CHAPTER THIRTEEN
— fuck the police —

both nancy and amelia shared the same english class together. so did barb, but she was absent again for the second day.

the two were off in their own different worlds as the teacher was reading from a book. students were meant to read along, but instead listened and stared at the printed words on a smelly, dusty book.

nancy was mostly worried about barb. only a couple of times did she ever think of something else, like why amelia didn't think much about any of this.

nancy would've found this book interesting as well the conversation the teacher was having with the students about it, but just like lia, she was looking out the window.

only one thing ran through amelia's mind. steve. no matter what she did to take the thought of him away, she'd just randomly picture his charming smile, and hear his laugh. she often replayed the moments they'd have when they walked together in the halls. or the funny screams they yelled at the football game that brought in weird looks from people around them.

amelia's smile faded as she felt a certain cloud of question hover her chest. amelia turned to the door just before it opened. a staff member came in with a small paper. "nancy wheeler," the lady said. she looked down to the note as amelia also started to gather her things.

"and amelia cruz." nancy flashed a confused glare at amelia. amelia didn't look back. "if you'll come with me, please?"

they followed the woman out the room, into the hall. amelia couldn't ignore the nervousness nancy was feeling. she had to feel the same as nancy did. it was human nature that amelia had to copy.

a certain classroom door amongst the many in the hall creaked open. thee steve harrington stepped out, and was actually talking to the class before leaving. "i'm not gonna take forever, don't worry, rosalinda!" he laughed to the teacher. a quiet wave of giggles and chuckles erupted in the room as steve closed the door. the teenager turned and wore an awarding grin. he turned the hall pass with his fingers before his eyes fell on the girls walking almost by him.

"get to wherever you're going, harold." the lady leading nancy and amelia said to steve. amelia twitched a brow at him, slowing her steps down. "harold?" she mumbled quickly. steve tore his eyes off nancy, as she was his main attraction.

he nodded at lia, questioning where they were going and why nancy looked so high–ended. amelia responded with a careless shrug.

steve's eyes were glued to the two till they made a turn, leaving steve's sight.

they ended up in the cafeteria with a simple table in the room. nancy and amelia glanced at each other oddly before walking to the table and taking seats with two deputies. amelia recalled them from yesterday, as they too remembered amelia. the two men glanced at each other.

"good morning, officers." amelia smiled to their surprise. she fixed her bag on the floor and pushed her hair behind her ears. she even eagerly scooted her seat up and placed her covered arms on the table. "how're you two?" she fondly asked.

"well. thank you." officer callahan muttered. "i'm sure you two know why you're here this morning." powell intercepted. "barbara holland has been missing for over 24 hours, which means we should start a low–profile investigation with another missing kid in hawkins."

nancy understood those words, nodding along as powell talked about the consequences of keeping a secret or lying. amelia knew she could keep up with her own end. she was good at elaborating stories on the spot. as for nancy? well, she was about to find out.

"where were you on tuesday, november 8th," nancy opened her mouth to talk by was shut down when deputy powell said "amelia?"

the teenager smacked her lips and started humming. "well," she spoke up. "today's thursday." amelia slid down to sit comfortable on her chair, crossing her arms and looking up at the ceiling. "and yesterday was wednesday."

powell sighed deeply. he knew what the teenager was doing. "yes. what were you doing on tuesday?" callahan asked quickly. powell closed his eyes in dispar and sighed again.

amelia nodded. "yes! i'm getting there." she licked her lips and looked down to the table. "tuesday, tuesday, tuesday, tuesday..." she was thinking of what to say. something charming that won't let them have enough information. "oh!" amelia slammed the table. "i went to a party! yes! at–"

"steve harrington's house." nancy finished. she looked up from the table to the officers. "we were invited to a small get–together he was throwing." amelia widened her eyes at nancy.

"he invited me, barb, tommy h., carol, and amelia." callahan started to write things down. "just us."

powell nodded, appreciating her cooperation. "what happened at the party?"

"when barb, lia, and i got there, the party already started. there was music, a pool," amelia thought about the stars she saw. "we were just hanging out, talking–"

"was there any alcohol?" callahan asked. amelia seemed to have shrunk in her seat, knowing nancy let the truth go with her expression.

