hit it over, after not managing to for twenty minutes. The ball bounced from a boy's arms into the air. It was high enough for me, so I jumped up, and my hand made direct contact with the ball, it smacked the floor with an echo on the opposite side of the net. My team howled and cheered.

Afterwards some girls began taking the net down for the next  activity which was basketball. I was decent at basketball, but I didn't want to be an overachiever, so I walked over to the side and simply began dribbling with a couple girls I met. We all laughed as we tried to block each other from shooting, but I managed to get a couple hoops. They jokingly complained and I  laughed as they took the ball and shot hoops with each other.

I turned to walk away when I bumped into someone.

"Good form."