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November 6th, 1983
Hawkins, Indiana
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            Hawkins, Indiana was a quaint and woodsy little town where nothing much ever happened. While some residents of the town complained about it, 16-year-old Olivia Henderson wouldn't want it any other way. It reminded her of small towns that she would see in some of her favorite movies, like E.T. But what she loved most about her town was the peace and quiet, and she loved the beauty of the woods that surrounded her. The sound of the trees swaying back and forth and the rustling leaves made her feel calm.

            Currently, Olivia was sitting in the dim basement of the Wheeler household, reading her favorite book, Little Women. She looked up from her page and a soft smile appeared on her pink lips. Her little brother Dustin and his gang of friends— Mike Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair, and Will Byers— were all leaned over the table, focusing intently on a game of Dungeons & Dragons. According to Mike (the unofficial leader of the gang), he told her that they have been playing for the past 10 hours. She had arrived at Mike's house about an hour ago to pick Dustin up, but decided to let him stay a little longer.

            She loved hanging out with the kids, and despite her being 4 years older than them, she oddly considered them to be her best friends. They adored her very much, and even made her an honorable member of the party a few years back. She even had her own role in the party as the Druid. They told her that she was "cooler than the other teenagers" because she actually hung out with them. Apparently, it was easier for her to make friends with kids instead of people her own age.

            "Something is coming... something is hungry for blood." Mike spoke eerily, creating a tension in the room. "A shadow grows on the wall behind you... swallowing you in darkness. It is almost here." Along with the others, Olivia was on the edge of her seat, her book forgotten at the moment, curious to know what was coming. She had played D&D with them a few times before, but she never quite understood the concept. Nonetheless, the party loved her effort for trying and she always found it more entertaining to watch them play anyway.

            "What is it?" Will asked adorably. While Olivia loved Dustin's group of friends, Will was her personal favorite. It wasn't just because she was best friends with his older brother, Jonathan, but she thought he was the absolute sweetest kid.

            "What if it's the Demogorgon?" Olivia chipped in, hoping she got the name right. All the boys looked over at her.

             "You might be right, Liv. Shit, we're so screwed if it's the Demogorgon." The boy with the curly locks replied to his older sister. Olivia giggled at Dustin's language. She honestly found it kind of adorable coming from him, though their mom often scolded him for it.

            "It's not the Demogorgon," Lucas told the siblings.

            "An army of Troglodytes charge into the chamber!" Mike shouted.

             "Troglodytes?" Dustin repeated with a chuckle, relief flooding in his voice.

            "Told ya!"  Lucas snickered.

            "Wait a minute... do you hear that? That... that sound. Boom... boom... BOOM!" Mike said, slamming his hand the table. "That didn't come from the troglodytes, no that... that came from something else." Dustin, Will, and Lucas all stared at Mike in anticipation. "The Demogorgon!" Mike slammed the Demagorgon game piece on the board. Olivia gasped, not believing that she was right.

            "We're in deep shit," Dustin groaned.

             "Will, your action!" Mike told Will.

            "I don't know!"

            "Fireball him!" Lucas suggested.

            "I'd have to roll a 13 or higher!" Will panicked.

            "Too risky, cast a protection spell!" Dustin suggested.

            "Don't be a pussy, fireball him!"

            "Cast protection!"

             "The demogorgon is tired of your silly human bickering! It stomps towards you. BOOM!" Mike interrupted them.

            Olivia rolled her eyes at their silly bickering. She got up as Will finally rolled the dice and carefully placed a bookmark in her book, not wanting to crinkle the page. Dustin was completely frantic that they couldn't find the dice. As they continued to search for it, Mrs. Wheeler came in.

            "Mom, we're in the middle of the campaign!" The raven haired boy complained.

             "You mean the end? Fifteen after." Mrs. Wheeler told her son, pointing to her watch. Mike followed her upstairs, trying to convince his mom to let them continue the campaign.

              "Dusty, Mrs. Wheeler's right. It's getting late and it's a school night. We should be heading home."

                "But we're still doing the campaign!" Dustin groaned, not wanting to leave.

            "Sorry bud, I've already let you stay an hour longer. You know mom would freak if we're not home soon." She collected her pink bag and carefully placed her book in it.

            "Oh I got it! Does a seven count?" The small boy asked with hopefulness evident in his voice.

            "It was a seven? Did Mike see it?" Lucas questioned. Will shook his head no. "Then it doesn't count." Lucas assured him.

