— 𝐌𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐗 —

"IT'S NOT just any sweater, it's my favorite sweater and I need it right now!"

I rummage through all of my drawers and start throwing my clothes out onto the floor, becoming frustrated.

"It's not like you're trying to impress anyone, you're just going to watch the kids!" My dad yells back to me, sitting on the couch watching the television and drinking beer.

I groan and walk out into the living room. I watch my dad for a second, not turning to acknowledge my presence, and grab his beer from his hand.

"Hey!" He yells, jumping up to follow me.

I run to the sink and start to dump out his beer. He looks at me in disbelief as I continue to pour, smirking at him with one hand on my hip. He then turns and opens the fridge, pulling another can of beer out and opening it. Before he gets to take a sip, I grab the beer from his hand and start to pour that one out as well.

"What is your problem?" He asks me, crossing his arms over his chest.

I finish pouring the beer and toss both of the cans into the garbage.

"Right now," I say, turning to look at him, "You are my problem."

I walk away and go to Eleven's room, knocking on her door three times. After a minute, the door opens and I see her sitting on her bed. I lean against the door frame and smile at her.

"Hey, El. Have you seen my sweater?" I ask.

"Sweater?" She asks.

"Yeah. Its like brown and green and it totally looks like something an old lady would wear." I say and she laughs.

"No, I haven't seen it." She says, trying to contain her laughter.

I smile at her and put a hand on the doorknob.

"Well, thanks anyways." I say, "You were more help than Hop."

I close her door and then walk back to my room. Hopper was on the couch, back in the same position he was in earlier. I look through my dresser drawers once more and at the very back I find it. I throw it over my head, quickly, and then grab my brown crossbody back from the back of my desk chai and throw it over my shoulder. I slip my red converse shoes on and run out.

"I'll be back!" I say as I run out the door.

I grab my bike from the side of my house and hop on, making my way to the arcade.

"(Y/N)!" Dustin yells as I pull up to the arcade.

"Hey, boys. Did you get some change?" I asked.

"Yeah, I mowed Old Man Humphrey's yard." Lucas says and I notice Dustin roll his eyes.

"I just stole from Nancy." Mike says and I give him a disapproving look, "I'll pay her back, though!"

A car horn then beeps at us and we notice Will and Joyce pull up. I wave at them and Joyce holds Will back for a moment before letting him out. When he gets out and runs up to us, I place my bike in the bike rack and make my way over to Joyce's car. I lean down and look at her through the passenger window.

"Hi, Ms. Byers. I'll make sure Will is safe, try not to worry." I say to her.

Her face softens and she nods her head.

"Thank you, sweetie."

I start to walk away and she calls me again.

"Oh, and (Y/N)? Please, call me Joyce." She smiles and I smile back at her, giving her a wave before heading inside the arcade with the boys.

"To slay the dragon, use the magic sword." The video game character says as we all look over Dustin's shoulder.

"Oh, Jesus!" Dustin says, "I'm in uncharted territory here, guys."

"Down! Down! Down!" The boys yell at Dustin.

"I'm going! I'm going!"

The boys all yell as Dustin's character runs from the dragon on the screen.

"Okay. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" Dustin yells.

Dustin presses the button, but his character is defeated by the dragon.

"No. No. No!" Dustin yells, in disbelief.

I put my hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down, then remove it when it seems it wasn't helping.

"I hate this overpriced bullshit!" Dustin yells, hitting the machine.

"Dustin, chill out, please." I say to him.

"You're just not nimble enough, but you'll get there one day." Lucas says, "But until then, Princess Daphne is still mine."

"Whatever. I'm still tops on Centipede and Dig Dug."

"You sure about that?" A voice says from beside us.

We all turn to look at the voice and see Keith, eating Cheetos puffs.

Dustin starts to run over to another machine and we follow behind him.

"You're kidding me. No, no, no."

We make our way over to Dig Dug and sure enough, Dustin was in second place.

"751,300 points!" Will exclaims.

"That's impossible." Mike says.

"Who is Mad Max?" Dustin asks, looking at Keith.

"Better than you." He says.

"Is it you?" Dustin asks, throwing up a middle finger.

I grab his finger and shove it down.

Keith scoffs.

"You know I despise Dig Dug." He says.

"Then who is it?" Lucas asks.

"Yeah, spill it, Keith." Dustin says.

"You want information," Keith looks over at me, "Then I need something in return."

All of the boys look over at me and I look back at them with wide eyes.

"No, no. No way." I say crossing my arms.

"C'mon, (Y/N). Just one date!" Lucas pleads.

"Unless we hit it off." Keith says, trying to attempt a smirk but failing miserably.

"I'm sorry, Keith. I'm not dating right now." I say.

"Don't give him a date. Know what? He's gonna spread his nasty-ass rash to your whole family." Dustin says.

"Dustin!" I yell at him.

"Acne isn't a rash and it isn't contagious, you prepubescent wastoid." Keith says.

"Oh, I'm a wastoid? She wouldn't go on a date with you. You make, like, what? $2.50 an hour?" Dustin says.

"Nice perm." Keith says.

"Gonna make fun of my hair?" Dustin says.

