New school, new year. The party has now entered high-school, and expected it to be a dreadful part of their lives. Which it was.

Ava went on the cheerleading team because Lucas convinced her to, the two have gotten very close recently. Although, one relationship of Ava's has been ruined, and it was her and Max's.

Max had been distant lately, and stopped texting and calling Ava. The girl just thought it would be for a little, so she gave the redhead some space, she knew she needed it after what happened to Billy. But the two never really talked since then.

Ava was now in the backseat of her brothers car, who was asking Robin for relationship advice. I swear, Ava keeps getting into unwanted situations.

"Then there's Heidi tomorrow night, but the problem with Heidi is that she's going out of state for college." Steve blabbers, "So it's like, do i wanna start another relationship that has no point other than sex?" Steve continues.

"God, Steve, minor in the back." Ava groans, covering her ears. "It's the truth! I mean, i don't know, does that make sense to you?" Steve turns to Robin, who was doing her makeup.

"Robin, are you listening?" He asks, "Uh, yes." She responds. "What did i just say?" Steve asks, "Something about sex with Linda." Robin answers, facing Steve. "No, im talking about Heidi!" Steve says through chuckles, "Cut me some slack, please!" Robin scoffs.

"Your love life is one of labyrinthine complexity. And it is 7:00 in the morning, we have the stupid pep rally, and i woke up looking like a total corpse." Robin mumbles, stretching her face. "You're worried about a pep rally? Do you expect me to believe that?" Steve scoffs.

"Yeah? So?" Robin says, "So, we all know what this is about." Steve says, gesturing to Ava for backup. "Vickie~." Ava says stretching out the E. "Yeah, this is about Vickie." Steve agrees, nodding. "Absolutely not." Robin mumbles, glaring at Ava in the rear view mirror.

"It is. You know what else?" Steve says, "I really don't care-" Robin says before getting cut off, "You gotta stop pretending to be someone else when you're around her." Steve says.

"You just gotta be yourself." He finishes. "You're literally quoting me to me. You do realize that, right?" Robin scoffs, "Well, maybe you need to listen to yourself. Ever think about that?" Steve asks.

"I listened, look at me. Boom, back in business with the ladies." Steve says, smiling. "It's not the same thing. Okay?" Robin mumbles. "You ask out a girl, and she says no, big deal. Nothing happens, maybe your ego's a little bruised." Robin scoffs.

"But i ask out the wrong girl, and bam, i'm a town pariah." She continues.  "I'd buy that, except Vickie is definitely not the wrong girl." Steve responds, "We just don't know that, do we?" Robin asks, turning to face Steve. Ava frowns and rubs Robin's shoulders from the backseat.

"She returned Fast Times paused at 53 minutes, 5 seconds." Steve defends, "Do you know who pauses Fast Times at 53 minutes and 5 seconds?" Steve asks. "Seriously? A fucking movie is going to convince Robin?" Ava scoffs, "People who like boobies, Robin!" Steve exclaims.

"Ew!" Robin shouts, "Don't say boobies!" Robin finishes. "Yeah, seriously, grow up Steve." Ava mumbles under her breath. "Not a big deal, okay? I like boobies, you like boobies." Steve says, "Hell, Ava likes boobies!" He continues.

"Vickie likes boobies, definitely." Steve adds on. They all sit in silence after the awkward conversation, Robin shaking her head and biting her cheek in the front seat. "It's boobies!" Steve defends.

They sit in silence the rest of the car ride, finally arriving at school. Ava hops out first, and walks to her "popular group".

"Hey guys." Ava says, waving. "Ava, are you excited about the pep rally?" Chrissy asks with the normal smile on her face that grew on Ava, "You know it." Ava lies, trying to boost Chrissy's ego.

"Hey Ava." Her friend, Madison says with a smile. "I need help after the pep rally, meet at the locker rooms?" Madison asks, standing next to Ava. Ava just hums in agreement. So, Ava and Madison have been making out in the locker rooms, but Ava just does it for fun. Or so she thought. The truth was that she was trying to forget about Max, but she physically can't.