             "L-liv, W-would you like the last slice of pizza?" Will asked with the cutest smile. She was about to decline as she already ate her dinner, but Will looked so adorable holding the pizza box she couldn't say no.

            "Why thank you Will, I would love to," Olivia smiled as Will handed her the pizza, completely oblivious to the adoring smile he gave her. Dustin sniggered and Lucas tried to hold back his laugh. It was no secret to the gang that Will had a crush on the brunette, and the party loved to tease him whenever they could. Lucas didn't blame him though, as he once had a crush on her as well.

             "Hey Mrs. Wheeler, thank you so much for letting Dustin come over today," Olivia told the woman, once they were all upstairs.

            "Oh no problem sweetie, you know you and your brother are welcome here anytime." Mrs. Wheeler said with a kind smile. "And thanks again for watching Holly last night, you are such an angel."

              "Of course," Olivia smiled. Holly was Mike's three year old sister and Olivia was her unofficial babysitter. Holly sprinted towards Olivia and gave her her a tight hug, which made Olivia's heart melt. Mrs. Wheeler's heart warmed seeing the two and at how cute Olivia was with Holly. Olivia truly adored Holly as if she was her own little sister and always loved spending time with her. She bid her goodbyes to the Wheeler's and followed the party outside.

☆☆☆

            "There's something wrong with your sister." Dustin retorted.

            Mike scrunched his nose. "What are you talking about?"

            "She's got a stick up her butt."

            "Dustin!" Olivia hissed. Nancy Wheeler was Mike's older sister. With their little brothers being best friends, you would assume that they were close, but they weren't. It wasn't that Olivia didn't like her or anything— Nancy was always sweet with the few interactions they've had with each other. Olivia was just quite shy and awkward, which made it difficult for her to make friends.

            "Liv, I went to say goodbye to her, and she just shut the door in my face," Dustin sighed.

            "I'm sorry, Dusty," Olivia frowned. "But that's just teenage girls for you."

            "True, plus Nancy's seeing that douchebag, Steve Harrington. I'm so glad that you don't swoon over him like all the other girls your age do," Lucas told her.

            "Well, like you said Lucas, Steve Harrington is kind of a douchebag." Olivia replied with a frown. Steve Harrington was the most popular boy in her school. While all the other girls fawned over him and his perfect hair, Olivia didn't. The two lived in completely different social worlds; Olivia was a "geek" while Steve was the king of the school. Of course she thought he was handsome, who didn't? But Steve was a douchebag and it was not like he would ever glance her way.

            However, unbeknownst to her, she was quite beautiful and she did catch the attention of many boys at Hawkins High. She just didn't notice, mainly because she was so shy and insecure. If anyone told her she was beautiful, she wouldn't believe it.

            "Yeah, that and she's too busy swooning over Jonathan." Dustin replied, causing Olivia to playfully hit her brothers shoulder.

             "That is so not true Dusty."

            Okay... it was true. She was completely smitten with Jonathan Byers. How could she not be? Jonathan was sweet, easy to talk to, and extremely cute in her opinion. If anyone asked her if she was in love with him, she would deny it. But it was so obvious, and everyone but Jonathan himself knew about her feelings. She knew for a fact that he did not feel the same way, and never told him in fear of ruining their dear friendship.

              "Yes you are, Liv. But as I was saying, Nancy's turning into a real jerk." Dustin sighed.

              "Not everyone can have as cool a sister as yours, Dustin. Nancy's always been a real jerk!" Mike responded.

             "Nuh-uh. She used to be cool! Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder-tree campaign." Dustin reminded him.

            "Four years ago!"

            "Just sayin'!"

            "Okay, okay. That's enough, guys. Hey Will, Lucas, it's getting really dark out, do either of you want a ride home? I'd be happy to take the both of you home," Olivia offered as her and Dustin hopped in the car.

            "No thanks, I have my bike," Will replied with a shy smile.

            "Same here, thanks though." Lucas added. Olivia nodded hesitantly. Something inside of her was telling her that she should take them home, but she ignored the voice in her head.

            After all, she lived in the small town of Hawkins, Indiana— a town where nothing bad or dangerous ever happened.

            And oh, little did she know of what was to come.

AUTHOR'S NOTE 💫

hi readers and welcome to angel eyes! this is my first fic i ever wrote so the writing is cringy, but i still hope you all enjoy. it means a lot to me that you have given this fic a chance as i have put a lot of work into it. votes and comments are appreciated, i read every single one of them. i hope you all love olivia henderson just as much as love writing her 💜 shout out to the lovely romanismysoul who made the beautiful banner above!

with love,
sydney