They continue to argue back and forth and I look and see will walking towards the door. I walk away from the current argument and walk up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, Will. You alright?" I ask.

He doesn't respond, but keeps walking and exits the arcade. I follow behind him and he starts to stare into the sky. Mike walks out of the arcade behind us.

"Will!" He says and Will turns to us, gasping.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

He turns and looks back up at the sky.

"Yeah, I just... I needed some air."

"Come on. You're up on Dig Dug." Mike starts to walk back inside and I pull Will towards me.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I ask him again, looking into his eyes as I place my hands on the sides of his arms.

He nods his head and tries to pull his lips into a smile. I smile back at him and wrap my arm around his shoulder, leading him into the arcade.

"Let's take that top score back, huh?" I say to him as we walk inside.

The kids continue to play on the machines until the time reaches nine in the evening. Joyce arrives exactly on time to pick up Will and the rest of us hop on our bikes and start to head out. I follow each of the kids to their houses before going back to mine. When I make my way back, I notice a familiar car parked down the street from the entrance to the woods where the cabin was located. I make my way up the path and leave my bike on the side of the cabin.

I walk in the front door and notice that the house was quiet. My father was no longer on the couch and Eleven's light was off in her room. I make my way to my room and open the door. I flick the light switch on and shut the door. I place my bag back on the chair and jump onto my bed, sighing.

"You can come out now." I say.

Suddenly, the familiar head of hair emerges from the side of my bed, then jumps up next to me. I look over at him as he lays with his hands behind his head.

"Breaking and entering now, are we?" I say, smiling.

He looks over at me and smiles, then leans over and places a kiss on my forehead.

"You weren't here and the window was wide open." Steve says, "I took that as an invitation."

I laugh and sit up, looking down at him.

"Says every serial killer ever."

He winks at me and I attempt to push him off of the bed, not succeeding. He then grabs my waist and flips me onto the bed, leaning over me. He starts to tickle my sides and I try to push him off of me.

"Steve... please." I plead with him.

He lets up but continues to lean over me. We stay in that position for a moment, just looking into each others eyes, until he gets up off of the bed completely, making his way over to my dresser.

I sit up and stare at his figure. He glances over the pictures I have on my dresser and walks over to my desk. He sits at my desk chair and looks over at the corner of my room. He reaches over and grabs an acoustic guitar and throws the strap over his head and shoulder.

"You play?" I ask him.

He scoffs.

"No way." He says, smiling and plucking at the strings randomly.

I chuckle at his attempt to strum the guitar and then he looks up at me.

"Do you play?" He asks.

I look at him and shake my head. He looks at me questioningly and then removes the guitar strap from his shoulder.

"Wait, so you just have this guitar here? You never play it?" He asks, moving to sit on the side of my bed, guitar still in hand.

"It's my dad's."

"What do you play in band, then?"

I quickly try to think of an instrument off of the top of my head.

"Piccolo?" I say with a smile. I try to contain my laughter, unsuccessfully.

"So, you do play the guitar." He says.

I shrug my shoulders and nod slightly.

"Sometimes."

He then starts to hand the guitar over to me.

"Will you play me something?"

I wave my hands in protest.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. I barely know what I'm doing."

He continues to press the guitar to me.

"I don't mind. I want to hear." He says.

I look at him and then back down at the guitar. Reluctantly, I take it from his hands and throw the strap over my head and shoulder. I pluck at the strings and then adjust the tuning pegs so the sound was right. I begin to strum the chords, as quietly as possible, and quietly sing my favorite song.

Your love, lifting me higher than I've ever been lifted before.

I look up at Steve for a moment and notice that he was staring right at me. I look back down at the guitar as I attempt to conceal the blush appearing on my face.

You know your love keeps on lifting me higher, higher and higher.
I said your love keeps on lifting me, higher and higher.

I stop strumming and look back at Steve, biting my bottom lip. He continues to stare at me with a wide grin on his lips.

"Why'd you stop?" He asks.

I take the guitar strap off of my shoulder and stand up, walking the guitar back to its place in the corner of my room. I turn to walk back to the bed and notice Steve still eyeing my figure.

"I was feeling a bit awkward." I say, chuckling and sitting next to him.

"You were amazing, though." He says.

I look down at my hands in my lap and play with my nails.

"I didn't know you were that talented, Hopper."

I look up at him and shake my head, smiling.

"Wow, thanks Harrington."

"You know I didn't mean it like that." He says, wrapping an arm around my torso.

The room is silent and I look back down at my hands.

"It's late, Steve."

He nods and removes his arm from my torso. The coldness of the room already replacing the warmth that was previously there. He stands up and walks towards my window and I follow. He looks down at me and then quickly pulls me in for a hug. We stay there for a minute, his free hand stroking my hair, until I pull away.

"See you tomorrow?" I ask.

He smiles and nods.

"Of course."

He jumps out of my window and I watch as we walks around the cabin, leaving down the trail. I shut my window and my curtains then hop into bed, staring at the ceiling. I couldn't get him off of my mind. I felt like he was teasing me and playing with my emotions when he was clearly in love with Nancy. I try to push the thought away and fall asleep.