Madison grabs Ava's hand in her own with the same smile, which Ava returns. The one thing Ava didn't realize was Max's jealous glare at the two, the redhead surely knew something was up between them.

~~~

They were at the pep rally, the cheerleaders as well as Ava doing dances and flips, the audience cheering along. The cheerleaders continue doing what they're doing, and Ava sees Robin and Vickie make eye contact multiple times. Ava shoots a wink at Robin, who rolls her eyes.

The cheerleaders continue dancing, and Ava sees Max walk in next to Mike and Dustin. She just tries not to look at her because she knows it'll distract her.

The cheerleaders finish dancing, and Ava could tell Max was staring at her but just brushed it off. The cheerleaders walk to sit down in front of the audience, facing the stage, Madison subtly held on to Ava's hand.

Lucas runs out and waves to Ava, who waves back with a smile. Ava could feel eyes on her, and it was obvious who it was but she tried not to acknowledge it.

"Good morning, Hawkins High!" Jason shouts into the mic, the captain of the basketball team. "First off, hey.." Jason says, "First off, i'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here, give yourselves a big hand." Jason says, clapping along with the audience.

"And of course, of course, i have to give a special shout-out, to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad!" Jason shouts, making everyone cheer and clap.

"Chrissy.." Jason says, "Chrissy, i love you babe." Jason says in the mic, patting his heart. The audience murmurs and awe's, while Chrissy blows a kiss towards Jason.

He smiles and looks up at the crowd. "You know.." He says, "I think i can speak for all of us when i say, it's been a tough year for Hawkins." Jason says. "So much loss. And sometimes i wonder, how much loss can one community take?" He continues.

"In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, i looked at my team." He says, pointing at the basketball team.

"And i said.. Think of Jack." He says, "Think of Melissa. Think of Heather." Jason continues. Ava's eyes widen, knowing who's name is going to be called next. "Think of Billy." Jason says, making Ava turn around to look at Max, who was looking down, and made eye contact with Ava for a split second before glancing back down.

Ava frowned and looked back at Jason. "Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper." He continued, "Think about each one of our friends who perished in that fire." Jason says, sighing.

"What did they die for?" He asks, "For us to lose to some.. Some crap school?" He scoffs. The crowd shouts "No!", "For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat?" He continues.

"No!" Both Jason and the crowd shout, "No." Jason repeats. "Let's win this game." He continues, making Ava scoff. Why would he bring up people that died for some basketball game?

"Let's win this game for them. And that's exactly what we did!" Jason shouts, making the crowd cheer. "We embarrassed those candy-asses, in their own house, and now tonight, tonight! We're gonna bring home the championship trophy!" Jason shouts, earning claps and cheers from the audience.

The basketball team and the cheer squad stand up, and run over to each other. Ava was standing next to Madison and watching the basketball team and the cheer squad high five and hug each other.

Madison pulled Ava into a tight hug, which Ava was confused about, but just hugged the girl back. Madison was a bit too clingy for Ava's liking, i think that's obvious right now.

Madison gently kissed Ava's neck once, making the other girl giggle. But it was nice for Ava to have another person around. They break apart and Madison holds Ava's hand again, and Ava could feel eyes burning through her head.

This time, Ava looked at Max up at the stage, but Max didn't look away. Ava just waved slightly, which made Max eventually turn away. Ava sighed and squeezed Madison's hand gently.

Ava notices Max walk out without Mike and Dustin, so she went with Lucas. "So, you ready to win the championship game?" Ava asks, hugging the boy. "Of course, and i bet i'll make the winning shot." Lucas bets, "Not if you're on the bench the entire game." Ava says smirking.

Lucas rolls his eyes and messes up Ava's hair, making her gasp and push him away, fixing her hair. Mike and Dustin walk to the two, and they walk out of the building.

~~~

"I don't get the big deal. Just talk to Eddie." Lucas says, "Get him to move Hellfire to another night." Lucas adds, "Just talk to Eddie." Dustin mocks, "Why don't you just talk to your coach and get him to move the game?" Mike scoffs, waving his hands around.

"I think that's a great idea, Mike." Dustin responds, "Thank you, Dustin." Mike says. "Honestly, moving a DND game, versus moving a championship basketball game are completely two different things." Ava defends, "Exactly! This is the championship game." Lucas scoffs.

"And this is the end of Eddie's campaign." Dustin mumbles, "A semester of adventuring has led to this moment, and we need you!" Dustin says, his voice cracking slightly.

"Yeah, and the Tigers don't. You've been on the bench all year." Mike scoffs, "God if i got a dollar every time someone's told me that." Lucas says, nudging Ava, who smiles. "But, that's not the point." Lucas responds to Mike's comment.

"Please, arrive at the point." Dustin mumbles, "If i get in good with these guys, i'll be in the popular crowd, just like Ava, and then you guys will be too." Lucas says. "Has it ever occurred to you that we don't want to be popular?" Mike responds, sighing.

"So you wanna be stuck with the nerds and freaks for three more years?" Lucas asks, making Ava slightly frown at him for saying that. "We are nerds and freaks!" Dustin defends.

"Yeah, but maybe you don't have to be." Lucas says, making the other two silent. "Look, im tired of being bullied. I'm tired of girls laughing at us, im tired of feeling like a loser." Lucas says. "We came to high school wanting things to be different. Right?" He asks, earning nods from the three.

"So, now we have that chance." Lucas continues, "I skip tonight, that's all out the window." He blurts out. "So I'm asking you guys, as a friend, just talk to Eddie. Get him to move Hellfire, and come to our game." Lucas says, pointing to both himself and Ava. "Please." He asks, the other two only sitting in silence.

Ava stared at the two before walking into the same class as Lucas. Ava always wondered what it'd be like if she never joined the Tiger Cheer Squad. What if she was a freak and a loser, but hung out with her best friends more often? Maybe life would be better that way.

Maybe she'd still have Max then.

{1969 word count}

Thank you for reading! I am so happy to write season 4, but i don't know how i feel about this chapter. Tell me how you guys feel about it and if i should put more or less things in the next chapter. Thank you for your support and patience, and thanks for reading. Love you all!<33