˚⁎⁺˳✧༚

"this argument nancy and barbara had? what exactly was it about?" amelia stared down at the table. she stripped her own feelings and thoughts away, focusing on nancy. she put her powers in use. "it wasn't really an argument." nancy answered swiftly. "barb just wanted to leave."

amelia sensed that the cops knew it was a lie. "amelia and i didn't so, i–" thinking about what the cops were guessing made amelia trial off and nancy stutter. "i told her to just go home."

powell tilted his head. "then what?" this time, he looked to lia. nancy held in a tight breath. that's when amelia knew that she had to stop. the two sighed deeply at the same time before amelia answered, "i was super tired and crashed on the couch for a while. i thought barb was gonna wait up, but she didn't." amelia followed with a shrug as the cops turned the conversation back to nancy. "and you?" powell asked nancy.

"i went upstairs to put on some dry clothes." she answered.

"and the next day, you went back and.. saw a bear, you're thinking?" amelia was taken aback that nancy told the cops. her brows twitched into a knit as she turned to nancy. "i don't know what it was, but i think.." nancy glanced back at amelia. "i think maybe it took barb." amelia switched her head back to the front. she hated how the two noticed the small details on their faces and body language. "you need to check behind steve's house." nancy suggested.

"we did." callahan shook his head. "there's nothing there. there's no sign of a bear."

"and no car." powell added. nancy and amelia turned to him and said, "what?" simultaneously.

"look. we figure that barbara came back last night and then she took off, went somewhere else." callahan guessed.

"has she ever talked to you both about running off? leaving town maybe?" powell asked. amelia scoffed and crossed her arms as she fell back in her seat. nancy slowly began shaking her head. "no. no, barb wouldn't do that, ever."

"she wasn't upset about the fact that you were spending time with this boy?" callahan looked down at his notes. "uh, steve harrington?"

amelia snapped up to the ring of that name.

"what? no!" nancy exclaimed. "maybe she was jealous because she saw you go up to steve's room?" callahan inferred.

amelia shook her head as well as fix how she sat on the chair. "how can she be jealous?" amelia scoffed. "she didn't even like steve that much."

the two deputies caught that. "she didn't?" amelia thought to just go and run with it. it'd lead away from whatever they're trying to pin on nancy and her.

"at all," amelia giggled. "she doesn't hate his guts or anything, but barb couldn't be jealous."

"it wasn't like that anyway." nancy threw in.

"like what?" callahan asked. amelia sensed they found the weaker link in nancy.

"me and steve," nancy trailed off to think of the right words. "we're just friends. we all are." her tone grew more defensive. "we were just talking."

"now was this before or after you changed out of your clothes?"

amelia huffed with her arms crossed. "what're you trying to pin here?" she frustratingly asked. "barb is missing and you two are sitting here, playing goose chase with a couple of teenagers that threw a small hang out."

callahan gulped and sat up straight as amelia continued. "the police in new york would've held a search party for barb already."

"we're not new york police," powell muttered sternly. amelia laughed. "you're not anywhere near being police."

˚⁎⁺˳✧༚

"you went too far," nancy paced back and forth in the school hallway, holding her arms. amelia rolled her eyes. "please! they're nothing compared to new york." nancy furrowed her brows. she imagined what kind of trouble amelia would get into, but in reality, amelia said whatever needed to be said to get nancy to calm down.

amelia didn't like seeing her like this. it was tiring for the both of them.

the two peeked into the door's window. nancy's mom came up and talked to the police. at first, she seemed angry and said that they shouldn't have questioned teenagers like that without a parents present. nancy was guessing that the deputies watered down the situation as nancy's mom seemed to be way more chill now.... but amelia could sense a feeling of betrayal from mrs. wheeler. the officers must've told her about their assumptions between steve and nancy.

nancy sighed and slumped on the floor. "i did see something at steve's house." she muttered. amelia fluttered her eyes up around the empty hall. the bell would only ring a couple of short minutes. "i'm not crazy, am i?"

amelia immediately shook her head. "you're not," she slid down next to nancy. "you're far from it."