I place my bike in the bike racks next to the entrance to the school. I notice Steve's car parked in the back of the lot and I see Nancy and him inside. I watch as they share a kiss and I gag. Then, a car screeches into the lot. Nancy and Steve get out of the car and I watch as the other car parks across from them. A girl with red hair exits the car, along with a boy with dirty blonde hair and a blue jean jacket. The young girl takes out a skateboard and skates over to the middle school. The boy takes a drag off of his cigarette, then flicks it to the ground. He makes his way over to the school and all of the girls are checking him out, including me. He was definitely attractive, but something about him made me uneasy.

He walks towards the entrance and I see Nancy and Steve walking behind from a distance. The boy walks by me, going to the door, but then stops. I look over at Nancy and Steve and wave to them, Nancy waving back at me. I then feel a presence beside me and I turn to see the boy leaning against the wall, staring at me.

"Hi, I'm Billy. Billy Hargrove." He says, sticking out his hand for me to shake.

I grab his hand and shake lightly.

"(Y/N)." I say.

He smirks.

"Nice to meet you, (Y/N). Will I be seeing you around?"

"(Y/N), come on." Steve says. Nancy and him were now standing in front of Billy and I. Steve's arm was around Nancy's waist and I felt my chest get heavy.

"Seems you already have a lady, man. Let me talk to this one, yeah?" Billy says.

Steve then grabs my arm and pulls me into his side, forcing me into the school. Once we get inside, I rip my arm from Steve's grip.

"What the hell was that, Steve?" I ask, frustrated.

"I didn't like how he was looking at you, like you were prey." He says.

I shake my head with my jaw slightly open and my eyebrows furrowed. I walk backwards and Nancy catches up with him. I then turn and make my way to my locker. I grab my books and make my way to my first class, just before the bell rings.

Time flies by and the bell rings, signaling lunch. I walk to my locker and put my books away. I notice everyone walking around with orange papers and try to look over their shoulders to see what they say. I notice Nancy and Jonathan walking down the hall and run up to them.

"Hey, you two. What's going on?" I ask.

Nancy hands me one of the orange papers and I scan it.

TINA'S HALLOWEEN BASH

Come and get Sheet Faced

"Sheet faced?" I ask.

"There! You and (Y/N) can go together!" Nancy says to Jonathan.

Steve then suddenly appears from behind a wall, picking up Nancy and turning her around, making her squeal. He is wearing a pair of shades that make him look irresistible.

"Oh, my god! Take those stupid things off." Nancy says, hitting Steve in the chest.

Steve takes off his glasses and then pulls Nancy in for a kiss. I look away and scrunch my face and Jonathan notices. He nudges my arm and raises his eyebrows at me and I try to fix my face. Jonathan walks away and I wait for Steve and Nancy to finish. Nancy notices that Jonathan walked away and she watches him walk down the hall.

I hold up the sign and hand it back to Nancy.

"I'm not going." I say to her.

"Oh, no. You're definitely going." Steve says.

I look over at him and he wiggles his eyebrows up and down. The side of my lips turn into a small smile, but I try to push it away.

"No way. I wouldn't be caught dead in that place."

Nancy looks at me with pleading eyes.

"Please, (Y/N)? And you could convince Jonathan to go too. You guys could go as... dates." She says, trailing off on the last word. I notice Steve look down at the floor and cross his arms.

"Ew, no. I love Jonathan, but that is not happening. We are just friends." I say and a look of relief seems to show on both Nancy and Steve's faces, but I push that thought away.

"And there's no need to convince Jonathan, he's gonna show up." I say.

"How do you know?" She asks.

"Cause to asked him to." I say.

I walk away from them and go to my next class, standing outside of the door waiting for the bell to ring. The school day ends quicker than I thought and I make my way out of the school and grab my bike. I hop on and try to bike back to the cabin as quickly as possible. I hop over the wire trap and make my way up the stairs. I knock in a pattern and the door unlocks, letting me in.

I sit at my desk and do my homework when I hear the rhythmic knocking again. I hear the front door open and footsteps throughout the house.

"Hey, what'd we talk about?" I hear my dad say from the kitchen.

I walk to my door and open it. I look out and see Hopper sitting at our small table. I walk out and sit across from him and gave a small wave, which he returned.

"No signal." I hear El say, quietly.

"What?" Hopper asks, not being able to hear her.

"No signal." She says, louder this time.

"You didn't tell her not to eat the Eggos?" He whispers to me.

I raise my hands up in defense and El speaks again.

"It's 8-1-5. You're late."

She walks out of her room and walks over to the table.

"Yeah, I lost track of time. I'll signal next time, alright?" He says, "Uh, and it's 8:15. It's not 8-1-5."

She takes a seat at the table and looks at Hopper.

"Eight-fifteen." She repeats.

He starts to roll up his sleeves and points to the plate with the half-eaten Eggo on it.

"Now, what did we talk about?" He asks.

She stays silent and he finishes his sentence.

"Dinner first, then dessert. Always. That's a rule." He leans down so that he is eye-level with her, "Yeah?"

She nods her head.

"Yes."

I smile at them both and think about how lucky I am to have them.